I use www.************** for my tickers.
I really like it because they let you create multiple tickers and let them rotate like a banner.
At some point I need to update mine.
maroo ... if your child really has a hard time waiting .... Is this normal? Ash can go in to a full blown fit waiting for anything
Lauren is not my child - although I would LOVE to claim her!
I actually don't have any kids of my own. I take care of Lauren and Rachel and actually get paid a little from Medicaid for "respite" care for both of them. I have a regular job fighting with insurance companies as a coder (medical billing).
I ended up on this board because I planned Lauren's trip for them and went on the trip to help with Lauren's needs. Then I went with Rachel's family this past December and am going again with Lauren's family this November.
I get that a lot...lots of people think I am Lauren's Mom because I tend to do the "extra" stuff with her...like field trips and anything on the weekend because that is when her Mom works...I actually had to tell one of the teachers at her school on Tuesday that I wasn't her Mom.
Boy was she confused.
Rereading that paragraph, I realize it sounds like I am saying her Mom really isn't around...which is not at all true. Her Mom takes care of all of her morning stuff (which is 3 plus hours every morning) and all of her afternoon stuff. Sometimes I help with homework (which is a constant chore), but it is mostly her Mom that does all of that stuff.
Someone basically has to be by Lauren's side all day long. Flipping pages and writing for homework, setting up her computer, getting out books, etc. And cooking her meals, feeding her. Transferring from her chair, dressing, showering...everything you do all day for yourself, someone has to do for Lauren. It really is a full time every single minute is filled sort of task.
But to your question...
Lauren really doesn't have a terrible time with the waiting. But the line itself can be problematic because if it is a long line (over 45 minutes) then she has to stop the line to lean back in her chair and do pressure relief. This takes about 5 minutes and in a snaked line, it is just a pain for her and all those around her. Then she really has to do pressure relief before she gets on a long ride or something, too.
She also does not have much stamina. At the parks, with all of the things moving around, she has trouble not getting dizzy and it takes a lot of her concentration to keep herself from getting sick from the movement. And she really can only go a few hours before she needs to take a long break.
So we do plan to get a GAC for her when we return to Disney in November.
The WISH Trip GAC is a "green light" GAC, which basically tells the CM to expedite your trip as much as reasonably possible.
The GAC Lauren and Rachel get when they go is not as robust, but it worked for us just fine in December and I am hoping it works for us in November, too.
When you go on your wish trip, you will already have a GAC issued to you (this only applies to those staying at GKTW or through GKTW), so you won't have to worry about getting one at the parks.
Hello everyone! I just wanted to stop by and introduce myself. I've spent a good bit of time reading a few PTR's and finished TR's this morning! Needless to say my eyes are all swollen and puffy from crying and my sides hurt from laughing!
My name is Leah and my 3 year old son Chase got approved for a wish! Last year my daughter Selah who is 5 got approved for a wish and without any hesitation she wanted to Go to Disney and meet the princesses!
It looks like we are lucky and blessed enough to be able to go back again. I've posted a link to my PTR in my signature!
I just wanted to wave at you all! You are an amazing group of people and I am absolutley excited to have been pointed towards the boards! (Thank you tinytreasures)
to the DIS and the wish trippers thread!
Tell Kathleen that I said hello!
I will put a link in the first page for your pre-trip report and we will all follow along.
By the way Maroo, I can't seem to post in my wish trip thread. Can you tell me how to fix this? I would really like to finish our trip report, their are so many more fun things I need to tell you all about.
Hello!
You can just email a Moderator for that forum and they will unlock your thread for ya!
Then come over here and let us know you are posting to it...to make sure all of the new folks can follow along! I can't wait to hear from you guys!!
And I am so thankful things are ok with your family!!
I have a little more time now so let me introduce myself a little bit more. My daughter, Adri, is a spunky little toe-head that is quite the princess and never stops talking. In early January she had a weird spell of staring into space... we found it strange but she did it 3 times the next day so I called the doctor. They said to bring her in and she actually did it while we were there. She felt sure she was having absence seizures and scheduled an EEG. I have some cousins that had childhood epilepsy so we were prepared for that diagnosis. 6 days later we were keeping her up late for her scheduled EEG and the seizures got longer and progressively worse. We called 911, rushed to the ER, had a CT scan that revealed a lesion, had an MRI that revealed a brain tumor, and had surgery 4 days after that. Her surgery was 2 days shy of 2 weeks from the first time anything abnormal had happened at all. It was truly a whirlwind! We were in the hospital for 2 weeks then once week after we left, we moved! In the midst of that my husband was juggling his dissertation proposal and we had a then 4 month old. Our life was C-R-A-Z-Y. We're just over 2 months removed from that time and I wonder how my head is on straight.
The good news is that the tumor was grade 2, not very aggressive, and the immediate follow-up scan showed that it was all removed from the resection. There was one tiny spot that was somewhat questionable that will be watched closely. Her first follow-up MRI is in a month. If you saw her today you'd think I was telling you a lie because she looks and acts like any other 3 year old. It's really remarkable how resilient kids can be. If the tumor comes back or if any is still there she will have another surgery or chemo. Hopefully neither!
Some friends of ours had a similar story with their 14 year old a few years ago. She did Make-A-Wish and that was the first time I realized that it wasn't jut for terminal patients. She referred us, they got the information to our doctor, and then we heard a few weeks ago that Adri was eligible. We were so so so excited!
I knew without a doubt that she would pick Disney. She is quite the princess and was Cinderella for Halloween. We actually took a quickly planned 4 day Disney trip last spring. I was 16 weeks pregnant and it was one of those, "well we may as well go while she's still free" trips. We had fun - but being pregnant and taking a just-turned-2-year-old was exhausting. We didn't do any character meals or anything like that. It was fun and we were so glad we did it, but we definitely didn't get to do it "all the way."
When our wish granters came out, they talked with us a little about the trip and told us that we'd be staying at GKTW. I think I may have heard of it but didn't know much about it. The more I read and find out, I am just giddy with excitement. I know that this trip is going to be an amazing opportunity for our family. And after the month from hell and having to watch your 2 year old go through brain surgery, it's nice to have something to get excited about!
My husband is a school administrator and is finishing up his PhD. Today we realized that the dates we initially put down as our 1st and 2nd choice were going to be the weeks leading up to his defense of his thesis, which is bad timing. I called my wish granters and changed our preferences so that's where we stand now. I'm so anxious to find out for sure when we'll be traveling and get started with planning. I'm learning so much just by reading through all of your TRs and just this entire thread in general.
When we take the trip Adri will be about 3 1/2 and Cooper will be 9 months.
I have so many questions, but I'll start with these:
1 - Do all MAW-ers get "the button"?
2 - Our son will be 9 months -- has anyone else been with a baby? What was your experience?
3 - Even if your "wish" is Disney related and you stay at GKTW, do you still get the Universal tickets?
!!
To answer your questions...
1. Yes!
All Wish Kids staying at GKTW do get the special button!
2. No babies here...but I have seen several families taking their baby. I think the hints really depend on what time of year it is. You may want to check on the "Disney with Families" part of the DIS - I don't spend much time there, since I don't have kids, but I am sure they have a ton of hints. My main hint would be to take full advantage of the First Aid areas. They have a great first aid stations (more like "clinics") and you can take care of any needs you have there. They will even give you free Advil or Tylenol if you need it. (And you may.
)
3. Yes! All GKTW families get basically the same package... you get a 3 day Disney Park Hopper Ticket, 1 Day at Sea World and 2 days for Universal.
I can give you the link to the GKTW website...which can give you more info...but it has major SPOILERS...so you may or may not want to read up on there. For me...I wanted all of the information and didn't care if I was surprised at all...I let the family be surprised a few times.
Corinne, if a TR is "dormant" for a long time the moderator's lock it, or so I've heard. I think you just need to request a moderator to re-open it.
What a blessing that Adri is doing so well. I'm sure it was a crazy time for your family!
Everyone staying at GKTW for a wish trip get a button, or rather every wish kid.
I know there is one TR right now of a family that took their infant. The Disname is Reyasmommy, I think.
If your wish organization sends you to GKTW, they are the ones who supply you with all of the park tickets. The standard appears to be 3 day Disney, 2 day Universal and 1 day at Sea World. They also have other neat places and activities they can get tickets to if you are interested. You'll read about some of those in others' trip reports.
You are exactly right!
, wished to go to Disney and meet Sleeping Beauty. We are heading down and staying at GKTW May 17th-23rd!
We are so excited at how fast MAW put all of the plans together, and now we're scrambling to figure out what we will do with our time while we are down there. I have explored these boards a bit, and I think I understand how to start a pre-trip report, so that is next on my list. I just wanted to say hello first...I'm sure I will have LOTS of questions.
