Make a Wish (and other organizations) - Wish Trippers UNITE! Volume THREE! :)

[casper_jj11]

I know there were dicussions about extending the Wish trip. I was wondering if any of the recent wish trippers did this and how did they do it? We are "thinking" about doing this but want to weigh all of the costs and time to do so. Is there any way we could take the van back to the airport and then take the ME back to the Disney Hotel that we would be staying at instead of re-renting the van since we would be staying on property we really wouldnt need a rental.We could probably only extend it for 1-2 days.

Like Shannon said, every group is different re extensions. We aren't allowed to extend, technically. Its an insurance issue. We can, however, pay the change fees and change our return flight which we plan to do. Because the organization has been so great and are truly concerned about the insurance implications, I won't try to extend the rental. We'll be returning it on the last day of our Wish trip portion and renting another.

We've never used ME so I can't help much with that part. It may be faster to get a car service to drive you back though rather than waiting for an ME bus since I expect it could take awhile at the airport. Cheaper than a rental but more convenient than ME.

 

[cantwaittoseemickey]

I think that each chapter is different. We have to return our rental car on the last night of our "wish portion" of our trip and then re-rent if we decide to get another car. We are extending at the Swan/Dolphin so they don't use ME....I think we are just going to get another car.

I don't think there would be any problem in doing exactly what you have planned as long as you book a "package" at WDW and select Magical Express as your transfer.

After reading everyones TR lately, I am so happy we can swing the extra days. Its all so much to cram in in such a short time...and we've been before!! Good Luck!!

Tonya...........

We extended by two days and were able to keep the rental car. Our chapter gave us the confirmation number and we were able to call the rental company directly before we left and extend the extra two days on our dime. But like Shannon said, every chapter is different. Some won't do that. And some apparently won't even 'allow' the extension; meaning they will only book flights for the GKTW portion of the trip. Of course in that case one could always just wait and pay the fee to change the returning flight once they get there. There's always a way.

I personally am not a big fan of the Magical Express transpo because of the need to leave 3 hours before your flight. But if you don't care about that then returning the rental at the airport and using ME to return to your hotel might be an option. I wasn't aware you needed to book a 'package' to use it, as Shannon suggests, I just thought you needed to be staying on Disney property. IDK

You are correct.
You don't need to have a package; just staying at a Disney resort gets you access to the Magical Express buses.

Like Shannon said, every group is different re extensions. We aren't allowed to extend, technically. Its an insurance issue. We can, however, pay the change fees and change our return flight which we plan to do. Because the organization has been so great and are truly concerned about the insurance implications, I won't try to extend the rental. We'll be returning it on the last day of our Wish trip portion and renting another.

We've never used ME so I can't help much with that part. It may be faster to get a car service to drive you back though rather than waiting for an ME bus since I expect it could take awhile at the airport. Cheaper than a rental but more convenient than ME.

Our chapter was going to let us extend before (at least I understood it that way) but we never really got too far in the discussion before I changed my mind. I just changed it again too Dh and I decided last night not to extend it to. He would have to take time off work and we just can't do that. My dh's dream is to take Ty and Sierra to Kennedy Space center so I was really hoping to go. Ty would love to see all of the space shuttle things. Im just not sure we will have time.

And can I just say I figured out how to multiquote!!

 

[yinyanggirls]

My dh's dream is to take Ty and Sierra to Kennedy Space center so I was really hoping to go. Ty would love to see all of the space shuttle things. Im just not sure we will have time.

If that's a big dream of theirs then you may just want to rule out one of the other options (like SW or US) and do it! It's your trip. You don't have to do what everyone else does or what they give you tickets for. You guys get to make it your own. (And I believe GKTW also gives you tickets to Kennedy if you want them)

 

[pnutallergymom]

If that's a big dream of theirs then you may just want to rule out one of the other options (like SW or US) and do it! It's your trip. You don't have to do what everyone else does or what they give you tickets for. You guys get to make it your own. (And I believe GKTW also gives you tickets to Kennedy if you want them)

I totally agree with Melissa. Even having been before, there are so many things that we want to see and do, but know it just won't happen. We have decided to list our priorities and make that happen.....then anything else is a bonus!!! For us, we are focusing on the MK, AK, and maybe US/IOA....the rest is RELAXING!! Hopefully, there will be more opportunities to get to FL in the future, but Brigitte will suffer if we try to do a commando trip!!

 

[maroo]

I know there were dicussions about extending the Wish trip. I was wondering if any of the recent wish trippers did this and how did they do it? We are "thinking" about doing this but want to weigh all of the costs and time to do so. Is there any way we could take the van back to the airport and then take the ME back to the Disney Hotel that we would be staying at instead of re-renting the van since we would be staying on property we really wouldnt need a rental.We could probably only extend it for 1-2 days.

I see you got your answer - and made your decision! Makes total sense!

Our chapter was going to let us extend before (at least I understood it that way) but we never really got too far in the discussion before I changed my mind. I just changed it again too Dh and I decided last night not to extend it to. He would have to take time off work and we just can't do that. My dh's dream is to take Ty and Sierra to Kennedy Space center so I was really hoping to go. Ty would love to see all of the space shuttle things. Im just not sure we will have time.

And can I just say I figured out how to multiquote!!

I totally agree with pnutallergymom on this!

We are going back for Lauren and William because we simply did not get to do everything that we had on our list. And we made some "mistakes" on their trip - some were because Lauren got sick...we did too much at the beginning of the trip and paid for it later. And some were because we kept a lot of things a secret for Lauren and hindsight is telling us we should have been more up front with her and let her decide everything.

Bottom line...It is your trip - or Ty's trip - and whatever they want to do is what you should plan. And be willing to veer completely away from the plan.

Even the "BIG" things that you think they will want to do...(for us it was getting Lauren to feed the dolphins)...sometimes they would just rather do something else. And it is their trip.

I have seen families do the Space Station, a day at the beach, Gatorland....anything. It is your trip.

We are all planners (or we would probably not be posting here), but to me the most important thing - aside from making a great plan - is the willingness to toss it out the window to just get swept away in a moment.

I have seen families that have said the BEST part of their trip was playing on a certain playground. For us, it was when we stood outside in the rain to watch a parade. The magic will happen. Plan well - to maximize the activities you could accomplish - and then just enjoy the moments. The planned ones and the unplanned ones.

 

[cantwaittoseemickey]

I see you got your answer - and made your decision! Makes total sense!



I totally agree with pnutallergymom on this!

We are going back for Lauren and William because we simply did not get to do everything that we had on our list. And we made some "mistakes" on their trip - some were because Lauren got sick...we did too much at the beginning of the trip and paid for it later. And some were because we kept a lot of things a secret for Lauren and hindsight is telling us we should have been more up front with her and let her decide everything.

Bottom line...It is your trip - or Ty's trip - and whatever they want to do is what you should plan. And be willing to veer completely away from the plan.

Even the "BIG" things that you think they will want to do...(for us it was getting Lauren to feed the dolphins)...sometimes they would just rather do something else. And it is their trip.

I have seen families do the Space Station, a day at the beach, Gatorland....anything. It is your trip.

We are all planners (or we would probably not be posting here), but to me the most important thing - aside from making a great plan - is the willingness to toss it out the window to just get swept away in a moment.

I have seen families that have said the BEST part of their trip was playing on a certain playground. For us, it was when we stood outside in the rain to watch a parade. The magic will happen. Plan well - to maximize the activities you could accomplish - and then just enjoy the moments. The planned ones and the unplanned ones.

This is exactly what we are going to do. Is make a "plan" but play it by ear.If we push Ty too much he will get sick from exhaustion. Then he will not have a great trip at all. I want to try to do the things that I know he would love to do.

We will just do a rough draft again. Dolphins,Jaws, MK are for sure's and also swimmking is a MUST for him. He loves water! Still want to do a waterpark too. Not sure about DHS. I go between trying to plan a few things then back to not planning anything. Guess we will just go with the flowWe are just so greatful he has been granted this Wish.B]

 

[Corrine 1973]

Ok, so it has been forever since I posted around here and for that I am very sorry but i do have a very good excuse. I went to post this under Liam's wish trip but I don't seem to be able to do that right now so I have to figure out how to fix that so I can finish our wish trip report. I must apologize for it going slow but as you are about to tell this has been a crazy couple of months and continues to be crazy.

As some of you know that I found out I was pregnant shortly after are return from our wish trip. The beginning of the pregnancy was pretty bad for I was continusly sick. Finally I was feeling better when I was confronted with some brown discharge with in minutes of them crying Happy New Year. I was told by the doctor that I had a bruise on my uterus but everything was alright. Two weeks later I was admited in the hospital for a large bleed but was released the next day when it stoped. The next day I was diagnosed with Placenta Previa and put on bed rest. For the next month I took it easy but was still having frequent bleeding episodes going from light to quite heavy. On the night of Feb 24th I went to bed with a heavier bleed and when I woke up and was still bleeding I called the doctor. I was told to come in and was sent to the hospital from there. I was given a steriod shot at the hospital and when I was stabile enough transfered to another hospital via ambulance. I spent the night in L&D, given another shot, and put on Magnisium Sulfate (which I hated) I was than sent upstair with the understanding that I would be there until I gave birth. Unfortunaly the following tuesday I had another large bleed with two large blood clots and was sent back to L&D to be watched and was given more Magnisium. I was than given a blood transfusion the next day, but when that was done I went back upstairs. I was hoping to stay put this time but unfortunatly two days later during a non- stress test I started feeling pain in my lower abdomin. I than started getting the shivers and it turned out I had a fever that at his highest was 101.8. Thinking the pain was a GI problem I asked for help going to the toilet and ended up having two more large blood clots. I was than told that they wanted to do a amnio to make sure I didn't have a infection in my uterus but when I was wheeled down to L&D I was told by the doctor that he was almost certain that my uterus was infected, I was having contractions (so that was what that pain was), and the baby's heartbeat was very high so it was time for him to be born. So on March 5 at 6:14 pm Rylan Wayne was born at 26 weeks and 5 days gestation. He was a small 2lbs 4ozs and only 12 3/4inches long when he was born. He is currently 15 days old and doing pretty good considering. As of today he is 2lbs 8ozs, he is on a Cpap machine to help him breathe, and is taking 21 ml of breast milk every 3 hours through his nose.
So there is the reason for my absence. I am sorry it was so long. I update my facebook account almost daily with updates on my little peanut if anyone is intrested. You can find me under the name Corrine Nash and there is a pic of Rylan for my advatar. Thanks!!!!

 

[xanphylus]

Ok, so it has been forever since I posted around here and for that I am very sorry but i do have a very good excuse. I went to post this under Liam's wish trip but I don't seem to be able to do that right now so I have to figure out how to fix that so I can finish our wish trip report. I must apologize for it going slow but as you are about to tell this has been a crazy couple of months and continues to be crazy.

As some of you know that I found out I was pregnant shortly after are return from our wish trip. The beginning of the pregnancy was pretty bad for I was continusly sick. Finally I was feeling better when I was confronted with some brown discharge with in minutes of them crying Happy New Year. I was told by the doctor that I had a bruise on my uterus but everything was alright. Two weeks later I was admited in the hospital for a large bleed but was released the next day when it stoped. The next day I was diagnosed with Placenta Previa and put on bed rest. For the next month I took it easy but was still having frequent bleeding episodes going from light to quite heavy. On the night of Feb 24th I went to bed with a heavier bleed and when I woke up and was still bleeding I called the doctor. I was told to come in and was sent to the hospital from there. I was given a steriod shot at the hospital and when I was stabile enough transfered to another hospital via ambulance. I spent the night in L&D, given another shot, and put on Magnisium Sulfate (which I hated) I was than sent upstair with the understanding that I would be there until I gave birth. Unfortunaly the following tuesday I had another large bleed with two large blood clots and was sent back to L&D to be watched and was given more Magnisium. I was than given a blood transfusion the next day, but when that was done I went back upstairs. I was hoping to stay put this time but unfortunatly two days later during a non- stress test I started feeling pain in my lower abdomin. I than started getting the shivers and it turned out I had a fever that at his highest was 101.8. Thinking the pain was a GI problem I asked for help going to the toilet and ended up having two more large blood clots. I was than told that they wanted to do a amnio to make sure I didn't have a infection in my uterus but when I was wheeled down to L&D I was told by the doctor that he was almost certain that my uterus was infected, I was having contractions (so that was what that pain was), and the baby's heartbeat was very high so it was time for him to be born. So on March 5 at 6:14 pm Rylan Wayne was born at 26 weeks and 5 days gestation. He was a small 2lbs 4ozs and only 12 3/4inches long when he was born. He is currently 15 days old and doing pretty good considering. As of today he is 2lbs 8ozs, he is on a Cpap machine to help him breathe, and is taking 21 ml of breast milk every 3 hours through his nose.
So there is the reason for my absence. I am sorry it was so long. I update my facebook account almost daily with updates on my little peanut if anyone is intrested. You can find me under the name Corrine Nash and there is a pic of Rylan for my advatar. Thanks!!!!

Oh my goodness he is sooooo cute!!! I just looked at your facebook page and he is adorable! I think you have the world's best excuse ever to not be on here!! You don't even need an excuse- he is wonderful! I hope he continues to do well and I will pray for you guys. I had been reading you TR and stuff- also great stuff! Go be with your family!!

 

[Mtopher4]

Ok, so it has been forever since I posted around here and for that I am very sorry but i do have a very good excuse. I went to post this under Liam's wish trip but I don't seem to be able to do that right now so I have to figure out how to fix that so I can finish our wish trip report. I must apologize for it going slow but as you are about to tell this has been a crazy couple of months and continues to be crazy.

As some of you know that I found out I was pregnant shortly after are return from our wish trip. The beginning of the pregnancy was pretty bad for I was continusly sick. Finally I was feeling better when I was confronted with some brown discharge with in minutes of them crying Happy New Year. I was told by the doctor that I had a bruise on my uterus but everything was alright. Two weeks later I was admited in the hospital for a large bleed but was released the next day when it stoped. The next day I was diagnosed with Placenta Previa and put on bed rest. For the next month I took it easy but was still having frequent bleeding episodes going from light to quite heavy. On the night of Feb 24th I went to bed with a heavier bleed and when I woke up and was still bleeding I called the doctor. I was told to come in and was sent to the hospital from there. I was given a steriod shot at the hospital and when I was stabile enough transfered to another hospital via ambulance. I spent the night in L&D, given another shot, and put on Magnisium Sulfate (which I hated) I was than sent upstair with the understanding that I would be there until I gave birth. Unfortunaly the following tuesday I had another large bleed with two large blood clots and was sent back to L&D to be watched and was given more Magnisium. I was than given a blood transfusion the next day, but when that was done I went back upstairs. I was hoping to stay put this time but unfortunatly two days later during a non- stress test I started feeling pain in my lower abdomin. I than started getting the shivers and it turned out I had a fever that at his highest was 101.8. Thinking the pain was a GI problem I asked for help going to the toilet and ended up having two more large blood clots. I was than told that they wanted to do a amnio to make sure I didn't have a infection in my uterus but when I was wheeled down to L&D I was told by the doctor that he was almost certain that my uterus was infected, I was having contractions (so that was what that pain was), and the baby's heartbeat was very high so it was time for him to be born. So on March 5 at 6:14 pm Rylan Wayne was born at 26 weeks and 5 days gestation. He was a small 2lbs 4ozs and only 12 3/4inches long when he was born. He is currently 15 days old and doing pretty good considering. As of today he is 2lbs 8ozs, he is on a Cpap machine to help him breathe, and is taking 21 ml of breast milk every 3 hours through his nose.
So there is the reason for my absence. I am sorry it was so long. I update my facebook account almost daily with updates on my little peanut if anyone is intrested. You can find me under the name Corrine Nash and there is a pic of Rylan for my advatar. Thanks!!!!

YIKES I had a ton of bleeding with the twins too. It was so scary... I had to give my self daily shots of progesterone

Saying many prayers for you

 

[Mtopher4]

"We can, however, pay the change fees and change our return flight which we plan to do."
Is this possible? I would LOVE to extend my trip a couple days.. Our chapter said no too

 

[casper_jj11]

Congratulations Corinne!

"We can, however, pay the change fees and change our return flight which we plan to do."
Is this possible? I would LOVE to extend my trip a couple days.. Our chapter said no too

Our organization said no but that some families had contacted the airline themselves and paid the change fee to change the return flight. For insurance reasons, they couldn't condone it or say more, which I completely understand. I'm hoping its as easy as they've said. My only concern is that we'll get hit with the increase in fares as well as teh change fee but I think the air tickets are complementary right? If so, there's no 'fee' as such to have increased since the time of booking. I'm hoping to get my reservation number early but they said usually two weeks beforehand. We're going to book everything else as if we can change the flight and deal with the alternative if we have to. It may depend on your airline. We're flying Air Canada.

 

[that's nice]

Ok, so it has been forever since I posted around here and for that I am very sorry but i do have a very good excuse. I went to post this under Liam's wish trip but I don't seem to be able to do that right now so I have to figure out how to fix that so I can finish our wish trip report. I must apologize for it going slow but as you are about to tell this has been a crazy couple of months and continues to be crazy.

Congratulations!!!!

I'm so glad everything is going well!!!!!

One of my good friends was 2 lbs at birth. He is now 6'3'' 300lbs! He is a big guy! Another friend's daughter was born at 1lb 11oz. She could basically fit in the palm of your hand. She stayed in the hospital for a few months after birth and besides some swallowing and digestive issues when she was young, she is doing great!

 

[cantwaittoseemickey]

Congratulations Corrine!! I am so sorry to hear of the rough time you had with your preganancy. I agree the Mag is awful! You definately have a good excuse for being absent

 

[Mtopher4]

Congratulations Corinne!



Our organization said no but that some families had contacted the airline themselves and paid the change fee to change the return flight. For insurance reasons, they couldn't condone it or say more, which I completely understand. I'm hoping its as easy as they've said. My only concern is that we'll get hit with the increase in fares as well as teh change fee but I think the air tickets are complementary right? If so, there's no 'fee' as such to have increased since the time of booking. I'm hoping to get my reservation number early but they said usually two weeks beforehand. We're going to book everything else as if we can change the flight and deal with the alternative if we have to. It may depend on your airline. We're flying Air Canada.

Thanks Joanne... I'm going to ask "-)

 

[pacrosby]

"We can, however, pay the change fees and change our return flight which we plan to do."
Is this possible? I would LOVE to extend my trip a couple days.. Our chapter said no too

It's not all that uncommon for people on vacations/business trips to change a departure date/time (miss a plane, get ill, or simply change of plans) and as far as I've heard the cost to do so is only the fee (I've heard about 100 bucks a ticket.............so it's not cheap expecially if you have a family traveling). But, no, I am 99% sure it will not cost you extra in terms of 'ticket price' regardless of what happened with the price since the ticket was purchased. Always a good idea to call the airline directly and get it from the horses' mouth though.

If you are considering it I'd recommend just keeping the organization out of it. It would be YOUR trip at that point not a MAW trip so they really don't have to be involved. Of course once you change the flight you'd have to call and cancel the limo/shuttle transportation from the airport to your house (if they've arranged it) and make sure to make your own arrangements for when you do return.

Once again I don't understand the lack of consistent policy. Our organization (and others here on the board) had absolutely NO problem with it.

 

[twinmum]

Ok, so it has been forever since I posted around here and for that I am very sorry but i do have a very good excuse. I went to post this under Liam's wish trip but I don't seem to be able to do that right now so I have to figure out how to fix that so I can finish our wish trip report. I must apologize for it going slow but as you are about to tell this has been a crazy couple of months and continues to be crazy.

Yes, it does sound like it has been a stressful time for you - congratulations on the birth of your son! I just wanted to jump in...our twins were born at 26 weeks...and 5 days...!!! They each weighed 2 lbs 1 oz which was quite good for twins. It sounds as though your son is doing well. I feel that I can realte very well to what you are going through, and just wanted you to know that I will be thinking of you and praying for all your family.

Alison

 

[maroo]

Oh Corrine!

I am so glad everything is ok - but what a stressful time for you guys!

Keep us posted!

 

[Adrismommy]

Hey everybody... can I introduce myself? My daughter, Adri (short for Adrienne), turned 3 one month ago and her wish was to have a tea party with Cinderella. We are waiting to find out when our trip will be. My husband defends his thesis for his PhD this summer so we are hoping to do it just after that, sometime in July. I'm hoping we find out dates sooner than later. I'm so ready to start planning! I'll do a pre-trip report soon and tell more of our story. I have lots of questions to ask and wanted to go ahead and pop in to introduce myself.

Excited,
Natalie

 

[cantwaittoseemickey]

Hi Natalie! Welcome I look forward to reading Adri's pretrip report and to "meet" you all. We are going in July as well.

 

[wishin' on a star]

Hi everyone...

I'm new here also! My 6 year old, Catherine , wished to go to Disney and meet Sleeping Beauty. We are heading down and staying at GKTW May 17th-23rd! We are so excited at how fast MAW put all of the plans together, and now we're scrambling to figure out what we will do with our time while we are down there. I have explored these boards a bit, and I think I understand how to start a pre-trip report, so that is next on my list. I just wanted to say hello first...I'm sure I will have LOTS of questions.

One just came up last night...will we be able to get some sort of preferred seating without waiting in line for Fantasmic? We want to go to the Friday evening show, but it's a Star Wars weekend, and I'm a little worried about the crowds, getting dinner, etc. We weren't able to get any ADR for that night.

I look forward to sharing the excitement of wishes with all of you, and I will share our story soon!!

Laura