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

[Bearshouse]

Maybe I'll just leave him home. Anyone here want to watch a kid for a week?

Sure he can help me paint the house we bought.


But in all seriousness have an awesome trip!!

Bearshouse

 

[balloondoggle]

oh no!

Poor thing!

I think he will find that he really likes it - once he is there!

There is a teen area with video games and such at GKTW - all free, of course...so I bet he finds some stuff to do!

I will be in the parks the same time as you! I will keep an eye out for ya!

I swear, I will kill him if he wastes any time on video games. With all the unique opportunities on this trip, I would hope I can keep him from simply doing the same things he can do at home.

I think he'll come around like you say, but even getting him to a movie theater required effort. Halloween is hopeless. He's turning into a very nervous kid, which is funny - this is the same child who threw a fit when the skydiving operation told him he wasn't old enough to fall out of a plane.

I'd love to run into you and chat. Look for the angry guy in the Goofy hat.

 

[Mom2mitokids]

Hello. My name is Mindy and my son Michael just met with his Wish Granters on Monday night. He asked to go to Disney World. They told us it would be 4 days of Disney, 2 of Universal and 1 of Sea World. My question is this: are our travel dates included in those 7 days? If so, what would you suggest doing on the 2 travel dates? We have been to Disney World before and know how much there is to do so I am worried that the two travel dates we won't get much done at the parks those days. How does this all work? We will be staying at GKTW. We don't have dates yet or any details, looking at late October, early December or January. Thanks

Mindy

Travel dates are included. It's usually a 3 day hopper pass to DW, 2 day hopper to US, and 1 day to Sea World. With my first daughter Wish trip we got in late...so we ate and did the orientation then to bed. The last day we spent hanging around GKTW.

 

[balloondoggle]

Sure he can help me paint the house we bought.


But in all seriousness have an awesome trip!!

Bearshouse

The only thing he paints is pictures of Jedis and Padawans with light sabers. If you're a Star Wars fan, you're golden. Otherwise, you may just want to put him to work recovering precious metals from obsolete electronics.

 

[Bearshouse]

Otherwise, you may just want to put him to work recovering precious metals from obsolete electronics.

Oh well I tried. DS10 is into pirates not star wars. DD6 is all about princesses. I suppose the pirates and star wars could battle to save the princesses.


I spent many a weekend taking apart obsolete things with my dad, very good memories.

Bearshouse

 

[balloondoggle]

Oh well I tried. DS10 is into pirates not star wars. DD6 is all about princesses. I suppose the pirates and star wars could battle to save the princesses.


I spent many a weekend taking apart obsolete things with my dad, very good memories.

Bearshouse

His Christmas present this year will be a new hammer and an old inkjet!!!!

 

[jbrnhrt]

Travel dates are included. It's usually a 3 day hopper pass to DW, 2 day hopper to US, and 1 day to Sea World. With my first daughter Wish trip we got in late...so we ate and did the orientation then to bed. The last day we spent hanging around GKTW.

this is what we're planning to do too. we'll find out all the details tomorrow(yeah!!) but we're planning spend the 2 travel days at gktw, and ds wants to see santa, so we're doing seaworld thurs, so we can be at gktw in pm. i know for my family doing a park on travel days would be too much, but my kids are little

 

[jbrnhrt]

Check out this video!

Produced and put on the GKTW You Tube!

It describes each of the party nights....



You Tube Video of GIVE KIDS THE WORLD - Describes each of the night parties!


I have also linked this on the 2nd post for future reference, too! Great video!

There are more good videos on their site, too - that sorta describe better what goes on.

I just found time to watch this video, I was crying. I cry over everything! lol ds said he didn't want to watch, he wants everything to be a surprise. dd2 was dancing to the music, and now she keeps telling me " I want to go". goofy kids

 

[J'sMum]

Hello. My name is Mindy and my son Michael just met with his Wish Granters on Monday night. He asked to go to Disney World. They told us it would be 4 days of Disney, 2 of Universal and 1 of Sea World. My question is this: are our travel dates included in those 7 days? If so, what would you suggest doing on the 2 travel dates? We have been to Disney World before and know how much there is to do so I am worried that the two travel dates we won't get much done at the parks those days. How does this all work? We will be staying at GKTW. We don't have dates yet or any details, looking at late October, early December or January. Thanks

Mindy

Hello and welcome

 

[J'sMum]

His Christmas present this year will be a new hammer and an old inkjet!!!!

That is too funny ! funny enough if you give some kiddos just that (add a screwdriver tho so they can take some apart) they would just love it

 

[alaskanabbott]

this is what we're planning to do too. we'll find out all the details tomorrow(yeah!!) but we're planning spend the 2 travel days at gktw, and ds wants to see santa, so we're doing seaworld thurs, so we can be at gktw in pm. i know for my family doing a park on travel days would be too much, but my kids are little

We did Sea World on "Christmas" too, and it worked PERFECT! We were all done with the park in plenty of time to get back to the village, eat meet Santa and catch the parade/party. It was hands down our favorite day, even my two teen-age boys smiled and danced and partied like it was X-mas.

 

[The Lurker]

Sorry for the delay in answering question but I have been out of town on vacation for the last 3 weeks.

The large Park of Dreams Pool has loads of towels and you can help yourself to whatever you need. Bringing some inflatable floats, beachballs, waterwings, etc. is a good idea although cheap ones are available at Walmart. Occasionally you will find a few laying around at the pool, but don't count on it.

There is a new and popular pool party at GKTW. I am not sure what night.

The reason you are reading different answers about meal policy for guests is that it has changed and is subject to change. I strongly suggest you call guest services for the latest rules.

As far as returning families - we call them "welcome back" families, the last I heard is that they can participate in all activities and all parties. However, they are limited to one meal and one ice cream.

Beaches - our two coasts are very different. On the east is the Atlantic Ocean. It is closer (Cocoa Beach is about 45 min - 1 hr away), has lots of beaches to chose from, but because it is the ocean, can be more dangerous - rip tides, man-of-war jelly fish, which can give a nasty sting, strong waves and the sand is just ordinary sand. The hazards are not always present, but you should definitely pick a beach with life guards and stay near the lifeguard station. The local news on TV will usually let you know about rip tides and sometimes about the man-of-war. The famous Daytona Beach is about 2 hours away.

The west coast is on the gulf, and unless there is one of those swirly storms near by, much calmer and has beautiful white sand beaches. However it is further away - like 1 1/2 to two hours. One of the best beaches in Florida is near Sarasota. Guest services can provide directions to any of the beaches.

Can't remember if there were any other questions. If so, post again, and I will try to answer.

Katie

 

[casper_jj11]

Hello All!

We're in the process of planning my sweet daughter Olivia's MAW. Though she is otherwise disabled she was also unfortunately DXd with stage III Hepatoblastoma in April 2010. She is considered terminal at this point because surgery options are not viable for her, but so far she is kicking cancers butt to the curb! Her AFP was orginally 577,000 and it's down to 50-something now.

I'm very overwhelmed at all the information available right now and that is so not like me!

We're hoping to go either immediately after Thanksgiving of 2010 or right before Christmas 2010. We're still waiting on the exact date approval.

I'm so sorry about your little one's diagnosis but I'm glad you found the board. You will all have a wonderful trip! Any questions, just ask. Everyone here is so helpful.

Found out today that Nicky has walking pneumonia and he also has a rash all over his body that looks like bug bites. They think the rash has to do with the infection in his body. Put him on z-pack and he goes back on Thursday for a re-check. In the meantime, his counts have also been low, so he has been taken off chemo for 3 weeks. Hope this is something that clears up soon, cause trip is coming up.

Oh my. I hope Nicky is feeling better soon. Only two weeks to go ... its coming fast.

4 days to go!! Last night it became obvious that our 8yo son is not quite as enthused as we had hoped. He is looking forward to Candy Land, Dino Putt and the train at GKTW, but his pronouncement on every ride we've mentioned at WDW is either "Too babyish! or "Too scary!" He's so scared of the idea of Haunted Mansion that it came to the attention of his principal who called me with her concerns.

Maybe I'll just leave him home. Anyone here want to watch a kid for a week?

Wow! 4 days! We have a 7 yr old boy. Maybe if you don't tell him too much about the ride before you get on? We did Haunted Mansion but didn't call it that. Sydney said after she didn't want to go again but she felt comfortable during the ride and took my hand to cover her eyes when she was scared. Same with roller coaster like rides. She tried them once and then made a decision if she wanted to do it again. The 'rule' as such as far as the 'baby' rides were concerned was that it was a family trip so our 2 yr old had to ride things too. We did everything together (except the bigger rides) and while my almost 8 yr wouldn't have classed those rides as his favourites and really wouldn't admit it, he really did enjoy them. For example, Journey into Your Imagination at Epcot has a smelly skunk spray at you ... there' nothing an 8 yr old likes more than stinking smells... You may be surprised. Oh, and DS7 was desperate to try out the arcade at GKTW. We didnt stay onsite but we arrived early for the Christmas party so he had a chance then.

Hello. My name is Mindy and my son Michael just met with his Wish Granters on Monday night. He asked to go to Disney World. They told us it would be 4 days of Disney, 2 of Universal and 1 of Sea World. My question is this: are our travel dates included in those 7 days? If so, what would you suggest doing on the 2 travel dates? We have been to Disney World before and know how much there is to do so I am worried that the two travel dates we won't get much done at the parks those days. How does this all work? We will be staying at GKTW. We don't have dates yet or any details, looking at late October, early December or January. Thanks

Mindy

Hi Mindy! Welcome! By 7 days they really mean 6 nights so with travel days, you have 6 full days and 2 half days, depending on the time you leave. We're international and just received the 3 hopper Disney days. We ended up extending our trip and buying extra tickets so we could spend more time at Disney. We also received the 2 US days and 1 Seaworld. We generall go to a park for the last day but I wouldn't if I only had 3 days to see Disney. With a 1pm flight, you're looking at only 2 hrs max in the park that day even if you arrive at rope drop. I'd hang around GKTW honestly. We did US one day, and half day Seaworld and half day US for another day. They're right next to each other so it made for easy travelling.

this is what we're planning to do too. we'll find out all the details tomorrow(yeah!!) but we're planning spend the 2 travel days at gktw, and ds wants to see santa, so we're doing seaworld thurs, so we can be at gktw in pm. i know for my family doing a park on travel days would be too much, but my kids are little

That's a good idea! You can see a lot of major things at Seaworld in 1/2 day. Get there at opening. Go directly to the dolphins (they're hungrier then). The provide wish families free food for each member of the family (mom and dad incl.) to feed them. We then headed to the sting rays (each child received a free tray of food) and then to the sea lions (each child received a free tray). The kids had a blast, then we explored the park.

 

[kctwinmommy]

Can anyone tell me what would be the closest medical facility near GKTW? I'm filling out the paperwork for our nursing agency, and it asks for that. I did google map it, but not really sure which one would be the hospital to go to. TIA!

 

[wishin' on a star]

I believe Celebration Hospital is the closest one. It's not a children's hospital, but is the closest, and they did have a peds ER area. Disney sent my son there by ambulance from Hollywood Studios when he fell in the bathroom and split his chin open, and at the end of the night it was a pretty short drive back to GKTW.

 

[rcq925]

We did Sea World on "Christmas" too, and it worked PERFECT! We were all done with the park in plenty of time to get back to the village, eat meet Santa and catch the parade/party. It was hands down our favorite day, even my two teen-age boys smiled and danced and partied like it was X-mas.

We are planning on doing Sea World on Thursday too and then doing all the Christmas festivities at GKTW. So glad it worked well for you guys!!

 

[jbrnhrt]

That's a good idea! You can see a lot of major things at Seaworld in 1/2 day. Get there at opening. Go directly to the dolphins (they're hungrier then). The provide wish families free food for each member of the family (mom and dad incl.) to feed them. We then headed to the sting rays (each child received a free tray of food) and then to the sea lions (each child received a free tray). The kids had a blast, then we explored the park.

thanks for that advice! I didn't realize you can feed the rays and sea lions too. My family will love this!

 

[casper_jj11]

thanks for that advice! I didn't realize you can feed the rays and sea lions too. My family will love this!

You're welcome!

Ok, so I need some help. I'm so bad at this kind of thing. Our wish organization (Childrens Wish Foundation) is having their big fundraiser walk in October. Just found out about it tonight. We're going to form a family team to do the walk but I need a team name. I can't register the family until I have a name and I can't come up with one. I'd like to have something with Sydney's name in it, after all, she's the reason for our connection to CWF. Any ideas?

 

[kctwinmommy]

I believe Celebration Hospital is the closest one. It's not a children's hospital, but is the closest, and they did have a peds ER area. Disney sent my son there by ambulance from Hollywood Studios when he fell in the bathroom and split his chin open, and at the end of the night it was a pretty short drive back to GKTW.

Thanks!!

 

[kctwinmommy]

We did Sea World on "Christmas" too, and it worked PERFECT! We were all done with the park in plenty of time to get back to the village, eat meet Santa and catch the parade/party. It was hands down our favorite day, even my two teen-age boys smiled and danced and partied like it was X-mas.

I wanted to do this too, but the only times that MNSSHP is happening while we're there is on Thursday. Well, Friday too, but it'll be busier on Friday since we figure more local people will be out then.