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

[2012bella13]

<- 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Genie stickers (and there was a letter from Disney explaining all that), but I think they were just horribly old and out of date.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.

Thanks so much for the info, do you enjoy being a volunteer??
My DD is doing great right now, & I am thinking about becoming a MAW Volunteer too. Our volunteer had a GD that was a MAW child also, that is how she decided to become a volunteer, she was the nicest person, she brought DD a cake, balloons, suitcase & toys for her MAW Party, I am sure she pd for it out of her pocket. When she came for the first visit she brought t-shirts, hat, buttons, toys, ect ect. We felt truly blessed!!
When we was at GKTW in 2011, the characters come on certain days, twice a week for the ones from Disney World & Universal Studios. To my knowledge, they did not do character breakfast though they might now. You also need to wear Or have with you the GKTW botton, to show for parking at the parks or you will have to pay to park.

 

[taimie]

I love reading all the post. We are a little more then a month out from our Wish trip. We have not been told of a send of party or anything in that nature. Our coordinator just told us, we would receive all the info, check, etc.. the week we leave. We have never meet our coordinator either. Hope everyone is having a great week so far!

 

[2012bella13]

I love reading all the post. We are a little more then a month out from our Wish trip. We have not been told of a send of party or anything in that nature. Our coordinator just told us, we would receive all the info, check, etc.. the week we leave. We have never meet our coordinator either. Hope everyone is having a great week so far!

I am sorry you did not have a personal volunteer, I guess it is different in every chapter, we are in the penn/southernwv chapter. They even told us to stop by & see them whenever or if we are near their office. Some people even know who sponsered their trip- we were never told.
My DD's Doctors office turned in her name, & they told us someone would be calling, then a coordinator called & said they would be sending a volunteer to the house to ask DD what her wish was. Then it went off from there.

You will love GKTW if that is where you are staying, I am assuming your trip is to Disney World. We spent most of our time at GKTW. They always have something going on there. We went back to visit, & we are looking forward to visiting again.

 

[angel's momma]

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

Yay!

We have not been told of a send of party or anything in that nature. Our coordinator just told us, we would receive all the info, check, etc.. the week we leave. We have never meet our coordinator either.

Some chapters don't do send offs, reveals, etc. We'll be getting our info in the mail also. It may happen sometimes, but I don't think it's typical to meet the coordinator, just the wish granters. I know our coordinator's office is 4 hours from where we live.

 

[taimie]

I am sorry you did not have a personal volunteer, I guess it is different in every chapter, we are in the penn/southernwv chapter. They even told us to stop by & see them whenever or if we are near their office. Some people even know who sponsered their trip- we were never told.
My DD's Doctors office turned in her name, & they told us someone would be calling, then a coordinator called & said they would be sending a volunteer to the house to ask DD what her wish was. Then it went off from there.

You will love GKTW if that is where you are staying, I am assuming your trip is to Disney World. We spent most of our time at GKTW. They always have something going on there. We went back to visit, & we are looking forward to visiting again.

Yes we are staying at GKTW. April 23-29. When we first meet someone from MAW, we had to drive to them, about hour away. To a hotel. They had some candy on the table for us, but my daughter did not receive any "presents" like some people mention. They were meeting with other family's at the same time. The MAW people we meet then, that was back in Nov, is different from our coordinator. I guess every chapter is different. We are in the GA/Alabama Chapter We are still so excited for our trip!!!!

 

[angel's momma]

Taimie - That was probably the wish granters that you met with. Angel didn't receive anything when she met her wish granters either.

 

[2012bella13]

Yes we are staying at GKTW. April 23-29. When we first meet someone from MAW, we had to drive to them, about hour away. To a hotel. They had some candy on the table for us, but my daughter did not receive any "presents" like some people mention. They were meeting with other family's at the same time. The MAW people we meet then, that was back in Nov, is different from our coordinator. I guess every chapter is different. We are in the GA/Alabama Chapter We are still so excited for our trip!!!!

That is a great week to be going, according to the Crowd Calenders, Disney World will be around a 5 that week. I had looked into that week to go this time but decided on the last week in Feb.
I am so excited for everyone here that is going to get to stay at GKTW, you can tell people about what you experienced but they really do not understand it completely until they stay themselves. The only negative I can say is that it does not last long enough! The week is gone before you know it!!
My family had never been to Disney World, DH did not care that much for it, but he loved seeing our DD so happy.
DD is stable right now & we took her back for her 5th birthday & we had an awesome time. I love amusement parks & DD takes after me & she has already asked to go back for her 9th birthday, I do not know why her 9th birthday, but it will take that long for us to save up enough money to go agian

 

[LittleEsmom]

Ok I am worried now We have no buttons at all. Not even one for Emma! All she has is a MAW shirt she is suppose to wear on the plane ride down.

 

[LittleEsmom]

<- 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.

thank you for trying to clear things up for me

 

[JWCJ]

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?

Another vote for a ziploc baggie here! Sadly, I've seen first hand what happens when you don't put EVERYTHING that might leak into baggies

Yay!



Some chapters don't do send offs, reveals, etc. We'll be getting our info in the mail also. It may happen sometimes, but I don't think it's typical to meet the coordinator, just the wish granters. I know our coordinator's office is 4 hours from where we live.

I think we're meeting with our grantor so many times (and we actually have met our coordinator, at a fundraiser) because we're located in the same city as the MAW office. It's all luck depending on your chapter.

Yes we are staying at GKTW. April 23-29. When we first meet someone from MAW, we had to drive to them, about hour away. To a hotel. They had some candy on the table for us, but my daughter did not receive any "presents" like some people mention. They were meeting with other family's at the same time. The MAW people we meet then, that was back in Nov, is different from our coordinator. I guess every chapter is different. We are in the GA/Alabama Chapter We are still so excited for our trip!!!!

We arrive at GKTW on April 27! We'll watch out for you

Ok I am worried now We have no buttons at all. Not even one for Emma! All she has is a MAW shirt she is suppose to wear on the plane ride down.

Calm. (Seriously, I really need that yogi smiley! ) I'm sure it will all work out - buttons or no buttons. The most important button is going to be from GKTW, right?

 

[icecreamforbreakfast]

Ok I am worried now We have no buttons at all. Not even one for Emma! All she has is a MAW shirt she is suppose to wear on the plane ride down.

"THE" magic button is yet to come! The one your wish child will receive when you get to GKTW is what will get you front of the line service, parking for free, etc ...

 

[taliasmom]

Wish us luck and prayers if you feel so inclined. Our "reinterview" with MAW is tomorrow. Talia's pneumonia had her sleeping most of today, hope she has a good day tomorrow! (Mild case, not contagious). So anxious about it all!

 

[angel's momma]

Wish us luck and prayers if you feel so inclined. Our "reinterview" with MAW is tomorrow. Talia's pneumonia had her sleeping most of today, hope she has a good day tomorrow! (Mild case, not contagious). So anxious about it all!

Sorry Talia's still not feeling well. Hope she's feeling better, and that the re-interview goes well. Hugs & prayers.

 

[Kktraylor]

Yesterday was not a good day. Hubby lost his job. :-(. Now is not the time for this so praying he finds a new one quickly. On a brighter note, Ava is playing softball for the first time ever and hit a Homeric last night!!!!!

Kristy

 

[angel's momma]

I'm so sorry Kristy Praying he finds a new job. Yay for Ava

 

[taliasmom]

Yesterday was not a good day. Hubby lost his job. :-(. Now is not the time for this so praying he finds a new one quickly. On a brighter note, Ava is playing softball for the first time ever and hit a Homeric last night!!!!!

Kristy

Hope things go a lot better fast, prayers for your family being sent! Congrats to Ava!

 

[JWCJ]

Wish us luck and prayers if you feel so inclined. Our "reinterview" with MAW is tomorrow. Talia's pneumonia had her sleeping most of today, hope she has a good day tomorrow! (Mild case, not contagious). So anxious about it all!

Good luck Hope Talia's reinterview goes well and that she's feeling better.

Yesterday was not a good day. Hubby lost his job. :-(. Now is not the time for this so praying he finds a new one quickly. On a brighter note, Ava is playing softball for the first time ever and hit a Homeric last night!!!!!

Kristy

I'm so sorry. I hope your DH finds work again quickly.

 

[LittleEsmom]

Yesterday was not a good day. Hubby lost his job. :-(. Now is not the time for this so praying he finds a new one quickly. On a brighter note, Ava is playing softball for the first time ever and hit a Homeric last night!!!!!

Kristy

So sorry Prayers for a new job.
Way to go AVA!!!!

 

[2012bella13]

Kristy, I am sorry about DH, hopefully he will find another job soon! Prayers!


Praying for Talia to feel better soon!


Yes, the button from GKTW is the most important one while you are in Floridia.

 

[Jakentysmom]

Kristy, so sorry about your DH and his job. hopefully he finds one REAL SOON!!!

Today starts our ONE MONTH COUNTDOWN