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

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Lynn is right on the money...

I feel like a broken record when I say my classic line..."Depends on the chapter.".... blah, blah, blah. That doesn't help much, does it? :confused:

It really totally depends.

Here is what I have seen, though, on these boards:

* Very small "parties" - like the one we had for Lauren. We didn't know till the day of and they brought cake, balloons and some gifts for Lauren. The only people that were there were their family (and me, because I was helping her that night). Lauren did her homework because she was stressed about her exams. :rotfl: And William cried because he didn't get any gifts. :upsidedow

I say that last thing to really warn parents that have siblings...if I had known that was going to happen, we would have had gifts for William. :idea: It isn't his trip, but he deals with enough crap all day not to have to watch her open gifts, too...GKTW does a GREAT job with this, providing siblings with very similar gifts during the whole trip so it isn't an issue on the trip itself. :goodvibes

* Medium size parties - where the family and close friends are invited to a restaurant or similar venue and given a cake, balloons and such.

* BIG parties! Where lots of people are invited and even local people from the community may come.

And HUGE parties. These are usually for something specific for the child and have to do with the wish. I saw one of these on the TV this week for a child that had wished for a store - he wanted his own business - and they granted it and had a huge party complete with media coverage!


I have a question about Wish Parties for those who've had them... who comes to those? Did you invite family? I'm sure they are all different. I know we're having one because the lady who is doing the fundraising event for Adri's wish has told me she can't wait to meet us at the party. She's also said that anyone who gave would be invited to come meet her.. but I haven't actually talked with anyone from MAW about this yet. I'm just wondering if this is something we "invite" people to come to. Any insight? I ask is because my parents are divorced and we just have some weird family situations and I hate hate hate birthday parties because everyone has to come and it is really awkward for me (there's no drama, just very uncomfortable). I need to start preparing myself mentally if it's something that grandparents typically go to.

On a different note, isn't tomorrow or Friday the day GKTW is supposed to be The Today Show?

In your case...I would think it will be quite a party...Because aren't they trying to invite the reality TV folks? I would ask in your case...because it may be different for you since you did the Reality Wish stuff??

But...I would think you would normally invite anyone that would be invited to a birthday party. But you could also just make this an immediate family thing and not invite a bunch of people.

I hate that there is so much tension at your family events - that really stinks.

But this one would be totally up to you guys. If there is someone you want to skip for this one, I would skip it. But in your case, I don't think the party will remain a secret...if that makes sense? And could involve media?? But I am totally guessing.


I'm curious about the wish party thing too. All our friends/family live out of state, so we would not really have anyone to invite (except a few neighbors). That just makes me sad and reminds me that I hate living out here by ourselves :(

:hug::hug::hug:

We just had family at Lauren's. I really think the party is basically what you make it, I guess? Living away from family stinks, too! :headache:
 
Lynn is right on the money...

I feel like a broken record when I say my classic line..."Depends on the chapter.".... blah, blah, blah. That doesn't help much, does it? :confused:

It really totally depends.

Here is what I have seen, though, on these boards:

* Very small "parties" - like the one we had for Lauren. We didn't know till the day of and they brought cake, balloons and some gifts for Lauren. The only people that were there were their family (and me, because I was helping her that night). Lauren did her homework because she was stressed about her exams. :rotfl: And William cried because he didn't get any gifts. :upsidedow

I say that last thing to really warn parents that have siblings...if I had known that was going to happen, we would have had gifts for William. :idea: It isn't his trip, but he deals with enough crap all day not to have to watch her open gifts, too...GKTW does a GREAT job with this, providing siblings with very similar gifts during the whole trip so it isn't an issue on the trip itself. :goodvibes

* Medium size parties - where the family and close friends are invited to a restaurant or similar venue and given a cake, balloons and such.

* BIG parties! Where lots of people are invited and even local people from the community may come.

And HUGE parties. These are usually for something specific for the child and have to do with the wish. I saw one of these on the TV this week for a child that had wished for a store - he wanted his own business - and they granted it and had a huge party complete with media coverage!

Maroo, it's been mentioned before, but people should always keep in mind that in many cases there is no party at all. We had someone drop off our packet during the week before we left and ask if we had any questions. And when I say "drop off," I mean "drop off" -- 15 minutes, probably, and only because I blathered on a bit. So it really does vary, but don't feel badly if you live in an area where they don't do anything at all. Our MAW chapter (northern NJ) seems very low key -- just get the job done simply. I think it may be because we live in a truly densely populated area with lots of wish kids -- they just don't have the resources to make a big deal out of each one. But at the same time, they were wonderfully nice, and we really appreciated everything they did for us. We could have cared less if Elke didn't get "a party" (in fact, it would have been one more thing to try to schedule in a difficult family schedule). So I think it's great when wish chapters do this, but future families really need to keep in mind that there are a number of them out there that don't do any party at all.

Maroo's right -- each wish chapter and their resources are so different, and I just appreciated the fact that we had this opportunity at all.
 

It's good to hear what you guys have to say. We are in SC. Until this Reality Wish stuff started, I wasn't expecting a party... I just thought one of the wish granters would be dropping off our stuff. I'm good if it's small, big, or huge :). Medium is not good for me. If it's small then it's just us. If it's big then that means there are enough people there that it's not just us & the blended family - there are enough other people there so no one feels uncomfortable. But if it's just our family, our in-laws, and my parents w/their spouses (both have been married less than 5 years), then it's just plain awkward.

I honestly don't know what to expect. The casting director has been in touch with me a couple of times about various things and she is the one that has mentioned it. I guess it could have the potential to be really big if any reality people actually come, but most of these people are out of state so I really don't have any expectations as far as that goes. But who knows. Someone asked about how that was going - there was a lot of action at first but it has died off some. I guess they've raised right around 4K and she doesn't want to stop until she hits 5K. I know there are a couple of other people that she's waiting to give and to give a big push but they were in the finale of Survivor and weren't able to do anything until after that. She said she would be in LA this week and planned to get some autographs and use that for fundraising too.
 
We didn't have a party either, and even after I invited the wish granters to join us for pizza the night they were coming, they declined. So it was pretty simple for us too, which was fine. We also live fairly isolated, mile wise, from family and how do you choose which casual friends to invite? So it was stress free for us.

What about mentioning that you heard about a party and wanted to know if it would be okay to just have your small family attend whatever they are planning? I'm sure they wouldn't mind and then they would know from the outset that that's what you have in mind.
 
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I agree with Melissa. If its going to be that stressful for you, then let the wish granters know your situation in advance.




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why when I copies and pasted my ticker, it just showed the code instead of the actual ticker :confused3
 
I'm not too sure about our chapter either. But I don't think they do big wish parties.

Last year the wish granters came out about a week or two before we left and brought cupcakes/cookies, balloons and a really cute pincess bag on wheels for her. I was very happy with that. We were just so excited to be going to Disney :lmao: And my youngest two love balloons!!! So if our wish granters do something similar I'm going to try and pick up a few things in advance. Just so that no one feels left out. I'm pretty sure I had to deal with a tantrum or two from my non wish kid!
 
Ok. On my customize page, down at the bottom for "signature permissions" it says
Can Upload Images for Signature - No
Can Upload Animated GIF for Signature - No


I think thats why I can't get my ticker to show.

Who puts these permissions in??? :confused3


Anywho, 4 months from today till Nicky's Wish Trip ( 9/20/10 ) :)
 
I don't think the DIS recognizes the file type you are trying to post.

Does it have an HTML link? That would start with url and http?

Here is the way mine looks in it's code form...

[ url ='http: //www. **************/']
http://www.**************/id/1308639626.gif[/url]

Of course the picture shows up here....

...but I think you need the one that starts with [url='http:// .....
 
So we are going to do one or the other for breakfast with the Princesses. Hayley's wish was to sleep in the castle (which we cannot do) so we thought the next best thing would be to eat at the castle.

We have never been to Akerhaus in Epcot, but I have heard really good things about it and it is a lot cheaper. We did eat lunch at the Castle in 2008 when Grandma was paying for the trip and did enjoy it. I especially love the pictures with Cinderella that they give you. Does anyone know if they give similar pictures at Akerhaus?

Make A Wish will pay for this, but because the castle meals require payment upfront, we will have to pay for it now on a credit card and then they will reimburse us in our expense check.

So what to you guys think? Which one would you do?:confused3

I appreciate any and all replies! Thanks! I want to make an ADR for one of them soon!
 
Photo's are taken at both! :)

Here is the menu for the Akershus (spelling?) -

http://allears.net/menu/menu_nor.htm

Personally...I have not eaten at Akershus - but I have heard that they have better food and a great atmosphere.

Of course, it isn't the castle...so if her heart is set on eating in the castle, then I would go with that. She probably won't care about the food anyway and it is free.

But...if you are going for a different experience and she wants to try a new place, then I say go for the Akershus. :)

You might want to get some opinions on the Restaurants thread, too...I am sure the DIS would have LOTS to say about the subject. :) But the bottom line is...what would she want to do more?

Either way...get an ADR ASAP - they will go really fast.
 
I :lovestruc Akershus!! I may be partial though- we have never eaten at the castle. :confused3 The food was great! :thumbsup2
We went to dinner there and I had the yummy salmon, my mom had the braised lamb and hubby had the specialty of the house that I can neither spell nor pronounce, but its kinda like meatloaf patties. It was yummy! :cloud9: They also have am all you can eat salad type bar thing with traditional and American dishes to start with. The kids menu is the reg kids stuff everywhere, but the princesses are what make it special.
We went for DS1's first birthday and we all enjoyed it. The pictures come with it- ours was with Belle. Then we saw Cinderella, Snow White, Aurora, and Ariel. My DD9 said it was the best part of our trip! DS even got a birthday card signed by all the princesses there that night. :cool1:

If you want pics, go to my TR- the link is in my signature! :goodvibes
 
We saw more princesses at Akerhaus. I don't know if its the same all the time, but when we 1st got there, Aurora was sitting on a throne, and we got our picture w/her, and then several more princesses came to our table for pictures and to sign autographs. As opposed to CRT, where we did get our picture w/Cinderella & her autograph, but nobody came to our table and I was not impressed w/ the food (for dinner) considering the price.
 
We saw more princesses at Akerhaus. I don't know if its the same all the time, but when we 1st got there, Aurora was sitting on a throne, and we got our picture w/her, and then several more princesses came to our table for pictures and to sign autographs. As opposed to CRT, where we did get our picture w/Cinderella & her autograph, but nobody came to our table and I was not impressed w/ the food (for dinner) considering the price.

They just recently changed the CRT experience. The princesses now come to your table and not the Fairy Godmother and mice thing they used to do. I have read quite a bit about this change. So, now they are kinda the same=- but different at the same time- esp price!
 
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