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

[J'sMum]

I have been a member of the boards here for a few months, but I didn't want to post until we officially had a wish granted, soI think it is time to introduce myself and tell a little bit about our Wish Child.

My wife and I have been blessed with twelve children, eleven of which have been very healthy. Four of them are married, and we have four grandchildren so far.

Our tenth child, Wendy has been diagnosed with Cushing's Syndrome - a very rare condition caused by too much Cortisol, a stress hormone. Her condition is even more rare because it is caused by cancer cells in her pancreas.

This past Monday, we met with two Make A Wish volunteers so Wendy could officially make her wish - a trip to Disney World!
She really would like to stay on property, preferably at Wilderness Lodge, but would settle for anything really. The volunteers said they would send the five youngest children, and possibly one more who just turned 19 because she has been a big help taking care of Wendy.
As far as dates, they are looking at February or March of next year which is fine with us. If that doesn't work we will probably wait until September or October as we don't want to go during the hot summer months.

I will give more details later, but have to get to bed now.

Hello ! wowwie , big family you have! how wonderful that your kiddo has been blessed with a wish. Congrats on that and ! Glad you found your way here. Will you be starting a PTR ?

 

[maroo]

I think technically you can not do EMH's without staying onsite, however as a wish kid, they may make an exception.

I do not believe Typhone Lagoon tickets come with the wish.

I am also debating on MNSSHP. I have always wanted to go, and intentionally picked September for that reason, but now I see that the tickets are expensive. About $200 plus park admission, so I just don't know if we can swing it I am wondering if we wait till we get there to make our decision, if tickets will be sold out.

The only issue I see with your itenerary (and everyone may not agree) is that you may have too much "hopping" some of the days. Thats more of a personal opinion, but last year we went (before Nicky was diagnosed) and I did a lot of hopping, like AK for breakfast, Epcot for lunch, and MK for fireworks. I felt like we wasted a lot of time going from place to place, and it was exhausting. This time, we are going to try to spend most of the day in one place if possible.

I really think that the folks at Guest Services would help you out on being able to do EMH, if you wanted to. Just go to Guest Services and let them know the situation and I really think they would make that happen somehow - and maybe even add some more pixie dust!

Have you asked your wish granters about going to MNSSHP and letting them cover it? Some chapters let the wish child do one extra thing and that could be yours - since it is fairly expensive.

Depending on the date, I don't think it would be sold out. Later in Oct someone may have issues (around Halloween) - and it is possible someone could have issues on Oct 4th because their are tickets being given to EACH person that runs in the 5K that weekend...so then their family will have to buy some, etc, etc. Was that the night you were planning on going? PM me about this...I have an idea.

Does anyone have a good Mickey Ears clip art I can use?
I want to put Mickey Ears on the bright green cardstock so that people know I am a disboarder, and I am actually having a hard time finding a picture to use.

If the link below didn't work, check the DISIGNS board at the bottom of the DIS - they have a TON of mickey heads that may work. And they will design one for you that has your name on it, if you want.

Do you have a Home Depot in your area, they *may* have some extra lime green Mickey Heads there in the paint section. I used to put those paint chips back to back and laminate them and write "maroo" on them...it worked really well!

I have been a member of the boards here for a few months, but I didn't want to post until we officially had a wish granted, soI think it is time to introduce myself and tell a little bit about our Wish Child.

My wife and I have been blessed with twelve children, eleven of which have been very healthy. Four of them are married, and we have four grandchildren so far.

Our tenth child, Wendy has been diagnosed with Cushing's Syndrome - a very rare condition caused by too much Cortisol, a stress hormone. Her condition is even more rare because it is caused by cancer cells in her pancreas.

This past Monday, we met with two Make A Wish volunteers so Wendy could officially make her wish - a trip to Disney World!
She really would like to stay on property, preferably at Wilderness Lodge, but would settle for anything really. The volunteers said they would send the five youngest children, and possibly one more who just turned 19 because she has been a big help taking care of Wendy.
As far as dates, they are looking at February or March of next year which is fine with us. If that doesn't work we will probably wait until September or October as we don't want to go during the hot summer months.

I will give more details later, but have to get to bed now.

to the Disboards and the Wish Trippers thread!!

Wow! You have a crew with you! I bet that is a lot of fun!

Feel free to ask any questions here and make sure to check the 2nd post of this thread (it is on the first page, past all of the Trip Report links) - and if you want to do a pre-trip report, we would love it!

 

[rcq925]

I have been a member of the boards here for a few months, but I didn't want to post until we officially had a wish granted, soI think it is time to introduce myself and tell a little bit about our Wish Child.

My wife and I have been blessed with twelve children, eleven of which have been very healthy. Four of them are married, and we have four grandchildren so far.

Our tenth child, Wendy has been diagnosed with Cushing's Syndrome - a very rare condition caused by too much Cortisol, a stress hormone. Her condition is even more rare because it is caused by cancer cells in her pancreas.

This past Monday, we met with two Make A Wish volunteers so Wendy could officially make her wish - a trip to Disney World!
She really would like to stay on property, preferably at Wilderness Lodge, but would settle for anything really. The volunteers said they would send the five youngest children, and possibly one more who just turned 19 because she has been a big help taking care of Wendy.
As far as dates, they are looking at February or March of next year which is fine with us. If that doesn't work we will probably wait until September or October as we don't want to go during the hot summer months.

I will give more details later, but have to get to bed now.[/QUOTE]

to the Wish Tripper Thread!

Wow, 12 kids!! You guys are brave! I can barely handle the two I have!

So glad that Wendy is getting her wish! You guys will have an awesome time. I know she wants to stay on property, but check out Give Kids the World on the web. I think it would be much easier for the large number of people you have to stay there. Also all the meals would be included there, and if you stay on WDW property you will be responsible for your own meals.

 

[Haybuggsmom]

I have been a member of the boards here for a few months, but I didn't want to post until we officially had a wish granted, soI think it is time to introduce myself and tell a little bit about our Wish Child.

My wife and I have been blessed with twelve children, eleven of which have been very healthy. Four of them are married, and we have four grandchildren so far.

Our tenth child, Wendy has been diagnosed with Cushing's Syndrome - a very rare condition caused by too much Cortisol, a stress hormone. Her condition is even more rare because it is caused by cancer cells in her pancreas.

This past Monday, we met with two Make A Wish volunteers so Wendy could officially make her wish - a trip to Disney World!
She really would like to stay on property, preferably at Wilderness Lodge, but would settle for anything really. The volunteers said they would send the five youngest children, and possibly one more who just turned 19 because she has been a big help taking care of Wendy.
As far as dates, they are looking at February or March of next year which is fine with us. If that doesn't work we will probably wait until September or October as we don't want to go during the hot summer months.

I will give more details later, but have to get to bed now.

WELCOME!!!
I'm excited to hear about your plans!!

 

[Mom2mitokids]

I have been a member of the boards here for a few months, but I didn't want to post until we officially had a wish granted, soI think it is time to introduce myself and tell a little bit about our Wish Child.

My wife and I have been blessed with twelve children, eleven of which have been very healthy. Four of them are married, and we have four grandchildren so far.

Our tenth child, Wendy has been diagnosed with Cushing's Syndrome - a very rare condition caused by too much Cortisol, a stress hormone. Her condition is even more rare because it is caused by cancer cells in her pancreas.

This past Monday, we met with two Make A Wish volunteers so Wendy could officially make her wish - a trip to Disney World!
She really would like to stay on property, preferably at Wilderness Lodge, but would settle for anything really. The volunteers said they would send the five youngest children, and possibly one more who just turned 19 because she has been a big help taking care of Wendy.
As far as dates, they are looking at February or March of next year which is fine with us. If that doesn't work we will probably wait until September or October as we don't want to go during the hot summer months.

I will give more details later, but have to get to bed now.

Hi and to the boards. I'm so glad Wendy got her wish. I can't wait to hear more about your family.

 

[Mom2mitokids]

Does anyone else have trouble with the pages loading slow on here? It takes about 2 min. to load a page. I don't have issues with FB or my other message boards. Just this one.

 

[casper_jj11]

[/QUOTE]

Also all the meals would be included there, and if you stay on WDW property you will be responsible for your own meals.[/QUOTE]

Just wanted to add that this may depend on the wish organization. We stayed at the Grand Floridian and our organization gave us a cheque to cover food as it wasnt expected that we return to GKTW for meals (although we could if we wanted to). We ate there on arrival day as well as the evening of the Christmas party but otherwise, we ate on site. We had more than enough in our expense cheque to cover meals as well as souvenirs and extras.

 

[maroo]

Does anyone else have trouble with the pages loading slow on here? It takes about 2 min. to load a page. I don't have issues with FB or my other message boards. Just this one.

I have had issues in the past couple of days...sometimes the DIS just gets overloaded...especially on Mondays.

Just wanted to add that this may depend on the wish organization. We stayed at the Grand Floridian and our organization gave us a cheque to cover food as it wasnt expected that we return to GKTW for meals (although we could if we wanted to). We ate there on arrival day as well as the evening of the Christmas party but otherwise, we ate on site. We had more than enough in our expense cheque to cover meals as well as souvenirs and extras.

I concur with this - it definitely depends on the organization and even state. One state may cover more than another state for Make a Wish, for example. Some families have reported having to spend some out of pocket and some have reported having enough to cover incidentals. But it varies greatly.

 

[Manymosi]

Thank you all for the welcome!

I have a wonderful Aunt who has sent either my wife or myself along with two of our children,as they got old enough, to Disney World, all expense paid for 4-5 days. After the last trip in 2004, she let us know she could no longer afford any trips as she had to move into an assisted living home. We have not been able to afford to pay our own way, and Wendy would have been in the next group to go, so she has been praying since at least 2007 that she would somehow be able to go. She certainly didn't want to get cancer in order to go, but a Wish trip certainly helps ease the hardships she has been through!

rcq925 - We have looked closely at the GKTW website along with other videos, trip reports etc. As nice at GKTW is, Wendy's dream is to stay on property and be immersed in all the Disney magic. Fom other trip reports, I realize that some chapters cover meals and some don't. We will just have to see.

Another issue we will have, is that none of us - especially Wendy, has ANY desire to visit Sea World or Universal Studios. We will have to somehow raise the funds to purchase additional days at Disney World besides the three proveded. I have a couple of ideas on how to do this - one is selling those rubber wristbands that are so popular( we are having one made up for Wendy).

We have told Make A Wish that we will certainly be content and happy with whatever arrangements they choose to make, but just wanted them to know what Wendy's dream vacation is.

 

[that's nice]

Does anyone else have trouble with the pages loading slow on here? It takes about 2 min. to load a page. I don't have issues with FB or my other message boards. Just this one.

It has been loading extremely slow for me too for about 5-6 days. It has been very annoying!

 

[blessedmom4]

I will be out of town starting next Thursday for almost 2 weeks...if I am not posting...that's why!

Dear Maroo,

Have a MARVELOUS time in all of your travels. In case I don't have a chance to say it before you leave... Praying all goes well, the family you are assisting has an incredible time, you are pain free, injuries heal quickly and you have Pixie Dust surround you everywhere you go!

Many Blessings!

 

[Mom2mitokids]

It has been loading extremely slow for me too for about 5-6 days. It has been very annoying!

Glad to hear that it's just not my computer. It is very annoying. I love this board and I just have to give up most times.

 

[Cheshire Figment]

I think one of the reasons for the occasional slowness is that according to www.rankings.big-boards.com DisBoards is #20 worldwide in discussion boards in English. I remember one time about two years ago that Webmaster Alex posted that we had over 3,800 users online at one time.

Go to the top of the DisBoards main page and look at some of the statistics there. There are almost 2.3 million threads and almost 36 million posts. It takes a real lot of computing power to maintain the database.

 

[cajunfan]

I am also debating on MNSSHP. I have always wanted to go, and intentionally picked September for that reason, but now I see that the tickets are expensive. About $200 plus park admission, so I just don't know if we can swing it I am wondering if we wait till we get there to make our decision, if tickets will be sold out.

I just wanted to mention something here...the MNSSHP are your park admission. The ticket allows you to enter the MK at 4pm (even though the party does not start until 7pm, so although the tickets would cost you about $200, that is your price...it is not on top of admission prices. You should not have a problem with it selling out before you get there...that usually only happens with weekend night ones and closer to Halloween. Try to do a weekday night...like Tuesday for a less crowded experience...and let me know if you decide to do this!!!

Lynn

 

[J'sMum]

I think one of the reasons for the occasional slowness is that according to www.rankings.big-boards.com DisBoards is #20 worldwide in discussion boards in English. I remember one time about two years ago that Webmaster Alex posted that we had over 3,800 users online at one time.

Go to the top of the DisBoards main page and look at some of the statistics there. There are almost 2.3 million threads and almost 36 million posts. It takes a real lot of computing power to maintain the database.

Ok Now I think that is so cool

 

[maroo]

Thank you all for the welcome!

I have a wonderful Aunt who has sent either my wife or myself along with two of our children,as they got old enough, to Disney World, all expense paid for 4-5 days. After the last trip in 2004, she let us know she could no longer afford any trips as she had to move into an assisted living home. We have not been able to afford to pay our own way, and Wendy would have been in the next group to go, so she has been praying since at least 2007 that she would somehow be able to go. She certainly didn't want to get cancer in order to go, but a Wish trip certainly helps ease the hardships she has been through!

rcq925 - We have looked closely at the GKTW website along with other videos, trip reports etc. As nice at GKTW is, Wendy's dream is to stay on property and be immersed in all the Disney magic. Fom other trip reports, I realize that some chapters cover meals and some don't. We will just have to see.

Another issue we will have, is that none of us - especially Wendy, has ANY desire to visit Sea World or Universal Studios. We will have to somehow raise the funds to purchase additional days at Disney World besides the three proveded. I have a couple of ideas on how to do this - one is selling those rubber wristbands that are so popular( we are having one made up for Wendy).

We have told Make A Wish that we will certainly be content and happy with whatever arrangements they choose to make, but just wanted them to know what Wendy's dream vacation is.

I totally get this and am really glad that you guys are going for it!

One thing to keep in mind is that the tickets are not upgradable... You will actually have to purchase new tickets and those first few days of tickets are the most expensive.

One idea...and you would have to approach your chapter with this...is to have them book you for Free Dining... I am not sure if that is possible with a GKTW package...but there was a child (Tyler - kdzbear) and they did JUST Disney - they were not a MAW family (it was another organization)...but it may be possible and actually cheaper for them to do it that way. Your food would be covered and the whole thing may be considerably cheaper for the chapter. I am not sure about this at all, it is just an idea off the top of my head.

It is also possible that GKTW actually has to book the rooms and "pay" for them (not sure how that works)...but it seems like they may welcome the ability to book under Free Dining...

I hope I am making more sense than I think I am....

Dear Maroo,

Have a MARVELOUS time in all of your travels. In case I don't have a chance to say it before you leave... Praying all goes well, the family you are assisting has an incredible time, you are pain free, injuries heal quickly and you have Pixie Dust surround you everywhere you go!

Many Blessings!

Thank you soooooo much! Your prayers are very, very much appreciated! There are lots of last minute things to take care of and lots of travel between Baker and his family, Liesa and LeeAnn - we are all traveling in shifts - it should be interesting.

I will still be around another 9 days before I leave...My flight is Sept 2 and I will be gone til the 12th.

I think one of the reasons for the occasional slowness is that according to www.rankings.big-boards.com DisBoards is #20 worldwide in discussion boards in English. I remember one time about two years ago that Webmaster Alex posted that we had over 3,800 users online at one time.

Go to the top of the DisBoards main page and look at some of the statistics there. There are almost 2.3 million threads and almost 36 million posts. It takes a real lot of computing power to maintain the database.

Ok... that is just so cool!!! I gotta go check that out!! I keep telling my friends that this board is so much more than about Disney!

 

[Mom2mitokids]

I think one of the reasons for the occasional slowness is that according to www.rankings.big-boards.com DisBoards is #20 worldwide in discussion boards in English. I remember one time about two years ago that Webmaster Alex posted that we had over 3,800 users online at one time.

Go to the top of the DisBoards main page and look at some of the statistics there. There are almost 2.3 million threads and almost 36 million posts. It takes a real lot of computing power to maintain the database.

 

[balloondoggle]

It's 1:15am. We got the Disney Vacation DVD in the mail today and watched it twice before dinner. My enthusiasm ebbs and flows, and just now it's WAY ebbed! In 2 weeks we will have finished our first full day at GKTW. Only one weekend left for buying the things my wife thinks we need. Packing will start in earnest by 1 Sept and I'm sure the kids will consider the job done in about 10 minutes with a random selection of textiles stuffed in a grocery bag.

I guess I'll work on a packing list.

 

[rcq925]

It's 1:15am. We got the Disney Vacation DVD in the mail today and watched it twice before dinner. My enthusiasm ebbs and flows, and just now it's WAY ebbed! In 2 weeks we will have finished our first full day at GKTW. Only one weekend left for buying the things my wife thinks we need. Packing will start in earnest by 1 Sept and I'm sure the kids will consider the job done in about 10 minutes with a random selection of textiles stuffed in a grocery bag.

I guess I'll work on a packing list.

Wow only 2 weeks left!! You guys must be getting so excited!!!

 

[jbrnhrt]

It's 1:15am. We got the Disney Vacation DVD in the mail today and watched it twice before dinner. My enthusiasm ebbs and flows, and just now it's WAY ebbed! In 2 weeks we will have finished our first full day at GKTW. Only one weekend left for buying the things my wife thinks we need. Packing will start in earnest by 1 Sept and I'm sure the kids will consider the job done in about 10 minutes with a random selection of textiles stuffed in a grocery bag.

I guess I'll work on a packing list.

Haha!! This sounds like my house!! Dh kept saying "do we really need that?" now he's just trying to keep me off this site, cuz I keep getting ideas!! lol. And the kids only want to bring their bathing suits and towels!