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

[kmparrish5]

Taking out a to go order is not a problem as long as they have the Op voucher. Also Mya and I always went to breakfast earlier than my mom and it was never a problem when she would come later on. GKTW is all about making your trip special and about you so they are not really that strict about the rules. Just ask if you are not sure and they will be more than accomodating.

We did most of our food at GKTW in "take-out" meals. Our youngest is completely tube fed and cried when he sees others eat. You just have to ask for take-out containers and they will be glad to help you. In fact, I went in for dinner one night while it was pouring down rain. One of the volunteers followed me around and carried my containers as I filled them up and then hand delivered it to the car. They do whatever makes things easier for you and your family.

 

[monetnj]

Hey Everybody,
First time on the disABILITIES board and I have been wading through the advice and FAQs. Much of it is geared towards wish organizations and kids, so I was hoping you all might be able to help me out with the planning of a bit of a different trip.

I was recently approached by the pastor at my church to help them out in planning a special Disney trip for a family at our church. The father of this family has been living with stage IV cancer for five years and it sadly looks like he may not survive very much longer. The church would like to do something special for them and one of the possibilities is a trip to Disney. Air miles have been donated to take car of airfare and DVC members have stepped forward to offer points for accommodations. Tickets can be purchased at a discount from CM family members. However, I have the following questions:

Is there any service/dept at Disney that we might be able to contact to help with planning?

Since this is an adult being privately funded by our church, is their an equivalent of a make-a-wish or GKTW button that we might be able to arrange?

Besides spending and food money, is there anything we are overlooking?

Any help/advice you could provide would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

 

[yinyanggirls]

What a wonderful church family you belong to. I have heard of at least one "wish granting" organization for adults but I don't remember the name. I would try googling some key words and see if you find anything (unless someone else here can provide a name). My only thoughts as far as expenses are wheelchair or stroller rentals if needed. Also, if the father is weak or dizzy or anything like that, that would make standing in line difficult for him, you may want to inquire about a doctor's note and make sure the family knows how to obtain a Guest Assistance Card. They might be able to eliminate some of his wait time or allow a family member to "hold" his place in line while he rests. Definitely worth asking about.

 

[billwendy]

HI Everyone!

My name is Wendy, and Im going to get to be at Disney at the same time as our cousin and his family. Their son is almost done his chemo for Medullablastoma diagnosed in 11/09. This is going to be a GREAT celebration!! They have 5 children (2-15). I want to help them plan as much as I can because they are so busy with all the kids and their sons chemo/therapy appointments.

What are the must do? not miss? things we should know!!! about GKTW? Disney? seaworld? universal???? I think we will be with them everywhere but universal (DH is a big guy and doesnt think he will fit on the rides - he does fit on everything at Disney though - thoughts on this?). Also, do your passes include Disney Quest? I know Daniel would LOVE disneyquest!!!!

we will be there april 18-24 and are going with MAW Organization.

thanks, Wendy

 

[livndisney]

HI Everyone!

My name is Wendy, and Im going to get to be at Disney at the same time as our cousin and his family. Their son is almost done his chemo for Medullablastoma diagnosed in 11/09. This is going to be a GREAT celebration!! They have 5 children (2-15). I want to help them plan as much as I can because they are so busy with all the kids and their sons chemo/therapy appointments.

What are the must do? not miss? things we should know!!! about GKTW? Disney? seaworld? universal???? I think we will be with them everywhere but universal (DH is a big guy and doesnt think he will fit on the rides - he does fit on everything at Disney though - thoughts on this?). Also, do your passes include Disney Quest? I know Daniel would LOVE disneyquest!!!!

we will be there april 18-24 and are going with MAW Organization.

thanks, Wendy

Hi Wendy!
The "big" rides at Universal have test cars in front so you can see how they work and fit. Seaworld has Manta and Krakken with "harness" type seats. Krakken has the test seat as well. I "think" Manta does, but I have not ridden that one.

I think you would LOVE Universal's IOA. They have Suessland. I don't do the "big" rides anymore, but still find tons of stuff to do at Universal and IOA.

Sending you a PM

 

[pnutallergymom]

HI Everyone!

My name is Wendy, and Im going to get to be at Disney at the same time as our cousin and his family. Their son is almost done his chemo for Medullablastoma diagnosed in 11/09. This is going to be a GREAT celebration!! They have 5 children (2-15). I want to help them plan as much as I can because they are so busy with all the kids and their sons chemo/therapy appointments.

What are the must do? not miss? things we should know!!! about GKTW? Disney? seaworld? universal???? I think we will be with them everywhere but universal (DH is a big guy and doesnt think he will fit on the rides - he does fit on everything at Disney though - thoughts on this?). Also, do your passes include Disney Quest? I know Daniel would LOVE disneyquest!!!!

we will be there april 18-24 and are going with MAW Organization.

thanks, Wendy

Hi Wendy!!

Just wanted to Welcome you!!!! You are leaving the day we are arriving!!

What a celebration!!! How exciting that you get to go with them!! Are you going to start a PTR?? Would LOVE to follow!!

I don't know about Disney Quest, but I am sure glad you asked. My kids would love that too, so I am interested in the answer.

I think the older kids will LOVE US/IOA. Head over to Matty's Trip Report. Pamela did an awesome job of describing the parks there. My 3 older kids loved Jimmy Neutron, Shrek, Simpsons, and MIB. At IOA, I think their fav is Spiderman..and a few others I am forgetting, but if I remember correctly, their were quite a few things they weren't tall enough to get on. They were 7,6,5 at the time. It was alot of coasters. I did Dueling Dragons, it was AWESOME!!!

Originally, we were only going to hit the Disney Parks this wish trip, but then found out our organization is renting us a car (we are staying onsite at AKL) so we will head over to US/IOA, we can probably do the two in one day!! The kids aren't going to be able to go on anything more this time than they were last year.

So, once again, welcome!!! Can't wait to hear about all of your plans!!

 

[yinyanggirls]

Welcome Wendy! Your trip dates are only one day off from ours (4/17-23) so we should see you and your cousins. I believe that DisneyQuest is not one of the tickets you receive, but it sounds like there is more than enough to keep the whole family busy all week. Most families have trouble deciding which things to leave out of the plans because there is too much to do.

Two of the more popular "extras" that Wish families seem to enjoy are makeovers at BBB or the Pirate place ( name???) for the boys, and of course the character meals.

 

[pnutallergymom]

Question for all of you former Wish Trippers, or anyone else in the know???

Can you all give me an idea of travel times to and from GKTW??

Looking for times from the major parks..WDW, SW, US/IOA??

Thanks!!

 

[Momofwishkid]

Hi Wendy!! I cant help with your questions except your DH might wantto check out WDW At Large on allears.net. They have some great advice about how "pooh" sized people fit on rides.
That is so cool you get to go on their trip with them. Cant wait to hear about it.
and the pirate place is called The pirate League at MK. I think it looks really cool we are going to try and do it for the kids.

 

[billwendy]

Hi Wendy!!

Just wanted to Welcome you!!!! You are leaving the day we are arriving!!

What a celebration!!! How exciting that you get to go with them!! Are you going to start a PTR?? Would LOVE to follow!!

I don't know about Disney Quest, but I am sure glad you asked. My kids would love that too, so I am interested in the answer.

I think the older kids will LOVE US/IOA. Head over to Matty's Trip Report. Pamela did an awesome job of describing the parks there. My 3 older kids loved Jimmy Neutron, Shrek, Simpsons, and MIB. At IOA, I think their fav is Spiderman..and a few others I am forgetting, but if I remember correctly, their were quite a few things they weren't tall enough to get on. They were 7,6,5 at the time. It was alot of coasters. I did Dueling Dragons, it was AWESOME!!!

Originally, we were only going to hit the Disney Parks this wish trip, but then found out our organization is renting us a car (we are staying onsite at AKL) so we will head over to US/IOA, we can probably do the two in one day!! The kids aren't going to be able to go on anything more this time than they were last year.

So, once again, welcome!!! Can't wait to hear about all of your plans!!

Im not sure of the plans yet. DH and I will stay on Disney Property as Daniel's family fills up their whole villa!!! lol!!!
We have been to disney before and they are hoping that we will be able to help direct them around while they are there!! I know we are doing Seaworld for sure goodvibes) and they are doing universal. I want to go to universal with them, but DH doesnt cause he says there is nothing for him to do there. How do the rides compare to Disney - he can do everything there.

Hi Wendy!! I cant help with your questions except your DH might wantto check out WDW At Large on allears.net. They have some great advice about how "pooh" sized people fit on rides.
That is so cool you get to go on their trip with them. Cant wait to hear about it.
and the pirate place is called The pirate League at MK. I think it looks really cool we are going to try and do it for the kids.

Im not sure if Daniel has asked for anything extra. I dont even know how the meals work. Do they purchase all of their meals outside of GKTW???? Will we be allowed to visit them at the village? Sorry, Im just so excited!!!

 

[Thumper321]

Question for all of you former Wish Trippers, or anyone else in the know???

Can you all give me an idea of travel times to and from GKTW??

Looking for times from the major parks..WDW, SW, US/IOA??

Thanks!!

According to the GKTW site,

SeaWorld: 20 min.
Hollywood Studios: 15 min.
Magic Kingdom: 20 min.
Animal Kingdom: 20 min.
Epcot: 15 min.

And I think US/IOA is about 20 minutes, too, but I can't find it on there anywhere.

Added: I just looked it up on Mapquest. According to it, US/IOA is 22 minutes from GKTW. Hope this helps!

 

[LindaBabe]

According to the GKTW site,

SeaWorld: 20 min.
Hollywood Studios: 15 min.
Magic Kingdom: 20 min.
Animal Kingdom: 20 min.
Epcot: 15 min.

And I think US/IOA is about 20 minutes, too, but I can't find it on there anywhere.

Added: I just looked it up on Mapquest. According to it, US/IOA is 22 minutes from GKTW. Hope this helps!

From experience, I would say that that is just about correct. It definitely goes better if you hit all green lights on 192, lol.

 

[LindaBabe]

Hey Everybody,
First time on the disABILITIES board and I have been wading through the advice and FAQs. Much of it is geared towards wish organizations and kids, so I was hoping you all might be able to help me out with the planning of a bit of a different trip.

I was recently approached by the pastor at my church to help them out in planning a special Disney trip for a family at our church. The father of this family has been living with stage IV cancer for five years and it sadly looks like he may not survive very much longer. The church would like to do something special for them and one of the possibilities is a trip to Disney. Air miles have been donated to take car of airfare and DVC members have stepped forward to offer points for accommodations. Tickets can be purchased at a discount from CM family members. However, I have the following questions:

Is there any service/dept at Disney that we might be able to contact to help with planning?

Since this is an adult being privately funded by our church, is their an equivalent of a make-a-wish or GKTW button that we might be able to arrange?

Besides spending and food money, is there anything we are overlooking?

Any help/advice you could provide would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

Yes, there is a "special needs" person at Disney - let me see if I can find out how to reach that department. Also, sending you a pm.

 

[livndisney]

According to the GKTW site,

SeaWorld: 20 min.
Hollywood Studios: 15 min.
Magic Kingdom: 20 min.
Animal Kingdom: 20 min.
Epcot: 15 min.

And I think US/IOA is about 20 minutes, too, but I can't find it on there anywhere.

Added: I just looked it up on Mapquest. According to it, US/IOA is 22 minutes from GKTW. Hope this helps!

An important thing to remember about Universal and IOA is travel time from the parking structure to the actual park entrance. There is a series of moving sidewalks, escaltors and elevators for part of the way. And a bag check. Then you have to walk thru Citywalk before you get to a park entrance. You can easily expect to spend 15 minutes from your car to the park entrance.

 

[maroo]

Hey Everybody,
First time on the disABILITIES board and I have been wading through the advice and FAQs. Much of it is geared towards wish organizations and kids, so I was hoping you all might be able to help me out with the planning of a bit of a different trip.

I was recently approached by the pastor at my church to help them out in planning a special Disney trip for a family at our church. The father of this family has been living with stage IV cancer for five years and it sadly looks like he may not survive very much longer. The church would like to do something special for them and one of the possibilities is a trip to Disney. Air miles have been donated to take car of airfare and DVC members have stepped forward to offer points for accommodations. Tickets can be purchased at a discount from CM family members. However, I have the following questions:

Is there any service/dept at Disney that we might be able to contact to help with planning?

Since this is an adult being privately funded by our church, is their an equivalent of a make-a-wish or GKTW button that we might be able to arrange?

Besides spending and food money, is there anything we are overlooking?

Any help/advice you could provide would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

First of all...this is an AWESOME thing you are doing.

I would go to Guest Services as soon as you get to the Disney park and see if you guys can get a GAC for the adult. Not sure how much that will help...it won't be like the magic button they do for the kids, but they should be able to help accomodate them.

I would highly recommend that you guys rent a wheelchair from offsite - preferably an ECV. The Disney buses can transport it and it will help them save their energy for the fun stuff and not worry about going here and there in the parks.

Pushing a wheelchair in the parks is exhausting for the person pushing, so an ECV would be great (assuming they are willing to ride in one).

That is really all I can think of. This is going to be a trip they will never forget.

HI Everyone!

My name is Wendy, and Im going to get to be at Disney at the same time as our cousin and his family. Their son is almost done his chemo for Medullablastoma diagnosed in 11/09. This is going to be a GREAT celebration!! They have 5 children (2-15). I want to help them plan as much as I can because they are so busy with all the kids and their sons chemo/therapy appointments.

What are the must do? not miss? things we should know!!! about GKTW? Disney? seaworld? universal???? I think we will be with them everywhere but universal (DH is a big guy and doesnt think he will fit on the rides - he does fit on everything at Disney though - thoughts on this?). Also, do your passes include Disney Quest? I know Daniel would LOVE disneyquest!!!!

we will be there april 18-24 and are going with MAW Organization.

thanks, Wendy

Hello!!! I am so excited for you guys!!

I think you got all of your questions answered...but I just wanted to say to the wish trippers thread!!

Im not sure of the plans yet. DH and I will stay on Disney Property as Daniel's family fills up their whole villa!!! lol!!!
We have been to disney before and they are hoping that we will be able to help direct them around while they are there!! I know we are doing Seaworld for sure goodvibes) and they are doing universal. I want to go to universal with them, but DH doesnt cause he says there is nothing for him to do there. How do the rides compare to Disney - he can do everything there.



Im not sure if Daniel has asked for anything extra. I dont even know how the meals work. Do they purchase all of their meals outside of GKTW???? Will we be allowed to visit them at the village? Sorry, Im just so excited!!!

They do purchase all meals outside of GKTW - but they should be given an expense check that will help cover that.

You CAN visit the village - just give them his name and they will call them for you to escort ya. And you should be able to still buy meal tickets and eat with them for a very nominal fee.




I have been in and out of the DIS this week. I am pretty sick and have been doing a lot of resting and sleeping. So...I have missed a LOT of updates on your pre-trip reports...any big news? Any questions I have missed? If so, PM me...I will eventually get caught up!

 

[macntosh]

Hey strangers, been a while, but wanted to stop in to say hi!

 

[mistymouse5001]

You have been a very busy girl ! You are already a vet and I see you have become very helpful on the boards ! I'm so proud of you!

 

[casper_jj11]

I understand how the GAC works for most wish children on rides with FP available but what about other rides such as Speedway in MK ... is there a CM near the end of the line that would move wish children ahead?

 

[twinmum]

Hello! I thought you might be interested in Mark's proposed focus for our return trip, Feb 21-28. Does anyone here think I can possibly ride along with him...think of my stomach! I posted this on the Theme Park thread...

Hello! After a magical Wish Trip in 2008, we're returning to WDW at the end of the month. There is no way we could possibly top the pixie dust that was bestowed on us.

Our Wish Kid, an 11 year old boy with cerebral palsy and related medical issues, is on a new mission. His favorite ride is Big Thunder Mountain Railroad - he would ride it all day if he could! On our last trip, the CMs told our son that the record for most MTMRR rides in a day was 33.

So now, our son wants to beat that record. Does anyone here have any idea how I can possibly verify that 33 rides is the daily record to beat? And then, anyone know if there is such a thing as an official record keeper?

Thank you!

 

[billwendy]

I understand how the GAC works for most wish children on rides with FP available but what about other rides such as Speedway in MK ... is there a CM near the end of the line that would move wish children ahead?

hi Everyone!!

Im such a newbie here - When the wish child (and Im assuming 1 parent) get to go ahead in the line, how do you guestimate when to get the rest of the family in line so you all ride at the same time? What if the wish child wants to ride again - do they just get back in line again????? im so not sure????? Anything else I need to make sure I know? Im coming along on a MAW trip and want to help guide as much as I can.

Thanks!!