The awesome folks at Make A Wish Foundation have granted Serenity a wish! She wanted to meet Snow White so….. they’re sending our whole family to Disney World! We’ll be leaving August 26th and returning a week later on September 2nd.
While we’re there, we’ll be staying at Give Kids The World. We’re really excited to take a family trip there! We’re ramping up for it now and trying to get everything organized.
We’ll be blogging much of our trip and sharing lots of photos and videos here. We’ve received advice from several cancer friends who have made the trip already but would love to hear more from anyone else who has already done it!
We LOVE MAW and GKTW! We did a wish trip in April and it was AMAZING. Be sure to book your tuck in by Mayor Clayton and / or Miss Merry early in the trip. I promise you it books fast. We almost missed out b/c we waited until the last night …
Also take advantage of every single GKTW experience / event at the resort – these are things you won’t EVER be able to do again. You can always go back to the parks but the GKTW events are a once in a lifetime event.
See Santa on Thursday night. Eat ice cream for breakfast. Eat ice cream before bed – every single night! Go to Magic Kingdom and watch the fireworks from the hub of Main St (you should have Casey’s Hot dog stand behind you when facing the castle). Make a wish – the music and show is very moving and you WILL CRY.
Don’t feel bad about using “the pass” and the button you get at the parks! You all DESERVE it after everything you’ve been through. We actually got “scolded” at Universal Studios for waiting in line to see a character and not approaching a cast member to let them know we were there.
Make sure the button is proudly worn by Serenity. She will receive the most amazing attention – you will cry by how wonderful the characters and cast members are. Even still I get choked up thinking about Olivia being hugged by Pooh – he wouldn’t let her go!
Pack light – seriously. Your villa contains a full sized washer and dryer which we used nightly. I wish I had known as I wouldn’t have packed as many clothes and just done laundry. Bring along an extra bag for your return trip. You WILL need it for all the goodies you’ll get throughout your stay.
There is a Wal*Mart on the corner of the road where GKTW is and Rte 192 (main road). It’s open 24/7 – so use that to get your sunscreen instead of packing it in your luggage.
I think I’ve rambled enough – you will have an amazing trip. Please feel free to email me if you have any questions. Not only are we a Wish family but I’m also an independent Disney travel agent so I know both sides of it. Congrats, congrats, congrats!!!!
I am so happy for you guys! We loved our GKTW trip in February 05. We were given 2 books that we really enjoyed reading and I highly recommend. The Unofficial Guide to Walt Disney World is quite funny and extremely helpful. There is also the Walt Disney World for Kids book. My kids still pull it off the shelf to read! Get those books right now as they are super helpful in planning out what to see and when.
We did breakfast with the princesses at Epcot and LOVED it. I can’t remember if Snow White was one of them but we liked that they all came to our table for autographs and pics. I’m pretty sure you’ll want to make reservations for anything like that right away as they fill up. We tried to get a meal in Cinderella’s castle about 4 months in advance and were told they book a year out! Crazy!
You all have a WONDERFUL time. We will be praying for safety and lots of special memories. Say hello to Mayor Clayton for us!
Wow, thanks for all the info Tricia! We’ll be sure to email you any questions we have!
Thanks Amy! Ok – so both Amy and Tricia – how do we book all this stuff? (I haven’t searched on gktw yet) do we call, do it on the site, do it once we get there??? Thanks for all your info!
That is so exciting! We are so close behind you guys, Brinley got her wish this week, she wanted Ariel, so we are going to DisneyWorld September 29-Oct 5. Too bad we won’t be there at the same time, that would have been cool. You’ll have to give us all of your tips when you get back. I’m really happy for you guys, I hope Serenity has a magical trip and everyone has a wonderful time!
That is wonderful. I can’t wait to hear about it. 🙂
Adria, it’s Leslie from babybags…I’ve been reading Serenity’s site since you gave me the link a few months ago. It’s overwhelming, and I think of her often during my Team in Training runs, especially when I’m tired and in pain. It’s nothing, it will end, Serenity is tougher!! I’d like your permission to write her name on my race jersey when I run the RockNRoll 1/2 Marathon in Virginia Beach on 9/6/09 with the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society’s Team in Training. It would be such an inspiration to run in Serenity’s honor, but I don’t want to do it without your consent. Many, many prayers for all of you! ~ Leslie Harris
Kristin – DANG! That would have been the coolest! We should get the families together before you go and give you all our pointers 🙂 Congrats to Brinley on her wish!
Leslie – Of course we would consent to that! In fact, I insist that you send us pics of you in her jersey 🙂 with your consent, we’ll post them here.
I’m sorry I didn’t reply to your comment…didn’t see it until today! If you haven’t booked meals with princesses yet, you might still be able to do it now and even when you arrive. They do occasionally have cancellations. The Unofficial Guide book I mentioned in my comment has all the information…I think a whole chapter or section devoted to making reservations. Otherwise, you might be able to do it through the Disney website.
Have a wonderful time!!!!!
How absolutely exciting!