Make a Wish (and other organizations) ~ Wish Trippers UNITE! Volume FIVE!!

[Oneplustwins]

Yea for your party! Looks awesome!

 

[LittleEsmom]

Beautiful pic! Yay for a great Wish party!

Thank you

YAY for an awesome party!!! Just a few more days!!!! WOOHOOO

Yep! We are all flipping out

Yea for your party! Looks awesome!

Thank you

 

[LittleEsmom]

We had a great time at our wish party Our wish granter went over our wish package with us while we were at the restaurant but when I got home I found out that he had misinformed us on some pretty big things
He told us that once you are done with your wish trip you can NEVER go back to GKTW. Well, as soon as he said it I knew it wasn't true. I just though he hadn't done very much research on The whole process. Once you have been a guest of the village you are always welcomed to come back. .
The really big thing was I had asked him if we would need to pay for Emma's BBB when we got there that day or how that worked. He told me that I would not have to pay anything. He said everything was taken care of and had been since MAW made her reservations. After we left the restaurant, I was looking over everything and saw on the printed page for E's BBB , at the bottom of the page, it said that 200.00had been included in her spending money to pay for it I just wish he could have been a little more informative so I wouldn't have to second guess what he told us I don't know how many wishes he had been a part of either though. Hope everyone has had a wonderfully blessed weekend

 

[angel's momma]

Dana - So glad Emma had such a great party. Loved the picture. Sorry the wish granter gave you some misinformation.

 

[2012bella13]

We had a great time at our wish party Our wish granter went over our wish package with us while we were at the restaurant but when I got home I found out that he had misinformed us on some pretty big things
He told us that once you are done with your wish trip you can NEVER go back to GKTW. Well, as soon as he said it I knew it wasn't true. I just though he hadn't done very much research on The whole process. Once you have been a guest of the village you are always welcomed to come back. .
The really big thing was I had asked him if we would need to pay for Emma's BBB when we got there that day or how that worked. He told me that I would not have to pay anything. He said everything was taken care of and had been since MAW made her reservations. After we left the restaurant, I was looking over everything and saw on the printed page for E's BBB , at the bottom of the page, it said that 200.00had been included in her spending money to pay for it I just wish he could have been a little more informative so I wouldn't have to second guess what he told us I don't know how many wishes he had been a part of either though. Hope everyone has had a wonderfully blessed weekend

Emma's party sounded great!! I am so glad that it is getting closer.

I have found out that alot of the volunteers do not have all of the info they need. We were told everything would be planned for us, BBB & Character Breakfast ect ect, & at GKTW I would recieve all the info for this, but it was not so. DD did not get to do any of those things. Our volunteer told us we could have other family members stay with us at GKTW but we would have to pay for their tickets & food, but that was not so either.

Yes, you can visit GKTW anytime you want since you are a wish family (once a Wish Family- Always a Wish Family), you just can not stay on site. We went back to visit when we went to DW just 2 weeks ago, & they took pictures & emailed them to us, this is such an awesome place.

I am considering becoming a MAW Volunteer, I would love to pay it forward for all the kindnesses we have recieved.

Looking forward to hearing more about Emma's Wish Trip!

 

[2012bella13]

I think we're just going to pray the 15 passenger van will make it and all ride together. Ava won't get to fly, but it's the best we can do. And if we don't get gas money, then we don't get gas money. I just wish they would make this a little easier on us. I think they may just be a little upset that we're determined to bring all the kids.

Kristy

How are things?
Have you been able to work everything out?

 

[Kktraylor]

How are things?
Have you been able to work everything out?

No change in anything yet. Trying to figure out a way for everything to work. We've got an online fundraiser and will try to do a fundraiser at the grocery store soon. I have faith it's all going to work. I'm putting it in God's hands just like I do with everything regarding Ava. . Thanks for the concern.

Kristy

 

[2012bella13]

No change in anything yet. Trying to figure out a way for everything to work. We've got an online fundraiser and will try to do a fundraiser at the grocery store soon. I have faith it's all going to work. I'm putting it in God's hands just like I do with everything regarding Ava. . Thanks for the concern.

Kristy

I was just checking out your tr to see if you had put any updates.
I feel sure everything will work out great for you & your family.
God's hand are strong & with HIM anything can happen.
You just have to BELIEVE!!
Your family will be in our prayers!!!

 

[LittleEsmom]

Emma's party sounded great!! I am so glad that it is getting closer.

I have found out that alot of the volunteers do not have all of the info they need. We were told everything would be planned for us, BBB & Character Breakfast ect ect, & at GKTW I would recieve all the info for this, but it was not so. DD did not get to do any of those things. Our volunteer told us we could have other family members stay with us at GKTW but we would have to pay for their tickets & food, but that was not so either.

Yes, you can visit GKTW anytime you want since you are a wish family (once a Wish Family- Always a Wish Family), you just can not stay on site. We went back to visit when we went to DW just 2 weeks ago, & they took pictures & emailed them to us, this is such an awesome place.

I am considering becoming a MAW Volunteer, I would love to pay it forward for all the kindnesses we have recieved.

Looking forward to hearing more about Emma's Wish Trip!

I am also gonna look into being a MAW volunteer too. I think we could offer alot of insight into the whole wish process having been there ourselves. We have said "Thank you" so much but it still doesn't seem like enough.

 

[LittleEsmom]

We were told by our volunteer that we would need to bring our own buttons with us to GKTW to put some kind of special sticker on? Is that true

 

[JWCJ]

We were told by our volunteer that we would need to bring our own buttons with us to GKTW to put some kind of special sticker on? Is that true

Wha'?!?!? Yeah, pretty sure that's a no. I've seen trip reports where families wear their MAW buttons down on the flight, maybe that's what he's confusing with?
Sounds like he's getting told info, misinterpreting it (such as no you can't STAY at GKTW again but he took that to mean you can't ever go back), and then passing it to you. Thank goodness for DIS!

 

[nickmo06]

We were told by our volunteer that we would need to bring our own buttons with us to GKTW to put some kind of special sticker on? Is that true

Hi I'm new here any trying to figure out how to let everybody know about my son's upcoming wish trip.

As for this post I was wondering if everybody had buttons or just wish kid. We are going in 1 week and only have 1 button from make a wish

 

[kritter47]

<- MaW volunteer

The number of buttons given out depends on the chapter. One chapter I was at started off with just a button for the wish kid, then moved to a specific button for the wish kid and regular buttons for the family. The chapter I'm at now does regular buttons for the whole family. As y'all have found, the shirts vary by chapter as well.

If you only have one button for your family, don't worry. That's likely just how your chapter runs things. Similarly, send-off versus welcome home versus more gifts than parties varies by chapter as well. My previous chapter really liked welcome home things over send off things, while the one now prefers the send-off.

LittleEsMom - Clarify what he means by "bring your own buttons" to GKTW. MaW requests their kids wear both the MaW button as well as the GKTW button, and in some chapters, they still give out older Genie stickers that came from Disney's part of the wish-granting process. I know when I first started, we were told that the kids and families should wear those Genie stickers (and there was a letter from Disney explaining all that), but I think they were just horribly old and out of date. Y'all may be in one of the chapters that still encourages that, even though to my knowledge it's no longer something the Disney or GKTW people ask you do.

As far as the two previous communication issues, I think it's just speaking in semantics that didn't quite translate the way he'd hoped. We are supposed to make sure families realize that GKTW is a wish-kids only resort and that this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. When you mentioned something about "going back," he may have taken that to mean trying to stay there again, which we're supposed to make clear can't happen. As for the BBB thing, we're told to reinforce that all expected expenses are coming out of our money (I like to use the line "We don't want you to spend any money you don't want to from the moment you get in the car that morning until you get dropped off at your house."). So he may have thought you were wondering about if you, personally, had to pay for it rather than you via the expense check had to pay for it.

Extras such as CRT, BBB, character breakfast et al generally have to be specifically requested (though I believe there are now character breakfasts at GKTW itself) as part of the wish. They are not typically provided at Disney World, though they are often part of DisneyLand wishes, just because of the logistics of the number of kids there at any one time. In some cases, they can be arranged, as can individual character meets if that's what the child asks for. But that depends on the chapter and their policies and their contacts and all sorts of things.

Finally, as far as extra family members being allowed to stay at GKTW if they pay for their own tickets and meals, I'm working on a wish right now that may involve that. I've been told it's possible, but I've never had a wish go through where it's been a part, and I've probably done a dozen or more Disney wishes at this point.

 

[JWCJ]

Thanks for all the info!

 

[angel's momma]

nickmo06. Here's how to start a pre-trip report http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=30723042&postcount=713 , and how to make a link for it for your signature http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=39740655&postcount=470 . Looking forward to reading about your son, so glad that he's getting his wish.

 

[Oneplustwins]

I saw on GTKW website it said they had had bathroom stuff for kids? Is that right? Just trying it figure out how much shampoo and body wash to bring. You can nly bring 3 oz of liquid on the plane, right? Did you all pack sun block? Is that counted as liquid? Thanks!

 

[Moodyzblu]

They have a wonderful line of kids bath stuff at GKTW ! Smells so wonderful. But for the stuff you bring with you .. as long as you put it in your suitcase, rather than your carry on, you should be fine with whatever you need. I put sunblock in my suitcase as well.

 

[nickmo06]

My mom was just talking about this the other day!!! We r driving so limits r not an issue but what to pack is kinda what we're wondering now!!

This time next week we will be at GKTW!!!

 

[Oneplustwins]

Thanks for the info!
Nickmo6 so excited for you! We leave the 16th and we are soooo excited!
So if I put sun block in my suitcase it should be good? Just put in a plastic bag?

 

[Moodyzblu]

Thanks for the info!
Nickmo6 so excited for you! We leave the 16th and we are soooo excited!
So if I put sun block in my suitcase it should be good? Just put in a plastic bag?

Yes .. I usually put any liquids in a ziplock baggie ! Just make sure it goes in your checked baggage .. I had 2, rather expensive, containers of sunblock confiscated because I accidentally put them on my carry on.