Wish Trippers...Unite!! Volume One

[Bill_Lin]

Please, someone else post something. If you are reading this post, this means you. I have TOO many posts in a row.

I wish we had brought some Disney Trading pins for our Wish Trip. It is a lot of fun to interact with CMs by trading these with them. They are WAY expensive in the park. You can get scads of them on E-bay for a variety of bids. Some have starting bids at 99 cents. I would recommend getting some of these for your trip, if the turn-around time allows it.

Don't spend a lot to buy some your kids really want, since you are just going to trade them away to CMs. The CMs will probably be willing to take any pin in trade from a Wish Kid. We had two CMs just give us a pin each.

You will get a GKTW lanyard for your GAC/ GAP holder and GKTW button. It is a bit on the thin side for holding everything you will end up wanting to add to it. You can get Disney lanyards at Wal-Mart by GKTW, at least you could when we were there. Has anyone been lately and seen them there.

When you go to a park, visit the guest services at the entrance. They might have some buttons to give you for First Time Visitor, Special Events, or whatever. These are really nice to have along with your Make a Wish and GKTW button.

Lysi just graduated from Kindergarten. She is such a miracle!!! (Teary eyed just thinking about it) I hope her story gives others hope. She had stage 4 neuroblastoma and through prayer, surgery, chemo and lots of love, she is cancer free for 5 years.

You GKTW veterans will appreciate this. She got a mermaid doll (it is really cool as you can fix its hair) for graduation. She was walking around with it and told her friend in a cute little voice, "Do you want to go to the Pirates' and Princesses' Party?" She definitely remembers the trip.

Bill

 

[Bill_Lin]

Okay... this is about the coolest thing I have seen in a long time. It is a virtual 3-D tour of Walt Disney World that allows you to tour the outside of each attraction at street level in a 3-D animation. This was created in a partnership between Disney and Google Earth. Check out this link for a sample and download instructions:
[URL]http://disneyworld.disney.go.com/wdw/special/flashPages/index?id=GoogleEarthPage
[/URL]

I tried it out and really enjoyed it. It is a far cry from what Google Earth used to show of WDW. I found it a bit hard to work the controls, but I will catch on. For those who have never been to WDW, it could be a nice way to study the layout of the parks. Here is a thread where folks have posted their really cool screen shots from the program:
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1846764

I also found a great link for Scrap booking
http://www.mousememories.com/Disney-Characters-Parks-And-Resorts_278.aspx


Disney E-Cards:
http://www.tagrel.com/sendcard/

General Information:
http://www.wdwmagic.com/



Bill

 

[GoofyDoo]

I have TOO many posts in a row.

Never!!!

I cannot tell you how much I appreciate all this wonderful information!! WOW is all I can say.

I am so excited because today we got a letter in the mail from MAW, and our flights are confirmed...we are leaving out on Tuesday, 7/29, @ 7:20am, and we're leaving Orlando on Monday, 8/4, at 5:40pm.

I have a little poll to take:
Of the three parks, which should we choose to spend a full day in (as opposed to a half-day)?
- Epcot
- Animal Kingdom
- Hollywood Studios

Bill, you spoke of the pins and I saw some in the Disney Store in the mall. Is that what you're talking about? Just the little pins people can wear with various characters? People trade those?

Also, in trip reports I have read about squished pennies. What's up with those?

 

[Bill_Lin]

If you are a first-time visitor to the region, like I was, you are in for a treat. It is like a different world than the one we live in. For instance, it is now 78 Degrees and 26% humidity. Where as Orlando was about 90 today with 75% humidity. We live in a mountain valley in the northwestern corner of the country. I stood on a pinnacle overlooking our town the other day. It was 4,000 feet high and just a few miles from our town. In the Orlando area, the highest mountain is Everest at Animal Kingdom.

When we left the airport terminal, the first thing I noticed was the scent in the air. It is hard to explain, but the air had a different character. It was not unpleasant, just different; a combination of tropical vegetation and minerals. The air was much more moist. I did not mind it at all, despite all the warnings I had been given.

Of course, in every direction was the deep, rich green of living things. Flowering shrubs abounded. We drove past egrets and other birds that were new to me. It was as flat as the Great Plains where I had lived for a time. I could see for miles in every direction.

It rained quite often in the afternoon. The rains, unlike ours, were neither gentle, nor cool, nor prolonged, but sudden, warm downpours that could soak you to the skin in moments, but were over as quickly as they came.

I was a bit surprised by the lizards, from tiny to average size that seemed to be on the sidewalks everywhere, although we seldom saw one in the theme parks. Perhaps they feel safe in the sanctuary of the Village. The great thing about lizards is that they eat bugs. Give me lizards over bugs any day.

The evenings were gloriously warm, as opposed to hot. The humidity intensified the sweet savor of the many blossoms in the village. Darkness comes much earlier, and more suddenly there in September, than at our latitude. As darkness fell, the colored lights of the Village created a magical atmosphere of beauty. I loved to just sit on a bench by the Gingerbread House and take it all in. That is, until the the Ice Cream Palace called to me in with its siren song. Fortunately, calories and sugar intake do not count on Wish Trips (unless you are diabetic).

As we drove to the parks, I had two impressions. There is water everywhere. Ponds and water-friendly trees appear along the highways. I checked every pond for alligators, but did not see one until at the airport on the way home. I was also impressed by the traffic. It is NOTHING like Seattle, Portland, Oregon or L.A. The drivers did not seem to be out for blood or passing points. I have to admit that the toll roads seemed a bit odd to a westerner. Keep change handy.

It is important to stay cool, to be sure. I accomplished this with neck coolers (Disney-themed of course), a brimmed hat and wise use of the shade. We drank water often. We were provided with complimentary water cups at vendors wherever we asked.

I also looked for good excuses to get wet. Many of the parks have water play areas. I always had a kid with me to use as an excuse to play there. We used the fountains in Future World at Epcot, in the Cartoon area of I.O.A. in Shamu's Happy Harbor at Sea World, and, best of all at Claytonburg Park by the Pool in the Village. The best cooling is found at the misting station near Men in Black at Universal Studios. Try it and you will love it.

The water ride is a great invention as well. Islands of Adventure has three plus a water play area. The raft rides offer the best opportunity for a soaking, but log flume rides can do the trick at times. Try Bilge Rat Barges, Jurassic Park and Rip Saw Falls at Islands of Adventure, Kali River Rapids at Animal Kingdom, Splash Mountain at Magic Kingdom and Journey to Atlantis at Sea World.

By the time our trip was ending, I was well acclimatized and ready to live in Orlando forever.

Bill

 

[Bill_Lin]

Thank you again for your kind words, Goofy Doo (you may have to give us your real first name... it seems a bit odd to call someone Goofy Doo all the time. I feel like I am Shaggy or something).

I like your flight times. What time do you expect to arrive at Orlando? I would spend the first day at GKTW, getting settled in, swimming, miniature golfing, riding the train and carousel, exploring the Castle of Miracles and the Train Station and eating Ice Cream. Tuesday Night is Nickelodeon Night. We were at MK that night. HAS ANYONE BEEN TO NICK NIGHT AT THE VILLAGE?

Wednesday looks like a great day for MK. No extra magic hours there means less crowding. What a blessing the GKTW GAC is!!!!!! I would avoid MK on a weekend day.

On the day you leave, you will have time to do something. You could either do a short day at one of the parks or do like we did, and just hang out and recuperate at the VILLAGE, plus buying stuff at Wal-Mart, the Flea Market and the Airport.

Of the three you mentioned, we chose the whole day at AK. Of course our Princess was 5 and loves animals. Besides, it is such an awesome place. Hours of operation are shorter there, however.

For little ones, AK offers animal exhibit trails, the safari ride, the train to a hands-on area, Kali River Rapids, Triceratops Spin, It's Tough to be a Bug, Tree of Life, Festival of the Lion King and Triceratops Spin. These are all TOP NOTCH.

For older kids (thrill seekers) AK has Everest (probably the best thrill ride in Orlando and Dinosaur which has awesome Animatronics and is pretty intense, as well as Kali River Rapids. If older kids like animals, then there is plenty more.

For little ones, Epcot has the Seas with Nemo, Turtle Talk with Crush, Ellen's Energy Adventure, Soarin' and Journey into Imagination with Figment, all of which are top notch, as well as lesser rides like 3 Amigos and Norway Maelstrom. Older kids would like Test Track and Soarin'. If they have an interest in other cultures or shopping, they might like World Showcase.

Disney Studios offers young ones Bug's Life Playground, Beauty and the Beast Show, Voyage of the Little Mermaid, Fantasmic, the Muppet 3-D Movie and Playhouse Disney. Thrill Seekers will love, Star Tours, Tower of Terror and Rockin' Rollercoaster.

I would choose the park based on specific attractions your kids want to see. I will post a chart like the one I used to help us make our choices before we set our park schedule.

Bill

 

[bex271]

Bill, you are giving such good info. I like reading your posts i know i'm writing down different tips.

becca

 

[GoofyDoo]

LOL!! OK, Shaggy--that was funny. My name is Amy!!

Our twins our 8, and this includes CJ, our Wish kid. Then I have a son who's 11 and a daughter who's 14. My husband measured our twins and believe it or not, they appear to be tall enough to ride most everything at WDW!! (Even the Everest coaster!!) That excites me. This will not be the case at Universal, however. The height requirements are "higher" there for their thrill rides, unfortunately for my two youngest little shorties.

OK, so I'm thinking now this way: one full day of MK (prob. Wed., like you said), splitting a day between Hollywood Studios and Epcot (ending with Epcot--don't they have great fireworks??), and the third day at AK (if we've had enough, either go back to MK or GKTW, depending on how tired we are).

I'm STILL in a dilemma as to whether or not to try to cram both Universal parks into one day. Because our kids are older and will probably really enjoy both places, I think we might really be hard-pressed to do all of both in one day. However, although we live in Texas and have been to Sea World, we do not want to forfeit our time there, either. What to do...oh, what to do???

By the way, CJ is a HUGE SpongeBob fan. If it's Dora or Little Bill or Blue, my kids have pretty much outgrown those. But SpongeBob would be awesome!! I wonder if he or any of his friends ever show up at GKTW.... If not, no big deal. It will all be so much fun, no matter what!!

 

[GoofyDoo]

Also, Bill, you mentioned several shows at the various parks...and it seems like I've read where it's difficult to hit all the shows if you only have half a day at certain parks. Can you comment on that? Did you have problems, or were you able to get everything in that you wanted to? Approximately how long do the shows last?

I have an 11-year-old son who isn't into shows too much. For instance, we were watching Pocahontas II a few months ago and he was really into it because he took American History this past year in 5th grade...but at one point he turned to me and said "Mom, why do they always do that?". I was like "Do what???". He said "I HATE when they go and ruin a good movie with a song!". I just don't know how much he will like all these shows. KWIM?

 

[Bill_Lin]

Above is a sample of the type of chart I used to plan our trip. I made a chart for each park with EVERY attraction. I had each person choose their favorites by number. Then I added up the numbers for each attraction to come up with our MUST DO list. After the list was done for each park, I knew which parks to prioritize.

Doesn't that sound great fun for all of us obsessive types. You can make it even more intensive by listing favorites 1-10, or why not 1-20?

You can see that spell check did not like Philharmagic. By the way, I don't actually number my kids. They have names. This is just a sample.

Bill

 

[Bill_Lin]

Here is something I did when I got home to help remember the trip. I made this collage for my desktop. It goes repeat some, but it shows are favorite character greets. I thought it was kind of cool.

Bill

 

[Bill_Lin]

Did you see the news item about Hasbro making a "My Little Pony" for Give Kids the World. It is called Twinkle Hope. How cool is that?

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0EIN/is_2008_Feb_14/ai_n24261920

Bill

 

[Bill_Lin]

Goofy Doo, I forgot to answer your pin question. There are 2 types of pin-on items, trading pins and buttons.

Buttons are regular round buttons (like campaign buttons). GKTW provides one, Make a Wish provides one, and there are a lot of different theme park ones. You get these from employees of the parks. I saw birthday buttons, first timer buttons and some I can't remember.

Trading pins, are the plastic pins you see at Disney Stores. They should have an authentication stamp with a date on the back. They are typically of characters. Some commemorate events. You trade these pin-for-pin with Disney Cast Members.

Flattened pennies come from machines around the parks where you put in a penny and pay one or two quarters and get back your penny which is now smashed into a thin oval with an imprint of the place you are visiting. Some folks collect these. I think pins are a lot better for kids.

By the way, I have been warned to be careful on e-bay about counterfeit pins that are not authentic. I suppose this would be a huge deal for collectors, but I don't know if the CMs would care about that or not when you try to trade with them.

Here is a post I just read on a great deal on a lanyard and 2 starter pins from Disney Shopping.
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?p=25669163&posted=1#post25669163

After reading the link above, I went to ebay to bid on a set of 10 random pins from a seller who seemed to have all the right "stuff" in their information. I will let everyone know how this goes. We plan to trade these with CMs and others at Disneyland.

Bill

 

[Bill_Lin]

I was on a really neat thread today. It is for folks who want to team up to send cards from WDW to kids planning on visiting WDW, from that child's favorite character. This is a great idea. The plan is for you to let someone know your dates so they can send cards to your kids. Then, when you are there, for you to do the same for another person's kids.

Here is the link:
http://www.disboards.com/newreply.php?do=newreply&noquote=1&p=25539512

Bill

By the way, this is starting to look like the Bill_Lin thread. Will someone else please, pretty please with an Ice Cream Palace cherry on top, post something?

 

[GoofyDoo]

Bill, please don't stop posting--you've been so very helpful. I'm just taking it all in. In fact, I went back last night and reread your entire trip report!! I am really getting down to planning. I'm an educator, and my summer officially started this past Thursday at 4pm. Woohoo!! Now I finally have time to actually research. It's all really confusing. This morning I've been researching the best days to do which parks, which park's EMHs fall on which dates, etc. Good grief! I'm about to give up and just rely on our pass to the front of the lines!!

This is what I've come up with so far:

Tues: Check in & hang out at GKTW
Wed: MK
Thurs: IOA
Fri: HS/EPCOT
Sat: AK/(back to MK if we have time & aren't too tired)
Sun: US/SW
Mon: Hang out at GKTW, shop at Walmart/flea market, and fly home

What do you think? Have I chosen poorly on any particular day, in your opinion? Thanks for any input!!
Amy

 

[Bill_Lin]

Check out the screen shots from Google Earth 3-D Virtual Tour of WDW.

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1846764

 

[twinmum]

Bill: Keep 'em coming, please!

So here's a question. We don't even have dates yet, and that means that although we've been told our son is eligible for a GKTW stay, we don't know for sure it will happen. Given my husband's job, we don't have as much flexibility as we'd like. Still, that doesn't stop this over planner from thinking about what we'll do each day.

Anyway, we're thinking that some nights we'll have dinner at GKTW and some nights we'll eat elsewhere. A lot depends on what we've been doing that day. I've seen the schedule for activities at GKTW and I have some idea of what evenings we'd like to be there.

But...I'm also wondering about what's served for dinner. THere seems to be quite a bit of info about breakfast (and it sounds yummy!) and ice cream (yummmm....) but other than "Christmas" dinner, I don't think I've seen any specific about what to expect. Our son has a feeding tube to supplement, but does eat some by himself. His twin is pickier than we'd like.

Anyone remember some of the GKTW dinners you enjoyed?

Thanks!

 

[special-angel]

We never made it back from the parks in time to enjoy any of the dinners at GKTW.But we did take advantage of the free nightly pizza deliveries they have at the village .They deliver pizza to your villa from 4-10:30 PM.I think we survived on Mamma Merry's pizza & icecream all week!

 

[Bill_Lin]

Thank you to Becca and Amy for rescuing me from being the lone poster here. Where is everyone.... .Wendy... Leah.... Heather.... Karen.... etc.

I appreciate your comment Becca. It is really nice to know that we can learn from each other here.

Amy, I am glad to see that you have a real name.

As far as shows are concerned, which usually last about 45 minutes, by the nature of the Disney Films that inspired them, they are mostly musicals, even more so than the movies themselves. A lot of them are pretty "girl" oriented in their presentation. Exceptions might be the 3-D Movies like Honey I Shrunk the Audience at Epcot, Its Tough to Be a Bug at AK, Philharmagic at MK, Muppets at DHS, and Shrek at US. I am sure they would like Lights, Motors, Action and Indiana Jones at DHS. I think boys would like Lion King at AK. It is a musical, but also combines so parade-like elements and circus features.

Your idea of wanting to "do everything" in any park makes me smile. You are so much like me in that. I had a "do everything" plan going, but it is just not possible. There is way too much at each park to "do it all." Go for the things the kids most want to do. They will enjoy that and it will give them a feeling of empowerment in making their own choices that will enhance their enjoyment.

I think I have seen Sponge Bob in some GKTW photos from other's trips on the web. At any rate, he was waiting for us when we got out of the Shrek Show at US. Shrek, himself, on the other hand, is up the street and around the corner.

Tues: Check in & hang out at GKTW.... I like that idea. Check in at the House of Hearts. They will go over information with you. They have bathrooms there.

Orientation is at 7:00 p.m. ONE parent goes and the other hangs out with the kids. I, as the obsessive planner, wanted to be the one at orientation, but they asked Lin to be there. Perhaps they sensed that she would not ask endless questions. They have been dealing with our types for a LONG time. Or else, knowing what happens to parents on Monday Nights at the Safari Theater, they may have thought I deserved it more.

The kids will probably want to check out the carousel, the castle and the train station. If the train is running, take it. The ride will help orient you to the park. If you have more time, try Ice Cream or the pool.

Wed: MK- Are you going from the parking lot to the park by ferry or monorail? When you get in the park, be prepared to have all of your bags opened and examined. It might be good to have one parent take all the bags while the other takes the kids on through.

We had this great idea to jump right on the train when we got there. You can get on the train before rope drop. We were going to ride over to the station by Splash Mountain and hit that right off, then on to Pirates to avoid the crowds who tend to filter in through Main Street to Adventureland. This would give us a head start, so to speak, without wearing our legs out.

In the real world, however, we were so tired that we just could not get going that fast. We had been to Sea World the day before. As it turns out, crowd flow was not that big a deal for us with our GKTW GAC. The only place we waited in line was at Pirates, and that is because the line was so short that they did not have the back entrance open. It was a fun queue to view anyway. There are some neat photo ops in that line.

We actually ended up with the kids and Lin going to a one-on-one character greet with some Pinocchio characters while I went to Guest Services to report our video disk was lost. This is where the magic was worked to get us brunch reservations in the castle. This is a good example of good coming from our plans falling through. We went to the Castle, then to Splash Mountain, Adventureland, Liberty Square and Fantasyland.

Thurs: IOA Universal and IOA really are quite close together. It is not bad to do some rides at Universal after IOA. Hulk and Dueling Dragons are very intense roller coasters. Spiderman and Jurassic Park are mildly thrilling. The water rides are moderate. Everything else is tame. At Universal, Jaws, Twister and Earthquake are intense. Men in Black is mildly thrilling, everything else is tame. The park is open until 10, but you might want to go back early for the GKTW Christmas Party to meet Santa and get presents.

Fri: HS/EPCOT We did these the other way around because we preferred to see the Fantasmic Firework show, which I had enjoyed many years earlier at Disneyland and wanted to share it with my kids. The Epcot Fireworks are huge, but they are not as kid oriented as Fantasmic. Both parks open at 9 that day. DHS has extr-magic morning hours so may be more crowded in the morning. DHS stays open an hour later than Epcot that night, which would give you an extra our at the parks (if y'all have the endurance). Our park hours were shorter because of fall park hours.

Sat: AK/(back to MK if we have time & aren't too tired) I think you will find that you will need until around dinner time to do what you want to do at AK. If you go back to GKTW instead of MK you can take in Mayor Clayton's Birthday, we missed this.

Sun: US/SW These parks are not far apart, in driving distance. We went to Sea World, mainly for Lin, who had never seen an Orca. Universal opens half an hour earlier that day than Sea World.

Mon: Hang out at GKTW, shop at Walmart/flea market, and fly home Good Plan. It is really weird hanging around the Village in the morning, as most everyone has left to the parks. We felt a sense of loneliness with that. Grab a sandwich for lunch from the Ice Cream Palace before you leave the Village. You have to check out in the morning. We just left our luggage in our vehicle. You might keep your swim wear handy in case you want to use the pool, etc.

I hope this helps.

Bill

 

[Bill_Lin]

Twinmum,

There was always some smörgåsbord-like choice in dinners. The food was pretty kid friendly. I remember lasagna, fish, chicken, spaghetti. We ate dinner there except for our long theme parks days (two) when we ate at the parks. Lysi is a picky eater but did fine.

We did one character meal, the castle brunch, at 10:30. We had already had an early breakfast at the Village. Contrary to what we expected, we got more than continental before hours. We had filling food at the castle. On a tip from Matt and Alex, at the Wish Trip Lounge, we ate at 4:30 at the Columbia Harbor House, which closed at 5:00. It was very reasonable. We had lunch at Mel's Diner in US, and at Lotus Blossom in Epcot's China.

I hope that you are able to schedule your dates around your husband's work without too much trouble. What time of year might he have time off? GKTW is more crowded in Summer and Holiday periods. Can your kids get out of school for the trip?

Bill

 

[GoofyDoo]

Bill, how can I ever repay you for all of this great advice? Seriously, this information is invaluable. I think I'll switch my EPCOT/HS plans around. Thanks for the tip about the fireworks. I don't necessarily care about "bigger"...I care more about more enjoyable for the kids!!

You are correct in that I'm kind of freaking out about finding a way to do it all. I don't want to be dead tired the entire week to the point that we can't enjoy ourselves, however!!

I just want to reiterate how much I appreciate your taking the time to share with those of us newbies. You are so kind!!
Amy