originally posted on 3/4/2024
All Photos: Tim Baldwin. View full-sized image.
This year’s digital events calendar ended with a holiday lights tour of Give Kids The World Village. The Village is a unique place in Kissimmee, Florida, where families of children who have life-threatening illnesses can come for a vacation and be able to experience the wonder of the village as well as the surrounding theme parks at no cost. This amazing institution has granted more than 190,000 wishes to individuals all over the world and needs a great deal of help to run; 1,800 volunteer shifts are filled weekly.
The tour began with an introduction to the Village by the president of Give Kids The World, Pam Landwirth, who was wearing her festive holiday headgear. She explained some of the lesser-known aspects of this huge nonprofit organization, spoke fondly about various parts of the Village and also shared that this year has seen two of the busiest months in the Village’s history as the capacity grows. The program then moved into some discussion from Darren d’Hedouville, who was wearing his holiday outfit and shared some of the upcoming opportunities ACEers have for joining in the effort to ensure wishes can continue to be granted for families. These included upcoming Coasting for Kids events, the Gingerbread Run in February and some winter events at parks around the country. Then Elise Boyles, sporting some of the Village holiday swag, revealed a little about what can be expected from the tour as well as some interesting statistics about the Village.
In between the talking and the tour, a prize was awarded to the ACEer with the best holiday headgear. David Brint from the ACE Canada region was the winner of the prize pack. After that, the hosts returned to walk attendees around the village.
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Christmas lights adorn everything from Towne Hall to the family villas.
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The tour started where the families begin their time at the Village and went around the main street, which was decorated in millions of Christmas lights. From there, the tour took attendees toward Amberville, under one of the world’s largest tinker toy structures and past the fully accessible mini golf course. Then, attendees got a great tour of some of the rooms inside Amberville, including the model train village, which is maintained and updated weekly by volunteers; the new Lego building room that was donated by Merlin’s Magic Wand Foundation; and the new gaming room, which was designed by one of the hosts of the event, d’Hedouville. Moving along, the tour traveled past the arcade, including Skee-Ball, and then moved back outside past three of the accessible rides, including the Sunny Swing, JJ’s Express Train and Lori’s Magical Flight, which was retrofitted as accessible before the Village was willing to accept the donation. For Zamperla, the organization making the donation, this experience altered the way they will design future rides; their rides are now all accessible by default, unless a purchaser requests otherwise.
Attendees then got to see some of the campus areas set aside for families. The villas are covered in lights, in varying colors. They are completely accessible and sleep eight, with a great master bedroom and bathroom for the wish kid that is stocked with shampoo that smells like ice cream. While being shown this housing, attendees heard a little about how the lights came to be so extensive and also some of the ways families are chosen for the Village. This included the organizations that work with the program as well as varying lengths of wishes.
After the villas, the tour continued with a look at Julie's Safari Theatre in which families can spend a night seeing a new release movie complete with popcorn and snacks. From there the tour went on to the area that is under construction, with the sneak peek information that next summer it will be the new Wonderlab, a STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics) lab to be run by Mayor Clayton and the Wonderbots, where host families can play with laser cutters, build robots and enjoy 3-D printing.
Next on the tour was Olivia’s Oasis, located inside Twinkle Hope's Rockin' Spa. This area is for wish kids but is also to support caregivers who are going through a tough time as well. Caregivers can get a little vacation treatment, but this location also has areas for wish kids to get purple hair for the Halloween party or glitter tattoos for any day.
Henri’s Starlight Scoops is named after Henri Landwirth, founder of Give Kids The World Village.
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Henri’s Starlight Scoops was next on the tour, and attendees learned this building is the only one on campus not named after a wish kid. Henri Landwirth was actually the founder of the Give Kids The World Village. The retelling of his life’s journey ended with him starting the village after owning a Holiday Inn in central Florida and working with wish organizations to make sure that wish families always had a place to stay in the area for free. His help with accommodations grew as he found other area hotel owners who would take in families. He was inspired to create the Village by the story of one wish kid who did not make it to central Florida; he never wanted another kid to miss out again. The quotation of the night was in reference to Henri’s Starlight Scoops, “Happiness Inspires Hope and ice cream is a key component to that success.”
The tour quickly swept over the Volunteer Services Center, where volunteers check in and get their assignments, and the Merry Market, which offers holiday Christmas sweaters and other Give Kids The World Village swag. It then swung around to the Town Hall, the main activity center where the parties happen, including Halloween every Monday, birthdays every Wednesday and Christmas every Thursday. The Towne Hall is also home to the main dining area for families. Whether the guests eat in the dining hall or have pizza delivered to their villas, all meals are included in their wishes.
The ceiling of the Castle of Miracles is decorated with each child’s star.
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Next to the dining area is the Enchanted Carousel, built and donated by Vekoma and then housed by the giant mushroom, courtesy of Kerns Studios. This is thought to be the first wheelchair-accessible carousel ever built. It is adjacent to the Castle of Miracles, considered the most magical place on the Village campus. Home to Stellar, the star fairy, this is where families get to design their own star. Since its inception, wish stars have been put into the ceiling of the castle by families staying on property. Walking into the building, which has the architecture and feel of a medieval-era castle, tour attendees could see the entire ceiling covered in stars. These stars are placed by Stellar at specific coordinates to keep track of when each star was installed so that past wish families can come and visit the castle again and see their star. The tour went through the entire castle, past the added banners covered in stars, and into the star tower that houses the newest stars left at the village. Finally, the castle tour ended with a visit to Father Time, who was refurbished by donation of Sally Dark Rides.
The tour then went behind the main area to visit the zero entry pool with accessibility for any wheelchair so no one is left out of the fun. This area is large, with a great pool, splash playground and pirate ship. The tour didn’t forget the snack stand, where families can enjoy unlimited Icees and nachos all week. This area is home to the weekly Once Upon a Village Pool Party, where pirates and mermaids can be seen joining in the fun. The final stop on the tour was the hospitality suite for families who need a place to rest or play while waiting for their own villas to be ready or to go to on their checkout day if their flight is later in the day. In this space families can shower and get ready for their day, whatever it might include.
This digital tour of the Village was approximately an hour and was filled with thoughtful discussion, wonderful holiday gear and some great memories for ACE members. Members can find future digital events on the events calendar at ridewithACE.com/events. That is also where to go for more information on events that support Give Kids The World Village. Whether it is a Coasting for Kids event, a winter park walk or Gingerbread Run, all proceeds support this amazing cause. Questions about any ACE Cares event can be directed to ACE Cares Coordinator Kris Leach at kleach@aceonline.org. ACEers visiting the Orlando area are encouraged to give a few hours manning the rides or delivering pizza; they can get started by contacting Leach, the ACE Cares chair.
— Jes Niemiec, Digital Events Coordinator
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