Wish Trippers...Unite!! Volume One

[twinmum]

Sounds like everybody's been really busy. Mistymouse, I can't help on the Toy Story front, not well versed in that. I do know that there's a lot of Pixar going on at Disney Hollywood Studios, and the parade there would probably be a good idea too.

What I can say is this: this will be our 2nd trip to WDW. We went to WDW in 2006 when our twin boys were 8. We hope to return for our son's Wish trip, likely this fall. Our first trip was 8 nights and although we packed a lot in, we knew there was so much we just wouldn't be able to do. This time, we're not sure how long the Wish trip will be (I think it depends on whether we're at GKTW or not), but we plan to add on days to bring it up to an 8-10 day trip. And we STILL know we won't have time for everything, but we're planning on more hang around time.

So...if you can manage to stay longer, that's great. Otherwise. just know you'll be creating a list for next time!

 

[mistymouse5001]

Yeah, I think that's a good plan. When are you going again?My memory fails me.

 

[twinmum]

Mistymouse: We have just had a first meeting with our wish granter and are just in the early stages. I think we'll be going with beginning of November, or waiting until April. We have to plan this around our renovation to make the house more accessible for our son - we're going to have "the cool house with the elevator!"

 

[Bill_Lin]

Hello all,

I am a Wish Trip Vet. Believe it or not, I suggested the idea of creating this thread. I am full of advice (some of it might even be worthwhile) if you want any.

My best tips are:

Go with the flow- Some of your plans will fall apart, so don't be disappointed. On the other hand, unexpected magic will come your way to make your trip extra special.

Don't hesitate to ask- If there is anything you dream of or wish for, just ask, whether it be from the folks at GKTW or Cast Members at Disney. It never hurts to have someone say no, and you will be surprised how often you will hear a yes.

Shop at Wal-Mart and the Flea Market across the highway (and slightly east of Wal-Mart- Souvenirs and stuffed animals are a LOT cheaper at these locations. We got a good sized piglet at the Flea Market for $10. It is also a great place to buy luggage. Wal-Mart has a large section of Disney merchandise. You can get snacks, meds and clothes there as well. The staff are very friendly and helpful. They know what GKTW is all about.

Know how to use your GAC/ GAP- At Disney, just show your GKTW button and they will direct you where to park. You will be right up close. Show your GAC at all of the rides and character greets to "cut in line." Please DO NOT HESITATE to take advantage of this feature. It will greatly enhance your child's wish trip. Almost everyone understands this privilege. We only ran into one family from Germany who took exception to any degree.
At Universal, you will need to show a special parking pass that looks like one of your tickets. Have this ready. All of the parks can provide strollers in lieu of wheelchairs, if you could use this. They sure saved energy for our little princess. We used them to haul or gear around the parks as well, saving our energy as well. I think you have to ask for these parking at stroller passes at GKTW (House of Hearts).

Custom plan your days- for small kids, give a full day at Magic Kingdom, and at Animal Kingdom. We covered Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure both in one day. Islands had more for kids, but don't miss Shrek 4-D, E.T., and Men in Black at Universal. We split a long day between Epcot and Disney Studios, taking the free boat ride between. We took the Disney bus system back to the Epcot parking lot as the boat was closed down before Fantasmic was over (by far the best fireworks type show).
Plan the best days of the week for each park. Birnbaums is right on. Epcot is great on Weekends. Bad weather can mean low crowds. We had a tropical storm pass near Magic Kingdom with heavy rain in the morning (ponchos matter-get color co-ordinated ones for your group-we got cheap blue ones at Wal-Mart). Half way through morning it cleared up, but the crowds had already been cleared away. It was very nice.

My favorite rides- Magic Kingdom: Pirates (be sure to meet Captain Jack at the character greet nearby), Haunted Mansion, Splash Mountain, Monsters Inc., Stitch's Great Escape. Epcot: The Seas with Nemo, Soarin', Ellen's Energy Adventure (seriously), Norway Maelstrom. Check out World Showcase. Go inside the pyramid in Mexico. Disney Studios: Tower of Terror, Beauty and the Beast Show, Star Tours, Voyage of the Little Mermaid, Great Movie Ride. Animal Kingdom: Dinosaur, Lion King Festival, Kali Rapids, Kilimanjaro Safari (by far the best). Universal Studios: Shrek, E.T., Men in Black. Islands of Adventure: Jurassic Park, Spiderman, Cat in the Hat. Sea World: Arctic Ride, Dolphin Feeding, Penguin Exhibit, Journey to Atlantis (similar to Splash Mountain but steeper and more intense).

Places to Eat- We loved a late lunch (they close at 4 or 5) at Columbia Harbor House in the Magic Kingdom. We had brunch at the Castle with the Princesses (WITHOUT RESERVATIONS due to the magic of a Cast Member named Jeff at Guest Services). Ordinarily you would have to have castle reservations at the Castle called in before you will even have your wish trip dates. You can also have dinner reservations with shorter notice to meet Cinderella at the Grand Floridian (a mere monorail ride from the park). At Epcot we loved the counter service place in China. At Animal Kingdom we ate at McDonalds (what can I say?). At Universal we went to the 50s themed hamburger joint. At Sea World we had a nice counter service dinner with live music (a piano comedy act) at the Sea Fire Inn.

I think you will find most everyone to be helpful, polite and accommodating in this order: 1) the staff at GKTW (hooray), 2) (A close second) Disney Cast Members at all parks, 3) Islands of Adventure Team Members, 4) Universal Team Members and 5) Sea World Staff. The amazing thing about the Disney Staff is that they ALL smiled (except the clean up guy in the Animal Kingdom McDonalds, but hey....). They acted like the really like their jobs. They also were all very well versed on how to respond to the GAC and the GKTW button.

Do not forget to visit and use the Wish Lounge at Magic Kingdom (go to First Aid near the Crystal Palace to find it). It is your private place to rest, hydrate and get all kinds of advice and assistance. If Alex is there, give her a high five from all of us Wish Trippers.

I hope to hear from you trip planners,

Bill

 

[mistymouse5001]

Mistymouse: We have just had a first meeting with our wish granter and are just in the early stages. I think we'll be going with beginning of November, or waiting until April. We have to plan this around our renovation to make the house more accessible for our son - we're going to have "the cool house with the elevator!"

Oh wow! I bet he's excited! He's going to be the bees knees with that one!
It would be neato to make some friends that were going at the same time.
November sounds like a wonderful time to go though. It will be decorated for
Christmas! Lucky little guy. How old? I will pull up to see if I can find your story.
Misty

 

[Bill_Lin]

Please humor me by checking out my links.

Thanks,

Bill

 

[Bill_Lin]

1. Did you mail your luggage or take it with you?
We took luggage with us. Back in the good old days, in September, we did not have to pay to check bags.

2. Was there plenty of towels,and toiletries?
No problem there to be sure. I still remember the whirlpool bath fondly. It was great after the long theme park days. We did not buy anything along that line. We picked up some over-the-counter meds at Wal-Mart.

3. Charmin or the rough stuff?
It was neither Charmin nor rough, but in between.

4. Was the food really good?
The food was Perkins (like Denny's or Shari's) and had enough variety to please kids and adults. The Strawberry waffles were a delight each morning. For early morning trips, you will be advised to get a continental cart delivered to your villa, but we found some food and staff at the Gingerbread House early enough for us.

5. Did it still cost a ton of money to do everything wish tripper wanted to do and buy?
Make a Wish budgeted some for souvenirs. We stretched this money by buying Chip, Dale, a small pooh and tee shirts at Wal-Mart, and by buying a good-sized Shamu and Piglet as well as a dress and luggage at the flea mart across the street and east from Wal-Mart. At the Airport Sea World shop we bought more tee shirts, a large penguin and a hat. At the theme parks we bought some things as well, such as the Medallion from the Pirates Movies, a Minnie with a Pirate hat, an Ewok, towels and such. We actually did not want to spend much time in stores while theme parking. At Islands of Adventure, a vendor gave us a discount when he saw the GKTW badge.

6. How long did it take to get everything finished?
I am not sure what you mean by this. If you mean pre-trip prep, no one is ever actually done, but don't worry about it. If you mean the days at GKTW, we spend the first day travelling and checking in (including the Talent Show at the Village and carousel ride), the second day we did Sea World and played at Claytonburg Water Park, the third day we did Magic Kingdom and slept. The Fourth Day was the Castle of Miracles Animal Kingdom and Christmas Party at the Village. The Fifth Day was Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure followed by the Pirates and Princesses Party. The Sixth Day was Epcot and Disney Studios. The last day we did everything we had missed at the Village, grabbed "to go" meals at the Ice Cream Palace and souvenir shopped at Wal-Mart, the Flea Market and the Airport.

7. Did you forget anything that was reall important?
No, and if we had, Wal-Mart has it all.

Does Dilly have to have a picture id for the plane?
Our minors did not have to have id, but that was back in 07.

Bill

 

[Bill_Lin]

I am so thrilled to see that this post is alive, well and growing. Please pass the word on to others you come across on other threads who are wish trippers.

I want to update our friends on our Princess. Her last (possibly last ever) scans were this Spring. She is cancer free for five years, and now officially in remission. Hallelujah! We are so grateful. Those of you who have met her at WDW know she is a bundle of life and sharp as a tack.

We are planning our World Passport Trip now. It will be to Southern California and will include Knott's Berry Farm, Great America, Discovery Kingdom, Legoland, Magic Mountain and the San Diego Zoo at no charge. We will pay on our own for Disneyland and California Adventure. This trip will be by AmTrak in September. California Here We Come.

With Thanksgiving,

Bill

 

[Iluvmickeymouse!]

Ok.. Questions : 1. Did you mail your luggage or take it with you? took it with us....because of suggestions on this board we also put a smaller bag in side a bigger one, that way we had that extra bag to haul all our goodies home...we did that with two bags and used all four soming home
2. Was there plenty of towels,and toiletries?yes, I'm sure they would supply you with more if needed, but there is a washer/dryer in the villa
3. Charmin or the rough stuff?i believe the rough stuff... ...but it wasn't that bad
4. Was the food really good?the food was great...breakfast was YUMMY!!!!!!! if your not a breakfast eater...become one before you go
5. Did it still cost a ton of money to do everything wish tripper wanted to do and buy?depends on what you are doing and what you are buying....MAW does supply you with a very generous check for expenses/food/souveniers
6. How long did it take to get everything finished?what everything???? planning? parks? you will never get all the park stuff in that you want. I would focus on your must do's and let the rest fall into place
7. Did you forget anything that was reall important? not that I can remember
Does Dilly have to have a picture id for the plane?
we had DD4 and DD1 and did not need an id
I have tons more

Okie dokie..No DR's no airport planning as of yet. Maybe I'll hear from them tomorrow . Oh well, We will see tomorrow! Dilly is too excited...
I'm too excited.
Do you know any Toy Story stuff there he would get a big kick out of?
We found Pizza Planet, The Toy Story Mania...I think that's it oh Woody's Cowboy Camp.
I told you b4 about the PR and I need to find something about Playhouse Disney and the Doodlebops-Seems like alot to fit into 3 days maybe I should add a couple. What do ya think?

Toy Story.....hmmm..yup, Pizza Planet and there is a meet and greet back in that area, usually Woody, Jessie, or Buzz. Definitely the new things at DHE for Toy Story, I would go to the WDW and check it out. There is a Playhouse Disney live on stage I believe at DHS. Plus you can meet JoJo, Goliath, June & Leo at Hollywood play-n-dine (i think that is the name) We also met Quincy but I can't remember exactly where..it was at DHS though. Not sure about the doodlebops...have not heard of them being out or any attractions with them.

If you can add days..MAW chapter allows it and you can afford it....definitely do it!!!! We did and I am soooooo glad we did.



BILL.......you're back!!!!!!!!!!!!! So happy to hear from you. I hope all is well with your family. Your trip this summer sounds great!! Unfortunately there are not to many things around us that we can do off our world pass. But, we are going to try and hit one of them this summer. It might be the only one we get to do. (stupid gas prices )



Oh...can you tell...I'M BAAAACK woohoo...internet is working again talk about some serious withdrawal...but I did get some cleaning done around my house!

 

[Bill_Lin]

I am very happy to be back, and to see Iluvmickeymouse is still around. How are you?

It has been an amazing journey since our trip.

Billdwinfo.com/chat.htm

 

[Bill_Lin]

Dear Friends,

I have an idea for a sub-theme for this thread. I realize that the main focus needs to be on helping people plan Wish Trips, and reporting on recent trips. Still, it would be inspiring for all of us to be reminded of all the special Magic Moments that we experienced, so let's share them now.

I will start. Check out our trip report (in my signature), page 10 for details and pictures. http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1545182&page=10

Our Princess' main wish was to stay in Cinderella's Castle (who hasn't seen THAT commercial), which was out of the question. Her next thought was to eat a meal with "Cindy" in her castle. We did not learn of our trip dates until it was too late to schedule a meal at the castle, so we opted for a dinner reservation with Cinderella at the Grand Floridian (a monorail ride away), which was really not the same ambiance at all.

Here is where the "what seems to go wrong, may be the doorway to magic" part comes in. It was raining and stormy on the morning of our Magic Kingdom Day. Our friends back home in Washington State heard that we were in a hurricane. At any rate, we wore our ponchos and were in a bit of a bedraggled state. At the bag check, I left the pouch on our GKTW video camera bag open and lost one of our Sea World discs from the day before. The rest of the group went to a character greet that a CM grabbed them for (after seeing the GKTW button). I went to Guest Services to make a lost and found report. Jeff, behind the counter saw my Make a Wish Button and inquired about my Wish Trip child and her wish. I told him about the wish to eat in the castle, but thought nothing of it. Jeff said, "Hang on a minute" and disappeared behind the magic curtain. He came back with reservations for brunch for the family in the castle. I was walking on air, breathing the rarefied atmosphere of Disney Magic. We had a GREAT TIME. When we finished brunch, the rain was gone, and so were the crowds. The rest of the day was just the icing on our cake.

Magically yours,

Bill

 

[mistymouse5001]

The men of the house are sleeping. Dreams of robots, ice cream, and
crumb snatching dance through those little noggins while I sit and have my quiet time. Peaceful sweet quiet. Room by room I start to hear each one making little noises Everyone is farting at the same time Just thought i would share

 

[Eeyores Butterfly]

There is a ton of Toy Story stuff. There is the Pizza Planet arcade, and several characters do meet and greets in that area. Of course the new Midway Mania and Block Party Bash. BPB is all Pixar characters, so Toy Story is included. I saw it over spring break when it opened and it is awesome! It's very interactive and I know your child(ren) will love it.

Over at MK there is Woody's Cowboy Camp and of course Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin which are a lot of fun.

Have you heard about the Toys in Space program? This past Saturday NASA launched Buzz Lightyear into space as part of a program that encourages students to pursue science and math. If you go to NASA.gov you will find several different Buzz Lightyear games.

 

[Iluvmickeymouse!]

I am very happy to be back, and to see Iluvmickeymouse is still around. How are you?

It has been an amazing journey since our trip.

Billdwinfo.com/chat.htm

We've been good! DD is doing great. Still gets her IVIG every six weeks, but that is it. We go to Iowa City in a couple weeks for her 6 month check-up. We are getting closer to that five-year mark too...I can't wait...woohoo!!!

I like hanging around here...don't venture too far off. Plus, I don't have a life!

The men of the house are sleeping. Dreams of robots, ice cream, and
crumb snatching dance through those little noggins while I sit and have my quiet time. Peaceful sweet quiet. Room by room I start to hear each one making little noises Everyone is farting at the same time Just thought i would share

try hubby and two dogs IN THE SAME ROOM as I am laying there trying to read...

 

[mistymouse5001]

Yes,how horrible! Doggy poots are the worst! I'm here for you in your time of need and sorrow, comforting you with wise words...Ben and Jerry's.Ben and Jerry's.

 

[Eeyores Butterfly]

My larger puppy likes to sit on the back of the couch by my head, so when he has gas... There are times that I've started hunting around to find where the accident took place only to discover it wasn't an accident at all but gas... What do they put in that dog food? (Side note: why do the cats' breath always smell like fish even though there is no fish in their food?)

 

[mistymouse5001]

I am too excited to wait and be patient
I have read thread after thread. Made 20 different packing list: printed by hand printed by printer printed in cursive printed in script
I have got all of the luggage out: I have put all of the luggage back.
I have perused every site that sells clothing: wicking this and that
crocs tenins shoes or flops Brand new monograhmed shirts for all?
clothes we already have?
I need to do things. Planning things . Packing things. Buying things DH says NO BUYING THINGS DB says WHAT are YOU talking ABOUT? I say just let me have my way so you dont have to listen to obsess.... I'm so excited, you know though it's harder to read about the wish trips and GKTW website because I keep being reminded that my Dilly
Dilly really ha sbeen through an awful lot. I'm more the type of person to try and move past really bad things The TR are so moving and special.
No matter how much I think about the actual trip I'm finding myself being sucked into the past, when Dilly was at his worst.
This is a very happy time for us though happy happy happy
I am an impatient cow
Do you think it would be strange to pack 3 months before a trip?
I have 4 beautiful boys. It's not like I don't have thing I should be doing, right? Instead I'm reading threads for an hour doing something important for 20 minutes and then sitting back down to do more Disney stuff
Oh well ... is OCD contagious? Back to the Pre TR's I go

 

[Bill_Lin]

I have to put in my 2 cents worth on behalf of Crocs. That is ALL we wore on our feet for our entire trip. Besides being surprisingly comfortable, their ability to get wet and dry quickly was a blessing. At times we were on water rides where we got soaked, then walked off the rides with no problem. Unlike other footwear, Crocs don't seem to cause blisters when wet. When we were caught in a downpour (like that could ever happen in Florida) we did not mind getting our feet wet at all.

Ponchos are a must, for the reasons mentioned above. Get some that are all the same color for group identification, are strong enough not to come apart in the first storm (see 5Dwarves TR), but are small enough that you will actually carry them with you in fanny packs, or shoulder bags. Our came in VERY handy on water rides and afternoon storms (if only we had thought to wear them for SHAMU).

Bill

 

[Bill_Lin]

I thought I would remind everyone about an idea LeeLee2u shared with me before our trips to WDW. The idea is to make your own cards to pass out to CM/ TMs to let them know how much you appreciate their help in making your trip magical. A stock card might say, "Your kindness and consideration have helped to make our trip MAGICAL. Thank you!" An appropriate picture could be included.

Bill

Let me pass on another thank you to Jeff at MK Guest Services and Matt and Alex at the Wish Lounge there for all of the wonderful help.

 

[mistymouse5001]

Did SB swim with dolphins at SeaWorld? I haven't liked animals at all since he went on his meds, but it seems like that would be an awesome thing to do for him.