Wish Trippers...Unite!! Volume One

[alizesmom]

Thank you to Bill Lin for letting me know about this thread. This is a wonderful idea! We went on DD's Wish trip last November and had a wonderful time and I wanna go back NOW!

I didn't write an actual report on our trip but did reply to many posts asking questions about what to expect etc etc.... If I can help anyone in anyway I'd be more than happy to! Before our trip I came here a lot and got a lot of wonderful information to help ensure our trip ran smoothly. I had a LOT of questions because this was our very first trip ever with DD and most were so kind to help answer my questions and fears.

GKTW is top notch and I advise everyone to stay there if they can. I cannot begin to imagine how our trip would have been without all they did for my family. Angels on earth!

Thanks to everyone for sharing their stories. I am enjoying reading them all. Again if anyone has any questions I'd be more than happy to answer the best I can. My girl is in a wheelchair and perhaps I can help those who are in the same boat.

Purple Princess

I'm very interested in any input about wheelchairs and Wish Trips. Alize can not transfer though we could probably hold him if the ride doesn't require holding on to something. Karen

 

[AmazingGrace]

Loriann, thanks for the links. I can't get Day 2 to load though. I love how the cast member made a special moment for you guys. That's just awesome! Which organization did you go with?

Here's day 2 again.
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=613370

We went with MAW of South Mississippi. They were awesome and I can't say enough about GKTW. Truly magical.

 

[Bill_Lin]

Amazing Grace... you really NEED to post your wish trip pictures here for us with captions. I checked out your picture link and you have some GREAT shots. I especially loved the closeup of your DD holding a Princess Minnie.

The rest of you veterans, please post some pictures here. If you have not done a Trip Report, this would be a great time. The internet technology now makes it so much easier that it used to be to post pictures. We would all appreciate it. It is a lot of fun to read other folks reports.

Bill

 

[LeeLee2U]

I'm very interested in any input about wheelchairs and Wish Trips. Alize can not transfer though we could probably hold him if the ride doesn't require holding on to something. Karen

Karen, (by the way my first name is Karen too!! ) Braeton is in a wheelchair too as I'm sure you know from the title of my trip report!! He can walk some but was not able to most of the trip. his poor little muscles just shut down on him. Anyway while he transferred for most of the rides, just to get out of the chair. I carried him. They would ask Ma'am can he transfer and I would just reply yes it's a transfer. Of course he can sit up on his own. I don't know the extent of your sons ability but on Braeton's "floppy" days as we call them, when I would transfer imout, I just carried him to the ride and he either sat with my arm @ him or between me and his brother. There is a list somewhere of the rides that are wheelchair accesible. I will try to find that for you and post the link. Also there is another TR that someof you may be interested in. It's not her WISH trip report although she did go on one sveral years earlier but it's this past summers report. She is totally w/chair bound with a vent and other equipment. Her TR really gave me a lot of good tips and is the reason why I wanted Braeton to ride Soarin so bad!! I'm glad that we did. It was one of his favorites!
Here it isDriving 6000 Miles for the Magic:A Miracle Trip*10/6-The Change pg. 39
She is non transferrable and has a lot to say about which rides were easy to get on and which ones weren't!
Hope this helps!!!

 

[Bill_Lin]

Great tips and help LeeLee, especially on wheelchairs!

I wrote a thread on Wish Trip Planning and one on how to register and post on DISboards for those who come in on a web search and have to learn how to post, paste, etc. like I did.

Please add to these anything that any of you can think we be helpful to Wish Trip Families.

I put the links to these new threads in my signature, as well as a link to THIS site.

Bill

p.s. I am loving this thread!

 

[Iluvmickeymouse!]

My DD4 got the most wonderful box in the mail today!! One of my dearest friends from college sent DD a box from the characters at WDW! There had to have been at least 25 cards, all addressed to DD, signed by the characters. (actually my friend...I can tell her teacher handwriting a mile away!!! ) DD LOVED it!! There were also little presents for her also, a keychain, LOTS of stickers, a couple figurines. It was awesome, all my DD could say was "oh my goodness" over and over again. That definitely added some pixie dust to our upcoming trip!

 

[Iluvmickeymouse!]

OH MY GOODNESS!! What a SHINER! Hey Karla! I think that was DD's way of making sure we would all recognize her at GKTW! Hmm, THERE'S a little girl with a black eye... Why it's Karla and her family!

I know.....I was going to tell you to look for the little one with the shiner!!!!! That be us!!!! Went to the neurosurgeon today, DD is fine, is going to be fine and can still fly to Orlando!! That last one was because of my know-it-all grandma who said she wouldn't be able to fly now because of her head injury.

Wendy...my DH had actually packed that shirt when he brought us stuff to stay over night. I didn't even think about it when I took the pic. It is a hoot!!!

 

[Pez Pez]

Sorry if this is a duplicate, I posted this to the wrong board, still trying to learn how to do all this.

Hi,
I am new around this board but wanted to thank you all for what you have posted. I have many questions that aren't really specific that your stories are answering. A special thanks to Iluvmickeymouse for all the reading material - I LOVE it!!

My son Trevor (12) has Shone's Syndrome, it is basically a series of Congenital Heart Defects. He has had 5 surgeries in his young life, the first open heart at 2 weeks. I always felt guilty about requesting any "special" services, but he needs all the "special" he can get right now His doctor recognized this and introduced us to Make-A-Wish. Trevor is expected to have a double valve transplant the first of the year and has really been more anxious about his condition since he started Middle School. Trying to convince your child that they are not "different" is harder with age. He is no longer proud of his scar a.k.a "The Zipper" and he begs to play football (no contact sports). Of course I give his positive encouragement and always boot his self esteem, but I am sure you all can understand the constant emotional struggle

I am a huge planner and very detail oriented (this is good and bad) . I have already booked a couple ADR and BBB for Princess Bianca . But, I do wonder how much spending money MAW gives you (I know this can differ) for souvenirs and for meals outside of GKTW? How much of your own money did you spend? We won't be extending our trip at all but I wonder how much I should plan on bringing. I don't see that anyone has posted any specifics, but I am still reading, so I appologize if this is a duplicate question. I found the GKTW website long ago and have it as our homepage right now. Did any of you take your own stroller, or did you use the WDW freebie? If so, could you pack a small collapsable cooler down below with waters to avoid the $2.50/each price that WDW charges?

Trevor is 12 going on 25 so we plan on being at GKTW for the major events, but I worry that he might be bored with too much time there, Bianca would love it though!! So we are planning on visiting Universal and all of the Disney parks - he is already busy customizing his maps

Thanks again for all of your help!!!

 

[wendygrace]

Welcome Rosemarie!

Hi Staci! Welcome!

As for spending money, I think most of us don't post specifics is because each chapter provides a different amount. What I can tell you is that we did not spend a penny of our own money and had some left over at the end of the trip that we were allowed to keep and I purchased more WDW souvenirs from home. I think most people have similiar experiences. I'll tell you also that they do expect you to eat a couple of meals at GKTW so I planned for only one meal at the parks and not always sit down.

We did not bring our own stroller and used the parks'. Our youngest was 3 1/2 yrs old. There are pros and cons with bringing your own. A pro being your youngester can fall asleep on the way out and there is an easy transport from stroller to car seat. The con would be lugging it all over the airport and around Orlando. Its all on preference.

I do believe there was room for a small collapsible cooler in most but I don't remember. We had a backpack we kept our drinks and put it at the kids feet. Allears.net has pictures of the strollers that will help you get some idea of what they are like.

don't apologize for asking questions. Ask away! That's why we are all still here even after our trips are passed!

iluvmickeymouse, I think that pic is a definite scrapbook pic! It is so cool what your friend did! What a great friend you've got!

LeeLee, she is one incredible woman, isn't she! I was impressed with her writing! She has a way with words!

 

[Bill_Lin]

We always got a double stroller for free, no questions asked. There was plenty of room for Lysi (5 1/2), our shoulder bags, the big GKTW video camera bag and other things. I will give you a heads up though. Universal has single strollers with steering wheels. They were really too short for Lysi, who would have had to scrunch up her legs to fit, but it took a LOT of convincing to get her to accept an "ordinary" double stroller. When you park hop, you leave the stroller at one park, and using your receipt, pick one up at the other park. At Universal/ Island of Adventure we were allowed to take our stroller from one park to the other.

We would have had plenty of room for a small cooler, but did not try as we know the theme parks REALLY frown on outside food. We snuck granola bars and such things in by putting them in our pockets. The bag check people were really in a hurry and did not seem to have time to be food inspectors. They were clearly only interested in safety concerns.

Did I say, I LOVE DISNEY WORLD? I feel like I am still on my Disney Honeymoon or something. I am still pretty starry eyed about it.

A GKTW breakfast (Waffles!) filled us up enough that we did not need a lot of snacks. I mentioned this before, but it bears repeating: We ate every breakfast (or Continental) at GKTW and ate dinner elsewhere only on our long day at MK and our long day at Epcot/ MGM. We only did one character meal (the Super Bowl of Character meals at the Castle) and our other meals were at counter service places, kind of a cross between fast food and a family restaurant. We seriously did not ever pay more than $10.00 each for a meal, counting our beverage, except for at the Castle.

MK has a small selection of counter service places (we did the Columbia Harbor House-closes at 5:00) but if you can't find counter service you like at Epcot, I don't know what to say. There is cuisine for every taste.... just find the right country. I am a veteran of DL and have never been one to do "sit down" dinners there due to a desire to maximize ride time. "Save eating for a non-Disney day" was my motto. I was a bit put off by the term "counter service" versus "sit down restaurant" in all the guides. The fact is that at every "counter service" place we visited we went inside and sat down at a table. The "counter" meant that we had to go up to a counter to order the food, but the counters were inside the restaurants and the eating areas were nice.
​

 

[Pez Pez]

We always got a double stroller for free, no questions asked. There was plenty of room for Lysi (5 1/2), our shoulder bags, the big GKTW video camera bag and other things. I will give you a heads up though. Universal has single strollers with steering wheels. They were really too short for Lysi, who would have had to scrunch up her legs to fit, but it took a LOT of convincing to get her to accept an "ordinary" double stroller. When you park hop, you leave the stroller at one park, and using your receipt, pick one up at the other park. At Universal/ Island of Adventure we were allowed to take our stroller from one park to the other.

We would have had plenty of room for a small cooler, but did not try as we know the theme parks REALLY frown on outside food. We snuck granola bars and such things in by putting them in our pockets. The bag check people were really in a hurry and did not seem to have time to be food inspectors. They were clearly only interested in safety concerns.

Did I say, I LOVE DISNEY WORLD? I feel like I am still on my Disney Honeymoon or something. I am still pretty starry eyed about it.

A GKTW breakfast (Waffles!) filled us up enough that we did not need a lot of snacks. I mentioned this before, but it bears repeating: We ate every breakfast (or Continental) at GKTW and ate dinner elsewhere only on our long day at MK and our long day at Epcot/ MGM. We only did one character meal (the Super Bowl of Character meals at the Castle) and our other meals were at counter service places, kind of a cross between fast food and a family restaurant. We seriously did not ever pay more than $10.00 each for a meal, counting our beverage, except for at the Castle.

MK has a small selection of counter service places (we did the Columbia Harbor House-closes at 5:00) but if you can't find counter service you like at Epcot, I don't know what to say. There is cuisine for every taste.... just find the right country. I am a veteran of DL and have never been one to do "sit down" dinners there due to a desire to maximize ride time. "Save eating for a non-Disney day" was my motto. I was a bit put off by the term "counter service" versus "sit down restaurant" in all the guides. The fact is that at every "counter service" place we visited we went inside and sat down at a table. The "counter" meant that we had to go up to a counter to order the food, but the counters were inside the restaurants and the eating areas were nice.
​

Great advice. I have decided (for now) to take a small cooler and using the strollers there. I agree with eating at GKTW as much as you can and eating at the park as quick and inexpensive as you can. I am not traveling to Florida from Oregon to sit around and eat Although I will be eating plenty of Ice Cream (GKTW) and the Dole thingys that I keep reading about. Oh and did I mention I would also like to do the buffet at Chef Mickey and can't wait for Christmas dinner....errrr...maybe I am going to sit around and eat in Florida

As for spending money, I think most of us don't post specifics is because each chapter provides a different amount. What I can tell you is that we did not spend a penny of our own money and had some left over at the end of the trip that we were allowed to keep and I purchased more WDW souvenirs from home. I think most people have similiar experiences. I'll tell you also that they do expect you to eat a couple of meals at GKTW so I planned for only one meal at the parks and not always sit down.

don't apologize for asking questions. Ask away! That's why we are all still here even after our trips are passed!

I am an accounting major, so I like numbers I am also a budget minded gal and like to begin planning/saving early that is the only reason behind my specifically asking. I don't want to compare chapters but just be prepared, since everyone spends/saves differently I read in your story that you had money left over, it is truly awesome that you didn't have one worry about money while away. I am so grateful for everthing this experience has brought us already and I haven't even been to Florida yet.

I can't PM yet, so thanks to all who sent me messages regarding expense. I got them, I am just not "old" enough to reply

 

[Bill_Lin]

How we saved money:
1) Eat at GKTW often (and a LOT)
2) Buy souvenirs at the Wal-Mart and Flea Market near the Village (although we bought something at each theme park except AK which kicked everyone at closing before we could spend money there.
3) We did not drive to the beach and spent very little on gas (even with getting sort of lost a couple of times that added a few miles on)
4) We did only one character meal and did not do any of the dinner theater options (Like the Pirates Dinner Adventure or Medieval Times), although we did this more to save time and energy than to save money.

We did try really hard to spend what money we had left after the flea market by buying souvenirs at the cool Universal and Sea World gift shops at the airport. We still had money left after for mailing my son's birthday present to Iraq and for almost a tank of gas.

 

[Bill_Lin]

Here is a poem I wrote tonight, reflecting on the journey from cancer to the Magic Kingdom:

A WISH, A DREAM, A MAGIC PLACE

Beautiful baby
Born to laugh
Smile and play


But pain
Swept into your world
Like a hurricane


How powerless
My father's soul
Unable to protect


Gladly would I
Have ripped out my very heart
To save you


I remember your infant eyes
Locked with mine
As they carried you away


But heroes came
With scalpels
And healing hands


Through long nights
Of chemical sickness
They cared for you


Prayers took root
And grew like wildflowers
Into a garden of life


You grew
And healed
Despite the odds


Then came the call
On Angel's wings
To fly you to a magic place


Castle doors opened for you
Smiles and gifts awaited you
In that land of wonder


It is a place
Built of dreams
Founded on love


Because of you
And all you overcame
I shared that dream with you


I will never forget
Your Princess eyes
Filled with delight and joy


How beautiful the hands
That give and serve
And build a gift so magical


Greeted by a whale
And her splashing tale
Dolphins feasting from your hand


Princesses in regal bliss
Stooped to bestow a royal kiss
And speak with hope filled words


Invited to dance and sing
To celebrate a Lion King
In your own joyous style


The magic donkey spoke
And shared a joke
That made you forever friends


You saw the world
And pyrotechnics swirled
To bring your magic journey to a close


Now we look back
And hold those images
Of magic in our hearts


The love and joy
We planted there
With tears of happiness


Will grow in time
In song and rhyme
Into a legendary tale

 

[Bill_Lin]

Am I the only one who keeps getting in trouble. First it was pictures too big, then it was sending messages too fast, next it was too many icons in a post, now it was my signature that was TOO BIG. The monitors are always very polite in pointing out my boo boos, however.

We get only 12 lines (counting spaces) and only 3 images. I got a bit carried away and had 12 images and about 20 lines. I am back in conformity now, though. It is hard not to get carried away with Disney fever and over do it.

When you edit a post it asks for a reason for editing. Is anyone else tempted to write something funny there? I usually say something like gross incompetence, or failure to read the directions (but then I am a man and we don't read directions or ask for them either).

Oh my goodness! I had to edit even this post because of an error. Now that is FUNNY.

 

[wendygrace]

Bill, you just crack me up! Know, I have yet to get into trouble. I'm a good girl. (where's that angelic smilie when you need it!). I very rarely, if ever, put a "reason" down. I expect you to read my mind.

I'm off to bed. Good night!

 

[Pez Pez]

Bill,

My very first post got me in trouble and so did my 4th. (((trying to word so it doesn't get me in trouble again))) Books....I wanted some books...specifically on fun things in Florida. I wanted to have some used un-official ones with coupons. Since we are at the end of 2007, I thought many would like to dispose of them for a potential monetary reward.
Are you getting my silly game of charades???
I was kindly reminded that buying/selling is not allowed on these boards. It's a shame because all of the fanatics on here probably have a library full of ones we could pass around. I would even promise to pay it forward. But instead I am off to Feebay and Barnes and Noble. You know how they do the stroller and fridge swap? One day I am going to do the same with books for newbies.
I also got in trouble for being too direct. If I have offended you in my short time here, I truly appologize. I am very direct in my questions and responses and hate to beat around the bush. I usually ask questions that others are afraid/embarassed to ask, because I don't feel any question should be embarassing. There is always one other person in the world wondering the same thing....BTW, this drives my DH crazy
I made it through my first day on this board, lets see if I am revoked by the morning

 

[Pez Pez]

How we saved money:
1) Eat at GKTW often (and a LOT)
2) Buy souvenirs at the Wal-Mart and Flea Market near the Village (although we bought something at each theme park except AK which kicked everyone at closing before we could spend money there.
3) We did not drive to the beach and spent very little on gas (even with getting sort of lost a couple of times that added a few miles on)
4) We did only one character meal and did not do any of the dinner theater options (Like the Pirates Dinner Adventure or Medieval Times), although we did this more to save time and energy than to save money.

We did try really hard to spend what money we had left after the flea market by buying souvenirs at the cool Universal and Sea World gift shops at the airport. We still had money left after for mailing my son's birthday present to Iraq and for almost a tank of gas.

Another awesome Bill post...Thanks!!

 

[Pez Pez]

Have any of the Wish families used this service? I am just looking for feedback in regards to our experience.

TIA

 

[LeeLee2U]

O.k. Bill ! I just read your last poem and I'm crying!! That was great!!! I could feel your joy confusion pain heartache and Love for Lysi all at the same time!! Of course after meeting Lyse who could not help but love her?? She truly is a REAL Princess!!!
And Oh Yes Thank You for reading my report! You wrote one so I had to too!!!!

 

[Holly Sox]

Wow... this is great!!! Thanks, WendyGrace for starting this thread.

We leave in 3 weeks and 3 days for Cody's wish trip. I've introduced myself a couple of times here and there, but this is my "official wish thread" introduction.

(big drum roll.......................)

I am Holly, 41 from South Carolina. I am a registered nurse, which has come in quite handy at home the past 5 years.

DH is Mike, 33. (I was a cradle robber) He is a Pressman with the newspaper here. Our wish trip has been delayed twice this year because of his medical problems and his stubbornness. (not following your surgeon's instructions can have REALLY BAD CONSEQUENCES!!!)

My Wish kid is Cody, who just turned 16 yesterday. He has intractable epilepsy with no surgical options at this time. He is currently on 2 medications, which are the 6th and 7th meds that have been tried. He still has a few seizures every month, which is enough to keep him from driving and keep me from being able to relax.

My younger son is Mikey, who will turn 9 on the day that we arrive at GKTW. We have booked a Wishes celebration cruise (ssh, don't tell him) as a surprise for him. So much of his life has revolved around Cody's illness... I wanted one really special part of this trip to be just about Mikey.


My parents took our family to WDW 3 times (when I was 4, 11 and in college) and I also went with the HS band) Mike and I stayed at Dixie Landings for our honeymoon. This will be our kids' first (probably only) WDW Trip, so I am so excited I can hardly think about anything else.

Looking forward to seeing this thread grow and grow!

Holly in SC