Hello all fellow Disney geeks! I'm Dave, & I'm proud to say that I am to, & to a milder extent so are my wife & son-- but I am the family's over-the-top Disney fan: I'm a former home-based travel agent for AAA of western NY for only Disney destinations, so I am a "College of Knowledge" Disney grad as well . . . I gave this up when AAA got to be a pain to deal with-- nothing at all against Disney-- it was all AAA.
Last year we started a post on our upcoming trip to WDW. My wife Andi & I would be coming on our own for the 1st time to celebrate our 25th anniversary as our son Kevin would be in college (he'd asked for his last summer "kid" trip with us to be hiking with our dogs in the Adirondacks) . . . BUT I've heard it said that if you want God to laugh, tell Him your plans: Just before the end of his senior year in high school, Kevin developed pain in his left shoulder, & after visits to doctors & then to the E.R., he was ultimately diagnosed with a rare pediatric cancer. But that same God who threw us that curveball also blessed us with living in Buffalo NY with the excellent Children's Hospital & Roswell Park Cancer Institute in our backyard.
Upon diagnosis, the doctors warned that there'd be a very difficult 8 months or so ahead, but they were committed to helping Kevin beat this. And they were right: it was absolute hell for Kevin & for us as well, but true to their word, Kevin is now well & finally getting his life back! At his request, further info. is being kept strictly confidential, so there will be no more details given.
But some minimal mention was necessary to explain the reason behind this year's trip. As he was still 17 when diagnosed, hospital staff put us in touch with Make-A-Wish, & while Kevin at 1st was hesitant to accept, the Make-A-Wish representatives assured him that they're not just for little kids & that they exist for the purpose of helping all kids-- big & small-- to have a great time after they'd been thru such a tough one. They discussed many possible plans with Kevin, but he ultimately decided that he wanted to go back to WDW-- a place he knows & loves & where he can do what he likes at his own pace, as he's still recovering. M-A-W managed to get Kevin's wish granted before his 18th birthday, their cut-off age. Now that the background info's over, here are our upcoming trip details:
Our 2016 trip had been planned for August for 2 in Port Orleans Riverside. Thanks for the help from Kingdom Konsultants to replan from 2 to 4 for this year. We'd been planning to take Kevin & either his cousin or a friend to celebrate anyway, even before hearing from Make-A-Wish. So we now have 2 rooms at All-Star Music for 5 nights with a 5-day (4 + 1 free) pass. Kevin invited Garrett, one of his closest friends whom he'd known from 14 years of school together. This part of the trip Andi & I pay for, & thanks to Jill of K.K. for keeping up with all of our changes! Then we start with Kevin's MAW portion of the trip: 6 nights at Disney's Wilderness Lodge, then 2 nights at Daytona Beach. So we'll have 13 nights in FL!
After our initial self-funded time at WDW, Make-A-Wish is providing passes for 4 to 1 day at SeaWorld, 2 days at Universal, & 3 days at WDW, including hoppers & water parks, lodging & contribution toward meals & expenses. All they ask for in return is that we meet with their affiliate Give Kids the World & provide MAW with photos & notes. I'm a published photographer from the days of film, currently using a digital SLR with multiple lenses on a recreational basis, so I'll just be sharing with them what I'd be doing for fun anyway!
So this should be a wonderful trip with a lot of fun! MAW & GKTW seem to know how to manage things , , , I was concerned at 1st 'cause without advance info re. our #s, I couldn't preset fast passes, just our meal reservations for their part of the trip, BUT-- they provide the MAW child's group "Genie Wishes Pass" (access to alternate access to all parks & events, & no fast passes necessary) which is really good news as Kevin's still rebuilding his endurance. Of course we're all looking forward to being in attendance for the opening weekend of Pandora-- hoping there'll be a soft opening we can access before the official date!
This will be all of our 1st time at SeaWorld. For the Z's, this is our 2nd time at Universal & 6th at WDW . . . I was also there twice each in the '70s & '80s . . . Kevin & Garrett were there together for their senior class trip in November 2015. After a very difficult past year, we're all looking forward to just relaxing & having fun together! This catch-up-to-date has been a bit lengthy, but I promise that updates will be more concise. We enjoy reading the other posts . . . this is actually the 1st completed one of our own!
Itinerary in next posting , , ,
Last year we started a post on our upcoming trip to WDW. My wife Andi & I would be coming on our own for the 1st time to celebrate our 25th anniversary as our son Kevin would be in college (he'd asked for his last summer "kid" trip with us to be hiking with our dogs in the Adirondacks) . . . BUT I've heard it said that if you want God to laugh, tell Him your plans: Just before the end of his senior year in high school, Kevin developed pain in his left shoulder, & after visits to doctors & then to the E.R., he was ultimately diagnosed with a rare pediatric cancer. But that same God who threw us that curveball also blessed us with living in Buffalo NY with the excellent Children's Hospital & Roswell Park Cancer Institute in our backyard.
Upon diagnosis, the doctors warned that there'd be a very difficult 8 months or so ahead, but they were committed to helping Kevin beat this. And they were right: it was absolute hell for Kevin & for us as well, but true to their word, Kevin is now well & finally getting his life back! At his request, further info. is being kept strictly confidential, so there will be no more details given.
But some minimal mention was necessary to explain the reason behind this year's trip. As he was still 17 when diagnosed, hospital staff put us in touch with Make-A-Wish, & while Kevin at 1st was hesitant to accept, the Make-A-Wish representatives assured him that they're not just for little kids & that they exist for the purpose of helping all kids-- big & small-- to have a great time after they'd been thru such a tough one. They discussed many possible plans with Kevin, but he ultimately decided that he wanted to go back to WDW-- a place he knows & loves & where he can do what he likes at his own pace, as he's still recovering. M-A-W managed to get Kevin's wish granted before his 18th birthday, their cut-off age. Now that the background info's over, here are our upcoming trip details:
Our 2016 trip had been planned for August for 2 in Port Orleans Riverside. Thanks for the help from Kingdom Konsultants to replan from 2 to 4 for this year. We'd been planning to take Kevin & either his cousin or a friend to celebrate anyway, even before hearing from Make-A-Wish. So we now have 2 rooms at All-Star Music for 5 nights with a 5-day (4 + 1 free) pass. Kevin invited Garrett, one of his closest friends whom he'd known from 14 years of school together. This part of the trip Andi & I pay for, & thanks to Jill of K.K. for keeping up with all of our changes! Then we start with Kevin's MAW portion of the trip: 6 nights at Disney's Wilderness Lodge, then 2 nights at Daytona Beach. So we'll have 13 nights in FL!
After our initial self-funded time at WDW, Make-A-Wish is providing passes for 4 to 1 day at SeaWorld, 2 days at Universal, & 3 days at WDW, including hoppers & water parks, lodging & contribution toward meals & expenses. All they ask for in return is that we meet with their affiliate Give Kids the World & provide MAW with photos & notes. I'm a published photographer from the days of film, currently using a digital SLR with multiple lenses on a recreational basis, so I'll just be sharing with them what I'd be doing for fun anyway!
So this should be a wonderful trip with a lot of fun! MAW & GKTW seem to know how to manage things , , , I was concerned at 1st 'cause without advance info re. our #s, I couldn't preset fast passes, just our meal reservations for their part of the trip, BUT-- they provide the MAW child's group "Genie Wishes Pass" (access to alternate access to all parks & events, & no fast passes necessary) which is really good news as Kevin's still rebuilding his endurance. Of course we're all looking forward to being in attendance for the opening weekend of Pandora-- hoping there'll be a soft opening we can access before the official date!
This will be all of our 1st time at SeaWorld. For the Z's, this is our 2nd time at Universal & 6th at WDW . . . I was also there twice each in the '70s & '80s . . . Kevin & Garrett were there together for their senior class trip in November 2015. After a very difficult past year, we're all looking forward to just relaxing & having fun together! This catch-up-to-date has been a bit lengthy, but I promise that updates will be more concise. We enjoy reading the other posts . . . this is actually the 1st completed one of our own!
Itinerary in next posting , , ,
