Wish Trippers...Unite!! Volume One

Hi all! I am not a wish tripper, but a former CM and Angel (volunteer) at GKTW. I hope you all don't mind having me as part of this thread. I have dealt with many Wish families in my time as a CP and might be able to give you all help and advice when it comes to WDW and GKTW.
 
Hi all,
5dwarves, not sure where the tickets are coming from but my wish granter said we were getting park hopper passes to all the major parks. This is all new to me but as long as the boys can hit MK, AK, Epcott and DS I know they will be happy.
Here is a question maybe someone can answer...do MAW kids get to have the extended park hours if they are not staying a a WDW resort?? Do they get them at GKTW? I just thought that would be cool for the boys to have the extra hours at night so I'm hoping that even though we will be in a condo this will work!
Also, do the kids where a button or pass that identifies them to all the CM's so they can get to the front of the line?? How does the whole ride thing work for MAW kids? Jared is borrowing my Mom's ECV as they only will rent to over 18 at the parks. He will not be able to do all that walking as he is still going to be quite tired and one of the chemo drugs weakened his feet.
Thanks and much love!!:love:
Alyson
PS thanks 4 the warm welcome.

I'm going to echo 5Dwarves while throwing in some of my own insight from the other side of the equation:

As a CM, the button was always good enough for me. However, make sure you have your GAC with you at all times. Unfortunatel, there are some rather unscrupulous characters that sell fake GKTW buttons and people will buy them so they can get front of line access. Therefore, even when we see a button, some CMs will also ask you for your GAC to make sure. I do not because I figure if you are that desperate to get on a ride, go for it. Whether you call it karma or God, what goes around comes around and one day you may find yourself regretting that behavior.

On some Wish Tripper threads I have noticed them saying certain ride like Dumbo did not have a line for them to enter. Unfortunately, this is a misconception thanks to our incredible ability to hide a line! Every attraction is equipped with a WC or alternate entrance. On older rides like Dumbo, the standard line does not accommodate WCs. There is a separate WC line for that. You will use the WC line. On these rides there will be a symbol by the WC entrance. Make sure you have a guidebook for guests with disabilities!!!!! There is one for each park with a list of all the attractions, a description, boarding requirements, and where the alternate entrance is. This will be a lifesaver when you are having trouble finding the alternate entrance. If you ever do have trouble finding it, snag a CM and we will be happy to show you where to go!

I have seen on some Wish Tripper threads that they did not get front of line access for characters. I have been a performer for 2 CPs, and we always gave front of line access to GKTW. I was not trained as an attendant, but I believe that in their training, they are instructed to do so. People get confused because most GACs do not work in character lines since they are meant for attractions and characters are not attractions. The GKTW GAC is the only one that works with the characters. I have never seen a family with a GKTW GAC made to wait in a character line. Never.

If you are using your mom's ECV, please be prepared for CMs to say something. Since it is a personal ECV most won't, but every company requires people to be over 18 to drive them, and at some point somebody will probably say something. Just be prepared to explain that it is a personal and not a rental. (Hopefully nobody will say anything, but you enver know).

As far as the EMH, I believe the *official* answer is no, you don't get to unless you are staying at a WDW resort, however, I think this is one of those situations where different people have different experiences. It's certainly worth asking about.
 
Hi all! I am not a wish tripper, but a former CM and Angel (volunteer) at GKTW. I hope you all don't mind having me as part of this thread. I have dealt with many Wish families in my time as a CP and might be able to give you all help and advice when it comes to WDW and GKTW.

:love: :hug: We would LOVE to have you join us!!!! You will bring so much insight for the wish trip families!!! Ok...I have to ask....what did you do when you were a CM at WDW...were you in retail, characters, resorts, etc.? I love hearing about people who have worked at WDW. I have decided that when I am old enough to retire (have a LONG way to go! :rotfl2: ) that I would love to work at WDW! Now, just to convince hubby of that...hmmmm..:lmao: Thanks for stopping in and helping out all of our future wish trippers!!! :goodvibes
 
Iluvmickeymouse: I have done 3 CP's with Disney. In '04 I worked Fantasyland attractions, and in '05 and '06 I was a performer in entertainment. I also volunteered over at GKTW on Big and Little Blue (the trains on wheels), the cookie cart, gift giving, and Amber's play place (I forget the name of it at the moment).
 

:love: :hug: We would LOVE to have you join us!!!! You will bring so much insight for the wish trip families!!! Ok...I have to ask....what did you do when you were a CM at WDW...were you in retail, characters, resorts, etc.? I love hearing about people who have worked at WDW. I have decided that when I am old enough to retire (have a LONG way to go! :rotfl2: ) that I would love to work at WDW! Now, just to convince hubby of that...hmmmm..:lmao: Thanks for stopping in and helping out all of our future wish trippers!!! :goodvibes

I'm not waiting for retirement...I searched their employment website as soon as I got back. DH's a math teacher...he'll find a job down there, somewhere! :thumbsup2
 
Lotferg: I worked with a lot of teachers, especially in entertainment. Many people teach in the area and then work for Disney Part time or seasonally. That is my plan once I am certified. It's gonna take awhile though :(. I get my master's next spring and will be certified to teacher Elementary and Special Education. I am looking to be a regular classroom teacher because I have seen way too many kids mainstreamed in classes where they were not getting the hlp they needed. Not the teacher's fault, they just did not have the training. I plan on earning my certification in gifted as well (for the same reason. I am gifted and ended up dropping out of high school and going to college when I was 15 because I felt out of place and unchallenged in high school.) In Missouri, you have to teach for two years and then take 9 hours of classes before you can get your gifted certification. So the earliest I can go back is...let me do the math...2011 or 2012 :(. I miss it everyday! It was a wonderful place to work.

My bf is a supervisor at a theme park in my home state, and he gets jealous of all the cool GKTW stories I tell. They don't get the same kind of crowd there nad that is one thing that Disney does he wishes his park does.
 
I'm not waiting for retirement...I searched their employment website as soon as I got back. DH's a math teacher...he'll find a job down there, somewhere! :thumbsup2

:rotfl2: I LOVE it!!!! :rotfl2: When DH and I went in '02 we were going to look into employment but we chickened out and didn't. Then we goet preg. with DD4 and that put a kabosh on that. I would love to be there now, but I am very close to my family and can't imagine leaving my mom and live that far away. I am seriously thinking that after DD's either go to college or grad. college, I would either like to move down there or live there during our wonderful :headache: winter months and be back here during the summer/fall. Who knows, a lot can happen between now and then!! :goodvibes
 
Hi all, thanks so much for the invite. My name is Heather and our family will be going to Disney for my daughter's wish trip Aug 2-8.I am married to a great guy named Paul. Hannah is our wish kid. She is nine. She has Down syndrome and had open heart surgery for AV canal(4 major holes), VSD, and mitral valve repair. She is pretty medically stable right now but does have some residual leakage from the mitral valve and sleep apnea requiring a CPAP machine. She also has some dietary issues and severe acid reflux.We also have a five year old son named Logan. I never thought to apply to Make wish for Hannah but after like the 100th person asked me why not I emailed them on a whim. I was super suprised to get a call back in early April saying she would probably qualify.I still didn't let myself get excited but when I saw that thick enevlope in the mail from Make a wish my heart did skip a few beats! So we met our wish team already and they are full speed ahead planning our her wish. Hannah is obsessed with anything disney and Cinderella is her favorite.Her favorite thing to do is to watch disney movies and she loves to act out scenes from them.She is a complete girly- girl and is all about being a princess.None of us has ever been to disney before and I think I am being the biggest kid through all of this.I have been trying to read all the wish trip reports and admit I have been bawling through all of them.I ahve a feeling this is going to be an amazing and magical trip for all of us.Looking forward to getting to know all of you!
 
Hi all!!! Thanks for the link. My SS is undergoing treatment for Ewing's Sarcoma and will be done in a couple weeks. We are going to WDW through MAW on Sept. 10th. We're staying on the property at CBR. I guess I would know what to do if we were planning a regular vacation, but I'm not sure how this is going to be different so I'll be reading up on that. SS will be 15 and DS is 6. DH has never been so this should be a real vacation for everyone...and boy do we need it.
 
Welcome Heather and Mojjo! Once you recover from complete information overload, please let us know if you have any questions. :goodvibes

Heather: There is a little girl I have worked with in the schools (getting master's in special ed) who sounds like a 6 year old version of your daughter. She has Down Syndrome and has had open heart surgery. The mom has talked to a few of our special ed classes and I am thinking about encouraging her to apply for MAW.

That reminds me- after initially being rejected as a wish granter, I sent an e-mail to the local chapter asking if my application would remain active. I got an e-mail back today, and they are sending me a Wish Granter application in the mail! I guess they wanted to see how persistent I am.
 
On some Wish Tripper threads I have noticed them saying certain ride like Dumbo did not have a line for them to enter. Unfortunately, this is a misconception thanks to our incredible ability to hide a line! Every attraction is equipped with a WC or alternate entrance. On older rides like Dumbo, the standard line does not accommodate WCs. There is a separate WC line for that. You will use the WC line. On these rides there will be a symbol by the WC entrance. Make sure you have a guidebook for guests with disabilities!!!!! There is one for each park with a list of all the attractions, a description, boarding requirements, and where the alternate entrance is. This will be a lifesaver when you are having trouble finding the alternate entrance. If you ever do have trouble finding it, snag a CM and we will be happy to show you where to go!
there is also a link to the text from the Guidebooks on post #3 of the disABILITIES FAQs thread (there is a link to that thread in my signature).

If you are using your mom's ECV, please be prepared for CMs to say something. Since it is a personal ECV most won't, but every company requires people to be over 18 to drive them, and at some point somebody will probably say something. Just be prepared to explain that it is a personal and not a rental. (Hopefully nobody will say anything, but you enver know).
It is probably wise to be prepared just in case.
If he has not used grandma's ECV, he should practice before he goes so that he can feel comfortable going forward, reverse, parallel parking and turning in both directions going forward and backward. Depending on how tall he is, he may find that the ECV needs some adjustment to fit him so he can control it better.
Also, even though it is a personal ECV, Security can stop people who are using their own personal ECV in a way that is unsafe. (Not saying he will, but you know your child and know whether or not he will need a 'talk' from you to warn him to be careful).
 
Hi all!!
Thanks SueM for the ECV advice. Luckily my son is 5 foot 9 and has been using the scooter for the past couple of months. We did take it to Disneyland and he did quite well but a bit of practice certainly will be necessary before we leave for WDW!! He is a cautious kid by nature so I don't think he will be mowing any toddlers down.

Here is a question for all you MAW folks...did anyone extend their trips and pay for it themselves?? I have met 3 different families who have done this but none are from my MAW area. My people will not budge when it comes to any type of extension at all. It will be really difficult to do it all in 6 days with 2 totally taken up with travel. Any advice on this would be much appreciated!!

Today was my son's last radiation treatment. He is DONE with cancer treatment!!!! :cool1: :rotfl2: :hyper:
Much love,
Alyson
 
No more radiation! Time to celebrate! :moped: :cool1: :thumbsup2 :goodvibes :banana: :wizard: :love: :cloud9: :woohoo: :hug: :yay: :dance3:

I'm clearly having too much fun with smilies ;)

Out of curiosity- where are you staying? The standard at GKTW is 6 days, it sounds like you are only getting four. I've heard of many families extending, hopefully it will work out for you. :)
 
(Heather: There is a little girl I have worked with in the schools (getting master's in special ed) who sounds like a 6 year old version of your daughter. She has Down Syndrome and has had open heart surgery. The mom has talked to a few of our special ed classes and I am thinking about encouraging her to apply for MAW.

That reminds me- after initially being rejected as a wish granter, I sent an e-mail to the local chapter asking if my application would remain active. I got an e-mail back today, and they are sending me a Wish Granter application in the mail! I guess they wanted to see how persistent I am.)


Thanks for the welcome.-Yeah about 60 % of kids with Down syndrome are born with some type of heart issue.It really depends on the defect, but some holes do close on their own. We were just "lucky" to have the extreme heart issues requiring surgery at 7 weeks. She was in heart failure a few days after birth until surgery.I would definitly encourage her to apply-I did!
That is neat that you want to be a volunteer. I have a feeling I will be a lifelong Make a wish fan and hopefully a volunteer myself once the trip is over!



I do have one question: At GKTW , I have read that the ice cream is run by Friendly's.Does anyone know if they ever have any lactose free ice cream for kids with food issues? Hannah is lactose intolerant.Also is the food itself run by Friendly's??? For some reason the food there makes her quite sick. I think it's the grease that they fry in.I am just starting to wonder if we are going to have issues. I suppose we can cook in the villa though but didn't want to spend all week cooking!
 
Welcome to all the new people! Sounds like a lot of great news going around, I love to see that :goodvibes

Here is a question for all you MAW folks...did anyone extend their trips and pay for it themselves?? I have met 3 different families who have done this but none are from my MAW area. My people will not budge when it comes to any type of extension at all. It will be really difficult to do it all in 6 days with 2 totally taken up with travel. Any advice on this would be much appreciated!!

Today was my son's last radiation treatment. He is DONE with cancer treatment!!!! :cool1: :rotfl2: :hyper:
Much love,
Alyson[/COLOR][/FONT]

First off, congrats about your son! You must be SO excited!

I extended my trip and we paid for it ourselves - we just returned last Tuesday.

GKTW is very strict about you getting 6 nights / 7 days there so you can't stay there any longer - but that is what you *should* be getting, it's standard. (Like, we checked in on Saturday and had to check out the next Friday). It's the right thing, when you think about it, they are always full up and it's not fair to have another child not get in because you wanted more time :)

Our MAW chapter was very cool about the arrangements. They said they didn't care when we booked our return flight, so if we wanted to stay longer we could as long as we wanted. I have family in Orlando, so on checkout day we moved to their place. The only pain was the car rental, we had to return to the airport and return the MAW car and get our own car. My daughter wanted to know why we went from the "fancy" car to the "small" car :faint:

GKTW was very specific about the comp tickets you receive: they are only good for TWO weeks. I didn't know that earlier, we hadn't planned on going to Universal because my daughter is young and I figured on saving them for another trip. But they say they expire in two weeks so that plan was shot. So, if you extend your trip, remember you only have two weeks to use the comp tickets.

I do have one question: At GKTW , I have read that the ice cream is run by Friendly's.Does anyone know if they ever have any lactose free ice cream for kids with food issues? Hannah is lactose intolerant.Also is the food itself run by Friendly's??? For some reason the food there makes her quite sick. I think it's the grease that they fry in.I am just starting to wonder if we are going to have issues. I suppose we can cook in the villa though but didn't want to spend all week cooking!

The food is not sponsored by Friendly's like the ice cream, it's sponsored by Perkins. I would contact GKTW and discuss your food needs with them. I'm certain they have had lactose intolerant kids before and would be more than wiling to work with you. The last thing they want is for you to be cooking all week!

Through all the things we had happen there wasn't one person who was not friendly and helpful in dealing with issues. The angels who work there truly have your best interests at heart. :love:
 
Hi all! I am not a wish tripper, but a former CM and Angel (volunteer) at GKTW. I hope you all don't mind having me as part of this thread. I have dealt with many Wish families in my time as a CP and might be able to give you all help and advice when it comes to WDW and GKTW.

It's absolutely AWESOME that you would take the time to read our thread and comment! We'd love to have you here! :hug:
 
Thanks to Iluvmickeymouse! for encouraging me to join the Wish Trippers. My friend Aurora73 had mentioned me in a post on lotferg's trippie and Iluvmickeymouse! PM'd her with the invitation.

We are so excited because we (cast to follow) will be experiencing a MAW trip for our granddaughter Sept 10-16. Her family will stay at GKTW and Grandpa, Grandma, Disney Uncle and Disney Aunt will stay at POR.

She was born with Pulmonary Atresia, no vessels to take blood from the heart to the lungs and has had 2 major open heart surgeries, 8 minor heart surgeries and one other abdominal surgery. She also had a stroke during her first open heart surgery when she was 4 months old that has left her with some rt side weakness and difficulty speaking. Recently we were told that she is losing lung function due to her Pulmonary Atresia and there is nothing currently that can be done to fix this. Her cardiologist suggested that MAW would be good for their family especially now while she is still quite healthy and can enjoy the trip the most.

I will start a pre-trip report as soon as I get that part figured out but for now we are:

Wish trip girl (8)
Sister-- (7)
Brother--(10)
Mom--(31)
Dad--(32)
Grandma--(old)
Grandpa--(really old :rotfl2: )
Aunt--29
Uncle--26

I know we will have lots of questions for all you experts and we are looking forward to being part of this great "family"

thanks for being here

Denise/bigdisgrandma
 
Welcome Denise! You will find that many families time their wish the same way you did, so that their child can make the most out of your trip. There will be many families where it is impossible to tell who the wish child is if they are not wearing the button. There will be other families will it will be only too obvious.

For some families like yours, this can be a bittersweet experience. I was working the cookie cart (you'll learn about that soon enough) when a mom stopped and chatted with me. Her 8 yo son has MD, and she was telling me about their trip. They had chosen to take their wish trip while the child was still relatively healty. The mom told me that at one point her son asked her, "mommy, what is wrong with these kids? I just have issues, but these kids are sick." She was telling me how they had been as honest as they could with their son (telling him that it would get harder for him to walk, one day he would wind up in a WC, etc.) but he just wasn't ready to comprehend it yet. Their doctor encouraged them to be honest and they did their best, but I remember her asking me, "How do you tell your 8 yo son he is going to die before he is an adult?" I think being at GKTW and seeing reminders of what the future was going to hold in store for her son was a bit overwhelming at times.

The nice thing is that the Angels (volunteers) understand, that is why we volunteer there. We have no problem with you talking to us, because we know that at home you amy not always have somebody to talk to who understands.
 
Welcome Denise! You will find that many families time their wish the same way you did, so that their child can make the most out of your trip. There will be many families where it is impossible to tell who the wish child is if they are not wearing the button. There will be other families will it will be only too obvious.

For some families like yours, this can be a bittersweet experience. I was working the cookie cart (you'll learn about that soon enough) when a mom stopped and chatted with me. Her 8 yo son has MD, and she was telling me about their trip. They had chosen to take their wish trip while the child was still relatively healty. The mom told me that at one point her son asked her, "mommy, what is wrong with these kids? I just have issues, but these kids are sick." She was telling me how they had been as honest as they could with their son (telling him that it would get harder for him to walk, one day he would wind up in a WC, etc.) but he just wasn't ready to comprehend it yet. Their doctor encouraged them to be honest and they did their best, but I remember her asking me, "How do you tell your 8 yo son he is going to die before he is an adult?" I think being at GKTW and seeing reminders of what the future was going to hold in store for her son was a bit overwhelming at times.

The nice thing is that the Angels (volunteers) understand, that is why we volunteer there. We have no problem with you talking to us, because we know that at home you amy not always have somebody to talk to who understands.

Thank so much for your response. It made me cry but recently, almost anything makes me cry. (My family says we all cry because of the altitude in Utah) :banana: We are so blessed to be able to have this wonderful experience.

I do have one question for you all--
Because we won't be staying at GKTW and our wish family will, can we visit them there so we can see what they are getting to experience? We would love to watch the kids ride the train or go fishing or ride the carousel:)
 
Thank so much for your response. It made me cry but recently, almost anything makes me cry. (My family says we all cry because of the altitude in Utah) :banana: We are so blessed to be able to have this wonderful experience.

I do have one question for you all--
Because we won't be staying at GKTW and our wish family will, can we visit them there so we can see what they are getting to experience? We would love to watch the kids ride the train or go fishing or ride the carousel:)

Glad you decided to join us!

Don't worry about the crying thing...I have that problem too. I just blame my tears on the memory of what my scale read back in high school.

We met another family that had the "wish family" at GKTW, and other members staying at a nearby hotel. According to them, it isn't a problem to have visitors. You can participate in activities, but they keep good records; meals and such are only for those staying at GKTW. They count the number of people and compare it with what's assigned to your room when you walk in. Gifts at events are only given to the children staying onsite.
 














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