DisneyLAND Make-a-Wish pre-trip report

[DisneyLAND Make-A-Wish]

My son is getting the Disney trip of his dreams; a million thanks to Make-A-Wish. We are T minus 7 days away from his dream!! My sweet boy is six years old and the first several years of his life were filled with abuse, abandonment, a life threatening illness and finally triumph. He was born into a family that unfortunately was filled with drugs, abuse and neglect. If that wasn't bad enough at 23 months old he was diagnosed with leukemia. His first hospital stay was three months and he only had a couple quick visits from his mom during the first two weeks of the admission. Fast forward a year and a half, intensive chemotherapy, several hospitalizations, two different foster homes and this sweet boy becomes part of my family. I met him when I was a nurse on the pediatric hematology oncology unit and he stole my heart. Fast forward another two years filled with more chemotherapy, tons of ER visits, lots of paperwork and home visits from social workers, and the diagnosis of a signifiant developmental delay (poor kid can't catch a break)...drum roll please...in the summer of 2014 after three and a half years of chemo he is done with treatment and nearly two years after starting the adoption process he legally has his forever home and we couldn't be more blessed to have him. The wish process started about a year ago and as he was unable to verbalize his wish the wish grantors did an amazing job of picking up his LOVE of Disney Cars. His wish was approved last year and we couldn't be more excited. I am keeping the trip a surprise, it will be his first time to the happiest place on earth and he will be beside himself. I can't even imagine what will be going through his mind as he walks into Cars Land. It makes me smile just thinking about it!!

All we know at this point is that we are getting 5 nights at the Paradise Pier hotel with this basic itinerary:

Monday- check in to hotel
Tuesday- Disney parks
Wednesday- Disney parks
Thursday- Knott's berry Farm with Medieval Times for dinner
Friday- Disney parks
Saturday- Check out

We are having a wish reveal party this week at Johns Incredible Pizza and hopefully we will get some of the finalized details. I will keep you posted!!

 

[ChrisParker]

I'm in! I work with children with special needs and I can tell you first hand how much these trips mean to kids who have had to deal with struggles.

Bless you for making this happen for him! Looking forward to reading about your adventures.

 

[TheMaxRebo]

joining in. So sorry to hear of all the struggles and just bad hand your son was dealt but so happy that he is done with the chemo treatment and that you have him now legally forever!

 

[DnA2010]

So in! How very fantastic that you have found one another, and that he is done with his treatment! Can't wait to read about your adventure!

 

[heaven2dc]

Thank heaven for organizations like Make A Wish and for families such as yours for giving this darling little boy an amazing adventure (of which your part will last a lifetime!). Can't wait to read all about his trip!

 

[Heartmom08]

My son is getting the Disney trip of his dreams; a million thanks to Make-A-Wish. We are T minus 7 days away from his dream!! My sweet boy is six years old and the first several years of his life were filled with abuse, abandonment, a life threatening illness and finally triumph. He was born into a family that unfortunately was filled with drugs, abuse and neglect. If that wasn't bad enough at 23 months old he was diagnosed with leukemia. His first hospital stay was three months and he only had a couple quick visits from his mom during the first two weeks of the admission. Fast forward a year and a half, intensive chemotherapy, several hospitalizations, two different foster homes and this sweet boy becomes part of my family. I met him when I was a nurse on the pediatric hematology oncology unit and he stole my heart. Fast forward another two years filled with more chemotherapy, tons of ER visits, lots of paperwork and home visits from social workers, and the diagnosis of a signifiant developmental delay (poor kid can't catch a break)...drum roll please...in the summer of 2014 after three and a half years of chemo he is done with treatment and nearly two years after starting the adoption process he legally has his forever home and we couldn't be more blessed to have him. The wish process started about a year ago and as he was unable to verbalize his wish the wish grantors did an amazing job of picking up his LOVE of Disney Cars. His wish was approved last year and we couldn't be more excited. I am keeping the trip a surprise, it will be his first time to the happiest place on earth and he will be beside himself. I can't even imagine what will be going through his mind as he walks into Cars Land. It makes me smile just thinking about it!!

All we know at this point is that we are getting 5 nights at the Paradise Pier hotel with this basic itinerary:

Monday- check in to hotel
Tuesday- Disney parks
Wednesday- Disney parks
Thursday- Knott's berry Farm with Medieval Times for dinner
Friday- Disney parks
Saturday- Check out

We are having a wish reveal party this week at Johns Incredible Pizza and hopefully we will get some of the finalized details. I will keep you posted!!

This is so exciting!! Ixam so happy for you and your family.
My son as well is going through the make a wish process and his wish was the exact same-to go to Disneyland. I just received our itinerary which is the same as yours except Friday. We are not 100% sure yet what we will get to do. We leave in June.
I can't wait to hear more about your trip. It seems like most people go to Florida so it's hard to find experiences to get an idea or what to expect.
Have a great time!!!

 

[hootey]

Congratulations on the "Make-A-Wish" trip to Disneyland! Six years old is a great age for his first trip to DL and being with the Make-A-Wish program will make Extra Special. I have had the good-fortune to witness several Make-A-Wish family trips to DL, they were each very heart warming in their own way. In addition to Cars Land, be sure to see Turtle Talk and Monster Inc. in California Adventures, when my boys were six, they Loved Turtle Talk (or Talk Turtle whichever), any way we went to it at least once a day back then(every show is different). Congrats again. Be sure to take lots of pictures and make use of everything available.

 

[hootey]

I checked, it is Turtle Talk with Crush. Crush is the Surfer Turtle from Finding Nemo. The shows are Great! Three days or more in the parks seems like a long time until you get there. Once you are there the time will go by very quickly. Enjoy your time there and make the most of it!

 

[Jaina]

I am following - I love to read about Make-a-Wish trips. They make me so happy to see these kids that have/will suffer so much get an amazing experience!

 

[Heartmom08]

How was your trip? We will be there in a few weeks for my sins wish trip. Do u have any suggestions?

 

[TEAMJACOB]

Can't wait to hear how everything turned out. Hopefully it was magical and brought a smile to your son's heart.