Make a Wish (and other organizations) ~ Wish Trippers UNITE! Volume FIVE!!

[Moodyzblu]

with the wish kid ten and the sib 13 I am thinking theme parks are the choice over events at GKTW- opinons? we wont be there on thursday for Christmas. it seems they are mostly geared for younger kids, am I correct on that?

thanks!

I agree. The parties at GKTW are fun .. but my boys were bored, fast. I wouldn't choose a party over a theme park activity like watching Illuminations or Wishes or a special event like Mickeys Very Merry Christmas party or Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween party. I think the parties are great for younger ones or children that tire easily and need to be back to the villas at an earlier time. This gives them the chance to still enjoy their trip without having to be in a busy theme park. We actually ended up back at GKTW early many nights because Jayden was hot/tired and needed a break from the action.

 

[blessedmom4]

Our trip is not until November, but that is awesome that your whole family is volunteering That will be an amazing family bonding time, I am sure!!!!

I would love to go in November, lower crowds (well, BEFORE Thanksgiving). You must be so EXCITED!!!

We are incredibly blessed to be able to volunteer at GKTW and I KNOW it will always be a part of any trip we make to the Orlando area.

with the wish kid ten and the sib 13 I am thinking theme parks are the choice over events at GKTW- opinons? we wont be there on thursday for Christmas. it seems they are mostly geared for younger kids, am I correct on that?

thanks!

My children were 8, 13, 17 and 21 at the time of the wish trip...we DID enjoy the Christmas Party and Halloween was so much fun; Mayor Clayton's BD party was not our fave...are the parties as much excitement as an amusement park? Definitely not; however, there was a lot of fun activities, that even my older children could enjoy. Lisa is quite medically fragile and needs lots of rest, so the downtime at the Village was PERFECT for us. I agree with Michelle above, it truly depends on your child's needs.

 

[LittleEsmom]

Hello Everyone

I hope everyone is doing well...we are doing FANTASTIC We have got to speak with MAW and our family will *fingers crossed* be heading for Orlando in March for Emma's 10th birthday I do have to admit though that I have a HUGE fear of flying. Has anyone else dealt with this?
Also wanted to ask if anyone has gotten a bad reaction from your family members..ie in-laws... about going on a wish trip? Just confused and hurt by it I know I don't post alot but do read on here all the time. I love reading all the PTR and learning so much

 

[blessedmom4]

Hello Everyone

I hope everyone is doing well...we are doing FANTASTIC We have got to speak with MAW and our family will *fingers crossed* be heading for Orlando in March for Emma's 10th birthday I do have to admit though that I have a HUGE fear of flying. Has anyone else dealt with this?
Also wanted to ask if anyone has gotten a bad reaction from your family members..ie in-laws... about going on a wish trip? Just confused and hurt by it I know I don't post alot but do read on here all the time. I love reading all the PTR and learning so much

So happy you are doing FANTASTIC!!! That is good news! LOVE that you have dates. I can't remember now who, but I KNOW there have been several Mom's freaked out by flying...Kris, weren't you one of those...LISA B, do you remember (YES, I AM calling you out , we need more nice people to help answer these innocent questions please )

Not sure about the bad reaction, do you want to elaborate? Could it be possible they felt Emma wasn't "sick enough" or not terminal?? There are LOTS of misconceptions about MAW, so I am only speculating...some people may be "jealous" of your free trip too...I say all of the time, we paid a HIGH PRICE for this "free" trip..one I would gladly never have taken if it meant we weren't eligible...Because THAT would have meant my child didn't have a life-threatening illness!

As for posting, you do as much or as little as you want to...we will try to answer any questions you have.

 

[GavandGraciesMommy]

We received a letter on May 24th that our son has qualified for a wish! We are very excited for him. He has autism and mental retardation and is considered nonverbal (although he can say some words). When we talked to him and asked what he wanted he kept saying "Lightning McQueen, Fish" lol. That is the thing with him, people think he does not know what is going on but ask him what he wants and he will tell you. Anyways... We are thinking that since his birthday is in October maybe Disney then would be good so he could go see lighning and also go to Sea World and see the fish. However, we have not heard from the wish granters in regards to coming and seeing him. The letter said it would be a few weeks. I did contact them just to check in and they said they were working on trying to find volunteers in our area. Is this something that normally takes a lot of time? We are very appreciative of what they are doing for us but am worried because October is closer than it seems.

 

[GavandGraciesMommy]

Hello Everyone

I hope everyone is doing well...we are doing FANTASTIC We have got to speak with MAW and our family will *fingers crossed* be heading for Orlando in March for Emma's 10th birthday I do have to admit though that I have a HUGE fear of flying. Has anyone else dealt with this?
Also wanted to ask if anyone has gotten a bad reaction from your family members..ie in-laws... about going on a wish trip? Just confused and hurt by it I know I don't post alot but do read on here all the time. I love reading all the PTR and learning so much

We had some family but mostly "friends" that have said things. When you look at my son now he seems healthy but they do not understand how sick he really was because we hid it so much. You would think when they heard "open heart surgery" they would see it was kind of a big deal. I have decided that if they feel that way than they do not deserve to share in our joy. No one can ever understand what our children and families have gone through unless they are themselves. I think it was also a shock for some of those we hid from that he really does have a life threatening condition and maybe they were hurt we didnt share or think that we did not take it serious enough. Regardless, dont question yourself! You know that you do what your child needs and what your family needs. We plan to take the wish and give us something happy to look back on when we are sitting in the hospital again (because it is inevitable). Dont let someone take away your hope because they do not understand.

 

[Moodyzblu]

Hello Everyone

I hope everyone is doing well...we are doing FANTASTIC We have got to speak with MAW and our family will *fingers crossed* be heading for Orlando in March for Emma's 10th birthday I do have to admit though that I have a HUGE fear of flying. Has anyone else dealt with this?
Also wanted to ask if anyone has gotten a bad reaction from your family members..ie in-laws... about going on a wish trip? Just confused and hurt by it I know I don't post alot but do read on here all the time. I love reading all the PTR and learning so much

First off .. congratulations on hearing from MAW !! I hope you get the dates you want.
Second .. YES .. we did receive some "weird" reactions from people and I felt very offended. I got a lot of "oh, I thought you had to be terminal ?" and comments like that. But they really have no idea what we've gone through and what lies ahead for our children. Don't let it get to you .. enjoy your trip !!

We received a letter on May 24th that our son has qualified for a wish! We are very excited for him. He has autism and mental retardation and is considered nonverbal (although he can say some words). When we talked to him and asked what he wanted he kept saying "Lightning McQueen, Fish" lol. That is the thing with him, people think he does not know what is going on but ask him what he wants and he will tell you. Anyways... We are thinking that since his birthday is in October maybe Disney then would be good so he could go see lighning and also go to Sea World and see the fish. However, we have not heard from the wish granters in regards to coming and seeing him. The letter said it would be a few weeks. I did contact them just to check in and they said they were working on trying to find volunteers in our area. Is this something that normally takes a lot of time? We are very appreciative of what they are doing for us but am worried because October is closer than it seems.

Congratulations on your son getting a wish !! I'd love to hear more about your family.

We had some family but mostly "friends" that have said things. When you look at my son now he seems healthy but they do not understand how sick he really was because we hid it so much. You would think when they heard "open heart surgery" they would see it was kind of a big deal. I have decided that if they feel that way than they do not deserve to share in our joy. No one can ever understand what our children and families have gone through unless they are themselves. I think it was also a shock for some of those we hid from that he really does have a life threatening condition and maybe they were hurt we didnt share or think that we did not take it serious enough. Regardless, dont question yourself! You know that you do what your child needs and what your family needs. We plan to take the wish and give us something happy to look back on when we are sitting in the hospital again (because it is inevitable). Dont let someone take away your hope because they do not understand.

Exactly ! My son, Jayden, appears very healthy. But underneath is a very sick little boy. People (aside from close family and friends) have no idea what's really going on. (He's a heart kid too and has had OHS). His wish meant SO much to him and ME. I only WISH he wasn't sick enough to qualify for a wish.

 

[Momtokcc]

Hi everyone. I am new to this board and very excited to be here. We found out two weeks ago that my son's wish to go to Disney World to "meet" Lightning McQueen was approved through Magic Moments. We are hoping to go in October, but we haven't gotten our dates yet.

My wish kid is Cade. He is 9, will be 10 in August. I would love to tell you what he has, but he is currently undiagnosed so I will just tell you about him...and I'll try to keep it kind of short. The best I can do is kind of the laundry list of what he deals with. He has Nystagmus that was dxed at 5 mos and b/c of that dx he had an MRI of his brain where we found out about his mild PVL. The PVL could probably explain his seizure disorder and mild hemi CP but really nothing else. He has been seizure free for over 2 years! He was late with all milestones, has sensory issues, asthma, RLS, migraines, hypogammaglobulimenia (does IVIG infusions every 4 weeks), he is cortisol deficient and growth hormone deficient (yet gh supplements still don't make him grow and docs don't know why), he is g-tube fed...he got his tube when he was 6 years old due to FTT. He deals with unexplained stomach pain - meds do seem to help and unexplained leg pain - we don't have any specific meds for that. He doesn't tolerate heat well and has energy much lower than his 7 year old brother. As he has gotten older, we seem to add health issues and for this mom, that is scary! We have done tons of testing and still no answers. He sees several specialists at our children's hospital and they all know he has something going on, but we can't find it. One of his neuro's thinks it is something mitochondrial, other docs think mitochondrial or genetic.

I also have a sweet 16 year old daughter who is great with her brothers, and a hubby who is the best! I'm looking forward to hopefully getting some information and help here because I just really have no idea where to start!

Jenn

 

[LittleEsmom]

First off .. congratulations on hearing from MAW !! I hope you get the dates you want.
Second .. YES .. we did receive some "weird" reactions from people and I felt very offended. I got a lot of "oh, I thought you had to be terminal ?" and comments like that. But they really have no idea what we've gone through and what lies ahead for our children. Don't let it get to you .. enjoy your trip !!




I just wish they would be happy for her. They have always been "weird" when it comes to Emma and I don't get it They have to raise my sister-in-laws 3 kids so I guess that might have something to do with it. But....anyway we won't let them rain on our parade
Much love to all who recently received wishes and to all of the kiddos who have already been. We are sooooo happy to have found DIS

 

[blessedmom4]

We received a letter on May 24th that our son has qualified for a wish! We are very excited for him. He has autism and mental retardation and is considered nonverbal (although he can say some words). When we talked to him and asked what he wanted he kept saying "Lightning McQueen, Fish" lol. That is the thing with him, people think he does not know what is going on but ask him what he wants and he will tell you. Anyways... We are thinking that since his birthday is in October maybe Disney then would be good so he could go see lighning and also go to Sea World and see the fish. However, we have not heard from the wish granters in regards to coming and seeing him. The letter said it would be a few weeks. I did contact them just to check in and they said they were working on trying to find volunteers in our area. Is this something that normally takes a lot of time? We are very appreciative of what they are doing for us but am worried because October is closer than it seems.

Hi everyone. I am new to this board and very excited to be here. We found out two weeks ago that my son's wish to go to Disney World to "meet" Lightning McQueen was approved through Magic Moments. We are hoping to go in October, but we haven't gotten our dates yet.

My wish kid is Cade. He is 9, will be 10 in August. I would love to tell you what he has, but he is currently undiagnosed so I will just tell you about him...and I'll try to keep it kind of short. The best I can do is kind of the laundry list of what he deals with. He has Nystagmus that was dxed at 5 mos and b/c of that dx he had an MRI of his brain where we found out about his mild PVL. The PVL could probably explain his seizure disorder and mild hemi CP but really nothing else. He has been seizure free for over 2 years! He was late with all milestones, has sensory issues, asthma, RLS, migraines, hypogammaglobulimenia (does IVIG infusions every 4 weeks), he is cortisol deficient and growth hormone deficient (yet gh supplements still don't make him grow and docs don't know why), he is g-tube fed...he got his tube when he was 6 years old due to FTT. He deals with unexplained stomach pain - meds do seem to help and unexplained leg pain - we don't have any specific meds for that. He doesn't tolerate heat well and has energy much lower than his 7 year old brother. As he has gotten older, we seem to add health issues and for this mom, that is scary! We have done tons of testing and still no answers. He sees several specialists at our children's hospital and they all know he has something going on, but we can't find it. One of his neuro's thinks it is something mitochondrial, other docs think mitochondrial or genetic.

I also have a sweet 16 year old daughter who is great with her brothers, and a hubby who is the best! I'm looking forward to hopefully getting some information and help here because I just really have no idea where to start!

Jenn

HI!!! Another heart Mom here. I just wanted to say WELCOME and Congratulations on your upcoming wish trips. You will have the time of your life. Please let me know if I can answer any questions and feel free to read my Trip Report, currently in progress of our absolutely magical trip. I am trying to be as detailed as possible, to give an accurate account, both the good and not so great times...because there WILL be both on a wish trip, just like there is in real life.

 

[yeti5353]

YES on the wierd stuff. Molly has most of her medical journey ahead of her. when she found out about make a wish I tried to put her off. I asked tons of people for advice. Here is the thing- Molly knows she is going to get a whole lot sicker and she wants to go before that happens, Once she gets on dialysis or to transplant it will be a long time before we can travel. and she wants to go while she can still eat ice cream. she is ten and old enough to make a considered decision. but espeically once close friend things I am making a huge mistake to do it now. But of course they dont see the fatigue or be there for the never ending appointments or live with the uncertaintly or pay huge medical bills or watch their kid take buckets of toxic medications to stave off the inevitable.

Leg pains- my daugher has undiaganosed leg pains too! quite severe at times she has found some help from a tens unit.

and some of you know my wish kid wants something special to happen for her 13 year old sis and we found it! we are going during the epcot food and wine festival. big sis is a foodie and they sell small portions of international goumet fare for 2-3 dollars. we are getting her a special festival gift card so she can sample lots without having to ask for money or opinions. She will be very suprised and I think it will be perfect for her.

need to figure out how to add a countdown timer next.

 

[Lilfoot93]

Hello Everyone

I do have to admit though that I have a HUGE fear of flying. Has anyone else dealt with this?
Also wanted to ask if anyone has gotten a bad reaction from your family members..ie in-laws... about going on a wish trip? Just confused and hurt by it

First, YES! I have a HUGE fear of flying! Maybe it will be better this time because I will have the kids to focus on? My last cross country trip I took Valium to calm my nerves... It worked! But we did not have kids then. Not sure it would be a good idea to do it this time, especially since we will most likely have a layover

Second, some of my family acts this way and it is very hurtful. With each heart surgery they act like it is no big deal. I try not to put too much energy into those family members... Not worth the stress.

We received a letter on May 24th that our son has qualified for a wish! We are very excited for him.... However, we have not heard from the wish granters in regards to coming and seeing him. The letter said it would be a few weeks. I did contact them just to check in and they said they were working on trying to find volunteers in our area. Is this something that normally takes a lot of time? We are very appreciative of what they are doing for us but am worried because October is closer than it seems.

Congrats on your sons wish! For us it was a quick process from hearing Trev was approved to meeting with the wish grantors. They said we could pick dates as early as 3 months out. But Trev has his heart set on Star Wars weekend so it will be next May.

Hi everyone. I am new to this board and very excited to be here. We found out two weeks ago that my son's wish to go to Disney World to "meet" Lightning McQueen was approved through Magic Moments. We are hoping to go in October, but we haven't gotten our dates yet.

Jenn

Welcome!



Jackie

 

[Momtokcc]

Thank you for the welcomes everyone! I am supposed to be on my way to Camp for the Visually Impaired, but Cade threw up and had a fever so we won't be able to go today. I thought something might be up yesterday when he wasn't tolerating his feeds. I thought I might try to post a picture of him on here and I would like to start a pre-trip report...we'll see how that goes.

OK, so clearly adding pictures isn't working for me right now. Could be the headache I've had since Tuesday. I'll have to get back to that one.

Jenn

 

[Moodyzblu]

Thank you for the welcomes everyone! I am supposed to be on my way to Camp for the Visually Impaired, but Cade threw up and had a fever so we won't be able to go today. I thought something might be up yesterday when he wasn't tolerating his feeds. I thought I might try to post a picture of him on here and I would like to start a pre-trip report...we'll see how that goes.

OK, so clearly adding pictures isn't working for me right now. Could be the headache I've had since Tuesday. I'll have to get back to that one.

Jenn

Try using photobucket, it's the easiest way.

Sorry Cade is sick .. I hope he feels better soon.

 

[GavandGraciesMommy]

First, YES! I have a HUGE fear of flying! Maybe it will be better this time because I will have the kids to focus on? My last cross country trip I took Valium to calm my nerves... It worked! But we did not have kids then. Not sure it would be a good idea to do it this time, especially since we will most likely have a layover

Second, some of my family acts this way and it is very hurtful. With each heart surgery they act like it is no big deal. I try not to put too much energy into those family members... Not worth the stress.



Congrats on your sons wish! For us it was a quick process from hearing Trev was approved to meeting with the wish grantors. They said we could pick dates as early as 3 months out. But Trev has his heart set on Star Wars weekend so it will be next May.



Welcome!



Jackie

Thank you for the information. I am thinking it is just because it is summer and everyone is on vacation plus they are short on volunteers in our area. I just hope we hear from them soon so he can get his birthday wish.

 

[mommy2mrb]

So happy you are doing FANTASTIC!!! That is good news! LOVE that you have dates. I can't remember now who, but I KNOW there have been several Mom's freaked out by flying...Kris, weren't you one of those...LISA B, do you remember (YES, I AM calling you out , we need more nice people to help answer these innocent questions please )

ok Judy, I am here, hello everyone! I'm the LisaB Judy is talking about..we had talked about me helping out here with questions, but I felt funny about it since we are not a WISH family but have been to WDW 7 times.

My DD Megan and I were truly blessed last October to meet the wonderful Judy and her sweet family during Lisa's MAW trip and they invited us to spend an afternoon at GKTW. So while I can't answer most questions about the MAW organizations or GKTW I am happy to help with anything concerning the parks, restaurants, etc.

I will say that GKTW is so magical and a great place for you and your families to spend your week! they welcomed Megan and I with open arms during our day with Judy....to me its like CandyLand exploded, so fun and lots of activities.....we were able to go to Mayor Clayton's b-day party which was fun!

so welcome to all the new MAW families and hope your planning time will be fun and that your trips will be full of magic and pixie dust!!!

 

[lorasmom]

Hi everyone. I am new to this board and very excited to be here. We found out two weeks ago that my son's wish to go to Disney World to "meet" Lightning McQueen was approved through Magic Moments. We are hoping to go in October, but we haven't gotten our dates yet.
I also have a sweet 16 year old daughter who is great with her brothers, and a hubby who is the best! I'm looking forward to hopefully getting some information and help here because I just really have no idea where to start!

Jenn

Welcome!!

Second, some of my family acts this way and it is very hurtful. With each heart surgery they act like it is no big deal. I try not to put too much energy into those family members... Not worth the stress.

I haven't experienced this, but I would second the above - they aren't worth caring about too much

 

[Nanookz]

We were approved for a 4 day Disney cruise. We have submitted 2 requested sailings on the Disney Dream. We have been on many cruises but never a Disney cruise. If we get our first choice of dates we would be going the week of thanksgiving. We were thinking about going to Disney world the 4 days before our cruise. Does anyone know if you get the MAW button before you leave? Is this the only thing they check when you go to the park for the fast pass entrance or is there a separate card that you have to show? Does anyone know if MAW does anything special aboard the cruise (not that the cruise is not special enough) ?

 

[Momtokcc]

I included a link to it in my siggy - I will try again later to make the pictures work. I am about to start the bedtime routine. With meds and everything, it takes a little while.

 

[Momtokcc]

Second try - my link didn't work. If this one doesn't work, I'll have to get help tomorrow. I'll work on pictures tomorrow too.