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

[rcq925]

Just curious if we will still get front of the line access to characters and rides during the MVMCP. We are planning on going to Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party, but I want to see if we will still get to the front of the lines with our GKTW and MAW buttons. I know the lines are huge for the characters at these parties. Does anyone know?

 

[jen-y]

The age old question....

I have read a lot of trip reports and taken several trips since we went on our wish trip...and this is what I think.

Some random thoughts...

I think we should plan - but know the whole time that the plans may change and feel ok with that.

Make multiple ADR's. I know...I will be blasted on the DIS for saying that by someone...but really - this is THE trip. The only Wish Trip - and I think it is perfectly ok to make ADR's for more than you think you will really be able to do...especially since we don't know the budget till right before. I definitely think we should cancel any as soon as we know we won't make it... And if there is a real important one to your wish child - make it twice, just in case. I wish we had done this.

Plan. Planning helps you learn Disney. Learn where the crowds go and when - that way you can avoid them . If you have time - subscribe to Tour Guide Mike or Touringplans.com and get an idea of the crowd levels and good and bad parks. I have started to really like Tour Guide Mike on that info. If you understand why you are planning things for certain days, then when you get there and it is pouring down rain or someone gets sick, you will know which park would be best and you can swap things around. (For example - we like Epcot in the rain because there are so many indoor things we want to do. The MK could work this way, too - if you are interested in the indoor type rides.)

But for the wish trip - honestly, you will have a BLAST even if you NEVER plan a thing. GKTW has a LOT for families to do. Really many families could just go there and be busy and happy for several days.

And if you are staying on Disney property - they have lots to do there, too!

There is way too much to do to do it all - so we no longer even try. We pick a few things we really want to do and do those and the rest is icing on the cake.

Maximize "Wish Only" things if you plan to go back for a future trip to Disney. If you know you are going back in a few years, then try to plan those Wish Trip only things to the max. If we could do it over, we would have done more characters and rides and fewer shows. You get more from the "button" that way.

The magic moments will happen. It may be a special CM, a parade, a character or dancing on Main Street - but it will happen. Happens on every trip that has been reported here. Every. One. And I have not seen the same magic moment twice yet, either.

So...random thoughts from Mary are done for the day.

Maroo,

Thanks for the tips. I think I will make a general schedule, but not get too detailed. We have been fortunate to have gone there several times before, and I am sure we will go back, so I should take advantage of the "button" as much as possible. So any tips for that would be great. We are not that into shows, my kids would rather be riding rides. There are some characters we have not met yet (mainly Aladin, Jasmine, and Genie) The only show I really want to see is Fantasmic. I think I will make some more ADR's, as I only have 4 right now. I was thinking about T-Rex, but Nicky gets scared of loud noises, so if the dinosaurs roar loud, that would scare him.

On another note, I have not been to Sea World in probably 10 years. Is there anything special I should not miss there?

Thanks,
Jenny

 

[casper_jj11]

Jenny - The best place we've found for meeting Jasmine, Alladin and the Genie is in Epcot. If you look at Steve Soares site, he indicates the time the characters are out. We've always met them when they come out for the first time of the day, so it meant waiting 5min or so at the place they meet n' greet before their arrival. We've always been the first there. Alladin is almost always with Jasmine but its hit or miss if you see Genie... we've only seen him once and it was raining so the meet n greet was in a room in back of Morocco and not out front by the lagoon. We then head to see Belle and Aurora. Its such a great place to get one on one interaction with teh princesses.

I echo Maroo's commentsa bout TGM. We've used him every trip and we'll use him again on our wish trip just so we can avoid the crowds. Even with the GAC, it'll be nice not to have to push our way around throngs of people.

Sydney is the same with loud noises (thunder in particular) so although I think her brothers would love TRex and Rainforest CAfe, we won't be doing them either.

As for Seaworld, we did it about 2 years ago and I have to say, it wasn't our favourite park. It was nice and the animals were wonderful but we found it incredibly crowded and difficult to manoever. The paths were very tiny for the number of people there and even at 11am, the lineups for food were insane.. we finally ate popcorn for lunch around 1pm. Just nuts! Sydney wants to see dolphins so we'll be going for a 1/2 day this trip to feed the dolphins, visit the nursery, see the dolphin show and feed the sea lions and sting rays. We found there was a lot of waiting for the shows so although the sea lion show is amazing, we'll only be doing the dolphin show this time. If you'd like to see as much as possible, we did only three shows last trip: believe, blue horizons and the sea lion show. They were all wonderful. We also saw the Sesame Street show which was nice. Even if we watned to, I don't think we would have been able to fit in anymore shows. We did the dolphin feeding first and the kids loved it. Early in the morning the dolphins are hungriest so I'd do that first and plan other things around the show schedules. You can see the schedules online about a month before your trip.

 

[casper_jj11]

Yeah! Finally figured out how to add a ticker!

 

[jen-y]

Jenny - The best place we've found for meeting Jasmine, Alladin and the Genie is in Epcot. If you look at Steve Soares site, he indicates the time the characters are out. We've always met them when they come out for the first time of the day, so it meant waiting 5min or so at the place they meet n' greet before their arrival. We've always been the first there. Alladin is almost always with Jasmine but its hit or miss if you see Genie... we've only seen him once and it was raining so the meet n greet was in a room in back of Morocco and not out front by the lagoon. We then head to see Belle and Aurora. Its such a great place to get one on one interaction with teh princesses.

I echo Maroo's commentsa bout TGM. We've used him every trip and we'll use him again on our wish trip just so we can avoid the crowds. Even with the GAC, it'll be nice not to have to push our way around throngs of people.

Sydney is the same with loud noises (thunder in particular) so although I think her brothers would love TRex and Rainforest CAfe, we won't be doing them either.

As for Seaworld, we did it about 2 years ago and I have to say, it wasn't our favourite park. It was nice and the animals were wonderful but we found it incredibly crowded and difficult to manoever. The paths were very tiny for the number of people there and even at 11am, the lineups for food were insane.. we finally ate popcorn for lunch around 1pm. Just nuts! Sydney wants to see dolphins so we'll be going for a 1/2 day this trip to feed the dolphins, visit the nursery, see the dolphin show and feed the sea lions and sting rays. We found there was a lot of waiting for the shows so although the sea lion show is amazing, we'll only be doing the dolphin show this time. If you'd like to see as much as possible, we did only three shows last trip: believe, blue horizons and the sea lion show. They were all wonderful. We also saw the Sesame Street show which was nice. Even if we watned to, I don't think we would have been able to fit in anymore shows. We did the dolphin feeding first and the kids loved it. Early in the morning the dolphins are hungriest so I'd do that first and plan other things around the show schedules. You can see the schedules online about a month before your trip.

We are still debating on whether or not to go to Seaworld. My husband wants to just stick w/Disney. Maybe he's right.

PS. I see since Sydney's afraid of loud noises, you probably would not want to do Rainforest in Chicago. Maybe Pizzaria Uno or Pizzaria Due, to try Chicago Style Pizza. Otherwise I would just eat somewhere at Navy Pier. They have The Bubba Gump Shrimp restaurant and Cheeseburger, Cheeseburger. You could eat outside and people watch

 

[Laurensmom2004]

Have thoroughly enjoyed reading some of your posts!!

I went ahead and started our PTR. I don't know if I can copy/paste the link to it - if not it's in the PTR thread as Lauren's Going to See Mickey!

I know I'll have tons of questions and from what I've seen - many amazing people to try and answer them


Jeannie
David
Jordan
Lauren - age 6 HLHS MAW kiddo

 

[jen-y]

Have thoroughly enjoyed reading some of your posts!!

I went ahead and started our PTR. I don't know if I can copy/paste the link to it - if not it's in the PTR thread as Lauren's Going to See Mickey!

I know I'll have tons of questions and from what I've seen - many amazing people to try and answer them


Jeannie
David
Jordan
Lauren - age 6 HLHS MAW kiddo

Welcome I think you can copy and paste it and then we can just click on the link. If you have your trip date, you should do a ticker. Just click on tickers towards the top of the page and it will guide you thru.

 

[casper_jj11]

Have you thought about Universal? I think we get two days park hopper tickets. I figure my kiddos are too young for two days there but we plan to do one day (1/2 US and 1/2 IOA). I first thought they'd be too young but there really is a huge amount of stuff there ... and DH is a huge harry potter fan so even if we can wander that area would be a fun treat for him.

I'm still looking into the extra activities for Chicago. Navy Pier looks wonderful but I figure with the flight landing at 1130am, it'll be 1pm by the time we get to the hotel and I promised sydney a trip to American Girl first. By the time we get to Navy Pier we really won't have time to see much. We may wander there for a bit but probably won't head to the aquarium. I'm still trying to find a few smaller places we could head to instead.... I've heard there's a beach nearby... she may like that... or a park... I think Grant Park is close by... not sure if there's anything there for her to see.... DH really loved the downtown area of Chicago when he was there a few weeks ago but it was different because, well, he's all grown up Still not sure if looking at nice buildings is something Sydney will actually enjoy... she'd likely enjoy a milkshake stop better

 

[cantwaittoseemickey]

I think 8 is kinda that in between age. My son did the pirate's league with my DH while we were at BBB...so I only saw him after the fact. I guess the good thing about BBB is the varied packages. Carmella still had a ball doing it, and I don't think she realized she was older than the general BBB population , but I did. She had no issues at all walking around all made up all day, especially with her regular clothes.

Sorry if I was wrong about the credit card for reservation. DH made that reservation.

After reading these posts we have decided to cancel our BBB reservation. It seems like she is a bit older for it so she has decided to stick with the face painting in AK if it isn't too hot. I am so glad this was posted.

 

[cantwaittoseemickey]

Have thoroughly enjoyed reading some of your posts!!

I went ahead and started our PTR. I don't know if I can copy/paste the link to it - if not it's in the PTR thread as Lauren's Going to See Mickey!

I know I'll have tons of questions and from what I've seen - many amazing people to try and answer them


Jeannie
David
Jordan
Lauren - age 6 HLHS MAW kiddo

Hi there! Welcome! I can't wait to read your ptr. Make sure to let Maroo know so she can post it to the Wish Trippers Thread

 

[wish_upon_a_star35]

I've kind of been going back and forth about Sea World too. We went last year and it was the least favorite of the kids parks. There are a few things I'd like to go to do. I'd like to get pearls for the kids, and there was a jeweler there who made these awesome gold bracelets last year with gold wire. I got one for myself and lost it. It really broke my heart. I'd love to go and get ther girls bracelets made. Chase wants to feed the dolphins and Courtney wants to ride the big roller coaster there Kraken?

I guess it wouldn't take too long to do those few things...but I just wonder if it's even worth it? We could spend the day somewhere else. So I guess I need to decide what to do.

Also it looks like I'm going to have to take pull ups for Selah She's really been having a hard time holding her bladder. She was doing so well. But lately for the past few months I've noticed it getting worse. Chase on the otherhand does an awesome job! I was just hoping not to have to lug anything extra around!

I was also going back and forth about the double stroller thing. We got a double last year and to me it was a little hard to manuever. The kids were in and out of them so much that it was a little pain. Neither one of them slept in it because it's a little uncomfy. So I'm thinking this year we will just rent a single. Selah isn't much of a rider anyway. Chase is my "Runner" so I'm thinking he will spend more time in it!

I can't believe we are finally down to the 20's for our trip take off!!!!

 

[jen-y]

Have you thought about Universal? I think we get two days park hopper tickets. I figure my kiddos are too young for two days there but we plan to do one day (1/2 US and 1/2 IOA). I first thought they'd be too young but there really is a huge amount of stuff there ... and DH is a huge harry potter fan so even if we can wander that area would be a fun treat for him.

I'm still looking into the extra activities for Chicago. Navy Pier looks wonderful but I figure with the flight landing at 1130am, it'll be 1pm by the time we get to the hotel and I promised sydney a trip to American Girl first. By the time we get to Navy Pier we really won't have time to see much. We may wander there for a bit but probably won't head to the aquarium. I'm still trying to find a few smaller places we could head to instead.... I've heard there's a beach nearby... she may like that... or a park... I think Grant Park is close by... not sure if there's anything there for her to see.... DH really loved the downtown area of Chicago when he was there a few weeks ago but it was different because, well, he's all grown up Still not sure if looking at nice buildings is something Sydney will actually enjoy... she'd likely enjoy a milkshake stop better

We are going to US/IOA, but we actually planned that to be the extended 3 days of our trip. We booked 2 nights at the Nickelodeon Hotel. Its been 5 or 6 years since I have been to US, and I have never been to IOA. US may be boring for little kids. I heard IOA has a nice size area for little ones.

There are public beaches on the lake and the waterfront area goes on for miles. There are usually hot dog stands and stuff like that along the waterfront, so you could just walk that. Grant Park is not a traditional park (no swing sets and slides and stuff) just an area to walk around with gardens and stuff like that. Buckingham Fountain in nice to check out, and thats in the area of the water front and grant park. Also Lincoln Park Zoo is a small zoo near Children's Memorial. I will PM you with the info on the EL

 

[jen-y]

Have you thought about Universal? I think we get two days park hopper tickets. I figure my kiddos are too young for two days there but we plan to do one day (1/2 US and 1/2 IOA). I first thought they'd be too young but there really is a huge amount of stuff there ... and DH is a huge harry potter fan so even if we can wander that area would be a fun treat for him.

I'm still looking into the extra activities for Chicago. Navy Pier looks wonderful but I figure with the flight landing at 1130am, it'll be 1pm by the time we get to the hotel and I promised sydney a trip to American Girl first. By the time we get to Navy Pier we really won't have time to see much. We may wander there for a bit but probably won't head to the aquarium. I'm still trying to find a few smaller places we could head to instead.... I've heard there's a beach nearby... she may like that... or a park... I think Grant Park is close by... not sure if there's anything there for her to see.... DH really loved the downtown area of Chicago when he was there a few weeks ago but it was different because, well, he's all grown up Still not sure if looking at nice buildings is something Sydney will actually enjoy... she'd likely enjoy a milkshake stop better

For the El, go to the CTA website
http://www.transitchicago.com/news_initiatives/5000s.aspx

There is a thing on there kinda like mapquest. Type in your starting point (O'Hare Airport) and the address of your hotel for the destination, and it will tell you which train to take. My husband says there is a train station right at the airport and signs in the airport that direct you to the train station. The only other question would be how far is the nearest train station from your hotel? you may still need to take a cab from the train station to your hotel and from the hospital to the train station (if thats what you are doing) so you may need to investigate that.

 

[maroo]

Have thoroughly enjoyed reading some of your posts!!

I went ahead and started our PTR. I don't know if I can copy/paste the link to it - if not it's in the PTR thread as Lauren's Going to See Mickey!

I know I'll have tons of questions and from what I've seen - many amazing people to try and answer them


Jeannie
David
Jordan
Lauren - age 6 HLHS MAW kiddo

to the DISboards and the Wish Trippers thread!

I will put a link to your PTR on the first page of this thread!

Glad you are here!

 

[maroo]

We have a new Wish Trip PreTrip Report to follow!

Here is the link:

Laurensmom2004 (Lauren) Wish Trip July 11 - 17, 2010 MAW/GKTW

 

[rcq925]

Just curious if we will still get front of the line access to characters and rides during the MVMCP. We are planning on going to Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party, but I want to see if we will still get to the front of the lines with our GKTW and MAW buttons. I know the lines are huge for the characters at these parties. Does anyone know?

I am bumping this because no one has replied yet. Has anyone gone to onw of the hard ticket parties while on their wish trip? Do you still get to bypass the lines for the characters and rides with your magic button?

THanks again!

 

[KatieCharlotte]

Have you thought about Universal? I think we get two days park hopper tickets. I figure my kiddos are too young for two days there but we plan to do one day (1/2 US and 1/2 IOA). I first thought they'd be too young but there really is a huge amount of stuff there ... and DH is a huge harry potter fan so even if we can wander that area would be a fun treat for him.

I'm still looking into the extra activities for Chicago. Navy Pier looks wonderful but I figure with the flight landing at 1130am, it'll be 1pm by the time we get to the hotel and I promised sydney a trip to American Girl first. By the time we get to Navy Pier we really won't have time to see much. We may wander there for a bit but probably won't head to the aquarium. I'm still trying to find a few smaller places we could head to instead.... I've heard there's a beach nearby... she may like that... or a park... I think Grant Park is close by... not sure if there's anything there for her to see.... DH really loved the downtown area of Chicago when he was there a few weeks ago but it was different because, well, he's all grown up Still not sure if looking at nice buildings is something Sydney will actually enjoy... she'd likely enjoy a milkshake stop better

I'm a longtime lurker who recently took a trip to Chicago with little ones. They love the Children's Museum at Navy Pier, but it's expensive (unless you get free admission from being a member of certain science museums in the US and Canada). You can also just walk around and look at the water and eat outside. There's a McDonald's if you don't want to try something more expensive. Shedd's Aquarium is not right there; it's on the Museum Campus.
We also enjoyed downtown Millennium Park, which has the "bean" sculpture (you stand under and see your reflection) and other sculptures interesting to kids but no playground. Our kids also had fun taking the water taxi from behind the Wrigley Building on Michigan Avenue. It's $2 a person one way and there are sometimes online two-for-one coupons you can print. We walked there from the American Girl Place, but it's a bit of a walk.
It was too cold for the beach on the day we spent downtown, but I think there are several close by. We bought 24-hour subway/bus passes for the adults and child over age seven (the little ones are free), which is about the same cost as two rides and a lot more convenient than finding exact change.

 

[kdzbear]

I am bumping this because no one has replied yet. Has anyone gone to one of the hard ticket parties while on their wish trip? Do you still get to bypass the lines for the characters and rides with your magic button?

THanks again!

Yes! It works at both the Halloween and the Christmas parties.

 

[maroo]

I am bumping this because no one has replied yet. Has anyone gone to onw of the hard ticket parties while on their wish trip? Do you still get to bypass the lines for the characters and rides with your magic button?

THanks again!

I am so sorry I missed this question! I really try hard not to do that....


YES! I concur with kdzbear - you DO get to use the button...

And it is a GREAT place to use it because they have the rare characters out and you can see them all! Plus the party gives you one extra "day" to do the Disney Parks for a fairly cheap price. You can enter at 4:00 PM and spend the whole night there.

 

[rcq925]

Yes! It works at both the Halloween and the Christmas parties.

Thank you! I definitely think we will do the party