Kristen's Make-A-Wish Trip to Disneyworld
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Now Playing is "When You Wish Upon A Star".
In the Limo on the way to the airport to go to Disneyworld Kristen, me and Melanie.
Kristen in the cockpit of the airplane when we got to Florida.
At
Give Kids the World Village
Give Kids the world Village- What a magical place for kids!
Meeting
Mickey and Minnie!!
What
a Hug!!
Do you think all mermaids are this nice?
It was a jolly holiday with Mary Poppins, English accent and all!!
Our waitress "MOM" from the 50's Prime Time Cafe at MGM Studios. This was one of our funnest meals!!!
The ever important Mickey Mouse Ice Cream Bar!
Meeting Cinderalla at her castle just befor dinner in the upstairs Great dining hall.
The Mad Teacup Party Ride. Kristen's favorite....we went on this ride four times and she laughed and laughed every time!!!
Meeting Pocohantas on the Riverboat Cruise. Dad liked it!
Posing with E.T. at the Ameritech VIP Lounge at Universal Studios while waiting to go on his ride.
Waiting to get into the Hard Rock Cafe. We had one of our best meals here and the staff and management treated us like royalty. They gave us free T-shirts and not to mention a free meal. Kudos.
At the first annual Make A Wish Picnic in July, 1997.
The Trip itinerary:
This is to tell you all about our Make A Wish trip to Disney World in Florida and thank the Make A Wish Corporation of Eastern Ohio and the Many other organizations that made this trip for Kristen the best in her life. It also could help some of you who are planning the same trip to get along better down there and have as smooth and fun time as we did. These are directly from Kristen's Diary of the trip. I planned dinner for all days in advance by calling 1-407-wdisney and making reservations a few weeks in advance. In all Kristen got 43 different Character autographs and all of the characters treated her fabulously. We were dead tired but we had a spectacular time and the great thing was the whole time down there not one person asked what was wrong with her, we didnt even have to think of doctors, and hospitals and brain tumors. It was not a relaxing type of vacation by far and my feet really hurt now but Kristen really perked up down there and handled two decadron tapers without a hitch while there. Here's her accout with a little help from me.
Day 1 Friday A limo came the house and picked us up and took us to the airport. We left for Florida on the plane, when we got to the Airport in Orlando there were 20 people from Give Kids the World Village there to great us (they were having a meeting there or something so they all came). We rented a van and drove to the village. There we had dinner, had Ice cream and then went to the village castle and made masks for a mardi gras parade. Then we went to bed. Dad went to a meeting and got tickets and info.
Day 2 Saturday MGM Studios/EPCOT
I got sick at breakfast and was scared that we werent going to be able to go. But I told my dad I felt ok. He got a camcorder from the village so we could film some stuff. We went to MGM Studios and went right to the backstage studio tour, then we went on the 101 dalmations set tour. We had lunch at the Commisary restaurant (there was hardly anyone there) and Went over by Star Tours and got a great spot for the Toy Story Parade. *Note all parks at Disney have a dedicated marked handicapped viewing area for those in Wheelchairs and the views were excellent!! Saw Muppet 3D after the parade and then went and Saw the Beauty and the Beast Stage show. Then we had a fun dinner at the 50s Prime Time Cafe. We took pictures with our waitress Mom who yelled at my dad for having his elbows on the table. We met Pooh, Tigger,Goofy Pluto and Chip and Dale throughout the day. We then drove over to Epcot and saw Honey I shrunk the Audience. I got a Figment doll in the store there. We went to the handicapped spot in Canada and watched Illuminations and then went home.
Day 3 The Magic Kingdom Sunday
We went to breakfast and then went to the Chapel at the Village to say a few prayers and then went to the Magic Kingdom. We parked in handicap and rode the ferry boat over. We went up Main street through the castle to fantasyland and rode Its a Small World. I loved the dolls. We then went on the mad tea party, my favorite. While there we met Tweedledum and Tweedle Dee and the Queen of Hearts. We then went on the Gran Prix raceway We went over to Frontierland and had Mickey Mouse Ice Cream Bars and then went on the Riverboat Cruise and met Mickey Mouse!, Pocahontas Meeko and Ratcliffe. From there we headed back overt to Epcot and saw Honey I Shrunk the audience again and then went to our Dinner reservations at the Coral Reef Restaurant in the Living Sees. There was a huge aquarium and we sat right next to the window. There were sea turtles, sharks and even a bunch of divers that went by and waved! It was fun. After dinner we went and saw body wars and then went on Spaceship earth we then went back to the village where there was a surprise waiting for us on the table. We watched tv and went to bed.
Monday Day 4 Universal Studios Woke up at 6:30, we went to breakfast at the village an Met Pluto and Goofy and Had our picture taken with Minnie and Mickey in the Castle at the Village. Then we headed to Universal. We met Fievel at the Gates. When we got through the gates we met Fred Flinstone and Barney Rubble. We went to the ATT VIP lounge (Thanks ATT) and were escorted on the ET's adventure ride. We went to the Hard Rock Cafe (who donated a free meal that was fabulous Thanks Again)and had Lunch and we all got a free T-Shirt and Cups! It was fun. We went back in Universal and saw Terminator 2 3D it was neat. I got wet at the end and it was a little scary. On the way out we met Crash Bandicot. We went to Nickolodeon Studios and got pictures in front of the green slime fountain and then went on the backstage tour. My brother Michal got picked to play double dare! On the way out we met Ren and Stimpy and then went on the Hanna Barbera ride and then headed back to the village to eat dinner. It was Mayor Claytons Birthday Party there. I rode on the carousel had cake and Baby Shamu also was there. My brother pulled on Mayor Claytons ears and made him fall over! My dad was mad. We went back to the room and went to bed early for our final big day.
Day 5 The Magic Kingdom Again! Had breakfast at village then went to Magic Kingdom. We went through castle and then rode its a small world, the Mad Tea Cups again and then went over and met Ariel at her grotto. She was so nice!. We had lunch (PB and J sandwiches and juice and chips we packed and stored in the lockers under the train station) We went to the Toon Town character fair and we were taken right back and met Eeyire the WHite Rabbit from Alice in Wonderland, Sleeping Beautym Cruella Deville and the Big Bad Wolf. and the Sheriff of Nottingham. Went over to Splash Mountain and Rode the River boat cruise again where we met Brer Bearm Brer Fox, Liverlips, Wendell, Capt John Smith, and Ratcliffe and Pocahontas again. We watched the Remember the magic parade from the handicapped spot at liberty square and my brother and sister were picked to dance in the parade!! It was really neat. we heade over to King Stefans Banquet hall in the Castle and met Cinderalla in the Lobby and then went up to dinner to eat in the Banquet hall. It was a great view. We went back to the toontown fair and met Malificent, Brer Fox again, Prince John from Robinhood. Then we went on the Mad Tea Cups again! We went over to Alien Encounter and then walked down main street to the rail station to get a spot for the spectromagic parade. We wathced the parade in the handicapped spot across from city hall and it was great!. The disney attendant came over and gave us all Balloons!!. As soon as the parade went by we hopped on the ferry back across the lagoon and then went back to kids village and to bed.
Wednesday We are going Home! We woke up, had breakfast and then went to the airport. We got on the plane and landed back in Cleveland where it was 32 degrees!! I forgot how cold it was here. A limousine picked us up ath the airport and took us home. I ate dinner and went to bed.
***** And that was our make a wish trip. Kristen most wanted to ride the Tea Cups and to meet Cinderella. We tode the tea cups 4 times and met Cinderella twice so her wish was fulfilled quite well!! The folks at Universal were most spectacular and went out of their way to see to it that Kristen got priority seating and care. The folks at the Hard Rock Cafe deserve a medal they were outstanding. The people at Disney when we could get a hold of one were always very courteous, helpful and took great care of us. There were many special moments that I know I wont forget and they will remain in my mind as memories with my daughter that cant be replaced. A special thank you to all of the Volunteers at Give Kids the World Village in Orlando and all who donate to it. While the pool was closed for construction and our Villa was right next to it(kinda noisy) we were gone most of the time and they offered us passes to Wet and Wild to make up for the pool being closed. At any rate I have never been treated so well or made to feel so special in my life and I think that Kristen probably felt the same way.
This trip really boosted her spirits and was healing for her considering she had been in and out of the hospital 4 times the two weeks prior to going and we weren't sure if we were going to be able to go. This was all due to problems with the steroid taper of which she went through two of them there without a hitch. I really couldnt believe it. I intend to write or email all of the companies that helped make Kristens wish a Reality but if I miss any of them and they happen to read this I want you to know you did indeed give Kristen the World and made at least one little girls dream come true. There is no possible way I could begin to thank all of you but I will try.
Sorry this was so long but I hope someone out there might even benefit from our touring plan and get a little joy out of hearing that a very sick little girl smiled a whole lot on this trip.
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