Lincoln’s Make-a-Wish Trip to Orlando, Florida

We got back from Lincoln’s Make-a-Wish trip late on November 22nd, and we’re still on a high from it. The trip was amazing, and we will cherish the memories we made there forever. They automatically included so much on the wish trip. I’m blown away by the generosity of people and these organizations! Here’s a list of what was included in our trip, courtesy of Utah’s Make-a-Wish chapter:

• Round-trip flights for the 4 of us (We personally paid for my parents to accompany us.)
• A rental car (along with free booster seat rentals)
• Room and lodging at Give Kids the World Village for 5 nights
• Free meals at GKTW (My parents’ meals were each just $5.)
• Free double-stroller rental for 6 days
• 3-Day Park Hopper tickets to Disney World (4)
• 2-Day Park Hopper tickets to Universal Studios (4)
• 1-Day tickets to SeaWorld (We didn’t have time to use them.) (4)
• Free priority parking at all of the parks
• Wish Pass (This got us all in the Lightning Lane on EVERY ride, free of charge, without needing any reservations.)
• Photo Passes for Disney World and Universal Studios
• Personal card with $ on it to use on meals, snacks, souvenirs, etc. (The amount was based on the # of people in our immediate family.)
• And more!

To say we were spoiled would be a massive understatement.

Day 1

We had to be at the airport for our flight out by 5 in the morning on November 17th. 🥴 It was rough, but once we were through security, it was perfect. Having such an early flight gave us as much time in Florida as we could squeeze out. Our boys did GREAT on the flight! They even got to go into the cockpit and meet the pilots! It was a much better experience for me than our flights this past summer. Having my parents with us definitely helped. 😉

After we landed, we had a sweet Give Kids the World volunteer greet us at the Orlando airport and lead us to get our rental car. Then we drove to the magical Give Kids the World Village. We ate a late lunch, settled into our villa, and started enjoying everything the village had to offer.

Every night the village has a themed party. This first night was their Christmas party! I’d been told by several people that we couldn’t miss it, so we decided to stay at GKTW the first day. The Christmas party was great fun. Our boys got to meet and get pictures with Santa and Mrs. Claus. Then they each got to pick out a toy for their presents. The party also had a balloon artist (which Logan insisted on waiting in a LONG line for), games, arts and crafts, cookie decorating, music, and dancing. It was a wonderful beginning to our trip.

Day 2

After a yummy breakfast (the food at GKTW was SO MUCH BETTER than we were expecting), we got to meet a penguin from Madagascar. 😊 Then we went to Hollywood Studios. Most of our time was spent enjoying the Star Wars area and rides, but we visited other areas, too. Link’s wish pass was AMAZING!!!! Rise of the Resistance had a 2-1/2 hour standby wait time, but with the pass we were in and out within half an hour. Josh and Logan had a blast building a droid, and Link thoroughly enjoyed the musical holiday popcorn tin I simply had to buy.

That night we went to Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party at Magic Kingdom and loved it! As soon as we got in, we bought our boys flashing bubble wands (Mickey for Link and Buzz for LA) and Christmas light necklaces. The bubble wands added to the snow on Main Street, and the flashing necklaces made it so we couldn’t lose our boys. 😉

We had fun sampling cookies and drinks throughout the park and going on some rides. Lincoln’s favorite ride this night was It’s a Small World, which we thought was funny. Josh and I had never been on it before because…well…we’d never had kids making us go on it before this trip. 😂

We watched the fireworks and the end of the parade before heading back to our villa. Lincoln LOVED the fireworks. He’s always loved them. ❤️

Day 3

We met up with my niece (who lives in Orlando) and spent this day split between Epcot and Animal Kingdom (and, of course, GKTW). It was so nice having McKenzee with us as our personal guide since she goes to the parks so often! As anyone who’s been to Disney World knows, there’s never enough time to do everything you want to, but we had a fantastic first time at all four of the parks on our trip.

We started off in the morning at Epcot with the Guardians of the Galaxy ride, which Josh and I both LOVED. Unfortunately, it made Lincoln and my dad very sick and my mom slightly so. 🤢 We took things fairly slowly after that. We all really enjoyed Turtle Talk with Crush. I also loved the Norwegian decor and treats.

We hopped over to Animal Kingdom around 5, and we were all blown away by how cool Pandora and Avatar’s Flight of Passage were! We definitely didn’t get to spend enough time at this park, but I guess that just means we’ll have to plan another trip!

Day 4

This is the day we (especially my mom and I) had been waiting for! The day started off with our boys going horseback riding at GKTW, but THEN we finally got to experience Harry Potter World for ourselves!!!! We’ve succeeded in turning our boys into fans, so they were super excited, too. It was adorable. Logan kept asking if we were at the real Harry Potter World. 😊

It was a VERY rainy day, but we were prepared with ponchos, umbrellas, blankets, gloves, and hats. We honestly didn’t mind the rain! It just made us feel like we were actually in the UK, and it made the hot butterbeer divine. We ate at the Three Broomsticks (and loved it), thought the rides were fantastic, and soaked everything in. Lincoln was fascinated by the Monster Book of Monsters, and Logan was practically jumping up and down when we let them pick out wands.

We ended the day going to the Jurassic Park area, so our boys were on cloud nine by the end of the night. Magic and dinosaurs—what more could our family ask for?!

Day 5

This was the last full day of our trip. We went to Universal Studios again and wore ourselves out (again). Lincoln found his very favorite ride (Woody Woodpecker’s Nuthouse Coaster, of all rides 😂). Josh and I got to experience the VelociCoaster two times in a row with the wish pass while my parents watched our boys. We also got to meet Tango, a baby velociraptor. It was pretty funny. Logan had been talking about meeting a dinosaur at Universal Studios for MONTHS. When the time came, though, he was too scared to even get out of the stroller for the photo op. 😂

We got back to our villa just in time for the cutest thing ever: a bedtime “tuck-in” for our boys from Rugby the dog. You can schedule a tuck-in at GKTW during your stay, and a dressed-up character from the village comes and makes the kids’ bedtime special. The next morning our boys wanted to watch the video I took over and over again. So sweet!

Day 6

This was our last day at Give Kids the World Village and the day we flew home. Though we were sad to see our vacation coming to an end, we weren’t as sad as I’d expected to be since we’d had such a fantastic, stress-free time. Our flight luckily didn’t leave till 6 PM, so we had time to enjoy things before leaving. We ate, rode on rides, steered boats, and played mini golf at GKTW.

After we left the Village, we met up with my niece Kenz and her boyfriend AJ at Disney Springs for a much-too-short last visit. We got delicious ice cream from Salt & Straw, our very favorite ice cream chain. (I was ecstatic when I found out before our trip that they had a location at Disney Springs, and I promptly added it to our must-do list.)

It’s safe to say that this was a vacation we will NEVER forget. Our fun isn’t even over yet! As part of wish trips, GKTW gives each family the “World Passport”. It’s provided through the IAAPA (International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions), and it will allow us to visit each of the included theme/amusement parks once free of charge for a year! I foresee several road trips in our 2023 plans. 😊