Guests Visiting Magic Kingdom are Met with a less than Magical Surprise

Wow - really? How about $1,000,000 to the Make-A-Wish foundation this year and that's on top of the countless tickets and shopping sprees they donate to Wish kids. Perhaps you don't know that Disney is also a founding member of the Give Kids the World Village and provides them with 3 day all inclusive tickets known as a Wishes Pass. This provides the families with an alternate entrance to all of the rides, allowing families to fully enjoy the attractions offered at each park. Disney even provides a Wish Lounge located at Magic Kingdom. The Wish Lounge offers families a comfortable place to rest as well as light refreshments, DVDs, games, books and more. Top that off with annual charity donation in the $300 - $400 million range. They have not stopped this even during the pandemic...

This isn't the Christmas Special being filmed. That will still take place later this year. This is the kickoff of the 50th, which will begin on October 1st.

Like Make-A-Wish & Give Kids The World?

Groups working with Disney making kids dreams come true in very different, some far more elaborate ($$$$), ways as Disney parks aren't participating right now due to the pandemic? I'd say that children that are terminally ill or extremely ill are considered underprivileged.

Since the wishes to go to Disney parks aren't available right now, the alternative wishes being granted actually cost a lot more. Disney can't use the resorts for wishes, and just give each family passes for a week. Something that Disney was able to do on a large scale for very little actual cost. Now the wishes are going to the children in need.

As for families that can't afford to go, there are ways to experience the parks without actually going.

At a homeless shelter for families with minor children that I volunteer for (and serve on the advisory board), we've used boxes, skateboards, LED lights, and various other items to use for ride experiences - using YouTube. Parents sit behind their children and control the *ride car while the children watch front row POV videos (*ride cars = boxes, skateboards, boxes on caster wheels, decked out with $1 LED fairy lights, and sometimes spray air freshener which was great to recreate Soarin').

Afterwards we'd do a hidden Mickey scavenger hunt on the shelter property, and for bigger kids we'd expand the hunt to a park a few blocks away. I have helped put together birthday gift bags full of Disney stuff from the dollar store. As a heads-up, Disney would be 100% within their rights to have every single one of the ride POV videos taken down, and they could require retailers return all unsold merch versus having it available at Walmart and dollar stores. Rice Krispie treats can be made into the Mickey shape and a popsicle stick placed in it, there are Disney ice cream treats at the grocery store, Disney cereal, Disney fruit snacks, recipes online for the famous Dole Whip, Disney chicken nuggets (also available in a meatless variety for vegans/vegs), Disney cookies, oh - Casey's Corner at Magic Kingdom is very easy to recreate as it's a hot dog place in a baseball theme. I believe there are also Disney shaped pasta.

Since these things are available, I highly suggest looking at videos of how to recreate a park experience in your home. The cost is quite low, but I promise it will be memorable if done with excitement. With a few weeks of planning, a few nights of putting together the "rides", a workable budget, and then a few hours of either the children being taken to a park so they can return to a Disney experience at home or them waking up to find a note with instructions on what they should wear before having a party in the home - that's important. We always stress that we're going to be having a theme park party on property so there's no miscommunication.

An at home park experience would cost a fraction of the monthly tax credit for one child. We've made $50 work for 10-14 children, and that included a Disney themed shirt, a gift bag, free printables for coloring + crayons, a few park themed treats, a Disney book (Kingdom Keepers is a hit with the 10+ kids!), along with the ride cars that we made with the parents for a Life Skills class on how to budget for family entertainment, how to spend a weekend in with the family on a very small budget, and how to incorporate learning into family fun time.

Since we're not close enough to Disney, but we're too close (Tampa Bay area of Florida), Disney doesn't make donations on anything close to a regular basis over here. I know that shelters that are in the vicinity of Disney parks often get free admission tickets, along with Christmas gifts for the children. Sometimes they've even sent characters to the shelters, which is amazing as children in homeless shelters or domestic violence shelters are very often overlooked by charitable groups.

That being said, Disney does a lot for families in need. If you're not able to physically go, bring the parks to your home for a weekend. After the first time, your children might have ideas for the next theme park party.

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