

Saturday, April 18, 2009


ok, so here is the post about the most AMAZING place in the world ESPECIALLY CREATED for these special kids and their HERE for the LINK to the website. well, i wanted to devote a whole post about this wonderful place so MAYBE you can understand what an AMAZING place it is and WHY this MAKE-A-WISH trip was so special.

this amazing place was built and created by Henri Landwirth, who is a HERO to MANY people....he has founded MANY different organizations all to help PEOPLE!! he is a HOLOCAUST SURVIVOR....which is just amazing...and he wrote a BOOK about his life story....the short story of GKTW is HERE...the short of it is that a child asked a hotel owner if she could stay at his hotel while she went to the florida area attraction....he said yes but it took to long for that "wish" to come and the child ended up dying....he swore that that would not happen in 1989 GKTW OPENED to special families...."He called the project “Give Kids The World,” because that is just what he intended to do - provide memorable, magical, cost-free experiences to children with life-threatening illnesses and their families"...and HE DOES!!!

first, they send a GREETER to the airport to make sure you know they are waiting for you!! AND he helps you get your luggage, get your vehicle and sends you on your WAY!!

AND THIS is what you see when you pull up to the VILLAGE!!! doesn't it make your HEART RACE?! we were sooooooo excited!

this place treats you like you and your family are the MOST SPECIAL people there at starts right at the moment you come to the gate and they say.."WELCOME HOME!" everytime....then you come in and check in and the place is like a FAIRY TALE....the details that they put into EVERYTHING make you think you are in a AMAZING spot!! so you walk in and sit down and talk to a greeter who gives you some info and then you are OFF to follow someone to your new HOME...and that is EXACTLY what it is! and as you drive down the senic drive over there, you see many families coming and going, all with special kiddos....i got so sentimental driving to our home and then, when we SAW were going to be staying......OMG, sooooo awesome...and beautiful and such is a picture of our HOME:

our home:

our SIGN...

here is a TOUR of our HOME!!

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SOOOOO, this place is sooooo WONDERFUL....just for special kids and their families...all the families can stay for 7 days total.....they get their OWN villa..we are provided a vehicle thru MAKE-A-WISH (amazing!!!) so that we have freedom while we are there at the park...all our MEALS are included there....we can have meals 3 different ways.....if we are tired and don't want to leave our home, then we can call and they can come and DELIVER a continental breakfast right to our door!!! and the little cart is SOOOOO CUTE! OR we can decide to go have breakfast at the GINGERBREAD HOUSE and you can either drive over there, walk over there or RIDE IN THE TRAIN that goes around the park:

and here is the picture of the GINGERBREAD HOUSE:

where they have a HOT meal for you and you sit at tables fit for kiddos and each table has HUNDREDS of those STAR PEPPERMENT MINTS inlaid in them...all on the top they have THOUSANDS of dolls and toys that have been donated to GKTW....and then let me tell you about the staff of ANGELS that they have....they are ALL VOLUNTEERS from all walks of life, young, old....many of them work at DISNEY parks and UNIVERSAL STUDIOS....from church groups, corporations, etc....and ALL SO HAPPY TO BE THERE and they treat the families like nice, giving, warm, loving....we pick our food off the buffet and then the volunteers carry your tray for you, and get you whatever you need!! so amazing and nice!! we kept getting all sentimental during this whole process which sometimes made eating hard with that lump in your throat... and GOD FORBID you start to clean your table and stack dishes because they are WATCHING and they will swoop down and tell you NOT TO TOUCH THAT...that that is what they are there for....OMG...SO NICE!!!

well, then you can also have lunch/dinner at either the GINGERBREAD HOUSE or you can also have it at KATIES KITCHEN which served BOSTON MARKET GOODIES and boy let me tell you, they are REALLY GOOD STUFF!!! and then there is the MAMA you can call in anytime after 4pm and they will make your pizza, as many as you want and DELIVER them to your home for you......AMAZING.....

and then there is the ICE CREAM PARLOR that is open from 8am - 9pm and they have EVERYTHING you can ask for in the ICE CREAM PARLOR....YUMMY!!! YOU can go as MUCH as you want to...

and there is NO COST to the FAMILY!! that in itself is just AMAZING, have NO WORRIES while you are at the village...none at ALL...for a family with a special needs child, that you might have been paying so much on his medical bills and medical expensis to have this opportunity to go away from all of THAT for a WEEK with and ALL EXPENSE PAID TRIP to FLORIDA...there are no WORDS that can express what that is LIKE....

sooo, then the VILLAGE itself is BEAUTIUFL and there are MANY improvements that are going on to make it bigger and better....they have a MERRY-GO-ROUND that you can ride again and again:

and you can also play PUTT PUTT GOLF there all the time if you want!!

there is also a little train that goes around the putt putt area that you can ride whenever you want and as many time as you want!! sooooo much to do!!

there is also the AMBERVILLE where there is all the above and there is also an arcade and COOL TRAIN VILLAGE that you can push the button and things start to move in the village!!! and i understand that someone comes EVERY WEEK to CHANGE the village around!! just AMAZING!!!

here is alex driving one of those BOATS in the water below!!!

here is joshua just LOVING watching the trains go by and pushing the buttons!!!

sooo, as i was saying this place is AMAZING....they actually added another playground called......MATTHEW'S BOUNDLESS PLAYGROUND! AND OF COURSE, i can't find a PICTURE that we took of it but it is based on the CANDYLAND BOARD GAME!!! it is just AMAZING and accessible by wheelchair thru out!!! just amazing!!! and it was right down the street from us!!!

they also have a POOL that the boys hit up the first day but we were unable to make it back out there! there actually doing ANOTHER pool area and it is under construction and it looks AMAZING...

soooo, see, this BEAUTIFUL VILLAGE is amazing....and to think that it was ESPECIALLY made for SPECIAL NEEDS FAMILIES LIKE US!!!! it brings tears to my eyes EVERYTIME!!!

SOOO, i will have to DEFINETLY try to make sure that i let the WORLD know, or at least all those that read this blog and my friends and family that there is a WORTHY CAUSE if anyone can donate to...this place is amazing and my family is LIVING PROOF that DREAMS DO COME TRUE and that this place is MAGICAL for families like ours....any donations that can be made to this place would be WELCOMED and hearing our story of our WEEK IN PARADISE will give proof that your DONATION would be working and would be shared with other families just like MATTHEW'S!!!



here is a link if you want to send a TRIBUTE to someone while making a DONATION:


you can buy one of their MANY items for sale:


I will also do a post later on about the MAKE A WISH FOUNDATION!!! so be on the look out for that one too!!!


MaBunny said...

Oh Maria, it looks like you had an absolutely amazing time! I'm so happy for all of you!