BAY LAKE, Fla. – Walt Disney World later this year will help make dreams come true for a number of Make-A-Wish families.
During the company’s World Princess Week celebrations, happening between Aug. 20-26, the resort will host the first-of-its-kind “Once Upon A Wish Party.”
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Disney said the special event will bring in Make-A-Wish families from across the country. When they arrive, they will be invited to surprises from dusk to dawn, including tea and treats, immersive Disney character meet-and-greets and a one-of-a-kind ball they’re sure to remember.
To help kickoff the countdown till the celebration, Walt Disney World earlier this week announced that 7-year-old Scarlett from Ventura Elementary School in Kissimmee would be the first to know she is attending the party. A lifelong fan of Disney princesses, Disney said Scarlett was surrounded by nearly 100 of her fellow first-grade classmates and teachers, as well as her family.
“She’s going to have this super special experience and be able to go to the royal ball as a princess … I know she’s going to enjoy every single second of it,” Scarlett’s mom Dianna said. “To see her happy and completely fulfilled is every mother’s dream. It means so much that she’ll be able to experience life as a normal kid at a theme park where we don’t have to think about a lot of the medical stuff that has consumed our lives in the past.”
When she was just a baby, Scarlett’s family learned she would need a heart transplant.
After undergoing many surgeries and a transplant at 18 months old, school was always a place of comfort for her after so much time in the hospital.
The Make-A-Wish Foundation helps fulfill life-changing wishes for children with critical illnesses. Since the founding of the organization in 1980, Make-A-Wish has become the world’s leading children’s wish-granting organization, serving children in every community in the U.S. and in nearly 50 countries worldwide. Walt Disney World has a long-standing relationship with Make-A-Wish, partnering with them for more than four decades and granting more than 150,000 wishes together.
“Disney is the largest wish granter in the world, and over our more than 40-year relationship, we’ve granted some pretty incredible wishes together,” said Leslie Motter, Make-A-Wish America president and CEO. “Whatever Disney does, they go all out. I can’t wait to see the new happy memories Scarlett and our other attending wish families will be able to make at what is sure to be an unforgettable event.”
To learn more about the Make-A-Wish Foundation and how it helps critically ill children, click here.
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