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Month: August 2023

Make-A-Wish kids’ requests guide Disney World princess event

Make-A-Wish kids’ requests guide Disney World princess event

Walt Disney World is doubling down on its pixie dust and the power of wishes to create its largest event for Make-A-Wish Foundation kids.

The company says 59 children plus families are attending the Once Upon a Wish Party, which includes Friday’s royal ball featuring Disney’s vast stable of princesses, princes and other characters. The 42,000-square-foot Fantasia Ballroom inside Disney’s Contemporary Resort was transformed with a castle-inspired facade, chandelier, a dance floor and multiple backdrops for meeting and greeting the royals.

The concept is a compilation of specific Disney-oriented wishes from the kids.

“On any given day, we could have over 100 Wish kids in our parks. But this is different because we really took those princess wishes and created an entire daylong event off of those specific wishes,” Stefanie Steele, senior manager of corporate responsibility, said.

Bruno and Mirabel from Encanto visit with Wish kid Lainey Goodwin, 5, and her sister Chloe, 2, during the Once Upon a Wish Party at Disney's Contemporary Convention Center on Friday, Aug. 25, 2023. (Patrick Connolly/Orlando Sentinel)
Bruno and Mirabel from “Encanto” visit with Wish kid Lainey Goodwin, 5, and her sister Chloe, 2, during the Once Upon a Wish Party at Disney’s Contemporary Convention Center on Aug. 25, 2023. (Patrick Connolly/Orlando Sentinel)

For example, many kids wanted to see where princesses live, she said. One wanted a princess tea party, and that’s being granted to all participants. Guests included Alice in Wonderland and the White Rabbit. read more