Wish Trippers...Unite!! Volume One

[bigdisgrandma]

Amber, I am so happy things went well for Sebastian. I thought about you and your family a lot on Monday.

I went to your photography site. I surely do wish that you were here in Salt Lake. We really need to do a new family portrait and I love your work. The pictures are wonderful. I jsut think hiring a photographer to come 3/4 of the way across the US to take a family picture of us would be a little much for me to try and convince my husband to let me do!

Denise

 

[twinmum]

Amber: I took a look at your site too...let me know if you and your camera are ever heading to the Toronto area...we have work for you too!!! Og my goodness those are lovely shots!

At least now I don't feel so bad that a) we don't take that many pictures and b)they just don't look anywhere near as good as yours. Now I know...they're not supposed to! You are able to capture such wonderful, natural moments.

I was going through pictures from when the boys were in the NICU for their first 3 months - all before the days when everyone had a digital. I was preparing for a class I help teach on family-centred care at U of Toronto, for the occupational therapy students. I picked out some of my favourites and I have taken pictures of some of them. I included some of them in an update to our trip report. I am so glad we have these images of the boys when they were so small and fragile - it reminds me of how far we have come.

Well, way off topic now, so I should go. We'll look forward to more gorgeous pictures!

Alison

 

[LuvGoing2Disney7]

I can't wait for Mia's port to come out. That will be our last surgery*cross your fingers* but we will have to wait until July 09 as a percaution

I sure hope the time goes quickly.

As promised pictures of our little guy from the Port surgery...

Poor buddy. Even happy surgeries are hard. I take pictures too. It makes the long, hard days a bit easier when you can see the progress

Hello all! Back from the world, safe and sound.

I didn't get to work at GKTW this time, but I did hand off a big box of toiletries for the gift bags, and another box of scrapbook pages. Some week in the future, all the families in the villas will be gifted with a scrapbook full of premade pages for their photos, thanks to a project from another Disney fan website. Also chatted with several wish families in the park, but none from this thread.

Happy Day, All!

What an angel you are. Just think how many families you've touched and in turn will help so many more.

Hank even just asked me if I could leave the camera at home for this coming surgery on tuesday! I said ......... of course not sweetie! Mommy needs photos to embarass you with later in life. Silly boy!!!

p.p.s.s. Check out www.angphotos.com sometime ;-)

Simply Beautiful. I think BigdisGramma and I should fly you to Utah and you can take both our families pictures and we can have a mini-meet, along with any other families that want to join

 

[maroo]

Ok...I am totally stressing! I used Lauren's Mom's credit card to by MNSSHP tickets...back in September (with her permission, of course!) The money cleared the bank in early Sept! And we haven't gotten the tickets yet. I called DW and they said that we had to have a confirmation number to talk to them about it.

They took the money out of her bank...but we have no tickets! It was over $250...I can't believe I did not keep that confirmation number! Ruh!

Has anyone else ordered these online? What sort of package did they come in? Did you have any trouble? I wouldn't be so worried if it was my money. I guess it could end up being my money!

any thoughts? I guess in the grand scheme of things, this isn't that big of a deal...but I am stressed about it.

 

[Khalana]

Hi everyone,
My name is Linda, I have two little ones Lydia (3) and Tobias (1) and am married to Michael. Lydia is our Wish child, we found out about her getting her wish just a couple of weeks ago and we're going in December. Lydia was born with a congenital heart defect and had to have open-heart surgery last summer to repair it. Some friends of ours (who got to go when they were young) put Lydia's name forward and here we are!

Lydia is SO excited to see Mickey Mouse, the Castle and the Princesses. I've been reading all the TR and learning so much and I have to say a BIG thank you to all of you for sharing your experience and wisdom!

I hope it's okay that I join you.

Linda

 

[alizesmom]

I hope it's okay that I join you.

Linda

Everyone is welcome and that definitely includes you and your family. Karen

 

[Khalana]

Thank you, Karen. That makes me feel welcome!

 

[bigdisgrandma]

Ok...I am totally stressing! I used Lauren's Mom's credit card to by MNSSHP tickets...back in September (with her permission, of course!) The money cleared the bank in early Sept! And we haven't gotten the tickets yet. I called DW and they said that we had to have a confirmation number to talk to them about it.

They took the money out of her bank...but we have no tickets! It was over $250...I can't believe I did not keep that confirmation number! Ruh!

Has anyone else ordered these online? What sort of package did they come in? Did you have any trouble? I wouldn't be so worried if it was my money. I guess it could end up being my money!

any thoughts? I guess in the grand scheme of things, this isn't that big of a deal...but I am stressed about it.

I ordered ours online and they came in a regular legal sized envelope. Did they send you an email confirmation or did you need to print it off when you made the reservation? I would think that you should have some recourse through the credit card company or bank in that they should be able to track it and help you in some way. Don't give up without a darn good fight! There has to be a simple solution. Good luck. I do think it took a few weeks for our tickets to come but they had to come to Utah.


Denise

 

[bigdisgrandma]

Hi everyone,
My name is Linda, I have two little ones Lydia (3) and Tobias (1) and am married to Michael. Lydia is our Wish child, we found out about her getting her wish just a couple of weeks ago and we're going in December. Lydia was born with a congenital heart defect and had to have open-heart surgery last summer to repair it. Some friends of ours (who got to go when they were young) put Lydia's name forward and here we are!

Lydia is SO excited to see Mickey Mouse, the Castle and the Princesses. I've been reading all the TR and learning so much and I have to say a BIG thank you to all of you for sharing your experience and wisdom!

I hope it's okay that I join you.

Linda

You are most welcome to join us! December is a wonderful time at the World. Of course you will soon find that I love WDW at almost any time of year!


Denise

 

[Khalana]

Thank you, Denise!
None of us have actually ever been so this will be our first trip. I'm SO looking forward to all the Christmas decorations! I already love Christmas and I'm sure I'll love Disney so it has to be good.

Linda

 

[LindaBabe]

Welcome, Linda! You ARE going at a great time of year.

Don't know where you're from, but the old lady's suggestion is to watch the weather reports and take at least one bit of warm clothing for each of you. Newbie's often equate Florida with warm, all year round, and it can be. But it can also be mighty chilly at times in the winter months. (IE if you're from Maine, 50 degrees is not bad, but in Florida, especially in shorts, that same 50 feels darn cold.)

2nd, on the attractions board, you'll see lots of people excited about Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party (MVMCP), and other holiday events. As first timers, please don't feel like you 'must do' them. You'll have more than enough to enjoy with your included park tickets, without buying pricey event tickets.

Happy Planning!

 

[AmberGreenawalt]

Hi everyone,
My name is Linda, I have two little ones Lydia (3) and Tobias (1) and am married to Michael. Lydia is our Wish child, we found out about her getting her wish just a couple of weeks ago and we're going in December. Lydia was born with a congenital heart defect and had to have open-heart surgery last summer to repair it. Some friends of ours (who got to go when they were young) put Lydia's name forward and here we are!

Lydia is SO excited to see Mickey Mouse, the Castle and the Princesses. I've been reading all the TR and learning so much and I have to say a BIG thank you to all of you for sharing your experience and wisdom!

I hope it's okay that I join you.

Linda

Welcome Linda! I've been meaning to sit down and write to you. We're going to be at Disney for Sebastian's wish trip at the same time as you. We are HUGE Disney lovers. Feel free to check out our RIDICUOUSLY detailed itineray that I posted in our pre-trip report. You can click on the link in my signature. It may help you with your planning since I've researched the show schedules etc.

Hopefully we can meet up while we are there. Our Sebastian is also three years old and we have a 2 year old and a one month old. Please PM me your snail mail address so I can send you a packet of "Pixie Dust". To find out what these are just go pack and read my earlier posts on this thread.

Again welcome! So glad you could join us!!

Amber

 

[mom2lilnick]

Welcome Linda! I have a 5.5 year old boy who is getting a wish.. altho we haven't heard our dates yet (fingers crossed that we will by at the end of next week!) I think we will be going in Jan but they said Oct isn't out of the question yet, but that will give me NO time to plan now. LOL!

Can't wait to get to know you and your kids better!

 

[twinmum]

Linda: Wishing you a belated welcome to the family of Wish Trippers! While it's so much fun to share the excitement about our trips here on these boards, we also share something so very important - we have all supported our children through challenging times. For some, a "perfect" childhood was interrupted cruelly by a devasting diagnosis; for others, like me, our little ones have always faced adversity and medical issues/disability have become part of "normal" family life. No matter what brought us to the Wish Tripper group, we all share a deep respect for the love and devotion we give our children, and pride in our little guys who are so brave.

You can access my pre-trip report in my signature (click under my user name, select view profile and you'll see the link). In case you haven't done this already, check out the first page of this thread and you'll find links to lots and pre and post trip reports. They are great therapy on tough days!!!

My twin boys (turning 10 in a few weeks...EEK!!!) were born >3 months early. Our son Mark has cerebral palsy with related medical issues and Douglas is typically developing but has some medical stuff going on too, nothing too major, thankfully. Mark's wish is being granted by Starlight Starbright Foundation of Canada. We leave November 1, stay at Give Kids the World for 7 nigfhts, then we're extending our trip for 3 nights on our own dime.

We're happy you found us and we're looking forward to hearing more about your family and your trip. It sounds like this may be the first trip for your children - are you and your husband experienced Disney folks or is this all new to you? Ask away, there are some of us who have been beofre on other family trips.

Alison

 

[Khalana]

Thank you for welcoming me!

I've read almost all of your preTR and TR already and am learning so much. I think I get a lot more useful info here than in the 3+ books and other websites I've been digging through. There really is no better source of info for Wish Trippers!

I'm so happy I have somewhere to go and obsess about this because I'm driving my DH crazy with all the details and questions. I tend to be a bit obsessive about things I love.... I really need a dose of Dis every day to not go crazy myself, lol.

The only that could change our dates right now is the fact that I need to renew my passport (we live in Canada and I'm from Norway, Europe) and before I can send of my application I have to renew my Permanent Resident Card (kinda like Landed Immigrant)... So we're desperately waiting for that to go through. And the government isn't exactly known for it's speed!
We've attatched a letter explaining the situation though, so we're hoping that will speed things up a bit.

Linda

 

[twinmum]

Hello again Linda!

You said in your message that you are from Canada - don't know if you noticed that my message said Mark's wish is being granted by Starlight Starbright in Canada. We're from Toronto - where are you guys?

I can't think of any right now, but you may have questions with a Canadian twist to them, so bring 'em on!

Alison

 

[Khalana]

Hi Alison,
Yes, I did notice! That's cool! We live in Manitoba, not too far from Winnipeg. Our Wish granting organization was the Rainbow Society of Manitoba. So far I can't think of any Canadian issues aside form the whole passport thing, but I will be sure to come to you for advice if and when they do arise.

Linda

 

[maroo]

I ordered ours online and they came in a regular legal sized envelope. Did they send you an email confirmation or did you need to print it off when you made the reservation? I would think that you should have some recourse through the credit card company or bank in that they should be able to track it and help you in some way. Don't give up without a darn good fight! There has to be a simple solution. Good luck. I do think it took a few weeks for our tickets to come but they had to come to Utah.


Denise

Thank you, thank you! It did not occur to me, until after I read this, that I probably used their email address instead of mine. So I was able to get that email pulled and we have our confirmation number! YEA! That makes me feel much better! Hopefully I can get new tickets issued soon! We are excited about that party...I even have a costume!

 

[Khalana]

First I was just wondering if there is any point in doing a character meal at all? The food we'll get at the Village will probably be good and my kids aren't so great with distractions when they eat, especially Lydia (she won't even eat at Grandma's house if her cousins are there... ). Are character meals a must-do or is it okay if we don't? We are hoping to come back someday on our own, would it be okay to save it for then?
Also, how far is the commute to and from the parks? Tobias, who will be 18 months, needs a nap every day while Lydia doesn't usually nap unless she is sick or extra tired (though I think she might after an exciting morning in the parks) and I usually also take a short nap in the afternoon. We are bringing a reclineable (is that even a word? ) umbrella stroller for Tobias (a Peg Perego Pliko bought just for this occasion, frivilous I know, but my other obsession is strollers! ) and an umbrella stroller for Lydia that doesn't recline very much, so it would be hard for her to nap in the park. Is it worth it to come back to the house after lunch for a nap and then go back later in the afternoon? My only problem with that is that we wouldn't be around for supper either, then, as supper is at 6pm. Our kids can't wait much longer than 6 or 6:30 for supper so we'd have to eat in the park. What I had thought of was to not go back after naps to those parks that we probably won't enjoy as much (Universal, SeaWorld) to catch supper at the Village and then on the days we are going to the Disney parks we'd eat supper in the park. What do you think? Is that a good idea?
Sorry for this looong post, it seems I use many words to describe something quite simple....
Thank you for any advice or comments.

Linda

 

[AmberGreenawalt]

First I was just wondering if there is any point in doing a character meal at all? The food we'll get at the Village will probably be good and my kids aren't so great with distractions when they eat, especially Lydia (she won't even eat at Grandma's house if her cousins are there... ). Are character meals a must-do or is it okay if we don't? We are hoping to come back someday on our own, would it be okay to save it for then?
Also, how far is the commute to and from the parks? Tobias, who will be 18 months, needs a nap every day while Lydia doesn't usually nap unless she is sick or extra tired (though I think she might after an exciting morning in the parks) and I usually also take a short nap in the afternoon. We are bringing a reclineable (is that even a word? ) umbrella stroller for Tobias (a Peg Perego Pliko bought just for this occasion, frivilous I know, but my other obsession is strollers! ) and an umbrella stroller for Lydia that doesn't recline very much, so it would be hard for her to nap in the park. Is it worth it to come back to the house after lunch for a nap and then go back later in the afternoon? My only problem with that is that we wouldn't be around for supper either, then, as supper is at 6pm. Our kids can't wait much longer than 6 or 6:30 for supper so we'd have to eat in the park. What I had thought of was to not go back after naps to those parks that we probably won't enjoy as much (Universal, SeaWorld) to catch supper at the Village and then on the days we are going to the Disney parks we'd eat supper in the park. What do you think? Is that a good idea?
Sorry for this looong post, it seems I use many words to describe something quite simple....
Thank you for any advice or comments.

Linda

Linda,

We are in the same boat as you with a 3 year old 2 year old and what will be a 4 month old going on our trip. We also did Disney though last October when we had a 2 year old and a 14 month old. We personally found that going back to our hotel (on Disney property) and then getting the kids to calm down enough for a nap plus the actual nap and traveling back to the park ate up a LOT of our day. We had a few days in which the kids fell asleep in their reclining umbrella strollers and these were the days that they actually got the best naps! So this time around since GKTW is 20 minutes or so away we are planning on having the kids nap either in their stroller or in the special Make A Wish Lounges that are located at Magic Kingdom and Epcot. I am also obcessed with strollers!!! We are bringing a double BOB jogging stroller and a Single BOB jogging stroller. The seats fully recline and our kids have fallen asleep in them before and seemed uber comfy. They ride and steer like a dream so it's no wonder they tend to fall alseep in them I'll bring a little fleece blankie along as well. Brian and I also found that this stroller nap time was a great time to switch off and do a couple of the Adult rides

Regarding the character dining. You know your kids best a so in the end you should do what you think your kids will enjoy the most. We tried character dining for the first time on our trip last October and our kids loved it!!!!!!! We also found it saved us time from waiting in line to meet characters around the park since we'd had one on one time with them at our meals. You'll be able to head to the front of the character lines with you GAC button anyway though. The Liberty Tree Tavern served super kid friendly fare like Macaroni and Cheese as part of the thanksgivingsy meal. We're looking forward to enjoying meals at GKTW but we also booked a bunch of Character meals for our trip in December including Donald's Safari breakfast and Chef Mickey's. One nice thing about the breakfast is that you can book it for before the park opens so once it does you're already in the park and ready to ride! We're going a little crazy on this trip because it's super special Oh and we made our "dinner" reservations for anywhere between 3:30 p.m. and 5:30 our kids eat early. We plan to have them in bed by 8:30 (at home it's 8:00) every night excpet for Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party --we plan to spend that day napping at GKTW beforehand.

If you have not already check out my super detailed itinerary in our trip report. Some of my comments in purple include the "why" of us planning to do certain things given our kids ages and past experiences. It also includes pictures from our last trip.

I hope this helped!