Give kids the world ~ Make a Wish

[disneyfan328]

I am wondering if any of you out there have any info on the Wishes that kids get at Disney. A friend of ours at dance class has a daughter that was granted a wish and her wish is to go to Disney. They are nnot yet sure when they are going as this is all still in the begining stages, but I thought maybe any of you out there that know about the place where you get to stay "Give Kids the World" or info about what all gets included ect. I just wanted to help her with some info on what to expect. Is there a website out there about this hotel or anything? She was asking about making reservations for the castle breakfast ect and I told her that I know you have to do that 180 days out excatly but I wasn't sure if maybe they would handle any of those type of things for her.

Any info that you have would be great, or websites that you can pm me are appreciated as well. This really means a lot to this family and its a wonderful, special little girl that is getting her wish granted and I just want to help them out in any way that I can.

Thanks

[merlinmagic4]

We stayed at Give Kids the World in 2003.

They give you a condo to stay in and provide all meals (if you wish to eat them there). When we went we got a 3 day park hopper to Disney, 2 days at Universal, and Sea World tickets. You can use what you like. We ended up giving our Universal tickets back.

They give you a Guest Assistance card and a button to wear that gets you special treatment They'll probably also have Make a Wish buttons for the whole family.

There is a movie theatre, a play castle with toys, arts/crafts/video games, an ice cream parlor (free ice cream breakfast, lunch and dinner!), a dining hall, a carousel, a mini golf course, arcade, pool, chapel.

They have great activities every night: one night is Christmas with Santa and Mrs. Claus, a pool party, horse buggy rides, etc.

They leave gifts in your room everyday when you are gone: classic disney movies and small toys for the kids.

You get a photo with your family and Mickey and MInnie. Other characters come by for meet and greets (Barney and friends, Mary Poppins, Goofy, are a few I remember).

It is a WONDERFUL place all run by volunteers. They will love it there!

Can I answer any specific questions at all? There's so much to tell!

The website is www.gktw.org (I believe).

[disneyfan328]

Thanks for the reply - Do you know if they handle the meals for them while they are in the parks, or is it only while they are at the villas? My friends daughter ( the make a wish child) have round the clock needs so her mom doesn't ever really have time to get on here and check things out so I just thought I'd do what I could to help give her some info and to know what to expect. She isn't even sure when they are going yet. They asked her when would be good for the family and she gave them a couple of months that work for them, and at this point she is just waiting to hear back.

I found that site and am going to give it to her as well. Maybe I can print out some pictures for her to show her daughter.

Thanks - Anything that you can think of that they should know is helpful.

[merlinmagic4]

Make a Wish will most likely give them a check to cover some meals, souvenirs, etc. They want the trip to be as "free" as possible since medical issues are often combined with financial problems for many people. They try to cover everything.

They also have a night out for parents with care for the child. We actually didn't do it but that is covered by GKTW.

To answer an original question, they did not offer to make ADRs for us and at that time I knew nothing about all of that. Maybe she could call and say they are coming with MAW. I'm sure they would try to get them in!

[duckhere]

We were given $500 in spending money for our Make a Wish Trip. This may not be the case for all though. Our trip was in '04. Merlin gave a very good description of the things available.

Ask at the front desk if you have another attraction you wish to go to. We got to see Kennedy Space Center. They may not have tickets at all times they said, but they sure had a lot to choose from!