James's Wish to Meet Buzz Lightyear at Disney World (Make-A-Wish)

This past week, we were able to celebrate James by going on a Make-A-Wish trip! In Disney World and Universal Studios, we experienced *preferential* treatment and spent a lot of time on rides and experiencing the magic (opposed to waiting in lines). We were explaining to my oldest son (6 years old) during the trip that we probably would not be able to do a trip like this with preferential treatment like we received again, and he thought about it a while before replying "Well, maybe I'll get cancer someday and we'll be able to go on another Make-A-Wish trip." (Kids are hilarious, we sure hope not!)

During James's cancer treatment journey, we met with a social worker who gave us a referral to work with the Make-A-Wish team. Part of the process is figuring out what your child will enjoy best. The majority of young kids wish to visit Disney. We asked James if he would like to meet Mickey mouse, and he said "no," so David kept asking him about other characters, and when David mentioned Buzz Lightyear, James lit up and said, "I want to meet Lightyear with Trevin." We were able to work with the Make-A-Wish team and plan a trip to Disney World and Universal Studios in Florida. The moment where James got to stand with Buzz Lightyear was very special and I think we are going to remember this trip for the victory it is. I thank God for blessing us with more time with our three children.

With three small children (6 1/2, 3 1/2, 1 1/2 years old), we brought as many adults as we could to try to have a less overwhelming ratio of kids to adults. We were allowed to pay for additional family to be able to join us on our trip. I got to bring my mom, my dad, my sister, my cousin, and our au pair.

I have many favorite memories of the trip:

There was a moment when David, my oldest, and the group wanted to do a ride that James was not quite tall enough for. James and I found a race car ride and James kept saying he wanted to do it. We got in the short line alongside many other 3 and 4 year olds, and had a fun memory riding the race car together.
Seeing my youngest run up to the characters and want to snuggle with them; he is my friendly, joyful child.
Sitting in the front row of the Hippogriff roller coaster with James and my family and enjoying a roller coaster James was tall enough to do with me.
Be Our Guest restaurant, especially as James toured me to the different rooms to see the "spinning princess" Bell and the Beast.
Visiting Diagon Alley through the brick wall.
Riding a roller coaster as an adult while the sun was setting.

My husband also has several:

Seeing James meet his Hero Buzz.
Fantasmic show hearing James say, "I like it!" (And our oldest liked it too, giving it a solid "medium" like).
Seeing our oldest's excitement on rollercoasters and thrill rides.

Some people have asked me what charities and groups we received help from because they want to donate to groups that helped our family:

Make-A-Wish

Helped gather donations for our flights (thank you Alaska) and pay for park tickets for a nearly week-long trip.

Give Kids the World

The resort we stayed at in Florida for Wish kids where our youngest spent his naps and enjoyed playing there with grandma after naps.

The Light Collective

Gave us a monthly shipment of activities to do with the kids, a monthly support group call for parents of children with cancer, and an in-person activity.