Hello

[kjncmom]

Things move so quickly. We are supposed to be working towards a trip in Feb! My dd couldnt go during hotter months, we can barely leave the house in the summer here. I hope Feb is not real hot in Florida. Our wish granting group says Feb is very possible, they are working on details right now, we are beyond excited. (Am I the only one who is actually dreaming about this trip?)
I have enjoyed reading the stories here and elsewhere about the GKTW village. What an amazing and awe-inspiring place. I can only imagine Barney coming to visit my daughter, she will light up like a Christmas tree.
My questions...
1) I have 2 other kids, a 10 yo boy and a 16 yo girl. How does it work for them in the parks if we split up? Will they have to wait in lines or will they get to move up as well?
2) How safe is it to allow them to roam the parks together alone? What about at GKTW?
3) We would like to get a handicapped stroller delivered before we go, but may not. She is too big for the reg stroller. Suggestions? She cannot walk any distance.
4) is GKTW close enough that we could leave and then re-enter the parks in the same day?
5) I would LOVE to get on a boat for the fireworks...suggestions?
6) how much money do you take when your hotel, meals etc are covered by GKTW? Is $500 enough? We arent rich by any stretch.
7) We would like to go to Gatorland, Universal, WDW, and sea world. Any other things we shouldnt miss? Is the IOA part of Universal included?

Thanks for any input.

 

[DJBounce]

Congrats on your MAW trip!! You will have a blast! Feel free to ask questions. There are many of us here who have been on wish trips.


1) I have 2 other kids, a 10 yo boy and a 16 yo girl. How does it work for them in the parks if we split up? Will they have to wait in lines or will they get to move up as well?

Your daughter will have the official button from GKTW - they only issue one per family. Now, we did receive Make a Wish buttons from Make a Wish itself which my whole family wore. At Universal and Sea World, the staff acknowledged these. We did get front of the line even though the wish child wasn't riding - and we stated that to the greeter of each attraction - they didn't care. At WDW, our daughter rode everything so it wasn't an issue for us there. We were willing to stand in line when she didn't ride, but we kept getting pulled to the front. No complaints there!!

2) How safe is it to allow them to roam the parks together alone? What about at GKTW?
I felt completely safe at GKTW about letting my boys go to the Ice Cream Palace and the arcade (they are ages 12 and 9) as long as they behaved and stayed together. I didn't let them roam the parks alone, but you have a teenager - that's a different story.

3) We would like to get a handicapped stroller delivered before we go, but may not. She is too big for the reg stroller. Suggestions? She cannot walk any distance.

What do you have at home?? Does she have her own stroller or wheelchair? We had a problem when we shipped the Pediasure before hand. The box broke (and I used a really strong box) and all the Pediasure was lost. GKTW did provide us with some and we just went up the street to Walmart and picked up the rest. I would hate for something like that to happen to your chair. It would be much more difficult to replace. We traveled with my daughter's chair on the plane without any problems.

4) is GKTW close enough that we could leave and then re-enter the parks in the same day?
GKTW is about a 20-30 minute drive from WDW. I think it is a little long to go back and forth - but that is just my opinion.

5) I would LOVE to get on a boat for the fireworks...suggestions?
I haven't done this myself, but I know on the Theme Parks board there is a thread about joining others and splitting the cost for the various cruises.

6) how much money do you take when your hotel, meals etc are covered by GKTW? Is $500 enough? We arent rich by any stretch.
We received a check from Make a Wish for $1400 to cover extra food costs. I know that it depends on your wish granters on the amount of spending money. We used a portion of this money to buy Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween tickets. At GKTW, breakfast and dinner is served free! We ate there a lot and the food is pretty good. There is also a snack cart that comes around with cookies, Hostess cakes, soda - and that's all free, too! We did splurge for a couple of character meals, too.

7) We would like to go to Gatorland, Universal, WDW, and sea world. Any other things we shouldnt miss? Is the IOA part of Universal included?
You will get tickets to WDW (3 day hoppers) Universal and IOA (2 day hoppers) and Sea World. I do believe that Gatorland is available upon request.

On our last day which was Friday, Barney came to GKTW in the morning. Sounds like this character greet will be a must for your daughter. Other greets at GKTW were Mickey, Minnie and Goofy on Mon and Thursday morning. Shrek was there one day, too. There is lots of one on one at GKTW. Have fun planning!!

 

[mommyandmore]

I have a similiar question. i just recieved the paperwork today that someone has nominated my son for the Sunshine foundation- I think they just do trips to Disneyworld if I am reading the info right. He does qualify in that he has shaken baby syndrome, dev. delay, cp, legally blind, etc. But he can talk in short sentences, walk, run, and he sees well enough to get around. I just feel really weird about filling out the application when there are so many other kids with much more severe disabilities. And honestly, I was planning to take him to disneyworld in a couple of years anyways. He's already been to Disneyland twice and I've only had him a little over a year. So it is not like this would be his only opportunity for Disney or anything. Any opinions?

 

[jennydep]

Michelle!!!! Welcome to the DisBoards! You'll find lots of helpful info for your trip here. We just got Mickey's dates confirmed earlier this week for her wish trip. We're going in April. C will love it!!! Okay. Now I'm going to go back and read the responses to your questions!

Jenny

 

[digilala]

We are leaving in just over 3 weeks for our MAW trip, it is just about all we talk about do you know when in February you will go?
I will be glad to answer any questions you have once we get back. We should be back by the 13th- that is when we have to have the rental car back. We are driving instead of flying.
Laura

 

[SandrainNC]

I don't have any answers for you, but just wanted to say -

Have a Great Trip!!!!!

That is wonderful that your daughter gets a MAW trip.

Sandra

 

[kjncmom]

we are likely going to get a Maclaren stroller, I think they are most what we are looking for.
I sure appreciate your input.
Hi Jenny!

 

[mbb]

Welcome!

..and have a wonderful, magical trip

 

[jennydep]

Michelle, we are going to rent strollers at the parks for Mickey. She's bigger than C and fits in them, so I'm sure C would be comfy. We used one at our zoo last week when she was tired from chemo and it worked great. By watching the Disney planning video, their strollers look the same as the ones at our zoo.

One thing we are doing that you may want to consider is extending your stay a couple of days if you can. We are staying in FL 4 extra days. We will have to pay for everything after we check out of the village, but that will allow a little extra time in the Disney area. Then we plan to head to a beach for a day or two. Just a thought to extend the magic a bit.

Also check out the "Disney Tips" and "Budget" forums here. Lots of helpful info on those boards also.

 

[spotdog]

Welcome kjncmom and mommyandmore, just wanted to say hello and bump you to the top of the forum when the eastcoast wakes up tomorrow. I think that MAW is a terrific organization and that your kids deserve to go to "the front of the line".

Many of us have physical, emotional and mental challenges, but are likely to have a long life ahead of us. When we go to WDW, all we need is a way to safely, physically access the WDW attractions or a place to wait for our turn that won't drive us (or those around us) to an intolerable state of "craziness".

Your child may not have the gift of time. I wish you all a magical trip.