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

[twinmum]

(as described by a previous poster)

Over 85,000 stars on the ceiling at the Castle of Hearts at GKTW...over 85,000 wishes granted...over 85,000 families touched by the magic of Give Kids the World.

And how many families have been supported here on the Wish Trippers thread? How many Big Gives?

We are so blessed. I am mostly a lurker here, for our son's Wish Trip was in late 2008 and there is much more recent info being provided...but I return to remember, to feel supported, to know that there are other parents just like me, and other Wish Kids just as courageous and strong as our Mark.

Alison

 

[yinyanggirls]

I am one of the originals from the original wish trippers' thread. I am a true believer in Give Kids the World and all things Wish Trippy.
l

Just read your whole TR! What a great trip! Congrats on Lysi being officially cancer free!

Just got MAW/GKTW dates of 5-11 Sept 10, so thought it was about time to get active here.

I find that following a TR is difficult in a forum-style format, so I will be documenting our plans and activities at balloondoggle.blogspot.com should you want to follow along.

I'll check it out if you promise to come over here and let us know when you post something new. And we LOVE pics.

True story - when they first started putting up stars, it never occurred to anyone the family would return, so no one kept tract of the location. After the first family came searching, and it took hours, they began to be more careful and instructed the star fairy to put them in identified rows. One of the people in entertainment has been working on getting a true map. And now, the locations are kept on a computer, so sometimes it is quite easy to find the star. The earlier it was put up the harder it is - but we won't give up. By the way, there are now over 85,000 stars.

Wow! What a job!

 

[balloondoggle]

How you find the start depends upon when the child was at the village. If the visit was within the last few years, the family should have been given a "passport". If they have this, the location of the star is on the passport and they can take it to the Castle and a volunteer will help then find it. If they don't have the passport, then they need to start at the House of Hearts. There they can look up the child's name and get the information that would have been on the passport or at least the month and year of the visit. However, if it was a long time ago - it becomes a bit trickier. At the castle is a big board - looks a bit like a tray that has a map of the ceiling and where starts were placed and when. but the star fairy in the past occasionally got "creative". Also when you look up, there are yellow stars that give the month and year of the row which can help. More recently, they have a rather tempermental camera that can be used for close ups to find the star. I have not volunteered there for several months, so I don't know the status of the camera. Once you have the month and year, go in and ask an angel volunteer to help. Believe me, they want to help. It is big thrill, not just for the family, but also the angel volunteer to locate the star. If all fails, entertainment can be called and someone will bring a big ladder...We can almost always find the star. In fact, if there is a problem, they will tell you to go enjoy the village and someone will locate the star. Sometimes if you look up, you will see a piece of paper on the ceiling. That means that someone from entertainment has found a difficult to locate star and has marked it for the family. If you have a photo - check it to see what the name looks like.

True story - when they first started putting up stars, it never occurred to anyone the family would return, so no one kept tract of the location. After the first family came searching, and it took hours, they began to be more careful and instructed the star fairy to put them in identified rows. One of the people in entertainment has been working on getting a true map. And now, the locations are kept on a computer, so sometimes it is quite easy to find the star. The earlier it was put up the harder it is - but we won't give up. By the way, there are now over 85,000 stars.

Katie

Thanks, that's exactly the kind of info I needed - and an organizational structure I hoped for!

 

[balloondoggle]

I'll check it out if you promise to come over here and let us know when you post something new. And we LOVE pics.

Will do! I expect to take many photos, but will try to refrain from appearing to be the resident cyclops. I'm not one to live life through the viewfinder, which drives my wife nuts because it means there are relatively few pictures of her!

 

[wishin' on a star]

(as described by a previous poster)

Over 85,000 stars on the ceiling at the Castle of Hearts at GKTW...over 85,000 wishes granted...over 85,000 families touched by the magic of Give Kids the World.

And how many families have been supported here on the Wish Trippers thread? How many Big Gives?

We are so blessed. I am mostly a lurker here, for our son's Wish Trip was in late 2008 and there is much more recent info being provided...but I return to remember, to feel supported, to know that there are other parents just like me, and other Wish Kids just as courageous and strong as our Mark.

Alison

Wow...85,000. I cannot wait to see this!

 

[wishin' on a star]

Hello Everyone (Hey Maroo!).

I am one of the originals from the original wish trippers' thread. I am a true believer in Give Kids the World and all things Wish Trippy.

Our Wish Trip was 2 1/2 years ago. Since that time, our little Sugar Baby has been declared officially in remission (6 years cancer free now) thank God!

To celebrate, we are going on a follow up trip to Disneyland Resort. We had hoped to tie this in with our World Passport, but this was not possible. Tonight, I booked our stay at the Disneyland Hotel with 5-day park hoppers, a character breakfast in the hotel, early magic in Fantasyland and Toon Town early madness. Did I mention that I love Disney.

We will stop by Six Flag's Discovery Kingdom so Lin can see a real elephant show.

Bless you all!

Bill

Hi Bill! Wow...congrats on 6 years cancer free. I hope your trip to Disneyland is magical. What a way to celebrate.

I've read some of your links from the first page, and they really help to give us newbies a ton of information. Thanks for being an "original" wish tripper, and making this great place for all of us to share the joys of our wish trips.

 

[maroo]

Hello Everyone (Hey Maroo!).

I am one of the originals from the original wish trippers' thread. I am a true believer in Give Kids the World and all things Wish Trippy.

Our Wish Trip was 2 1/2 years ago. Since that time, our little Sugar Baby has been declared officially in remission (6 years cancer free now) thank God!

To celebrate, we are going on a follow up trip to Disneyland Resort. We had hoped to tie this in with our World Passport, but this was not possible. Tonight, I booked our stay at the Disneyland Hotel with 5-day park hoppers, a character breakfast in the hotel, early magic in Fantasyland and Toon Town early madness. Did I mention that I love Disney.

We will stop by Six Flag's Discovery Kingdom so Lin can see a real elephant show.

Bless you all!

Bill

Hello, Bill!

I am so glad to hear that you guys are doing so well and that you get to go to Disneyland!!

I love Disney, too.

While we are waiting to get together with our wish grantor to finalize dates, I was wondering (and sorry if its been covered somewhere I missed) if anyone can give me an idea of the villa at GKTW. Like bedroom/bathroom wise and types of beds. We are trying to decide if my parents and us (4 adults, 3yr old & 14month old) will be crammed or comfortable all together. And I am reading right when I read that my parents could stay with us even though they are not included in the wish? Understanding that any and all park tickets and such are on their own dime. They have no problem with it, but is anything required from them then if they choose to room with us during our stay? And another question about the food at GKTW, is all of the food sponsored by Boston Market?

Looks like this was answered - and the previous poster was right! Basically it is something that GKTW allows - not really something that is done through the MAW offices (as far as we know).

And the food at Katie's Kitchen is Boston Market, but I believe the cafeteria at GKTW is still Picadilly? Is that right? Can anyone confirm that?

ETA: NOPE: It is Perkins!!

Hi all!

Just got MAW/GKTW dates of 5-11 Sept 10, so thought it was about time to get active here.

I find that following a TR is difficult in a forum-style format, so I will be documenting our plans and activities at balloondoggle.blogspot.com should you want to follow along.

I am writing the blog/TR mostly for family and they all know the cast and plot so if you are interested in following along, some intros will make things easier:
The kids are Kayla, 11; Jason, 7; Emily, 5. For alleged grown-ups, there's me (Rob) and Mom (Gina). Kayla is the Wish Tripper. She has CP/Epilepsy and is pretty much non-verbal or anything else. I'll leave out the details as other CP parents already are familiar and the rest of you have your own worries.

We first tried to get a meet & greet with a musician, but they just couldn't make it happen. The guy spends a lot of time on the road, so I can understand. When it became clear that wouldn't happen we went with WDW. Now we are planning the trip and I've read all the FAQ's, several TR/PTR threads and random selections from elsewhere on DISboards.

One question I have not seen addressed here concerns GKTW: Friends of ours are past trippers. They lost thier daughter 2 years ago. They have asked that when we get there, we try to find and photograph thier daughter's star. Does anyone know if there is a pattern, organizational structure or "map" of where a given child's star goes on that massive ceiling? I would break my neck trying to find it.

Thanks to everyone for the great info I've found here. It's relieved some of the anxiety of traveling with a medically fragile kid.

You guys are going to have an awesome time!!

I will actually be there during your dates! Maybe we will run into each other!

Glad you found us and please update us here every now and then and remind us to keep checking your blog! I love wish trips - on blogs or here!

How you find the start depends upon when the child was at the village. If the visit was within the last few years, the family should have been given a "passport". If they have this, the location of the star is on the passport and they can take it to the Castle and a volunteer will help then find it. If they don't have the passport, then they need to start at the House of Hearts. There they can look up the child's name and get the information that would have been on the passport or at least the month and year of the visit. However, if it was a long time ago - it becomes a bit trickier. At the castle is a big board - looks a bit like a tray that has a map of the ceiling and where starts were placed and when. but the star fairy in the past occasionally got "creative". Also when you look up, there are yellow stars that give the month and year of the row which can help. More recently, they have a rather tempermental camera that can be used for close ups to find the star. I have not volunteered there for several months, so I don't know the status of the camera. Once you have the month and year, go in and ask an angel volunteer to help. Believe me, they want to help. It is big thrill, not just for the family, but also the angel volunteer to locate the star. If all fails, entertainment can be called and someone will bring a big ladder...We can almost always find the star. In fact, if there is a problem, they will tell you to go enjoy the village and someone will locate the star. Sometimes if you look up, you will see a piece of paper on the ceiling. That means that someone from entertainment has found a difficult to locate star and has marked it for the family. If you have a photo - check it to see what the name looks like.

True story - when they first started putting up stars, it never occurred to anyone the family would return, so no one kept tract of the location. After the first family came searching, and it took hours, they began to be more careful and instructed the star fairy to put them in identified rows. One of the people in entertainment has been working on getting a true map. And now, the locations are kept on a computer, so sometimes it is quite easy to find the star. The earlier it was put up the harder it is - but we won't give up. By the way, there are now over 85,000 stars.

Katie

Thank you so much, Katie! And thank you for volunteering!!!

Hello Bill! It's so good to see you here again. I mostly lurk, largely because the frequent posters here have more recent info. This is still such a wonderfully supportive thread. We have Maroo to thank for being our continuity. BLESS YOU MAROO!

I am so pleased to know that your daughter continues to be cancer free!!!

Prior to Mark's Wish Trip to WDW, we had a trip to Disneyland, so if we can help in any way, please let me know. We loved how compact everything was. Still our boys are HUGE Epcot fans, and there were somethings(i.e. Test Track) they really missed.

Best wishes,
Alison

It really isn't just me! There are lots of folks behind the scenes that are doing some amazing things for these families!

 

[alaskanabbott]

I think Gingerbread House is PERKINS

 

[maroo]

I think Gingerbread House is PERKINS

YES!

It is! I had forgotten.

Perkins is correct!

 

[jen-y]

Sorry I have not been on in a while. Nicholas is in Delayed Intensification, so I have been extra busy with that and he had to get blood transfusions yesterday. I am going to try and post some pictures on my pre trip report, but I am computer challenged, so I have had a hard time.
We are waiting for verification from Make a Wish on our trip dates. I requested on or around September 20th becuase some friends and family will be there then, staying at the beach club (with my friends vacation club points).
We are also extending the trip a few days and going to the Nickelodeon water park hotel and Universal Studios. We are Harry Potter fans, so I can't wait to see that there.

 

[Wee Annie]

Jen-y,

glad to hear from you. Hang in there -- Delayed Intensification is really, really hard. I would just cross each day off, one at a time, until we got to the end. Glad you have a trip to think about! Sounds like a great plan to extend so that you can see Harry Potter!

 

[cantwaittoseemickey]

Hello Everyone (Hey Maroo!).

I am one of the originals from the original wish trippers' thread. I am a true believer in Give Kids the World and all things Wish Trippy.

Our Wish Trip was 2 1/2 years ago. Since that time, our little Sugar Baby has been declared officially in remission (6 years cancer free now) thank God!

To celebrate, we are going on a follow up trip to Disneyland Resort. We had hoped to tie this in with our World Passport, but this was not possible. Tonight, I booked our stay at the Disneyland Hotel with 5-day park hoppers, a character breakfast in the hotel, early magic in Fantasyland and Toon Town early madness. Did I mention that I love Disney.

We will stop by Six Flag's Discovery Kingdom so Lin can see a real elephant show.

Bless you all!

Bill

That is wonderful news!! What a perfect way to celebrate.

Hi all!

Just got MAW/GKTW dates of 5-11 Sept 10, so thought it was about time to get active here.

I find that following a TR is difficult in a forum-style format, so I will be documenting our plans and activities at balloondoggle.blogspot.com should you want to follow along.

I am writing the blog/TR mostly for family and they all know the cast and plot so if you are interested in following along, some intros will make things easier:
The kids are Kayla, 11; Jason, 7; Emily, 5. For alleged grown-ups, there's me (Rob) and Mom (Gina). Kayla is the Wish Tripper. She has CP/Epilepsy and is pretty much non-verbal or anything else. I'll leave out the details as other CP parents already are familiar and the rest of you have your own worries.

We first tried to get a meet & greet with a musician, but they just couldn't make it happen. The guy spends a lot of time on the road, so I can understand. When it became clear that wouldn't happen we went with WDW. Now we are planning the trip and I've read all the FAQ's, several TR/PTR threads and random selections from elsewhere on DISboards.

One question I have not seen addressed here concerns GKTW: Friends of ours are past trippers. They lost thier daughter 2 years ago. They have asked that when we get there, we try to find and photograph thier daughter's star. Does anyone know if there is a pattern, organizational structure or "map" of where a given child's star goes on that massive ceiling? I would break my neck trying to find it.

Thanks to everyone for the great info I've found here. It's relieved some of the anxiety of traveling with a medically fragile kid.

Hi welcome to the Wish Trippers thread I am going to try to find a friend of our's star as well. She has asked us to take pictures of it and I was a little worried about finding her star. Her mom said if we let them know the day before they can find it for us for the next day. They went a few years ago.

Sorry I have not been on in a while. Nicholas is in Delayed Intensification, so I have been extra busy with that and he had to get blood transfusions yesterday. I am going to try and post some pictures on my pre trip report, but I am computer challenged, so I have had a hard time.
We are waiting for verification from Make a Wish on our trip dates. I requested on or around September 20th becuase some friends and family will be there then, staying at the beach club (with my friends vacation club points).
We are also extending the trip a few days and going to the Nickelodeon water park hotel and Universal Studios. We are Harry Potter fans, so I can't wait to see that there.

I hope you get the dates you chose. That sounds like a great trip. We are excited to go to the Harry Pottor theme park as well. Our daughter is a huge Harry Potter fan and this has really helped her to feel "included" in Ty's Wish trip to know that she will get to go. It will open a month before we arrive

 

[LindaBabe]

There is a map to the stars and a volunteer will help you find it if you give them the info. Believe me, you *would* break your neck if you had to look up and find it that way ;-)

 

[cantwaittoseemickey]

Deleted mine

 

[maroo]

Hey guys...

Just wanted you guys to be aware that Mya is not doing well.

http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/myaroseharris

You can check there for updates (and please leave her a message - they are so encouraging to her).

It looks like Mya is about to earn her angel wings. She is in a lot of pain.

 

[tinkermomofjamie]

Hi all...

My name is Connie and I am new here. I would like to tell a little about myself and Jamie...

Jamie is my 10 year old little cousin. She has been raised by my grandparents since the day she came home from the hospital (her mother was and is still a drug addict.) She was born with many problems, one of which is her kidney. She had a kidney transplant in 2005 and is doing MUCH better!! on July 28,2009 my grandparents were on the way home from her renal appointment at Texas Childrens Hospital, when a man rear-endedtheir car 2 times because of road rage. My grandfather got out of the car and went to the man's truck and was arguing with the guy. The man drove away and dragged my grandfather on the highway. He was taken to the hospital and later died. Jamie witnessed all of this! In November, she was taken from my grandmother and placed with the pastor and his wife because she didn't want to change schools. The pastor's wife decided Jamie was too much for her to handle and wanted her gone! Jamie then came to live with me. I just love her to pieces and am so glad she is with me.

We found out a few weeks ago that she is going to have a wish thru Make-A-Wish. She really wants to go to WDW, but has to give them 2 different wishes. I was hoping to get some suggestions and see if there is any way to guarantee her real wish of going to WDW. Any help and/or suggestions would be GREAT!!

Thank you all in advance for your help. I am looking forward to anyone's suggestions.

Have a wonderful day!!

 

[pacrosby]

Hi Corinne and welcome to you!!!!

What can I say about the circumstances of your cousin's situation. How sad. Yet how wonderful that you have been able to jump in and be her guardian angel I'm sure she feels as blessed to have you as you do to have her.

Congrats on being approved for a wish. MAW is such a wonderful organization. They do such incredible things.

Regarding your question, we were told the same thing BUT my son really didn't have another wish so that's what we told them. I think that they ask for more than one because some wishes are not be able to be be granted thus they need a back-up. But a wish to go to WDW? That's an easy one. If Jamie really doesn't have any other wish I'd just recommend that you tell them that. I'd be really surprised if they tried to push you to come up with something that really wasn't a 'wish' at all (and if they did you could always say 1st wish is to go see Mickey and the 2nd is to go see Minnie )

Hi all...

My name is Connie and I am new here. I would like to tell a little about myself and Jamie...

Jamie is my 10 year old little cousin. She has been raised by my grandparents since the day she came home from the hospital (her mother was and is still a drug addict.) She was born with many problems, one of which is her kidney. She had a kidney transplant in 2005 and is doing MUCH better!! on July 28,2009 my grandparents were on the way home from her renal appointment at Texas Childrens Hospital, when a man rear-endedtheir car 2 times because of road rage. My grandfather got out of the car and went to the man's truck and was arguing with the guy. The man drove away and dragged my grandfather on the highway. He was taken to the hospital and later died. Jamie witnessed all of this! In November, she was taken from my grandmother and placed with the pastor and his wife because she didn't want to change schools. The pastor's wife decided Jamie was too much for her to handle and wanted her gone! Jamie then came to live with me. I just love her to pieces and am so glad she is with me.

We found out a few weeks ago that she is going to have a wish thru Make-A-Wish. She really wants to go to WDW, but has to give them 2 different wishes. I was hoping to get some suggestions and see if there is any way to guarantee her real wish of going to WDW. Any help and/or suggestions would be GREAT!!

Thank you all in advance for your help. I am looking forward to anyone's suggestions.

Have a wonderful day!!

 

[wishin' on a star]

Hi all...

My name is Connie and I am new here. I would like to tell a little about myself and Jamie...

Jamie is my 10 year old little cousin. She has been raised by my grandparents since the day she came home from the hospital (her mother was and is still a drug addict.) She was born with many problems, one of which is her kidney. She had a kidney transplant in 2005 and is doing MUCH better!! on July 28,2009 my grandparents were on the way home from her renal appointment at Texas Childrens Hospital, when a man rear-endedtheir car 2 times because of road rage. My grandfather got out of the car and went to the man's truck and was arguing with the guy. The man drove away and dragged my grandfather on the highway. He was taken to the hospital and later died. Jamie witnessed all of this! In November, she was taken from my grandmother and placed with the pastor and his wife because she didn't want to change schools. The pastor's wife decided Jamie was too much for her to handle and wanted her gone! Jamie then came to live with me. I just love her to pieces and am so glad she is with me.

We found out a few weeks ago that she is going to have a wish thru Make-A-Wish. She really wants to go to WDW, but has to give them 2 different wishes. I was hoping to get some suggestions and see if there is any way to guarantee her real wish of going to WDW. Any help and/or suggestions would be GREAT!!

Thank you all in advance for your help. I am looking forward to anyone's suggestions.

Have a wonderful day!!

Hi Connie, and
I am pretty new here too, but I thought I would share our experience with Make a Wish. My daughter's first wish was also to visit Disney World, but they did say they needed a second wish "just in case". I'm guessing that having two possibilities is standard for all wishes, and most cases they will grant the first wish. It seems to me that a wish for Disney is one of the easiest for them to grant because of Give Kids the World and the fact that WDW, US/IOA, and Seaworld are already on board with the whole wish thing and know how to make it special for MAW kids.

We are going in May, and we're so excited. YOu will find LOTS of great advice and support here, so stick around and share Jamie's wish story! When will the wish granters come?

 

[balloondoggle]

I'm guessing that having two possibilities is standard for all wishes, and most cases they will grant the first wish.

This is most likely the reason. WDW was actually Kayla's second wish, as they were unable to set up the first choice after 2 years. It happens sometimes, so having a Plan B is a good idea.

 

[that's nice]

I know there are quite a few new families that have joined in the last few days... Just wanted to say WELCOME!!!!! If any of you have any questions ask away. You have found the friendliest thread on the DIS Boards! Any dad's out there don't forget to check out the DIS Dad's thread as well HERE

I have also taken the liberty of 'borrowing' (AKA stealing) a great write up of 'How to Multi-quote' that was posted on the DIS Dad's thread by FreezinRafiki (Barry). Original post HERE

Notice how the button turns orange when you click it.

Once you click all of the posts you want to multiquote, then you click Post Reply. Your screen should look like this then:

You can type your responses where I've shown in red. I also use the "Preview Post" button that is right next to the "Submit Reply". It will show you what your post will look like without actually posting it. You can then go back and make changes if something is wrong.