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

[Bill_Lin]

Hi everyone!

One of my best friends is getting ready for her son's Wish Trip. I'm so excited for her because they totally deserve the break. She has limited internet access (on her phone only) and although I sent her the link to this thread, I don't think it's easy for her to read through it on her phone.

Anyhow, anyone have any Must-Know advice for her? She's traveling with 4 kids, one a diabetic, and then her Wish Tripper (my "boyfriend" ) who has mitochondrial disease, CP and a few other issues

Have her check out the links in my signature for Wish Planning tips. Ask any question on our thread here as well and you are likely to get a lot of good answers.

 

[Bill_Lin]

Just a question about how much trip planning the wish grantors take care of. If part of the wish is to meet a specific character, do the wish grantors take care of making reservations to ensure that part of the request is filled (in Brooke's case, meeting Ariel), or are the parents responsible for organizing dining reservations, BBB or Pirate's League reservations, etc.? I have no problem doing it all myself should we get the wish granted, but just curious.

While character greets are easily arranged by Guest Services when you arrive at a park, Character Meals require advanced reservations, often months in advance due to popularity. We were unable to arrange what our daughter wanted (a meal in the castle with the Princesses) so we booked at the Grand Floabout:homeridian. But when we got to MK, and Guest Services found out that she had wanted a meal in the castle, Jeff there pulled strings and made it happen that day. It was amazing. What a wonderful magical surprise. We went to the Wish Trip Lounge and had them cancel our Floridian reservations (which did not require advance payment). Read all about it on our trip thread in my signature.

 

[Bill_Lin]

Does anyone here know if you can rent stroller-wheelchairs near WDW? I put a thread in the main disAbilities forum with a pic of what we are looking for (hopefully!)

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?p=40430368#post40430368

Depending on the child's physical needs, many families are able to get a comp stroller in lieu of a wheelchair, even if the child does not normally use a wheelchair. That is what we did at each theme park. It worked wonderfully and gave us a place to keep our water bottles and such.

 

[Bill_Lin]

Hello! My name is Jill Bott and I am new to the forum. We found out a month or so ago that we are scheduled to take my daughter's MAW trip May 3 - 9th, 2011 and need help planning our trip. It's is our very first time to Disney (unless you count when I went in 7th grade) and we are very excited, but want to make some plans. Can anyone tell us what we can ask for - special things to do with the kids (ages 7 - turning 8 on the trip, 6 and 3), what we need to be prepared for and any special events that will take place in the park during those days??

Thanks in advance for your help,
Jill

Check out the Wish Trip Planning Tips through the link in my signature.

 

[Bill_Lin]

I believe we are staying at Give Kids the World...Brooke - our wish (and birthday) girl's favorite character is Sleeping Beauty, not sure about my son's - he does like Toy Story and Cars characters, and Brynleigh likes ALL the princesses. We are very excited!!

The best place to meet the Princesses is at a character meal. The best is in Cinderella's Castle at MK. Advance reservations are "required" but Guest Services made magic for us the day we arrived at MK so we got in. You can also find the princesses at France in Epcot. Tinkerbell is very worth seeing at Epcot as well. You will find Cars at Disney Studios. Most boys love meeting Spiderman at Universal Islands of Adventure or Shaggy and Scooby Doo, Shrek and Donkey, or Sponge Bob at Universal Studios.

 

[Bill_Lin]

Can anyone tell me the colors of the buttons we will be wearing for MAW/GKTW? I was thinking about making some shirts for us and the kids, but wanted to get something that would make the buttons stand out per the "things to do" that I read earlier...

Make a Wish Buttons change colors periodically to foil counterfeiters.

 

[Bill_Lin]

Disney Characters can be found in each park and also visit GKTW once or twice a week in the morning. The best character greet we experienced (other than brunch in the castle) was with Captain Jack Sparrow in Adventureland MK. You may have to inquire about where to find him. We kind of stumbled on it.

 

[LVMom23]

I just found out that Disney has a Wish Lounge. Has anyone used it? This would be a godsend for us since we were planning to break up our Disney days into 3-hour blocks and then head back to GKTW (Hannah gets tired easily).

For those who have been in there, do you have any pics? (I found some promo ones online). Also, is there a place for a toddler to lie down and take a nap (like a couch or something?)

 

[Mom2mitokids]

We didn't get a chance to go in the one at DW but we did go in the one at Epcot. That place is so cool. At DW we were in Fantasyland first and it was so hot and crowded that walking all the way to Fantacyland was impossible.

 

[fulseasmama]

Welcome home Kris...hope you all had an amazing time! Can't wait to hear all about it!

 

[angeque143]

Make a Wish Buttons change colors periodically to foil counterfeiters.

That is so sad!!!

 

[maroo]

I believe we are staying at Give Kids the World...Brooke - our wish (and birthday) girl's favorite character is Sleeping Beauty, not sure about my son's - he does like Toy Story and Cars characters, and Brynleigh likes ALL the princesses. We are very excited!!

We have two Brooke's going in May! Right??!? And we have three Brooke's now planning...right? I am getting confused. It doesn't take much to confuse me, though.

Can anyone tell me the colors of the buttons we will be wearing for MAW/GKTW? I was thinking about making some shirts for us and the kids, but wanted to get something that would make the buttons stand out per the "things to do" that I read earlier...

see below...I answered this in the wrong place.

We just got our buttons and they are a dark blue with white writing like this

These are the official MAW buttons - and most families get some of those - and you should wear them.

But the official GKTW wish button that will be recognized by the CM's is the button given at GKTW. They do change the coloring of the buttons to prevent cruel people from duplicating them. The buttons also have DATES on them so that they can't really be used the follow year, for example.

But they are generally light blue for the boys and light pink for the girls. I think any solid color dark shirt would make it easy to see. In some cases the parent may be the best person to wear it - if the child is in a stroller low to the ground or can't easily be seen. But for the most part, the child should wear it.

They also may give you stickers that have a Genie on them - those are also recognized by CM's as being wish trip stickers - so you can wear those, too. I would recommend wearing those at the MK, personally.

I have last minute problem helping a wish family get to WDW. Maybe someone here can help me figure this one out.

The family is 3 adults, five year old twins, and the wish child who is 12 with poor head and trunk control, trach, and feeding tube. Mom was scared to fly with him and plans to drive (13 hours)

The vehicle Make-A-Wish generously arranged is a shuttle van, with a wheelchair tie down. The patient cannot sit in his chair for long lengths of time though. I imagine we can get the arrangements changed even though they leave this weekend, if I can find a sutiable vehicle. It does not have to be wheelchair accessbile, he really needs to be in a reclining comfortable seat, and then there needs to be room for the other six people, luggage and lots of medical equipment including his custom chair, which does not fold up. Any ideas? Thanks so much!

Aw man...6 people in a van with equipment is going to be really tight anyway. I am not sure they won't be better off renting an additional car - since they have 3 adults that can share driving??

Our last trip - we went in a mini van. Lauren's chair sits in the middle - so we had the front two seats and the back seat (no middle seats). Her two friends sat on the back seat and her Mom and I in the front two - 5 total in the van. There were some times that we wanted Lauren to be able to lay down instead of sitting in that blasted wheelchair the whole time, but it just wasn't feasible. We barely had room for all of our luggage, plus her friends wheelchair (which we can pop the wheels off and fold). It is possible to find a custom van, which is huge, that would possibly fit the wheelchair and give him a place to recline - but I don't know where you would put the other people?

Seems like they could rent a car and he could sit in the car - even lay down (although I am not sure how safe that is?? Or how feasible??)...but they are going to have a very hard time finding a van that will hold all of them and give him the option to recline.

Let us know how this goes - I will pray that they will find a solution for them quickly.

One more thing....We had part of our group FLY and part of us drive for our trip - it may be feasible (and possibly cost effective, since gas is so high) to send half the family on a plane (like one adult with the other kids) and leave two adults and the wish child to drive.

Wish Granters are much in favor of families staying at GKTW as there is no cost to the Wish Organization.

I used to think this...but they actually do pay GKTW for families that have a wish through GKTW. I am not sure how much and it may vary by chapter?? But they do have to pay GKTW for the accommodations.

I just found out that Disney has a Wish Lounge. Has anyone used it? This would be a godsend for us since we were planning to break up our Disney days into 3-hour blocks and then head back to GKTW (Hannah gets tired easily).

For those who have been in there, do you have any pics? (I found some promo ones online). Also, is there a place for a toddler to lie down and take a nap (like a couch or something?)

It is a pretty big room - but basically one room - with a huge TV, a big "pillow" in the floor that is big enough for me to sleep on! They also have a couch, bottled water, a chess/checkers set, and many games to play. It would be a great place for a long break!

The one in Epcot is more "loud"...it has lots of cool things to do and is definitely worth seeing, but I am not sure it would be the best place to take a nap?

We spent a LOT of time in the various First Aid stations around the Disney parks this past week - it is a great place to rest (they have a bunch of small beds in cubicles and it is cool and quiet in there). They also have exam rooms with both high tables (easy for standing and changing a diaper but large enough for a large child) and lower tables.

I also found several Companion rest rooms that had changing tables that were big enough to change clothes for someone as tall as 5 feet. Those are one room bathrooms that are huge, usually have a sink, etc and are big enough to take care of medical junk without going all the way back to first aid.

Our average day was 6 - 7 hours in the parks with at least 2 hours devoted to resting or medical stuff at First Aid on our last trip and we pretty much got everything we wanted to do done (and this was during Spring Break!)...The GAC will help with this (as you won't have to wait in really long lines, for the most part) and the GKTW button for character greetings will be priceless for meeting all the characters! USE IT! Don't be afraid! She could spend all day meeting characters, but on a wish trip, it is a lot faster!

That is so sad!!!

yeah...Sad does not begin to describe the emotions invoked in me with this....

 

[maroo]

I am leaving town at 3:30 today and won't be back until Sunday.

I am going on a retreat, which is going to be way out in the middle of nowhere and I am not sure I can much cell coverage at all, certainly not enough to use the internet - so I won't be on the DIS again until Monday.

I am going to clean out my PM box some so that you guys can PM me if you need wish trip links added and such and I will try to catch back up on Monday evening!

 

[brookerene]

There are too many Brooke's to keep up! We are a popular group!

Yay to all the good news....


There are a lot of TR's with photos of the wish lounge....

Have a good retreat Maroo!

 

[maroo]

There are too many Brooke's to keep up! We are a popular group!

Yay to all the good news....


There are a lot of TR's with photos of the wish lounge....

Have a good retreat Maroo!

Thanks!

Brooke is a pretty name and quite popular!



If you come across a TR that has good photos of the wish lounge, please let me know - PM me...I know I have seen a lot...but I can't go through them for now and would love to link some on the first page of this thread for future families to be able to see...

Also...the Epcot wish lounge, too!

I know I have pictures of both SOMEWHERE...but I can't seem to put my hands on them today...and I gotta go get some work done so I can get out of here on time today.

And if anyone reading this has some...feel free to post them right here on this thread and I can easily link them on page 2!

 

[LVMom23]

I am leaving town at 3:30 today and won't be back until Sunday.

Have a wonderful time! Sometimes it is nice to just disconnect for a few days

 

[that's nice]

Mary-
I have pics of Base21 but we never made it into the MK wish lounge. You want the link to my TR or do you want me to post the pics here?



I guess I should have read your full post! HAHA

I'll post some here!

 

[LVMom23]

Mary-
I have pics of Base21 but we never made it into the MK wish lounge

What is Base21?

 

[LVMom23]

There are too many Brooke's to keep up! We are a popular group!

Yay to all the good news....

Hey Brooke, I just wanted to thank you again for the countdown calendar! We have it on our fridge, and I am going out this afternoon to get stickers for it. The kids love it!

 

[that's nice]

Here are some pictures from Base21- the Siemens lounge in Epcot that is open to Wish families.

They have a soda and a coffee machine, a couch, table, and some chairs. There is an interactive wall and a floor that can change any color. It was nice to relax for a few minutes then take the 'secret' entrance to SE. I think there were a few stairs to the secret entrance so it wouldn't be doable with a wheelchair.

Tim