Wish trip info

[dudley5060@roadrunne]

Hi we are going to be going to Disney for my son's wish trip. We are staying at the polynesian. We are going in 46 days on May 6th -13th the travel cordinator said to make sure we get the disability card from guest relations. I was at Disney when I was 6 but that was a long time ago I am looking for any info on making our trip better for my son here are some details
We are taking a special wheel chair for him
there will be 5 of us all together 2 adults 3 children
this is our first time taking the children
children are 9, 6 and 5
2 girls 1 boy ( boy is special needs)
I have read through the whole entire disability forem and still came up blank

my questions are
how do I plan our trip out to the fullest extent?
How to make dining reservations? We have the delux dining for 8 days
what things are there for boys my girls want to see the princesses where do I find the charachters like mickey , donald, princess,

thanks in advance

Gracie

 

[kimsuenew]

Have a spectacular trip, I am so happy your family is going!

You will need to make your dining reservations, called ADR's, by calling into 407-WDW-DINE. Please do this soon, to ensure getting the reservations that you want. ADR's can be made 180 days in advance, or 180 days plus 10 days if you are staying at a WDW Resort, so sometimes ADR's are not available. Your deluxe DP has a lot of TS (table service) experiences on it, so please make your ADR's soon for the TS. Any CS (counter services) are just walk-ups, its the TS you must plan for!

The card the coordinator told you to get is called a GAC (Guest Assistance Card), have you searched for that on here? It will be good for the duration of your trip. You will have to bring your son with you when you get it, and be prepared to tell the CM exactly what support/accomodations he must have (eg son sensitivity, stroller used as wheelchair, alternate area to wait, ect...).

Disney Hollywood Studios (formerly MGM) has a lot of fun for boys (and girls too), the parade there is awesome and features Power Rangers, Aladdin, Mike and Sully, and many more. There are also characters throughout the park, I think it was Ron from Kim Possible we "met" last year! They also have High School Musical!

AK has Stitch (Lilo too) and photo ops for them!

MK has characters, ecspecially around the "Toon" area (kids section).

Often there are designated "meet and greet" areas/tents, so please ask at each park... they will be happy to assist!

Restaurants also offer wonderful character interaction and photo ops!

Crystal Palace has Pooh and friends (adorable), Liberty Tree Tavern has Minnie, Goofy (or Pluto... I mix those two up for some reason), and others, Garden Grill has Chip and Dale and again Goofy (or Pluto), Chef Mickey's has Mickey and friends, Breakfast with Lilo & Stitch is awesome... it has Lilo and Stitch of course, plus all of the kids can participate in a wonderful parade around the eating area! I am sure there are many others... this is just a sample to get you started!

If this is your first trip, please make sure to get badges for everyone! They are free!

Have a wonderful and magical trip, I hope it is everything that your son, and entire family, could hope for and more! Kimberly

 

[SueM in MN]

Hi we are going to be going to Disney for my son's wish trip. We are staying at the polynesian. We are going in 46 days on May 6th -13th the travel cordinator said to make sure we get the disability card from guest relations. I was at Disney when I was 6 but that was a long time ago I am looking for any info on making our trip better for my son here are some details
We are taking a special wheel chair for him
there will be 5 of us all together 2 adults 3 children
this is our first time taking the children
children are 9, 6 and 5
2 girls 1 boy ( boy is special needs)
I have read through the whole entire disability forem and still came up blank

my questions are
how do I plan our trip out to the fullest extent?
How to make dining reservations? We have the delux dining for 8 days
what things are there for boys my girls want to see the princesses where do I find the charachters like mickey , donald, princess,

thanks in advance

Gracie

Since you said that you read the entire disability forum, I'm assuming that you looked at the disABILITIES FAQs thread. If you didn't, be sure to check the information there about GACs (Guest Assistance Cards). There are also some links in post #3 of that thread to information about WISH trips that might help you decide.
Besides the meals that kimsuenew posted about, there is also a Princess character meal at the Askerhus in Norway at Epcot and at the Castle in MK.
Here's a link to a page on another part of the DIS site that includes character dining.

You can also check with Guest Relations in each park to find out what Character greetings are planned for that park that day.

Some of the parades are a great place to see characters too.
Also, Extra Magic Hours are a 'perk' of staying on-site and can help you to see the park before it opens to guests who are staying off-site. That helps you to see things when it's not busy. Even though you will have a Guest Assistance Card, that only helps in the lines and sometimes it's more helpful to be in a quiet park than to have a GAC.

Another very special evening activity is the Pirate and Princess Party.I looked at the schedule and during the time you are there, one is scheduled for May 9. We have not been to this party, but have been to the Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party and it was great - lots of character greetings, candy, a special parade.

You might also want to check out a book called "Walt Disney World For Kids, By Kids". It was written for kids and has things at a kids level with recommendations from kids for the different attractions.

 

[kimsuenew]

Hi! Does anyone else have any ideas and/or pointers that will help this Mom make their "Wish Trip" extra special?

 

[LauraVV]

We are staying at the polynesian.
How to make dining reservations? We have the delux dining for 8 days
what things are there for boys my girls want to see the princesses where do I find the charachters like mickey , donald, princess,

Hi,

We stayed at the Poly in January. It was a wonderful trip. We also had the deluxe dining plan and LOVED it. We made some reservations. We didn't make a lot because we didn't want to base our vacation on having to be certain places at certain times. We loved Le Cellier even though there are no characters there. We were there when my daughter was five and she remembered the chocolate mousse from then. That was the most difficult reservation, considering we planned trip at the last moment. We had to repeatedly call for reservations there.

We also had lunch at Cinderella's Castle, went to Chef Mickey's (daughter loved it, the rest of us thought it was just OK), had breakfast at Ohana's at the Poly, and ate at Garden Grill. Tusker House (Animal Kingdom) was a good surprise and they have a character breakfast.

Pluto was wonderful at Ohana's. He paid extra attention to my daughter. Characters were plentiful at the Pirate and Princess Party, right outside the gate at Animal Kingdom, and at several other meet the character type places in MK. Ask a CM when you get there about the best character places.

The characters were our daughter's favorite part of the trip. It looks like there's a Pirate and Princess Party while you're there, on May 9th. The fireworks were unbelievable. My daughter got about 50 autographs when we were there in January. It was a magical trip!