Having the opportunity to visit Disney World and to stay at the Give Kids the World Village is both a blessing and a curse. While staying at the Village is a once in a lifetime experience unlike any other, if you’re staying there, it means that you have a child who has or currently is experiencing a life threatening illness.

Give Kids the World Village is a 79 acre non-profity “storybook” resort where children with life-threatening illnesses and their families are treated to a cost-free, weeklong stay just minutes away from Disney World.

If you have an upcoming trip to Give Kids the World and are wondering what to expect, here is our story.

Reece and Ryland (our twins) were born 7 weeks early, and just a few short hours after their emergency arrival we were told Ryland had a Congenital Heart Defect called Tetralogy of Fallot (TOF). It would take me all day to type out what his defect consists of so if you’re interested any further here is a link to a short description.

Ryland underwent open heart surgery at just 4 months of age. He was such a tiny little thing and we were still so confused and scared for our boy but he pulled through it faster than the Doctors expected. It’s amazing how resilient a small child can be. He was home 4 days after his surgery. However, it did take him awhile through lengthy physical therapy to catch up with crawling, then walking, and then finally talking but he is finally to a point where we can rest easy until his next surgery which we recently found out will be late teens to early 20’s; he will need a few repairs after he’s done growing.

Now that you know a little about Ryland and his condition, lets talk about his Wish Trip. You have probably heard of the Make-A-Wish Foundation which is probably the largest wish granting organization out there. We, however, went through a local organization which is equally as incredible called the Indiana Children’s Wish Fund.

After much thought, Ryland wished to be in Disney World for his and his twin sister’s 5th birthday (October 3). Sure enough, just a few days after some email exchanges and some paperwork, his wish was to be granted for the week of October 2nd – October 8th 2015!! We had little to no clue what it would entail. Normally when you take a trip you would plan EVERYTHING, but with a wish trip the planning was left to our wish coordinator, Julie. She was absolutely amazing throughout the entire process. It was so much more then we and Ryland could’ve ever imagined.

The Indiana Wish Fund coordinated everything from the limo ride to the airport, the flight, the stay at Give Kids the World, the rental van, the park passes, food, spending money, the limo ride home – and everything in between. The limo ride was provided by Aadvanced Limousines. Both drivers were friendly, helpful and prompt! Our flight left nice and early which is what we wanted, because next we would be arriving at the place we had been researching for the last 74 days waiting on the trip: Give Kids The World Village.

The trip is all about going to Disney World, but you could literally never leave the Village and experience an amazing vacation. The have a carousel, games, playgrounds, crafts, movies, a spa, putt-putt, swimming pools and so much more. The dining hall also offers incredible food all hours of the day, including pizza delivery right to your door step, a breakfast cart that you can request to come to your door, and even a cart that drives around at night offering fresh cookies and milk.

They even offer ice cream for breakfast, which is everyone’s favorite!

With 1500 volunteers year-round, every single person goes above and beyond to make your stay in Florida a week to remember.

So now let me fill you in on few perks to remember if any of my readers have a wish child! First, you can call Give Kids the World Village before your trip for just about any request. For example, we called to let them know it was not only Ryland’s birthday the day after we arrived but also his twin sister’s birthday too (obviously). Let me just say she was not left out!

And also if you have a child with allergies or special needs such as medical equipment and the like they will not hesitate to accommodate. So don’t be scared to call and ask ANY questions. Their moto is, “It’s all about the kiddos” – literally, that’s what the volunteer told us as she was walking us through our villa. The kids get the biggest room and bathroom with a huge Jacuzzi (in which I may or may not have taken an hour long bath in…but that’s getting off track).

The first night went by so fast. We attended a Pirates and Princess Party. It was so much fun!

They have themed parties every day of the week. Unfortunately we were only able to attend two parties the entire week because we spent so much time at the Disney parks being that this was our first time in Disney. The second party we attended was their Halloween party where they got to dress up, play games, and even trick-or-treat.

Backing up a little, when you first arrive to the village one parent will attend an hour long orientation. Don’t miss this because this is where the goodies come into play. I don’t want to ruin that part for anyone but let me just say they keep you busy and also they give you 3 day park hopper tickets to Disney World, two day Universal park hopper tickets, Sea World tickets, a list of other free activities you can do, fast pass lanyards – OMG so much.

One of the many items is the Genie Pass.

This, along with the Give Kids the World pin will give you fast-pass access to every single ride or attraction and allow you to skip the lines to meet any character you want.

This thing is gold. Often, we either skipped the lines or were escorted through the exit or employee only doors to get immediate access to rides or characters which often had wait times of well over an hour.

We could meet 10 characters in the time it would normally take you to meet just one. Employees are trained to spot the pin and the pass and immediately escort you to the front of the lines.

Because of how quickly you can move through lines, you have the opportunity to see and do so many things. On our first day, we spent the afternoon at the Village. The next day, we spent the whole day at Magic Kingdom. The following days we went to Sea World, Animal Kingdom, Hollywood Studios, Epcot and Universal.

On our last day there, we went all out. We started the day back at Universal. After a few hours, we scooted over the Animal Kingdom again and then ended the day at Magic Kingdom, leaving shortly after the fireworks around 11pm.

As we stood in a packed area of people waiting on the ferry, our 3 youngins fell asleep in our arms. Carrying them to the boat and to the parking lot wasn’t easy, but it was so worth it.

Oh, and I can’t leave out my oldest son getting the chance to meet Mickey…

The pass will also get you free stroller rental, premium parking and lots of other cool perks. You are literally treated like royalty.

Aside from the free access you get to all of the Disney Parks, as well as Universal Studios and Seaworld, the Give Kids the World Village also provides discounted and free admission to other area attractions.

We took advantage of Medieval Times and Gatorland. Gatorland was pretty cool – we stopped there on our way to the airport on our last day, but Medieval Times, which is located right next to the Village, was incredible and enjoyed by our whole family – I highly recommend it. The wish child gets in free and the rest of the family is 50% off.

Our family had a magical experience at Disney World. It’s a week that went by too quickly but we enjoyed every second of every moment. It’s all thanks to the people who work for, volunteer, donate or otherwise support the amazing organizations like the Indiana Wish Fund and Give Kids the World.

I cannot tell you how thankful I am for those people who gave our family, especially our little man who has gone through so much to earn this trip, an experience that we’ll remember forever.

Going home was definitely hard to do…

We plan on giving back to these organizations in any way we can. We know it takes a lot of time and manpower to run these organizations to make these wishes come true, so whether it’s creating a fundraiser or donating our time, we hope that we – and you too! – can help make wishes come true for other children like Ryland.

More information:

http://www.givekidstheworld.org/

https://www.indianachildrenswishfund.org/