Make a Wish (and other organizations) - Wish Trippers UNITE! Volume SIX!

[Joshua B]

Just got word we will be arriving Dec 19 and leaving Christmas Day.

 

[Joshua B]

Any ideas on how to handle Christmas? We will be driving home Christmas Day. This is likely my 8 year olds last "magical" Christmas. Should Santa visit our house while we are gone or maybe come Christmas Night?

 

[blmalloy]

Any ideas on how to handle Christmas? We will be driving home Christmas Day. This is likely my 8 year olds last "magical" Christmas. Should Santa visit our house while we are gone or maybe come Christmas Night?

Christmas is our favorite time to go! It will be VERY busy, so be prepared for pretty decent crowd size. You will have the genie pass which will get you front of the line access to rides, but the walkways/shops/restaurants will be quite packed. However, you can't be the atmosphere!

Because of the crowd size, you will want to have a basic plan of attack at the parks (which park you want to hit on what day) by maybe checking out a Crowd Calendar. Look and see what parks are expected to be the most busy on a particular day, and try and choose the least crowded.

As for Christmas, you don't have to check out of GKTW until 11, so you could still have an amazing Christmas morning! What fun would it be for Santa to come to GKTW?!

Congrats on your dates! That is so exciting!

 

[Joshua B]

Through some reading I have learned that we will receive a button allowing us to either skip lines or at least shorten them. Is this only for the wish child?

My wish child is 4. My other is 8. Obviously the 8 yr old can ride much more. Will we be able to use this perk when the wish child isn't riding?

 

[redberyl]

You get a lanyard with your last name and the number of people in your group on it. It doesnt specifically identify the wish child.Only one cm checked the info on the lanyard the whole time we were there, the others just let us into the fastpass lane. I dont know if the wish child is required to ride, but i doubt they would enforce it if it is.

 

[redberyl]

Any ideas on how to handle Christmas? We will be driving home Christmas Day. This is likely my 8 year olds last "magical" Christmas. Should Santa visit our house while we are gone or maybe come Christmas Night?

I would have santa visit christmas night. If you do it in disney, you have to transport lots of gifts, plus it doesnt give you anything to look forward to once the trip is over. If santa visits while you are gone the kids are going to want to tear into their presents the moment you walk in the house, but everyone is going to be tired from the vacation and the driving. Give yourself a night of rest so you can all enjoy it!

 

[blmalloy]

I would have santa visit christmas night. If you do it in disney, you have to transport lots of gifts, plus it doesnt give you anything to look forward to once the trip is over. If santa visits while you are gone the kids are going to want to tear into their presents the moment you walk in the house, but everyone is going to be tired from the vacation and the driving. Give yourself a night of rest so you can all enjoy it!

Oh, that's very true. Getting the gifts home may be tricky if done at GKTW!

 

[DISnerd Mel]

Good morning all ,
Not sure this is going to post in the right spot but I kinda feel guilty for not posting somewhere about my sons make a wish trip etc.
My boys have been blessed with wonderful items for their trip and it's keeping them so excited for he trip . We have never been on big family vacation before . We have been to see family here and there but never a vacation . My oldest who is the wish child checks out his countdown daily because he wants to know how many more days till he sees the castle .
Anxiety is getting stronger for me and keep trying to seek out how to work these little forums to ease my mind on the whole trip .
Today we got a package in the mail . Can't wait for him to open it when he is home from school .
Side note he may stay home tomorrow if he is sick when he comes in today , he woke up stuffy but it was hard to judge if he is sick or just a stuffed morning nose issue . I like keeping him home to monitor but also to keep other away from as much germs as possible too .

Hope you all have a wonderful afternoon

 

[gwynne]

Good morning all ,
Not sure this is going to post in the right spot but I kinda feel guilty for not posting somewhere about my sons make a wish trip etc.
My boys have been blessed with wonderful items for their trip and it's keeping them so excited for he trip . We have never been on big family vacation before . We have been to see family here and there but never a vacation . My oldest who is the wish child checks out his countdown daily because he wants to know how many more days till he sees the castle .
Anxiety is getting stronger for me and keep trying to seek out how to work these little forums to ease my mind on the whole trip .
Today we got a package in the mail . Can't wait for him to open it when he is home from school .
Side note he may stay home tomorrow if he is sick when he comes in today , he woke up stuffy but it was hard to judge if he is sick or just a stuffed morning nose issue . I like keeping him home to monitor but also to keep other away from as much germs as possible too .

Hope you all have a wonderful afternoon

That must have been such fun for him to get a surprise package.
Happy planning!

 

[lilheels0108]

3 more days until the party where all my kids find out about Disney!!!! Then I can really get excited because the kids will be so surprised!

 

[nesser1981]

We will be taking a MAW trip to Disney in December. My wish child is 4 and has hypo plastic right heart. I also have an 8 yr old.

Where can I find trip reports? I'm curious as to how these go.

I'm really wanting to make sure that our wish child doesn't get kingly treatment while my older child gets to feel left out. He has spent half of his life living in the shadow of his brothers health problems. I really want to make sure this entire thing won't breed any more feelings of resentment.

You can read my daughter's trip report, it's in my signature line. Also, the first page of this thread has them I believe. It's been 3 years since we went though.

 

[nesser1981]

Absolutely incorrect. If the childs wish is to go to hawaii and the doctors approve it, maw will make it happen no matter the cost.

It depends on the chapter. When our daughter was approved for a wish, received a letter that said no Cruises, no trips to Hawaii and no overseas trips, due to their budget constraints.

 

[Joshua B]

Well our doctor denied our trip to Disney World at Christmas. I'm just completely stunned. We had already told the boys because we thought it was all confirmed. Words cannot express our sadness at this...

 

[redberyl]

Well our doctor denied our trip to Disney World at Christmas. I'm just completely stunned. We had already told the boys because we thought it was all confirmed. Words cannot express our sadness at this...

Oh, I am so sorry. I cannot imagine how disappointed you must all be

 

[Joshua B]

Just hears from wish manager. Back on!!! Evidently the doctor just made a mistake on paperwork. Wow. What a couple of days. High to low to high. I can't take it....

 

[Joshua B]

OK, so now that we are back on and confirmed for Dec 19-25 I have questions:

1. Do the parks provide a photo package type thing? Our wish child is 4 and one of the things my wife and I have discussed is getting TONs of photos and videos in the hopes it will help him remember it better.

2. Are there any really fun places to eat at the parks? A friend recommended Rex (I think, dinosaur at Downtown Disney) and we will be doing Leaking Cauldron on one of our Universal days.

3. Probably a stupid question: Is there a decent Toy Store there?

 

[jojuvanlaanen]

First off.... WHEW.... you have had quite a few crazy days! Secondly... there are no stupid questions.

1. Yes, you will get the memory maker photo package as part of your package you get at GKTW. You'll have a card that any of the park photographers can scan, and they will take your pictures. There are these photographers everywhere. Take advantage of some of the magic shots too. You can also get all the ride photos with this pass as well.
2. There are a TON of fun places to eat! I suggest finding out what your son is really into and going off of that. Obviously a princess meal would not be the best option if he's not into that. Some fun options are the sci-fi dine in theatre, 50's prime time cafe, rainforest cafe or t-rex cafe, any character meals (1900 park far is fun because it has the step sisters, and they are a hoot.)
3. In Down Town disney there is the World of Disney store.. it's HUGE and full of all kinds of magnificant toys and disney items. But there are lots of other fun stores in DTD, like the lego store and other stores with unique finds and fun stuff.

Good luck, and ask away if you have more questions! Also, feel free to join us here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1586937848223317/.

 

[Joshua B]

Thanks for the replies. Our oldest is 8 and is just an amazing brother. He said we can do whatever our wish child wants as long as he gets to go to Harry Potter stuff and see Star Wars VII while we are there. Hes been awesome with our little one since he was born and has really made our life so much easier than it could have given the circumstances. We only had one breakdown about him "not feeling important" when he was about 5 at a heart walk. That broke our hearts and for this reason we are treating them like they are both "wish children".

The problem I'm running into is that a)I probably overplan and b) our 4 year old is bit delayed and has a difficult time understanding whats all going on. I cant really pull up pictures and ask if he likes something. He is super into Animals, Toy Story, and Baymax. Id love some animal theme places to eat. T-Rex cafe is a must.

Also, my oldest is allergic to nuts. How much of a problem does this pose at GKTW? Im guessing its not at GKTW but maybe more of an issue at the parks?

 

[jojuvanlaanen]

GKTW does a great job at including all the siblings. And everyone gets the perks of the genie pass. So it'll be great for the 8 year old too. I can't help you on the allergies. none of my kids have allergies.

 

[redberyl]

Thanks for the replies. Our oldest is 8 and is just an amazing brother. He said we can do whatever our wish child wants as long as he gets to go to Harry Potter stuff and see Star Wars VII while we are there. Hes been awesome with our little one since he was born and has really made our life so much easier than it could have given the circumstances. We only had one breakdown about him "not feeling important" when he was about 5 at a heart walk. That broke our hearts and for this reason we are treating them like they are both "wish children".

The problem I'm running into is that a)I probably overplan and b) our 4 year old is bit delayed and has a difficult time understanding whats all going on. I cant really pull up pictures and ask if he likes something. He is super into Animals, Toy Story, and Baymax. Id love some animal theme places to eat. T-Rex cafe is a must.

Also, my oldest is allergic to nuts. How much of a problem does this pose at GKTW? Im guessing its not at GKTW but maybe more of an issue at the parks?

There are 2 rainforest cafes, one outside animal kingdom and one downtown Disney. It's done up like a jungle with life size animatronic animals (elephants, gorillas, etc,) everywhere that periodically move a bit and make noise. Put it on your must list!