Make a Wish (and other organizations) - Wish Trippers UNITE! Volume SIX!

[spears2008]

My nephew will likely be taking a WISH trip to WDW next spring. My sis has 7 kids ages 2-11 (whew!) and will likely be bringing my nephew's full time care-giver for a total of 3 adults, 7 kids. Will my sister's family still be put in a 2 bedroom unit at GKTW, or are there larger accomodations available? Looking at the pictures of GKTW, I don't know how they could possibly fit in one unit. Any chance the WISH will put her up at Disney? or another resort? or house?

I'm hoping that my family can go at the same time to see my nieces and nephews experience WDW. We own DVC and I would love for my sisters family to be in the same resort. My sister has spoken to my nephew's doctors about the WISH trip, but hasn't contacted Make A Wish yet, so I have no idea if a Disney resort is an option. I'm needing to make my DVC reservations so that our preferred dates don't fill up, but my sis isn't motivated to move forward with the planning. She's just trying to make it through each day with 7 littles (4 of which have special needs of varying degrees).

Any idea of what accomodations Make A Wish provides for a huge family?

 

[Threeboysandachickie]

GKTW would give the family two villas for 4 bedrooms. Also just so you know the MAW dates are not given out far in advance. Usually families have 3 months notice , and the full process varies by chapter taking up to a year from application sometimes. Be patient and let your sister enjoy this process at her own pace.

Many chapters do not allow families to stay at a Disney resort due to the fees involved. GKTW is an experience all it's own and is the choice of the majority of children and their families. Especially for a family of this size!

 

[Kktraylor]

Ok, now that our trip is coming up in two months, I need outfit ideas. How can I make cheap shirts? Seven of them for one day all matching and then outfits for 3 kids the other days. My kiddos do NOT want to wear normal clothes. Lol

 

[livndisney]

Ok, now that our trip is coming up in two months, I need outfit ideas. How can I make cheap shirts? Seven of them for one day all matching and then outfits for 3 kids the other days. My kiddos do NOT want to wear normal clothes. Lol

You can ask on the creative board to have someone design free irons. Then you can iron on the shirts. I was just at Target today and they have plain tees for 3-5.00 each.

 

[uk mum]

Hi ....we are heading to gktw on sunday will anyone one else be there at the same time as us ?? X

 

[erinalicia]

Hi! I'm Erin. My DH and I have 3 children. We just received confirmation from MAW that my son's Disney Wish was approved. We are looking at going to Disney World around Thanksgiving.

My oldest son, Aidan, had a near drowning accident just before he turned 2. He suffered an anoxic brain injury and is completely dependent on others for all of his care. He is non-verbal, does not crawl, walk, etc. He is completely tube fed. He has epilepsy, asthma and a slew of other issues.

While he wasn't able to express his wish to us, he loves his Disney movies and shows. Our 2 younger children are excited enough about Disney to make up for the excitement that Aidan doesn't show. We wanted to be able to do something fun and memorable with Aidan as a family because he misses out on a lot.

I just stumbled upon this forum last night so getting the hang of this, but I'm glad to have found it.

 

[Meeks23]

I can't believe after a year of planning Trevs wish trip it is almost here!!! We lea e next weekend!!! We are getting SO excited! I can't wait for sunny and warm weather as it has been cold and rainy here.

Now to start making a list so we can start packing soon. The kids are excited about their first plane ride...I'm hoping they will sleep part of the 6 hour trip!

Jackie

WOO HOO!!!!! Hope your trip is super magical

Yep, we are excited!!! We, too, leave very soon. Our adventure begins on Thursday!!! We arrive at GKTW on Friday. I hope everything goes well. We are pretty much packed except for daily essentials and my dh's clothes (of course) ! The boys are missing the last day of school, so they really feel like they are getting away with something. I am ready to go!

YIPPIE!!!!!! have a wonderful trip

Looks like the money situation won't make it to where the whole family can go. We're now tryin to save up enough where they can at least go one day. We figured it'll be about $1000 to drive there Friday night. All go to Magic Kingdom on Saturday then my husband and the other four will drive back Sunday. My mom, myself, and my three will stay for the week. It's not what we wanted but it's better than nothing. Hopefully we can come up with the money to make at least this happen. :-(

I am so sorry that your whole family wasn't able to be included. You guys are in our thoughts that the rest of your plans work out for you *Hugs to you*

We got an email from our wish granters this morning. We are booked at GKTW Sept 2 to Sept 8. Brianna doesn't know yet. Can't wait to see her after school to tell her.

WOOT WOOT!!!! Oh I bet she had the best day ever after hearing that news




I love all the scrapbooking ideas. Before I had kiddos I used to scrapbook (like stuff from High School and for friends)....I think I will have to pull out all my old supplies and start again Thanks for the great ideas and tips!!!

 

[Meeks23]

Hi ....we are heading to gktw on sunday will anyone one else be there at the same time as us ?? X

I hope your family has a blast!!!!!!!

Hi! I'm Erin. My DH and I have 3 children. We just received confirmation from MAW that my son's Disney Wish was approved. We are looking at going to Disney World around Thanksgiving.

My oldest son, Aidan, had a near drowning accident just before he turned 2. He suffered an anoxic brain injury and is completely dependent on others for all of his care. He is non-verbal, does not crawl, walk, etc. He is completely tube fed. He has epilepsy, asthma and a slew of other issues.

While he wasn't able to express his wish to us, he loves his Disney movies and shows. Our 2 younger children are excited enough about Disney to make up for the excitement that Aidan doesn't show. We wanted to be able to do something fun and memorable with Aidan as a family because he misses out on a lot.

I just stumbled upon this forum last night so getting the hang of this, but I'm glad to have found it.

Hi Erin! Welcome We just received our flight info in the mail. We will be at GKTW over Thanksgiving this year... Nov 25-Dec 1....maybe we will see you there!!!

 

[Mommyto4Girlz]

WOOT WOOT!!!! Oh I bet she had the best day ever after hearing that news

Brianna went to school and told all her friends she was going to go and see all the Disney Princesses. She also had me make a countdown calender for my phone so she could countdown the days.. Now let all the planning begin.

 

[taliasmom]

Hi! I'm Erin. My DH and I have 3 children. We just received confirmation from MAW that my son's Disney Wish was approved. We are looking at going to Disney World around Thanksgiving.

My oldest son, Aidan, had a near drowning accident just before he turned 2. He suffered an anoxic brain injury and is completely dependent on others for all of his care. He is non-verbal, does not crawl, walk, etc. He is completely tube fed. He has epilepsy, asthma and a slew of other issues.

While he wasn't able to express his wish to us, he loves his Disney movies and shows. Our 2 younger children are excited enough about Disney to make up for the excitement that Aidan doesn't show. We wanted to be able to do something fun and memorable with Aidan as a family because he misses out on a lot.

I just stumbled upon this forum last night so getting the hang of this, but I'm glad to have found it.

Welcome! Different reasons, but our little peas are in the same pod, not easy momma! Bring your video cam, Talia reacted to Disneyland in ways we thought were long gone. I can't wait to get her to Florida! I'm sure Aidan will let you know how much he's enjoying it. Congrats on the wish!

 

[Lilfoot93]

Hi ....we are heading to gktw on sunday will anyone one else be there at the same time as us ?? X

We will be there the same time!

Hi! I'm Erin. My DH and I have 3 children. We just received confirmation from MAW that my son's Disney Wish was approved. We are looking at going to Disney World around Thanksgiving.

My oldest son, Aidan, had a near drowning accident just before he turned 2. He suffered an anoxic brain injury and is completely dependent on others for all of his care. He is non-verbal, does not crawl, walk, etc. He is completely tube fed. He has epilepsy, asthma and a slew of other issues.

While he wasn't able to express his wish to us, he loves his Disney movies and shows. Our 2 younger children are excited enough about Disney to make up for the excitement that Aidan doesn't show. We wanted to be able to do something fun and memorable with Aidan as a family because he misses out on a lot.

I just stumbled upon this forum last night so getting the hang of this, but I'm glad to have found it.

Welcome!! Everyone on this board has been very helpful! I hope you get the dates you want!

Now to start packing as we leave tomorrow night! Pray the kiddos sleep on the plane as it is a red eye! It seemed to take so long to get here yet at the same time it has come up so fast!

Jackie

 

[Mommyto4Girlz]

Hey! Update: Our flight times and info was recieved today. We fly down in the afternoon and then have an hr layover in ATL. Has anyone flown AirTran before...thought for a first time flyer with small children.

 

[NEmel]

Hey! Update: Our flight times and info was recieved today. We fly down in the afternoon and then have an hr layover in ATL. Has anyone flown AirTran before...thought for a first time flyer with small children.

We have flown Airtran from KC to Orlando. It went fine. Atlanta airport is huge so with just an hour you will have to hurry to your next gate. Take games, movies, & toys to keep them busy.

 

[uk mum]

Hi lilfoot93 .....if you see a family with three girls one of which is in a pink wheelchair and a very tall man , that will be us !!!! X

 

[Mommyto4Girlz]

We have flown Airtran from KC to Orlando. It went fine. Atlanta airport is huge so with just an hour you will have to hurry to your next gate. Take games, movies, & toys to keep them busy.

Thanks. A couple friends of mine said to bring a stroller for the baby. Also do we have a good chance of sitting together?

 

[Lilfoot93]

Hi lilfoot93 .....if you see a family with three girls one of which is in a pink wheelchair and a very tall man , that will be us !!!! X

I will be on the look out!

Jackie

 

[taliasmom]

Aug. 9th - 15th, woo-hoo!

 

[Meeks23]

Aug. 9th - 15th, woo-hoo!

WOOT WOOT!!!!!!!!

 

[angel's momma]

I kept crying on the way home, aware that we were coming back to the reality of our lives.

Being back home has been a hard transition.

Getting away was wonderful , but also made our everyday reality seem all the worse once we got back.

SO excited! Our Molly was granted her wish to "see the princesses" and we're heading to GKTW and WDW on May 15-21.

I hope you had a wonderful trip.

1) About what is the price to eat with characters and is it really worth it?

It really depends on your family. Allears has all of the menus & prices. Breakfasts are cheaper. Dinners are approx. $40 adults/$20 kids (castle is about $67/$40) Any table service meal is going to take about 2 hours or so, and if it's a resort restaurant, that's even more time away from the parks. One complaint I've read, is that the kids are so excited about the characters, they barely eat, and then have to be fed again soon after. We've done most of the character meals, and enjoyed them very much, but it was with free dining. For us, it's just too expensive.

The Doctors said Brook can go to kindergarten, she has been off all of her meds & can have shots to go to school. We went to the registeration day & she was in the classes for a half of the day with all of the other kids. The next day she came day with a fever, I am scared about how the school yr will go, I pray that she will do okay, & not set her illness off again.

Yay for being able to go to school. Hugs about worrying about germs - it's a constant concern for us too.

We got an email from our wish granters this morning. We are booked at GKTW Sept 2 to Sept 8.

Emily. Yay for dates We've flown AirTran quite a few times, but it was before the merger, and we were able to select our seats in advance. Like Melissa said, ATL is huge, but we were always fortunate & our gates were literally right next to each other every time.

Hi! I'm Erin. My DH and I have 3 children. We just received confirmation from MAW that my son's Disney Wish was approved. We are looking at going to Disney World around Thanksgiving.

Erin. So sorry about Aidan's accident and everything he has to deal with. Yay that he's getting a wish

Hi ....we are heading to gktw on sunday will anyone one else be there at the same time as us ?? X

Hope you're having a wonderful trip

My nephew will likely be taking a WISH trip to WDW next spring.

Any idea of what accomodations Make A Wish provides for a huge family?

Like Holly said, some chapters will only do GKTW, but I've read reports where the child specifically requested a specific wdw resort, and the chapter granted the request.

Aug. 9th - 15th, woo-hoo!

Yay!

 

[kalimom6]

I haven't been on here in awhile, life is just so busy. We went on my daughter's trip to GKTW in December 2012. I still miss that time. But life goes on, I am due anytime now with our 7th.
First, I want to tell the previous poster that her sister's family will most likely have 2 villas. My husband and I and our 6 kids fit perfectly in one but I think 8 is the max.
The reason for todays post was I wanted to share something with you. The people who granted my daughters wish is a "project" run by our state highway patrol, not MAW. This project holds 2 reunions a year, one the first weekend in June, the other the first weekend in December. We missed out on the December one as we were on our trip. That was a Christmas party held at a hot springs resort. We can't wait to go this year. The summer reunion is held at an old inn near Glacier National Park. We got there friday night and stayed through sunday. Nothing was out of our pocket besides gas to get there. The kids had helicopter, semi truck, motorcycle, horse and buggy, and, the highlight, red jammer buses. Those buses were built in 1936 and have been restored. Google them, they are very cool. We spent the day in Glacier park.
All the people there were either highway patrol family or wish recipients. Some have been coming for 24 years! One wish recipient, who is almost 22, has a degenerative brain disease. He went to GKTW 6 years ago. Here is what I wanted to share. He wanted to go to the swimming party one night. So on the walk to the pool, he asked his mom if he could do a cannonball into the pool. His mom said no, there are sick kids here and it might be dangerous. He looked at her with a shocked look on his face. He said that there were no sick kids there. They got to thd pool and her and her husband got teary eyed. There were kids with all sorts of illnesses, some visible, most not, wheelchairs in the pool, but yet, looking at them, NONE were sick, they were just kids having fun.
I thought that was so sweet and had to share, because it's true. I am so thankful for the wish project and I cannot believe that still, after granting the wish, they are involved in the life of these kids.
This is long, sorry. And it's hard to edit on my tablet so I apologize for any errors.