Hello! I'm brand new to this board/forum. I have so many questions but I'll introduce myself first. My name is Sharon, and my 8 year old daughter Abigail has been granted a Make-a-Trip to Disney World.
Hello! Like NH-to-FL above I thought I would try to help answer some of these questions too, although they also had some great answers!
1. Like NH said, it all depends, but maybe not. I believe Disney works with GKTW to still give out Genie passes. Not to be confused with Disney's new Genie reservation system, these are basically unlimited FastPasses which will let you go directly into the FastPass lines without making reservations. This can significantly help you get through rides faster than other park guests, so you should be able to do a lot more than the average guest. You also get park hoppers so you can visit multiple parks a day. Since you will only be getting a three day pass this means you can't do one park a day and get to all four parks, but you can at least try to get to all of them if you do half a day at one park and a half a day at another. I always say it's hard to travel with a large group since everyone is moving at different speeds and you'll be stopping for the bathroom all the time (lol) but it's of course doable. If I was you, I would sit down with Abigail and the family and see what parks you are most excited to go to, and what rides and shows you want to see and plan from there. For example, if you have massive Star War fans you'll want to plan to spend more time in Hollywood Studios, but if you have people who don't need to do all the thrill rides and want to do some of the classic, slower rides than you'll want to plan a full Magic Kingdom day. Remember to plan for travel, because it can take a solid half an hour to travel between two of the theme parks, and a little longer for Magic Kingdom. I also don't know what Abigails stamina is like, or how good the youngest ones are with napping, but you might want to plan to take it easy in the afternoon (maybe plan a nice sit down meal in the AC to relax and recharge). GKTW is relatively close, but a little too out of the way to go back in the afternoon for a nap.
Universal is a little easier to do everything in a day. The two parks are right next to each other (a little further than
Disneyland and California Adventure are, but still only a few minute walk). When I worked at attractions at Universal, we didn't just send wish families in through the Express Lane (Universal's name for FastPass/Lighting Lanes) - we sent them directly to the front of the line. I think in some attractions they even walk you in through the exit and put you right on the ride vehicle. This might have changed so don't quote me, but at the very least you'll get the VIP treatment and also not need to wait on long lines, so you can get through things a lot quicker. Universal rides tend to be more for older kids, but there is still plenty for young kids and babies to do, but if you aren't into extreme rides you can get through things quicker. Plan lots of time in the Harry Potter areas if that appeals to your family!
2. I was a Make-A-Wish wish granter, and I believe it was up to MAW, not GKTW if grandparents could join the trip. We were told that the standard wish or trip would just included the wish kid, parents, and siblings living in the house under 18, but I think they made some exceptions. I would check with your wish coordinator on that. MAW will book the trip with GKTW, and if the grandparents aren't part of the reservation I don't think they will be allowed to stay overnight at the village. As of now it sounds like you'll already have a full house! They will probably either put you into one of the three bedroom villas in Banyan Park (which is more apartment style), which I believe can fit 9 or 10 people, or they will give you both sides of the two bedroom villa, giving you a combined four bedrooms. If they can't stay with you there are plenty of hotels in the area.
3. Either. Do you know if you will be getting a rental car or if you will be using Mears Transportation buses at GKTW? This is something to ask your wish coordinator about. I don't think they will get to ride the buses with you, but if you all have rental cars it might be nice for them to be near you, especially if they want to visit the village. Staying on property will also be convenient for them too and they can easily take the Disney transportation to meet you at the parks each day.
I'm not sure if your skip the line perks will work for the whole extended family. Usually a Disney they provide a pass that lists the amount of people on your party (in your case 9) and the CM at the line will only let those 9 people go through the fastpass line with you. Sometimes you'll get a CM who doesn't really care and will let everyone come along in your party. It's a toss up. But if they aren't on your GKTW reservation I wouldn't guarantee it. However, you can still do things together at the parks. For example, you can all meet up during the day for meals, or all stand together while waiting for the fireworks. There is also places like Disney Springs and Citywalk where you can all spend time together. If you are making dining reservations though you should try and get on that ASAP because it might be hard to get a reservation for your whole extended group.
And yes, I believe they can all visit you at GKTW. You should double check with them to be sure though. The one time I volunteered, they mentioned that they asked guest to pay a reasonable price (I think $5) for guests to join wish families for meals at the village. This was all before Covid though and I'm not sure if anything has changed since then.
Let us know if you have other questions! I think there are some threads in here about traveling with large groups that you may want to check out. Don't be afraid to split up - if your sister and her family want to do something your group doesn't want to do, it might be best just to split the group and have them go their own way.
to DISBoards and the Make a wish forum!
visit!
) is her favorite character. So she was super excited about getting her very own Genie pass as we showed her our sons to prepare her (she is neurodivergent and VERY difficult with accepting change). Now after some research I saw that the pass changed from the Genie pass to a “wishes” pass. I’m having a 
moment now even showing her the Genie pass. Does anyone have a picture of what the new pass looks like so I can show her a picture? I’ve only found like two pics and they’re so far back I can’t tell what the blue circle even is lol. (Obviously crossing out your name/dates/party if that’s more comfortable). I’m hoping I can prepare her well enough ahead of time by showing her the new pass and possibly making it special for her ahead of time somehow? (Any ideas mamas? I was thinking matching shirt or something). Ahhhhhhhh, open mouth insert foot moment mom!
