Make a Wish Trip September 17-23, 2007 About This Page:

[MickeyMAC]

Hope you have a fantastic trip.

[JoanW]

How wonderful! Congratulations! And welcome to this wonderful board. You will find we all share in each other's joy (and woah's too).

Sorry, we don't have any available 26 year old daughters.

[wdwlovers]

Welcome, and what a wonderful trip you are going to have! I can't wait to read all about the magic that little girl is going to see.

[momtolexi]

I hope you and your beautiful family have a wonderful, magical vacation!!! Cannot wait to hear about it!

[Pamajama]

First, sending lots of to your DD and family. I hope you all have a super special trip!!!

Secondly, just want to share some hope......My DD was also diagnosed with Neuroblastoma when she 6mo old. She also had it before birth. Today she is 4 1/2, healthy and considered cured. I just wanted to share a positive story and give you hope that it can happen to your DD too.

My DH just finished a 192 mi bike ride to raise $$$ to find a cure. It can and will happen. Stay positive!!!

Good Luck!

[Disneybine]

to the boards! Your DD is so adorable and seems so strong. I truly hope you have a wonderful, magical vacation!

Oh, yeah, I am the same age as your "single DS" but I'm already spoken for (getting married soon).

[Bill_Lin]

Wow! I am overwhelmed by all of the kind and beautiful responses. Hugs to all!

I have been having a lot of fun doing research for this trip. We have videos from the Travel Channel on WDW and SeaWorld, plus a free Disney Planning DVD that we love to watch. I have seen a LOT of YouTube clips on rides. As a DL veteran I know what to expect at MK, but the other parks were all new territory for me.

We have bought: Crocs, ponchos, shorts, shirts, luggage, and a larger memory card for our camera. The other day a Mickey baseball cap I bought at DL in the 80s showed up from out of nowhere. I had to wear it for a few days.

I have been doing a lot of walking to get ready for the trip. You see, 2 1/2 years ago I was diagnosed with near-fatal Cardiomyopathy. It has been a long road to recovery. 2 years ago I could not walk around the block without sitting down to rest. Now I walk, and walk and walk. I am so thankful to be alive to see my DD go on this trip. I feel like a new man (fortunately my DW does not feel like a new man 'cause I won't let her have one).

I can't tell you how many times I have been to the GKTW web site to take the virtual tours. I hear "Mayor Clayton's Song" in my dreams. It is hard to say what I am most looking forward to, other than the obvious chance to spend time with my family. I am pretty jazzed about touching a dolphin, riding Soarin', seeing Seuss Island, going on the Safari and seeing Captain Jack on the P.O.T.C., but mostly I just want to see the joy, delight and magic in my little girl's eyes after all she has been through (Not to mention my DW caring for her and me and carrying the world on her shoulder's).

When Lysi was little and they took her away from my arms for her surgeries, it tore my heart out to see the look in her eyes as they locked with mine. I prayed and prayed for a chance to see her grow up to experience something like this trip. THANK YOU GOD!

We have all been through a lot of stress. I remember in one winter she had scary scans, my son was sent to Baghdad for combat, my mother had open heart surgery, I was diagnosed with a heart condition, my father had a hip replacement, my brother in law (more like a brother to me) was found to have advanced cancer and I felt overwhelmed with stress. I don't say this to complain but to show how happy and relieved and grateful I am to have made it through all of this.

We REALLY need this vacation and trip of a lifetime.

[luvnwdwgal]

Wishing you and your family a magical trip!

[Bill_Lin]

As I sit at my computer, contemplating the Wish Trip Threads I have read, I feel some profound revelation stirring within me. I am beginning to see that Wish Trips are the heart and soul of Disney.

Over the past few decades, I developed a jaded and cynical attitude towards Disney. I grew up on the Mickey Mouse Club with Annette, Bobby, Tommy and Cubby and The Wonderful World of Disney. All things Disney were beautiful to me.

A veteran of youth-group trips to Disneyland, I had enjoyed the magic of Disney and helped to spread it to others. I took youth groups to "The Happiest Place on Earth," from the San Francisco Bay Area, the northern Sierra Nevada Mountains, and from Oregon and Washington state. We basked in the fun and beauty of Disney's idyllic kingdom. The world of The Mouse was all fun and beauty to me.

This changed over time with the advent of Michael Eisner and his effort to de-Disneyfy Disney. With a seeming lack of understanding of the innocent spirit of fun and magic that had allowed Disney to rise to the pinnacle of American Entertainment, he tried to dilute the magic and make Disney more like other bland and greedy enterprises. His constant battles with family organizations distracted Disney from its special mission of spreading magic to a world in desperate need of pixie dust.

During Eisner's reign, I increasingly saw Disney as a "souless, rapacious" corporation that had lost its moorings. Fortunately Roy Disney helped to rally the Disney troops to return the Magical World to its mission. I had always admired Walt Disney's creative genius and optimistic, energetic spirit. My sister's association with Roy Disney through his passion for restoring wild populations of birds of prey proved him to be much like Walt in his spirit and beauty of soul. All of this helped to restore my belief in the Magical World.

What really turned the tables for me, and turned me back into a true Disneyphile were my experiences and research leading up to my daughter's Make a Wish Trip. What unfolded before me was an image of the true Disney: A magical, compassion creator of magic and beauty for children of all ages.

Our journey began with an application from my daughter's oncology clinic to Make a Wish for the wish of a lifetime. Her first wish was to spend a night in Cinderella's Castle which she had learned about through a television commercial for the Magic Kingdom (a truly brilliant commercial). She was told that it would not be possible for this wish to be granted because each day one family would be chosen at random to stay in the castle. An alternative wish was proposed: A week at Give Kids the World Village including passes to the Disney Orlando theme parks.

We were amazed to learn about the generosity and vision of Henry Landwirth who created Give Kids the World Village so children with life-threatening illnesses would have a place to stay in central Florida when fulfilling their life dream of visiting the Magic Kingdom (Welcome to Give Kids The World | gktw.org | non-profit organizations, childrens charities.). Please take the time to visit the Give Kids the World website yourself. What amazed me even more was the partnership that Disney, along with other theme park companies like Sea World and Universal Studios, formed to provide a truly magical experience to these children who have been through so much fear, pain and struggle in their young lives.

Not only does Disney provide free 3-Day Park Hopper passes to Walt Disney World for all visitors to Give Kids the World Village, Disney Cast Members are trained to treat the Wish Trip children like true royalty. Wish kids are assisted in bypassing long lines to access their favorite characters, rides and attractions. A Wish Trip Lounge was built in the Magic Kingdom to give these precious children a chance to rest and recuperate along the way. Access to V.I.P. lounges in Epcot provides the same sort of respite. The Magic Makers on the Disney staff have gone to great lengths to create amazing moments for these kids. Through this magic, children are whisked by Disney from a world of struggle and suffering to a magical kingdom of joy, fun and beauty. If only for one week of their lives, these children are given the precious gift of a beautiful childhood memory.

Isn't this what Disney was created to do; to create a place on earth where beauty, joy and magic reign? Is it not crucial that there be a place in this often hard world where kids can rest and blossom in the glow of childhood's dream, even if it is an illusion? Isn't the make believe of illusion and play the heart and soul of childhood?

That fact that Disney realizes some kids have been robbed by illness from experiencing this beauty and has taken steps to make certain these children do find magic and delight for at least one brief time in their lives, shows that Disney has not lost the spark and light of its soul. No, the spirit of Walt Disney is alive and well. You can see it in the lights on Cinderella's Castle. You can hear it in the drums of the Lion King Celebration. You can taste it in the delights of a thousand sweets. You can smell it in the "Disney Smell" that brings back memories of childhood for us all. You can feel it in the kind and gentle touch of a Disney Cast Member who leads a little child by the hand to a world of life and joy. I am a true believer again. Thank you Disney!

Bill

[snoozin]

Bill; as former recipients of a Wish trip, your note hits home. Well said.

[songbird]

Welcome to the boards! And God Bless you and your daughter. Enjoy the Magic!

[Colexis Mom]

I'm sure you're all going to have an absolutely, amazing trip

[disneydani]

I am so glad that GKTW is out there to give a little back to children and families such as yourself.

danielle

[dsnytina]

What an amazing post about a tremendous organization!!!

God bless you and yours as you take this Trip of a Lifetime!

Tina

[DyanKJ130]

I'm sure your little girl & your entire family will be having the most magical time!!