Wish Trippers...Unite!! Volume One

[camarks1234]

I'm so glad to hear everything is going well Amber!!! Have been thinking of you and keeping you guys in my prayers.

 

[Eeyores Butterfly]

I'm glad to hear that Amber's children are doing fine. What a thing to have to go through one day before your trip!

Amber and Wendy: I hope you all have a magical time on your trip.

 

[LuvGoing2Disney7]

I haven't posted on this thread in awhile, so I will reintroduce myself:

Welcome Jessi

I'm glad you found it because I had looked around a bit and could not find it.

Hope you have a great time.

Thanks Sue

Only 9 more days til our trip "and 8 days left this evening" as Michael says! LOL

LOL my kids always ask how many more days and when I tell them they ask "with today or without today"

I have so much to do. And so little time. Although, not as tough as Amber! If she can do, I suppose I may be able to too! LOL

I've been telling myself this the last couple days too

 

[LuvGoing2Disney7]

I added some more pictures of our Big Give packages from last night

 

[AmberGreenawalt]

My packing list is down to a quarter page....I can't believe it! We just had Boston Market for dinner and now I'm going to give the kids a bath because in the morning we are going to DISNEY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[LuvGoing2Disney7]

My packing list is down to a quarter page....I can't believe it! We just had Boston Market for dinner and now I'm going to give the kids a bath because in the morning we are going to DISNEY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

YAY!!!! Have a GREAT time Amber

 

[ndloewen]

Amber, hope you are all on your way to Disney today!!! Can't wait to hear all about it!!

Nichole

 

[maroo]

I haven't posted on this thread in awhile, so I will reintroduce myself:

I am Jessi. I have done 3 College Programs with Disney. One was in Fantasyland attractions and the other two were in entertainment, so I have lots of experience with wish trips from the cast member side.

I was also an "angel" (volunteer) for the Give Kids the World Resort, the village where most kids stay. I am now a grad student in special and elementary ed. I currently teach fourth grade special ed half days and next semester will be doing my internship in a special ed classroom.

If you have any questions about wish trips at Disney or GKTW, I can answer most of the questions you have from a CM or Angel perspective. Wish families were always my favorite to work with.

Welcome Jessi!!! I hope you check back often...because we have questions for you guys ALL THE TIME!!

Wish Trips ROCK!!

 

[mindymouse1]

Hi. I am the mom of a wish kid Clint age 5 and a beautiful girl Megan age 12 (in two weeks). I have not been on the disboards in awhile and was very pleased to see this thread. It has already answered tons of my questions and I just love reading them. I have read several so far. My sons wish was to see shamu. I know. I know. But we will still be going to Disney I'm sure. So any pointers on Sea World would be great. He is really into sharks and stuff so I know we should eat at the place with the shark tank. That's all I have got for Sea World. I would love to know if they do anything 'special' for the kids or not. Just curious. Our trip is supposed to be in Feb for Clints sixth birthday. We are ready. We have been waiting a long time for this. I will now on the boards constantly because when I get excited I tend to go way overboard. Thanks for all of your help-- past and present!!!!

 

[wendygrace]

Welcome! I don't know much about Sea World since it wasn't a big thing with us however I do remember that "Shamu" (a costumed person) came to the Pirate and Princess Party at GKTW dressed as a Pirate if I remember correctly (although don't quote me on that). I know someone on here had a wish to swim with the dolphins so perhaps they will pipe up. Sorry, not much help. My memory is a bit fuzzy.

 

[twinmum]

Hello MindyMouse and welcome! Our son Mark's Wish Trip was in November, but I have not been on the Boards much since then, nor have I posted a trip report etc. I am really hoping to be able to do some soon - it will be fun to relive the memories.

Mark and his twin brother are 10, so a little older than your son, but younger than your daughter. We went to SeaWorld for our first park day, largely because we thought it would be less energetic and thus a good way to start, and also because we thought we were saving the "best" days for later (Mark's wish was to complete his "unfinished business in Orlando" (!!!), which included lots of WDW specific things but also the Simpsons ride at Universal.

We were blown away by SeaWorld. The boys had the most wonderful day. I am happy to asnwer whatever questions I can, but I will just give you a few pointers if I can. You should also know that our son Mark travels to the parks using his wheelchair, so when we got great seating I don't know if that was because of wheelchair, because of the "magic" GKTW button, or a little bit of both!

We did not manage to see all the shows - too much to do! Plan your day ahead to make sure. We did not do this but you should check out "Dine with Shamu" - others have had good things to say. This is from the website: "SeaWorld Orlando's Dine with Shamu: Enjoy a delicious buffet meal backstage at the new Shamu show, Believe, for an experience you’ll never forget. Enhanced menus include selections prepared by SeaWorld’s award-winning culinary crew. There are even special selections for the kids but don’t be surprised if they’re too excited to eat. You’ll also meet killer whale trainers and see Shamu from a completely different vantage point as our V.I.P. guest. "

However, we didn't do that - we ate at the Shark Grill (hope that is the name). In the first week of November, we were able to walk in right at 12:00, although we had to sit at the bar. Mark reservations and be sure they understand that this is your son's Wish Trip and a specific part of the wish. The tank is amazing. Sitting at the bar was good too - there areshallow, connected tanks built into the tables. Imagine sipping a drink while your very excited kids watch the fish swim right under their fingertips! (The fish do have the ability to swim around easily and they are small, so it's not cruel).

Your group should ask for food at the stingray, and dolphin feeding areas. It seems that wish families are given a tray free. We founf this out after we had bought some at the stingrays! Mark is very interested in dolphins, so we booked a special 1 hour group tour that gave us a more in depth tour, ending in time interacting with the dolphins. This was at the dolphin cove, but each family within our group had their own trainer, and own dolphin. Ajax was a sweetie of a dolphin and the boys loved this!

Of course, the highlights I have mentioned did cost extra, but perhaps your Wish organization would be interested in hearing about a special meal or event that would make your sons trip more special. Our organizers knew that Stitch is Mark's favourite Disney character and booked us into breakfast with Stitch, without knowing that we had been 2 years ago. They were fine with us cancelling that and changing it into another special, memorable meal. My mother was looking for birthday gift ideas for the boys and was pleased when I suggested she could "sponsor" the dolphin encounter. There are photographers there, and for the first time in my life, I actually bought the CD...ours cost $60, but we have 88 pictures of just our family with "our" dolphin! This was great because my husband was so involved in the fun, that he only took 4 pictures on our camera!

The boys loved all the exhibits, Clyde&Seymour and, of course, Shamu.

Anyway, I do try and pop onto the DISboards for a quick look each week or so, and do plan to write a trip report, maybe over the holidays. Feel free to PM me with any queistons if I can help.







[/LIST]

 

[mindymouse1]

Thanks wendygrace! Your TR was fabulous! It was the first one I ever read. I am going to try to call MAW today to see if I can learn anything new!!

 

[mindymouse1]

Twinmum thank you so much for all of the info. I plan to start googling it all immediately!! Sounds like your children had a fantastic time!! It has been a long road for us and we are ready to go. I have not been to Sea World since I was a child and the kids have never been. They did get to go to Disney about 2 years ago not long after Clint got sick (acute lymphocytic leukemia) because my parents took us. It was wonderful then and I know it will be 10x better now that he feels good again (most of the time)!!! Thank you and I am sure I will have questions for you!!!!

 

[ndloewen]

Yay!! Just got a call from our wish coordinator!!

Noah's Disneyworld wish has officially been approved!!!!!!! Just waiting on my passport (hopefully here by next week) and then they can start making travel arrangements. We were hoping to extend the trip by a few days, but our foundation doesn't allow that. We do get 7 nights at GKTW though, so now to figure out how to fit it all in!! And we have to pick some dates. We are thinking February or March. Any suggestions on the best week to go? Anything special going on? We are very flexible with dates.

Our foundation also pays for one extra thing to personalize the Disney trip. Since Noah's wish is to meet Tiger and see the animals at Animal Kingdom, we need to think of what we'd like to add (character meal, private meet/greet, or something to do with Animal Kingdom). Any suggestions?? I'm thinking perhaps the crystal palace character meal.

We have an appointment with our surgeon next week to discuss possible exploratory abdominal surgery, (for a possible intermittent malrotation) so I won't be able to give definate dates until we know what's going on medically. But I can still start obsessively planning!!

Nichole
Mom to Kailyn (8), Joshua (6), and wish child Noah (3)

noahgrantjohn.blogspot.com

 

[macntosh]

Yay!! Just got a call from our wish coordinator!!

Noah's Disneyworld wish has officially been approved!!!!!!! Just waiting on my passport (hopefully here by next week) and then they can start making travel arrangements. We were hoping to extend the trip by a few days, but our foundation doesn't allow that. We do get 7 nights at GKTW though, so now to figure out how to fit it all in!! And we have to pick some dates. We are thinking February or March. Any suggestions on the best week to go? Anything special going on? We are very flexible with dates.

Our foundation also pays for one extra thing to personalize the Disney trip. Since Noah's wish is to meet Tiger and see the animals at Animal Kingdom, we need to think of what we'd like to add (character meal, private meet/greet, or something to do with Animal Kingdom). Any suggestions?? I'm thinking perhaps the crystal palace character meal.

We have an appointment with our surgeon next week to discuss possible exploratory abdominal surgery, (for a possible intermittent malrotation) so I won't be able to give definate dates until we know what's going on medically. But I can still start obsessively planning!!

Nichole
Mom to Kailyn (8), Joshua (6), and wish child Noah (3)

noahgrantjohn.blogspot.com

I believe if you wait until after Mid March you can get in on all the ADR's when they open the phone lines. Currently they are not taking ADR's for anything after March 1st I believe. So that would help with getting all the locations you may desire.

 

[maroo]

Yay!! Just got a call from our wish coordinator!!

Noah's Disneyworld wish has officially been approved!!!!!!! Just waiting on my passport (hopefully here by next week) and then they can start making travel arrangements. We were hoping to extend the trip by a few days, but our foundation doesn't allow that. We do get 7 nights at GKTW though, so now to figure out how to fit it all in!! And we have to pick some dates. We are thinking February or March. Any suggestions on the best week to go? Anything special going on? We are very flexible with dates.

Our foundation also pays for one extra thing to personalize the Disney trip. Since Noah's wish is to meet Tiger and see the animals at Animal Kingdom, we need to think of what we'd like to add (character meal, private meet/greet, or something to do with Animal Kingdom). Any suggestions?? I'm thinking perhaps the crystal palace character meal.

We have an appointment with our surgeon next week to discuss possible exploratory abdominal surgery, (for a possible intermittent malrotation) so I won't be able to give definate dates until we know what's going on medically. But I can still start obsessively planning!!

Nichole
Mom to Kailyn (8), Joshua (6), and wish child Noah (3)

noahgrantjohn.blogspot.com

First of all....



I would stay away from major holidays...Like Presidents Day in Feb. And Spring Break gets busy...

So...early Feb...or late Feb...or early March would be less crowds.

But it will mostly depend on your MAW chapter, too...what dates they can do, I guess.

I am glad you guys are here...hopefully you can do a Pre-trip report and we can help ya with your plans.

 

[maroo]

Hello MindyMouse and welcome! Our son Mark's Wish Trip was in November, but I have not been on the Boards much since then, nor have I posted a trip report etc. I am really hoping to be able to do some soon - it will be fun to relive the memories.

Mark and his twin brother are 10, so a little older than your son, but younger than your daughter. We went to SeaWorld for our first park day, largely because we thought it would be less energetic and thus a good way to start, and also because we thought we were saving the "best" days for later (Mark's wish was to complete his "unfinished business in Orlando" (!!!), which included lots of WDW specific things but also the Simpsons ride at Universal.

We were blown away by SeaWorld. The boys had the most wonderful day. I am happy to asnwer whatever questions I can, but I will just give you a few pointers if I can. You should also know that our son Mark travels to the parks using his wheelchair, so when we got great seating I don't know if that was because of wheelchair, because of the "magic" GKTW button, or a little bit of both!

We did not manage to see all the shows - too much to do! Plan your day ahead to make sure. We did not do this but you should check out "Dine with Shamu" - others have had good things to say. This is from the website: "SeaWorld Orlando's Dine with Shamu: Enjoy a delicious buffet meal backstage at the new Shamu show, Believe, for an experience you’ll never forget. Enhanced menus include selections prepared by SeaWorld’s award-winning culinary crew. There are even special selections for the kids but don’t be surprised if they’re too excited to eat. You’ll also meet killer whale trainers and see Shamu from a completely different vantage point as our V.I.P. guest. "

However, we didn't do that - we ate at the Shark Grill (hope that is the name). In the first week of November, we were able to walk in right at 12:00, although we had to sit at the bar. Mark reservations and be sure they understand that this is your son's Wish Trip and a specific part of the wish. The tank is amazing. Sitting at the bar was good too - there areshallow, connected tanks built into the tables. Imagine sipping a drink while your very excited kids watch the fish swim right under their fingertips! (The fish do have the ability to swim around easily and they are small, so it's not cruel).

Your group should ask for food at the stingray, and dolphin feeding areas. It seems that wish families are given a tray free. We founf this out after we had bought some at the stingrays! Mark is very interested in dolphins, so we booked a special 1 hour group tour that gave us a more in depth tour, ending in time interacting with the dolphins. This was at the dolphin cove, but each family within our group had their own trainer, and own dolphin. Ajax was a sweetie of a dolphin and the boys loved this!

Of course, the highlights I have mentioned did cost extra, but perhaps your Wish organization would be interested in hearing about a special meal or event that would make your sons trip more special. Our organizers knew that Stitch is Mark's favourite Disney character and booked us into breakfast with Stitch, without knowing that we had been 2 years ago. They were fine with us cancelling that and changing it into another special, memorable meal. My mother was looking for birthday gift ideas for the boys and was pleased when I suggested she could "sponsor" the dolphin encounter. There are photographers there, and for the first time in my life, I actually bought the CD...ours cost $60, but we have 88 pictures of just our family with "our" dolphin! This was great because my husband was so involved in the fun, that he only took 4 pictures on our camera!

The boys loved all the exhibits, Clyde&Seymour and, of course, Shamu.

Anyway, I do try and pop onto the DISboards for a quick look each week or so, and do plan to write a trip report, maybe over the holidays. Feel free to PM me with any queistons if I can help.







[/LIST]

I agree with everything twinmum said on this topic!

I just have one thing to add...

We really, really enjoyed the Backstage at Believe lunch. It is a "prepay" deal...but it is less expensive than the dinner show stuff. It is basically the same food and it was not crowded at all in October. You get to sit right up next to the training pools and watch a training video. And you get "VIP" seats for the Shamu Show. It was not a bad deal. Really good food and was really not that expensive.

Plus...since you get dinner for free at GKTW...it makes sense to pay for the lunch (which is cheaper) and eat supper at GKTW (or get GKTW free pizza!)...or ice cream. Did I mention the ice cream?

Make sure you budget for that $60 CD of dolphin pics!!!!!

 

[zeppy68]

Second and third weeks in March are busy. New jersey private schools all have those weeks off. When I went 4 years ago it was packed. That doesnt usually make a difference because of all the perks
Just with adr

 

[mindymouse1]

After spending almost all day reading on here yesterday I decided to call my coordinator for the first time. No reservations have been made yet but we have a date ------ Feb 8th!!!!! Yay. Now what do I do to get everyone psyched from now till then??

 

[macntosh]

After spending almost all day reading on here yesterday I decided to call my coordinator for the first time. No reservations have been made yet but we have a date ------ Feb 8th!!!!! Yay. Now what do I do to get everyone psyched from now till then??

Well start a pre-trip report I know that helped me.