Wish Trippers...Unite!! Volume One

[Holly Sox]

Welcome Holly. Your trip is coming right up. Have you started your pre-trip report (that is where we all obsess about buying ponchos and setting up dinner reservations and even about flesh eating bacteria-- if we can't think of anything else to obsess about.

Thanks, Bill. I have been CRAZY the past week and have not been able to post as much as I have wanted to. I took the boys to our state fair last Thursday night for Cody's birthday. They were seriously amazed by the midway, the lights, the rides, etc. And this was the SC State Fair, okay??? I cannot wait to see them when we hit the Magic Kingdom. I don't know how I am going to get through the next 2 weeks, 5 days and 12 hours.

They just have no idea what's ahead.

Holly

 

[Momof2wCF]

Got our itinerary last night along with a limo ride and Ally's first fillet mignon (quite a hit with her too!) It was amazing and I cried a few times over how much everyone at the restaurant went out of their way for this little girl.

 

[LindaBabe]

Kristen, I think most people "want" to do good and are exceedingly grateful for the opportunity to do so. See you tomorrow week!

 

[alizesmom]

MAW will pay for nonfamily under certain circumstances. Alize needs someone to watch him 24/7. The doctor requested we have a nurse for him. MAW kindly are paying for her trip but not her wages. Karen

 

[Pez Pez]

Got our itinerary last night along with a limo ride and Ally's first fillet mignon (quite a hit with her too!) It was amazing and I cried a few times over how much everyone at the restaurant went out of their way for this little girl.

That is so sweet!!!! I do have a question though. My MAW volunteer made it sound like they just order us pizza and come go over everything??? I am missing out on something

TIA

 

[Holly Sox]

That is so sweet!!!! I do have a question though. My MAW volunteer made it sound like they just order us pizza and come go over everything??? I am missing out on something

TIA

Staci,

I have found that the wish organizations vary rather wildly in the details of granting the wish. Even within MAW, there are differences from one state organization to another. We leave in a little less than 3 weeks. I am still not sure of how our "send-off" will go. At one point our grantor told me they would do a party at a local restaurant with grandparents, etc. When I talked to him most recently, it seems that we will be meeting here at my house.

I do know that it doesn't matter to me. We are going on our trip FINALLY.



Holly

 

[Camster0307]

That is so sweet!!!! I do have a question though. My MAW volunteer made it sound like they just order us pizza and come go over everything??? I am missing out on something

TIA

Our MAW volunteer came over with pizza during the summer to discuss plans - our trip was still 6 months away at the time. Now that we have just about a month to go, I haven't heard from them about getting together again. Have no idea what to expect!

 

[wendygrace]

That is so sweet!!!! I do have a question though. My MAW volunteer made it sound like they just order us pizza and come go over everything??? I am missing out on something

TIA

We did not get a party or anything like that. When the tickets were ready (less than a week before the trip), one of our voluteers came over and gave them to us with a couple of goody bags for the kids. No party. They also asked us if we wanted them to come to the airport with us and we declined as it was an early flight and a long drive for all concerned (we were up at 4am!). It varies from organization to organization and from wish volunteers to wish volunteers. I think the volunteers get X number of dollars to get gifts, throw parties, etc (which varies from chapter to chapter and possibly family to family) and the volunteers get to do what they want with it within guidelines.

 

[wendygrace]

Oh, I forgot! LOL

Michael's surgery has been scheduled for November 8th. Now we just got to get rid of this cold! Grrrr!

 

[Momof2wCF]

Originally Posted by Pez Pez
That is so sweet!!!! I do have a question though. My MAW volunteer made it sound like they just order us pizza and come go over everything??? I am missing out on something

Staci, I think maybe it depends on their budget at the time, too? The reason I say that is b/c when DS got his MaW four years ago (LOTS OF LEGOS), the same Wish Coordinators arranged everything, and we had a pizza party for about 10 people at our house. It was lovely and fun, but nothing like our limo ride/dinner. It was wonderful, though, and DS still grins every time he remembers walking through the door to *his party*. (and his boxes of Legos that literally brushed the ceiling when all stacked up.)
I do believe a lot of Ally's dinner/ride was donated, too, so maybe it depends on whether businesses are feeling like they want to participate?
Anyway, don't feel gyped no matter how they handle it. Your experience may be *upgraded* somewhere that ours isn't, you may get more spending money, etc. It all will be magical, I promise. And you will be amazed how emotional it makes you when your *baby* IS the center of the world for a week. (which is how we see them all the time)
BTW, we're from OR too. Where are you flying out of? We're going out of Portland. <ahem> in four days

Michael's surgery has been scheduled for November 8th. Now we just got to get rid of this cold! Grrrr!

Wendygrace, Sorry you guys have been sick. I just love things that run through the whole family before they go away. We'll be thinking about you on the 8th, here's happy thoughts for Michael...

Kristen, I think most people "want" to do good and are exceedingly grateful for the opportunity to do so. See you tomorrow week!

EEEEEEEE!! I am so looking forward to this, I really hope it works to see you at GKTW!!! (Sorry, I gave all your smilies to Michael, but I know you want him to have them anyway!)

 

[5dwarves]

Now the other prob we have is that our reservation for Cinderella at the castle is for just the four of us and not MIL. I called WDW Dining and they are booked solid, no luck getting her in. I don't know what to do there. I don't want her to not be included. I would be more than happy to have DD1 sit on my lap if it means MIL can eat with us. What to do....what to do???

Just show up! It never hurts to try....LOL...let them know that you are on your wish trip and your MIL joined you and ask if they can put an extra chair at your table or whatever...the wonderful CM's will really try to make your trip as memorable as possible. I am sure they will try to accomodate!

 

[5dwarves]

Ok GKTW Trippies, I have a few questions for you-

The GKTW camera was referred to- is that a regular camera and video camera? How did that work? Is it available anytime? What did you take with you-memory card, or did they put your pics on a DVD or CD?

GKTW Activities-What were the must do activities and why?

Thanks so much for your help!

Hey...welcome to the Dis.... I know Bill answered about the Video camera, however I wanted to add that we were told we could choose between a video camera or a digital camera, if you would rather have stills. I am not sure that is still the case though. We were there in July, btw. All the cameras were donated to GKTW by Sony and they maintain and repair them as well. Our loaner video camera was in rough shape, so I am sure some cameras may have to be taken out of rotation. The best thing to do would be to call GKTW and ask them if you can still choose between digital and video.

BTW, You will find that when you are there sitting through the orientation, that you will know so much more than the other familes because you have been on the Dis asking questions.

There are no must do activities at GKTW. Many wish organizations strectch their wish dollars by taking advantage of the free breakfast and dinner there and do not allow you funding for 3 meals a day, only one, as a result. So I guess you could say that breakfast and dinner are must do, or pay on your own; nothing else is required of you though; except of course orientation and check out. Neither of those are cumbersome though.

Some of the things that GKTW does not do for you, that are relegated to you, are laundry (including the bathroom towels) trash removal (they want you to bag it up and set it on the curb in the mornings) and villa housekeeping (you need to make your own beds and pick up after yourself...if you are so inclined )

Can't wait to hear about your trip!

~Elisa

 

[Eeyore's Mom]

I am finding it very interesting to see the differences within the MAW organizations. It doesn't surprise me from the different organizations but you would think within the one organization most of the stuff would be pretty similiar with the exceptions of specific request from the wisher.

Our wish granters told us to think about where we want to go for Eeyore's party, her suggestion was Chuck E Cheese. That's over an hour a way and I get a little goofy about germs there (and playlands!) because DS is on 2 immunosupression drugs. She was very open to any idea's we had and was going to let me know how many people we could invite. I'm not sure how many people we know here that would want to drive 2 hrs for Chuck E Cheese on winter roads. So... I am going to request that we have the party at our house and just invite a few neighbors. So here we have a chance to go do something and would rather have it at home and some of you having not been offered anything or something at home but might find it more fun to be out. Hmmm... as I type this I now realize how difficult it would be for an organization to have a standardized practice with this stuff.

Quote:
Michael's surgery has been scheduled for November 8th. Now we just got to get rid of this cold! Grrrr!

Our prayers and good thoughts will be with you guys. I do hope the illness has run it's full course by then and all will be feeling well!!

 

[palpluto]

Elisa,
Thanks for the info.
For "must dos" at GKTW, I was referring to things that you thought were awesome so we must try to do them for the experience, not what we actually must do. However that info is always good also. Anything stick out as particularly awesome at GKTW? We are so excited about being there, and I am trying to plan what nights we will do things outside of GKTW. My boys are 4 & 12.
One thing I scheduled that I haven't seen discussed(although it may have been and I just haven't seen it). We have an ARD for the Coral Reef at Epcot. I was able to set up a diver who will swim up to the window with a banner with a message to my kids as well as a personalized menu with photos on it. This will be a surprise to them. I haven't scheduled any character meals because it sounds like we will have lots of interaction at GKTW-true?

 

[hotmamac]

Hi all.
Thanks to Bill for letting me know that this exsisted!
My DD was just granted a wish...we haven't really made any specific plans yet. We're actually going to have to put her wish on hold for a while. DD has Tuberous Sclerosis and has uncontrolled seizures that have recently gotten worse. Meds aren't helping, so now she's being considered for surgery. We're going to have a lot of hospital stays and testing over the next several months. Which will just make our trip that much sweeter, I'm sure!
So, my planning is on hold, but I really enjoy reading everyone's reports!!
I may not be posting much for a while, but I'll be lurking!
Much love to everyone!!!
Misty

 

[LindaBabe]

We'll be thinking about you on the 8th, here's happy thoughts for Michael...


EEEEEEEE!! I am so looking forward to this, I really hope it works to see you at GKTW!!! (Sorry, I gave all your smilies to Michael, but I know you want him to have them anyway!)

Absolutely - it's ALL about the kids! <thinking > How many kids are we talking about here on this board? A dozen? Two? I'm going to be in Florida next week - if you'd like postcards sent to your kids, pm me. I've got lots of stamps!

 

[Iluvmickeymouse!]

Does anyone know what it is going to cost my MIL to eat at GKTW? Or granter said maybe $2-3 a meal?

As far as how you get your "send off".....I've noticed it definitely does vary. I would just plan on the wish granter coming to your house and handing you your stuff and then if you get anything more than that you will be exstatic!!

Wendy....good luck with everything, we will keep you in our prayers.

Hotmamac and to you and your family.

 

[Winnielover]

Hi All!!! I'm new to Disboards. Well actually not all that new. I've been following along a lot of the Make A Wish Trip stories but have finally got myself signed up. I'm not very computer related so you will all have to bare with me while I try to figure this out!! I'll be leaving on my daughters Make A Wish trip on November 10. We will be gone through to the 18th. We are all very excited to be going.

We are actually taking the wish through children's wish foundation of Canada. Since here in Canada they don't have A Make A wish Foundation or at least one that I'm familiar with anyways.

We will be staying at Give Kids the World as well. We are all really excited about that. It sounds like such an amazing place. Although my daughter is older so we don't know how much time we will be spending at GKTW. I'm sure we'll check out the christmas party and get our pictures taken with mickey. After that I'm not sure what else we will do. I know there's a movie theatre but we where wondering if they play movies that are for teenagers? Because I'm not to sure my daughter would like watching barney or rugrats, if you know what I mean. The swimming pool also sounds fun and we plan on spending lots of time cooling down in there.

All your pre-trip reports have sure been helping me out with things we should do and everything I need to buy. Although I have to say we are definitely a wing it kind of family so I'm pretty sure most things won't be planned out. We did buy our 1.30$ poncho's at Wal-mart and are set with hats and bathing suits. I know there is a Wal-Mart down the street from GKTW so I figure I'll be able to buy anything we might forget from there.

We talked with our wish coordinators yesterday and they said our package isn't in yet with our tickets etc. So I was wondering when everybody else recieved their packages before the trip? It's three weeks from our trip so we still have time, but I would feel better if that darn package came in and we had some idea's of what was happening. We also haven't met out wish granters. I have talked to them on the phone many times but we have never had a chance to meet these lovely people. We plan on getting together with them soon if everything works out.

Well, Thats about all the questions I have right now. I'm sure I'll think of more as the days grow closer.

Thanks everyone!!!

 

[Camster0307]

Welcome to the thread hotmamac & Winnielover - I think you'll find it very helpful - I know I have.

Winnielover - Don't worry about your packet; they'll get it to you in time. Our MAW trip is Nov.24 & my volunteers told me today that they probably won't be delivering ours until a week before we go. It's very hard leaving this big trip in the hands of others, but after reading the many reassuring posts on this thread, I think I'm lightening up about it a little. (I have control issues! )

Wendy - Sending positive thoughts your way!

 

[alizesmom]

Hi all.
Thanks to Bill for letting me know that this exsisted!
My DD was just granted a wish...we haven't really made any specific plans yet. We're actually going to have to put her wish on hold for a while. DD has Tuberous Sclerosis and has uncontrolled seizures that have recently gotten worse. Meds aren't helping, so now she's being considered for surgery. We're going to have a lot of hospital stays and testing over the next several months. Which will just make our trip that much sweeter, I'm sure!
So, my planning is on hold, but I really enjoy reading everyone's reports!!
I may not be posting much for a while, but I'll be lurking!
Much love to everyone!!!
Misty

Sorry about the worsening seizures. Hope you find the answer. I'll be praying for you. Karen