What would you do?

[mkb3]

My six year old daughter has cancer and gets to make a wish and of course Disney it is. We are shooting to go the first week of December which is a few months after she is scheduled to be in remission. With cancer though you never know. With MAW we get 3 days Disney and 2 Universal. We will only use 1 universal day, all 3 Disney and purchase a Christmas party ticket for MK. I'm a planner so I'm looking at the trip as a way to take my mind off things. This wish is actually a boost for all of us for that reason!

How would you divide the Disney days up? With unlimited fast passes would it be possible to do Hollywood Studios and Animal Kingdom in a day even with Toy Story Land and Pandora? Also keep in mind my daughter will have no interest in Tower of Terror or Rockin Rollercoaster. Here are my thoughts.

Day 1 Hollywood Studios/Animal Kingdom
Day 2 Magic Kingdom
Day 3 Epcot
Day 4 Christmas Party arriving at 4

I thought it would be smart to do HS and AK first so if for whatever reason we don't do everything we wanted we could park hope on the MK day as we will be there for up to 8 hours on the Christmas party night. In my opinion even with park hoping that would give us plenty of time in MK which is her favorite park.

 

[DisneyNash]

First and foremost praying that remission is right around the corner for your daughter and family!! This will be such a nice trip and well deserved! I would say make sure you do what she wants to do as it is her special trip!

 

[DisneyWishes14]

My six year old daughter has cancer and gets to make a wish and of course Disney it is. We are shooting to go the first week of December which is a few months after she is scheduled to be in remission. With cancer though you never know. With MAW we get 3 days Disney and 2 Universal. We will only use 1 universal day, all 3 Disney and purchase a Christmas party ticket for MK. I'm a planner so I'm looking at the trip as a way to take my mind off things. This wish is actually a boost for all of us for that reason!

How would you divide the Disney days up? With unlimited fast passes would it be possible to do Hollywood Studios and Animal Kingdom in a day even with Toy Story Land and Pandora? Also keep in mind my daughter will have no interest in Tower of Terror or Rockin Rollercoaster. Here are my thoughts.

Day 1 Hollywood Studios/Animal Kingdom
Day 2 Magic Kingdom
Day 3 Epcot
Day 4 Christmas Party arriving at 4

I thought it would be smart to do HS and AK first so if for whatever reason we don't do everything we wanted we could park hope on the MK day as we will be there for up to 8 hours on the Christmas party night. In my opinion even with park hoping that would give us plenty of time in MK which is her favorite park.

I do think you could do DHS and AK on the same day. We also don't do ToT or RnRC (nor do we see any of the shows at DHS), so DHS becomes a half day park for us. For us, there is SO much more to do in AK, so, personally, I would plan more time during that day in AK. I would also arrange the day based on any evening show you may want to watch - are you interested in Fantasmic or ROL? If you aren't interested in Fantasmic or Jingle Bam, I would probably head to DHS in the morning through lunch time and then spend the rest of the day in AK.

I wish your daughter a speedy recovery and a wonderful, magical trip for you and your family.

 

[MischaOz]

Prayers for your daughter and what an awesome opportunity. My advice would be to spend as much time in MK as possible. There is SO much to do there, and especially if your daughter is not into thrill rides, this is where you will find the most rides for her. Really, it is not possible to spend too much time in MK.

 

[mkb3]

DisneyNash I promise she won't let us forget it's her trip! haha! We actually went back in May for her first time not knowing how our life would get flipped upside down six months later. She pretty much knows what she wants and isn't afraid to voice that so when she knew most wish kids went to Disney she wanted to go back. That trait is super important in the fight she is in! She no doubt wants to do it all. She isn't really excited about Universal so that may end up being a rest day or drop in just for a few hours.

 

[Betty_Baylor99]

As a mother of a six year old daughter myself, I wanted to offer prayers for your daughter and your family. Hoping for a speedy recovery, and what an amazing opportunity to celebrate a magical trip with her!

When we go on our trip next month, we are doing Hollywood Studios/AK in one day as well. I’ll have both my 6 yr old and her 11 yr old sister with me. Our only priority at HS is to sign up for Jedi Training, meeting the Star Wars characters and Sofia the First. We may squeeze in a show, but other than having a snack at the Backlot Express (snack on a Star Wars cupcake) we will plan to leave middday to go to AK for lunch and have set all of our fast passes for AK in early afternoon (we won’t have Toy Story Land to plan for during our trip as it won’t be open then).

I think your plan of spending the most time at Magic Kingdom is perfect! Since you mentioned being a planner and going the first week of December, take a look to see what restaurants you may want to visit with your family. Both Be Our Guest and Cinderella’s Royal Table in MK are perfect places to dine for a daughter your age and they’re very popular dining reservations so once you finalize your dates, I highly recommend booking your reservation early (you can do so 180 days out)

 

[mkb3]

Yes ADRs will be a part of the trip once our dates are locked in. Last trip we did BOG, Chef Mickey's, Akershus, Hollywood and Vince for Dinsey JR and 1900 Park Fare.

This time we are thinking Sci Fi Dine in for HS, Royal Table for MK, Garden Grill for Epcot and Ohana for our arrival day dinner.

 

[Magpie]

Cancer has impacted my family as well, and you and your daughter have my sincerest condolences on having to deal with this at such a very young age.

I think my thoughts on this are...

Let your daughter decide where to go and what to see. Purchase recent guidebooks for Disney and Universal, and go through them with her. Make it your bedtime reading! Having unlimited Fastpasses will make it possible for her to design her dream vacation.

Consider experiences. Something like Bippidy Boppity Boutique or the Pirate League, if she likes dressing up. The Pirate Cruise or the Princess Tea Party. These can make her feel very special.

Be prepared to be flexible. What if she gets tired? Dropping everything you've got planned and heading back for a nap should always be an easy, low-stress option available to her. She should never feel that she's disappointing anyone, or missing out on things, if her energy flags.

Take lots of pictures!

Edited to add: I really hope your daughter gets her remission, and that the trip can go ahead as planned. But do also take a moment to consider what you will do if the trip can't happen, for any reason. Cancer is one of those awful, unpredictable things where you'll need to have several back up plans in your pocket at all times. So, make those plans. Best case scenario, you won't need them.

 

[Praying Colonel]

First, my prayers are with your daughter and your family, OP.

If I were in your shoes I'd be letting DD's mood carry the day and have a very basic "plan" as a fall-back. I wouldn't be concerned about maximizing park time like I normally would--just whatever she felt like doing that day.

 

[mkb3]

Cancer has impacted my family as well, and you and your daughter have my sincerest condolences on having to deal with this at such a very young age.

I think my thoughts on this are...

Let your daughter decide where to go and what to see. Purchase recent guidebooks for Disney and Universal, and go through them with her. Make it your bedtime reading!

We love the Disney Vlogs, so every night after homework we watch the Tim Tracker, Ears 2 You and WDW Couple. She loves them.

Consider experiences. Something like Bippidy Boppity Boutique or the Pirate League, if she likes dressing up. The Pirate Cruise or the Princess Tea Party. These can make her feel very special.

She wants to do BBB again, but not sure what she can do as her hair will be super short then.

Be prepared to be flexible. What if she gets tired? Dropping everything you've got planned and heading back for a nap should always be an easy, low-stress option available to her. She should never feel that she's disappointing anyone, or missing out on things, if her energy flags.

Yes we are for sure taking this into consideration. Disney has Wish lounges that we can use to rest and park hopping would give her an hour break in between to sleep in the car which is her favorite.

Take lots of pictures!

 

[Magpie]

We love those vlogs, too!

I would give Disney a call and ask what BBB can do with short hair. I'm sure this isn't the first time they've had this question! (Wigs? Extensions? A metric ton of sparkly glitter?)