jendej
Earning My Ears
- Joined
- Sep 30, 2016
Hello! I posted here June/July 2018 asking for advice for taking my terminally ill sister and her teens on a crowdfunded “wish trip.” I got some great advice, and I wanted to create a trip report for others interested in doing the same. It may take some time to complete the report, but if anyone has any questions about our experience in the meantime, feel free to post them here and I’ll do my best to answer them.
This is a very honest report of our experience, so it’s the good (amazing memories made and pixie dust) and the bad (terminal illness often comes with unfortunate realities). My intention in sharing this is to help others who may be in this situation have realistic expectations for their trip, and to provide information about things they may not consider.
Dates: 09/17/18-09/27/18
Who:
Me (middle sister, 35)
OS (older sister, terminal ovarian cancer, 37)
LS (little sister, 30)
CN (college-age niece, 18)
HN (High-school age niece, 16)
DN (dear nephew, 14)
MN (middle-school age niece, 12)
DF (dear father, 60 something)
DSM (dear stepmother, 60 something)
DD (dear daughter, 12)
Stayed at:
Wyndham Bonnet Creek (09/17-09/23)
Homewood Suites by Hilton Orlando Theme Parks (09/23-09/25)
Hilton Cocoa Beach Oceanfront (09/25-09/27)
Planning and Funding
120 Days:
When my sister declined palliative/life-extending chemo in June of 2018 we began talking about what she wanted to do with her remaining time. At the top of her list was taking her kids to WDW. We began our process by applying for a wish trip with the “Dream Foundation.” Unfortunately we were told about 4 weeks later that they wouldn’t work with my sister’s hospice provider.
90 Days:
We then began the process of crowdfunding my sister’s trip. I have a background in non-profit fundraising, so this part for me was pretty easy to do. We already had a Facebook page for my sister’s cancer treatment journey, and my sister-in-law volunteered her services to create a private webpage. We set up a paypal account and included instructions for people to donate fee-free. We also had a Hilton Honors account, which allows people to “pool” points. We also asked people to donate airline miles (we chose southwest, since LS already had enough points for one round trip ticket). Our great aunt and uncle had time-share points available and donated a 5 night stay at Wyndham Bonnet Creek. We also utilized LS’s “Military Salute” discount for WDW park tickets for her, OS and nieces and nephew. DF, DSM and I paid our own way for airfare and park tickets.
60 Days:
Within 4 weeks we had enough hotel points/timeshare days for our entire trip, points for flights and money for park tickets. It was also around this time that I was put in contact with the Jack & Jill Foundation. They were able to provide us with free UO tickets for 6 as well as 25% off WDW tickets for the three of us not covered by the Military Salute discount.
OS was mostly home-bound by this point. I gave her 48 hours to research what she wanted to do and get back to me.
Her WDW Bucket List:
1. Meet Cinderella
2. Eat at as Sci-Fi Dine-in Theater
3. Eat a Kitchen Sink Sunday
4. Go in to BOG
5. Eat a Dole-Whip
6. Meet Goofy (for MN)
I also asked the kids to research and give me their top rides for the trip (OS was already too ill to really be comfortable on most rides, we did get her on one — more on that later). Of course I knew FOP should be a priority, I didn’t hold out too much hope for SDD, and of course we were not able to ride it.
<60 Days:
I worked my butt off to get ADR’s immediately and FP+ as soon as our window opened. Some of our FP+ were kind of wacky (one for one person at 12:55, one for two at 1:15, another one for two at 1:35, etc.), but I was able to get them — even FOP! The only ones we didn’t get that we wanted were SDD and 7DMT. The night before we left I was able to snag a breakfast ADR at BOG for our first morning at MK!
During this time we also were given around $1500 in cash and Disney gift card donations to be used for meals for OS and her kids. A parent of one of HN’s friends messaged me for our resort name and dates because she was paying for OS’s scooter rental for the whole trip! Others sent gifts (park bags, ponchos, water bottles, etc.) for OS and her kids.
That’s all I have time for for now! I’ll try to add more in the next few days!
This is a very honest report of our experience, so it’s the good (amazing memories made and pixie dust) and the bad (terminal illness often comes with unfortunate realities). My intention in sharing this is to help others who may be in this situation have realistic expectations for their trip, and to provide information about things they may not consider.
Dates: 09/17/18-09/27/18
Who:
Me (middle sister, 35)
OS (older sister, terminal ovarian cancer, 37)
LS (little sister, 30)
CN (college-age niece, 18)
HN (High-school age niece, 16)
DN (dear nephew, 14)
MN (middle-school age niece, 12)
DF (dear father, 60 something)
DSM (dear stepmother, 60 something)
DD (dear daughter, 12)
Stayed at:
Wyndham Bonnet Creek (09/17-09/23)
Homewood Suites by Hilton Orlando Theme Parks (09/23-09/25)
Hilton Cocoa Beach Oceanfront (09/25-09/27)
Planning and Funding
120 Days:
When my sister declined palliative/life-extending chemo in June of 2018 we began talking about what she wanted to do with her remaining time. At the top of her list was taking her kids to WDW. We began our process by applying for a wish trip with the “Dream Foundation.” Unfortunately we were told about 4 weeks later that they wouldn’t work with my sister’s hospice provider.
90 Days:
We then began the process of crowdfunding my sister’s trip. I have a background in non-profit fundraising, so this part for me was pretty easy to do. We already had a Facebook page for my sister’s cancer treatment journey, and my sister-in-law volunteered her services to create a private webpage. We set up a paypal account and included instructions for people to donate fee-free. We also had a Hilton Honors account, which allows people to “pool” points. We also asked people to donate airline miles (we chose southwest, since LS already had enough points for one round trip ticket). Our great aunt and uncle had time-share points available and donated a 5 night stay at Wyndham Bonnet Creek. We also utilized LS’s “Military Salute” discount for WDW park tickets for her, OS and nieces and nephew. DF, DSM and I paid our own way for airfare and park tickets.
60 Days:
Within 4 weeks we had enough hotel points/timeshare days for our entire trip, points for flights and money for park tickets. It was also around this time that I was put in contact with the Jack & Jill Foundation. They were able to provide us with free UO tickets for 6 as well as 25% off WDW tickets for the three of us not covered by the Military Salute discount.
OS was mostly home-bound by this point. I gave her 48 hours to research what she wanted to do and get back to me.
Her WDW Bucket List:
1. Meet Cinderella
2. Eat at as Sci-Fi Dine-in Theater
3. Eat a Kitchen Sink Sunday
4. Go in to BOG
5. Eat a Dole-Whip
6. Meet Goofy (for MN)
I also asked the kids to research and give me their top rides for the trip (OS was already too ill to really be comfortable on most rides, we did get her on one — more on that later). Of course I knew FOP should be a priority, I didn’t hold out too much hope for SDD, and of course we were not able to ride it.
<60 Days:
I worked my butt off to get ADR’s immediately and FP+ as soon as our window opened. Some of our FP+ were kind of wacky (one for one person at 12:55, one for two at 1:15, another one for two at 1:35, etc.), but I was able to get them — even FOP! The only ones we didn’t get that we wanted were SDD and 7DMT. The night before we left I was able to snag a breakfast ADR at BOG for our first morning at MK!
During this time we also were given around $1500 in cash and Disney gift card donations to be used for meals for OS and her kids. A parent of one of HN’s friends messaged me for our resort name and dates because she was paying for OS’s scooter rental for the whole trip! Others sent gifts (park bags, ponchos, water bottles, etc.) for OS and her kids.
That’s all I have time for for now! I’ll try to add more in the next few days!
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