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

We had our youngling's trip back in the beginning of April. We did stay at GKTW however the organization that raised funds for the trip made it explicit not for us to call it a Wish trip but a dream trip. GKTW was awesome even if we had a few hiccups during the trip. But we plan on trying to go back in November to celebrate end of treatment. He has never been so happy before and it was truly amazing to see that.
 
OMG! Glad someone said this! The organization that granted what they call Dream or Campaign as they run a campaign but work with GKTW. Only part that gets confusing is on GKTW contract you sign upon checkin and checkout refer to it as a wish. And if you do get granted it Make-A-Wish considers it a wish. Campaign One at A Time did his
 
Hello! I'm brand new to this board/forum. I have so many questions but I'll introduce myself first. My name is Sharon, and my 8 year old daughter Abigail has been granted a Make-a-Trip to Disney World. We live in Amarillo, TX. We were originally supposed to go sometime in 2020 but obviously that didn't happen. We just found out it the past couple weeks that we are approved and given tentative dates of Sept 19-24. I'm panicking a little bit! We've done Disneyland once a few years ago but we've never been to Disney World. We have 7 kids (Abigail is #3), ages 11-1. We also have extended family (sister+5 kids, grandparents) that want to join us. I have a lot of unanswered questions about that, and I don't want to keep bugging our wish coordinator. I don't even know where to start! I tried reading through these boards but got overwhelmed with so much info/posts and could really use some help.

First off: is it even possible to see all the Disney parks+Universal in the time that we will be there? It just doesn't seem long enough. Or do we just need to pick what we are most interested in? Obviously there is a big range of interest even just with my own kids.

2. Someone told me that grandparents could stay with us at the GKtW Village- is that still true? Or do they need to find somewhere else?

3. Is it better for my sister's family to stay near the village- are they able to ride transportation with us? Or would they be better of staying on a Disney property and meeting us at the oark every day? How much will they be able to do with us at the parks? Can they come visit the Village?

I guess that's enough to start with. Any tips or help would be so appreciated. We are nervous about traveling with such a big group and not losing any of our kids and it seems like it's coming up so quick!
 
Hello! I'm brand new to this board/forum. I have so many questions but I'll introduce myself first. My name is Sharon, and my 8 year old daughter Abigail has been granted a Make-a-Trip to Disney World. We live in Amarillo, TX. We were originally supposed to go sometime in 2020 but obviously that didn't happen. We just found out it the past couple weeks that we are approved and given tentative dates of Sept 19-24. I'm panicking a little bit!
First, :welcome:to DISBoards and the Make a wish forum!

How wonderful to hear about your upcoming trip to GKTW and Disney World. GKTW is a very special place and I am sure you will have a great time there. My wife and I have had the honor to volunteer at GKTW many times during our snowbird winters in Florida and have met many wonderful people there.

You ask a number of questions concerning arrangements at GKTW. Once you have confirmation of your visit I would absolutely encourage you to contact GKTW directly and talk with them. They have special staff to help make your Wish visit as special as possible.

I am sure you have already visited the GKTW.org web site but if not, take a look and you will see some of the great things that GKTW has to offer.

First off: is it even possible to see all the Disney parks+Universal in the time that we will be there? It just doesn't seem long enough. Or do we just need to pick what we are most interested in? Obviously there is a big range of interest even just with my own kids.

Big question... and I think you already know the answer. The reality is that you will not be able to "see all" in just 6 days. With some planning it is absolutely possible to see and do what is most important. There may be some GKTW perks that will help with the planning. For instance, do they offer park reservations with the tickets? Make sure you inquire at GKTW about the Disney tickets and what current park and attraction access perks are available. I am sure things have changed since my last pre-COVID volunteer time at GKTW.

One factors is the simply the size of Disney World. I am sure you have already discovered how much larger the Magic Kingdom is the Disneyland. Next is the stamina of your family combined with the weather. September weather is still brutally hot and humid. You are from TX so I am sure you understand what that type of weather does to ones energy. I know it is tempting to try and squeeze everything into your visit. I have talked with many families at GKTW and I heard them plan a rest/GKTW/spontaneous day into their visit. Or at least plan for a late day start. Having so much fun can be a lot of work.

Once you understand what GKTW offers for ticketing and planning I would encourage you to reach out to the Theme Parks and Attractions Strategies forum to ask for more questions.
Wishing you and your family a pixiedust:visit!
 
Hello! I'm brand new to this board/forum. I have so many questions but I'll introduce myself first. My name is Sharon, and my 8 year old daughter Abigail has been granted a Make-a-Trip to Disney World.
Hello! Like NH-to-FL above I thought I would try to help answer some of these questions too, although they also had some great answers!

1. Like NH said, it all depends, but maybe not. I believe Disney works with GKTW to still give out Genie passes. Not to be confused with Disney's new Genie reservation system, these are basically unlimited FastPasses which will let you go directly into the FastPass lines without making reservations. This can significantly help you get through rides faster than other park guests, so you should be able to do a lot more than the average guest. You also get park hoppers so you can visit multiple parks a day. Since you will only be getting a three day pass this means you can't do one park a day and get to all four parks, but you can at least try to get to all of them if you do half a day at one park and a half a day at another. I always say it's hard to travel with a large group since everyone is moving at different speeds and you'll be stopping for the bathroom all the time (lol) but it's of course doable. If I was you, I would sit down with Abigail and the family and see what parks you are most excited to go to, and what rides and shows you want to see and plan from there. For example, if you have massive Star War fans you'll want to plan to spend more time in Hollywood Studios, but if you have people who don't need to do all the thrill rides and want to do some of the classic, slower rides than you'll want to plan a full Magic Kingdom day. Remember to plan for travel, because it can take a solid half an hour to travel between two of the theme parks, and a little longer for Magic Kingdom. I also don't know what Abigails stamina is like, or how good the youngest ones are with napping, but you might want to plan to take it easy in the afternoon (maybe plan a nice sit down meal in the AC to relax and recharge). GKTW is relatively close, but a little too out of the way to go back in the afternoon for a nap.

Universal is a little easier to do everything in a day. The two parks are right next to each other (a little further than Disneyland and California Adventure are, but still only a few minute walk). When I worked at attractions at Universal, we didn't just send wish families in through the Express Lane (Universal's name for FastPass/Lighting Lanes) - we sent them directly to the front of the line. I think in some attractions they even walk you in through the exit and put you right on the ride vehicle. This might have changed so don't quote me, but at the very least you'll get the VIP treatment and also not need to wait on long lines, so you can get through things a lot quicker. Universal rides tend to be more for older kids, but there is still plenty for young kids and babies to do, but if you aren't into extreme rides you can get through things quicker. Plan lots of time in the Harry Potter areas if that appeals to your family!

2. I was a Make-A-Wish wish granter, and I believe it was up to MAW, not GKTW if grandparents could join the trip. We were told that the standard wish or trip would just included the wish kid, parents, and siblings living in the house under 18, but I think they made some exceptions. I would check with your wish coordinator on that. MAW will book the trip with GKTW, and if the grandparents aren't part of the reservation I don't think they will be allowed to stay overnight at the village. As of now it sounds like you'll already have a full house! They will probably either put you into one of the three bedroom villas in Banyan Park (which is more apartment style), which I believe can fit 9 or 10 people, or they will give you both sides of the two bedroom villa, giving you a combined four bedrooms. If they can't stay with you there are plenty of hotels in the area.

3. Either. Do you know if you will be getting a rental car or if you will be using Mears Transportation buses at GKTW? This is something to ask your wish coordinator about. I don't think they will get to ride the buses with you, but if you all have rental cars it might be nice for them to be near you, especially if they want to visit the village. Staying on property will also be convenient for them too and they can easily take the Disney transportation to meet you at the parks each day.

I'm not sure if your skip the line perks will work for the whole extended family. Usually a Disney they provide a pass that lists the amount of people on your party (in your case 9) and the CM at the line will only let those 9 people go through the fastpass line with you. Sometimes you'll get a CM who doesn't really care and will let everyone come along in your party. It's a toss up. But if they aren't on your GKTW reservation I wouldn't guarantee it. However, you can still do things together at the parks. For example, you can all meet up during the day for meals, or all stand together while waiting for the fireworks. There is also places like Disney Springs and Citywalk where you can all spend time together. If you are making dining reservations though you should try and get on that ASAP because it might be hard to get a reservation for your whole extended group.

And yes, I believe they can all visit you at GKTW. You should double check with them to be sure though. The one time I volunteered, they mentioned that they asked guest to pay a reasonable price (I think $5) for guests to join wish families for meals at the village. This was all before Covid though and I'm not sure if anything has changed since then.

Let us know if you have other questions! I think there are some threads in here about traveling with large groups that you may want to check out. Don't be afraid to split up - if your sister and her family want to do something your group doesn't want to do, it might be best just to split the group and have them go their own way.
 
First off: is it even possible to see all the Disney parks+Universal in the time that we will be there? It just doesn't seem long enough. Or do we just need to pick what we are most interested in? Obviously there is a big range of interest even just with my own kids.
With 12 kids and six adults, you need to make a plan to divide and conquer. Of course this isn't enough time for anyone to see it all, so you have to prioritize. There are going to be kids who really want to see the HP stuff, and you need to split them off somehow.

I would consider having grandma stay at the expensive Universal hotel that qualifies for the express entry, at least for a night or two. This would work for whoever is listed in her room, and you could arrange the Ubers so they some adult just takes the older kids to grandma for a day or two. I think you get the passes for the day you check in and the day you check out.

12 kids is going to require some serious planning for transportation. You'd need an Uber XL and a regular Uber just to transport your kids, and you'd have to split the adults. With 7 kids, I would probably rent a van instead of hoping we get enough space on a bus.

I would consider your overall strategy. I'm not sure if GKTW gets the extra half hour jump in the morning, maybe? If not, closing out the park can also have excellent lines. So I think you need to decide if you are going to be an early morning family or late night family and pick one.

Dining reservations are going to be incredibly difficult for groups this big. If your trip is <60 days, you are probably too late.

There are some experiences that you might want to split off the group for, like Oga's Cantina for the Star Wars fans.
 


So we’re preparing for our wish trip in a few weeks. We were on one wish trip like 7ish years ago with my son, now we’re going with my foster daughter. Her favorite movie is Aladdin, and the Genie (only Robin Williams 🥰) is her favorite character. So she was super excited about getting her very own Genie pass as we showed her our sons to prepare her (she is neurodivergent and VERY difficult with accepting change). Now after some research I saw that the pass changed from the Genie pass to a “wishes” pass. I’m having a 🤦🏼‍♀️ moment now even showing her the Genie pass. Does anyone have a picture of what the new pass looks like so I can show her a picture? I’ve only found like two pics and they’re so far back I can’t tell what the blue circle even is lol. (Obviously crossing out your name/dates/party if that’s more comfortable). I’m hoping I can prepare her well enough ahead of time by showing her the new pass and possibly making it special for her ahead of time somehow? (Any ideas mamas? I was thinking matching shirt or something). Ahhhhhhhh, open mouth insert foot moment mom!
 
Hello! I'm brand new to this board/forum. I have so many questions but I'll introduce myself first. My name is Sharon, and my 8 year old daughter Abigail has been granted a Make-a-Trip to Disney World. We live in Amarillo, TX. We were originally supposed to go sometime in 2020 but obviously that didn't happen. We just found out it the past couple weeks that we are approved and given tentative dates of Sept 19-24. I'm panicking a little bit! We've done Disneyland once a few years ago but we've never been to Disney World. We have 7 kids (Abigail is #3), ages 11-1. We also have extended family (sister+5 kids, grandparents) that want to join us. I have a lot of unanswered questions about that, and I don't want to keep bugging our wish coordinator. I don't even know where to start! I tried reading through these boards but got overwhelmed with so much info/posts and could really use some help.

First off: is it even possible to see all the Disney parks+Universal in the time that we will be there? It just doesn't seem long enough. Or do we just need to pick what we are most interested in? Obviously there is a big range of interest even just with my own kids.

2. Someone told me that grandparents could stay with us at the GKtW Village- is that still true? Or do they need to find somewhere else?

3. Is it better for my sister's family to stay near the village- are they able to ride transportation with us? Or would they be better of staying on a Disney property and meeting us at the oark every day? How much will they be able to do with us at the parks? Can they come visit the Village?

I guess that's enough to start with. Any tips or help would be so appreciated. We are nervous about traveling with such a big group and not losing any of our kids and it seems like it's coming up so quick!
Hi. What did you end up picking and who was able to go with you?
 
Hi. We just got our dates for my daughter’s wish trip. We are staying at the contemporary. Do you know which kind of room they put you in?
 
Hi. We just got our dates for my daughter’s wish trip. We are staying at the contemporary. Do you know which kind of room they put you in?
Congrats on the Wish trip! I haven't been on a wish trip, but I will say that from reading this thread and other reports, it is fairly rare to get an on-site room at WDW; most guests of Make-A-Wish stay at Give Kids The World. Was there something special requested, like a fireworks view? Or do you need an HA room? I would expect a standard room unless something else specific was part of the request.
 
Congrats on the Wish trip! I haven't been on a wish trip, but I will say that from reading this thread and other reports, it is fairly rare to get an on-site room at WDW; most guests of Make-A-Wish stay at Give Kids The World. Was there something special requested, like a fireworks view? Or do you need an HA room? I would expect a standard room unless something else specific was part of the request.
Thank you! So my wish kid and I happen to volunteer at GKTW last year for half a day when we can to Disney on vacation. So when we heard she was eligible for MAW, she decided on Disney but felt that GKTW was for a younger age group. She will be 16 when we go. So we asked our coordinator if she was able to stay at a Disney or universal resort but we didn’t specify anything because I felt we were asking enough already! She had switched her wish last minute from Atlantis to Disney so felt bad specifying a resort. I’m just really happy it’s a deluxe! She doesn’t have a restrictions so any room would do but I’d love love love the main building and my goodness, theme park view would top it off! I just hope we don’t end up in the garden wing.

I know you asked about a special wish but her only wish was to vacation with her best friend but unfortunately we aren’t able to do that with MAW. So other than that request, she didn’t have any others other than the vacation itself.
We are doing a separate vacation a couple months beforehand now with her best friends family because she was really down about it and we’ve been meaning to vacation with them as it is so it worked out
 

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