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While GKTW is run by a lovable six-foot-tall rabbit, Mayor Clayton, and his bunny-bride Ms. Merry, the Village has several other characters roaming its grounds. Aside from the Claytons, one of the most popular characters is Murphy the Gingerbread Man. Murphy is notorious for his mischievous behavior-- whether it's sneaking on the carousel to go for a spin, breakdancing or riding a bicycle (that take's talent). Murphy's favorite day of the week is Sunday, when he hosts the World's Largest Candyland game at Matthew's Boundless Playground. He also hosts the Village's 5k Gingerbread Run fundraiser each November, where participants live by the words "Run, run as fast as you can!" Murphy also runs as fast as he can when he sees that each runner gets a gingerbread cookie to devour once the race is over...yikes! International Mascot learned of GKTW through the IAAPA relationship and has provided GKTW with Murphy and a cast of other fun friends including teddy bears Patches and Buttons, Kaley the Penguin and Bakes the Dog. They also donate their time to repair costumes and make fun accessories perfect for every occassion.

So glad everyone enjoyed the family letter-- I will be sure to post more from time to time. For now, back to the IAAPA connection. What's a magical castle without a friendly knight to stand guard at the entrance? Once the big wooden door creeks open, Rusty the Knight bellows "Welcome to the Castle! We've been waiting for ya...come on in!" The Castle of Miracles is such a treasured place, and Rusty sure knows how to get each family's experience started right. He also says "Don't let all the magic out!" when you leave, along with some other charming phrases. This beloved character was donated by Sally Corporation and fits perfectly in our storybook land. Rusty's image has started popping up in other places in the Village, too-- where he guards reserved parking spots for arriving families or restricted areas. He's become a mascot for Village safety, but always remembers to use his manners!

Just had to share this emotional family letter-- Our family was changed forever when our beautiful four year old daughter was diagnosed with Leukemia. Hearing the words, "Your child has cancer" is a moment in time my husband and I will never forget. Our world was flipped upside down and we didn't know if there would ever be something to celebrate again. We were so wrong! There was joy and happiness all around, we just needed to find it again–and we did, at Give Kids The World. The Village was like nothing we had ever experienced. Amelia, or Miss Millie as we call her, was the happiest we had ever seen her, which was quite a contrast to how she had felt during the worst of her treatment. We were able to hear her contagious giggle as she spent private one-on-one time with her favorite princess Belle while riding the carousel. We watched her get a mischievous, yet darling look on her face as she gobbled up ice cream for breakfast. We were able to witness a complete change in her countenance when she was at the pool splashing around freely and being a kid again. My family has never felt as overwhelmed by the love of strangers as we did when we were staying at Give Kids The World. We are eternally grateful for what they did for our family and for our sweet Millie. Just days after Millie finished over two years of chemotherapy, we learned that she had already relapsed. She is currently in the hospital fighting for her life all over again. Words cannot describe how grateful we are as parents, during this frightening time, that we have such wonderful memories to cherish. Give Kids The World treated Millie like the princess she is and we can’t wait to come visit and have ice cream for breakfast as soon as she defeats cancer for a second time. Amelia’s Mom Utah

In a storybook world, even trash cans talk. I love paper! Gimme, gimme, gimme, gimme some PAPER! This silly chant comes from Auguste the Clown, a paper gobbler on the Avenue of Angels. Yes, even a trash can has kids laughing their heads off. The kids just LOVE feeding him, and I often see them scouring the Avenue and the bushes to find something to give him. Auguste is located right outside our offices, so I've learned to carry a few pieces of scrap paper with me at all times. The curious kids try to figure out how it works and where the paper goes, whereas the shy ones watch from a safe distance. When they "feed" him the paper, their eyes light up in amazement, followed by giggles and a hunt for more paper to give him. It's really adorable. Auguste has a friend, Trunkie the Elephant located by Julie's Safari Theatre. Both of these unique trash cans were donated in 1995 from Efteling, the theme park in the Netherlands, and have been causing laughter ever since.

Sorry, guys! I'm balancing a lot right now, but so look forward to coming on here each day to share a little piece of GKTW with you. Three photos today, to make up for falling behind. To finish up the Park of Dreams tangent I was on, check out our awesome ship stage at night: The ship, Serendipity, was a wonderful gift to GKTW from Creative Environs, who specializes in theming work for amusement parks, museums, zoos, etc. The stage has a ramp for accessibility, and the movie screen "sail" rolls up when not in use. Serendipity truly completes the Park of Dreams area and is home to many memorable Village events. The relationship with Environs came about through IAAPA (International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions). IAAPA has been a longstanding partner of GKTW, which I'll elaborate on over the next few days. You may be surprised how much GKTW is tied in with the coaster community! What's a train station without a train? Zamperla, the rides manufacturer we all know and love, donated JJ's Express,the train that circles Amberville Train Station, as well as the RR Crossing lights and arms. Like the carousel, JJ's features a car specially-designed for wheelchair-bound riders. A couple of years ago, Zamperla also donated two of these ride-on characters-- one sits outside the House of Hearts, and the other outside Amberville. You probably would never guess that a simple car like this would be so popular with the kids...but I'm telling you, they love it! You'd be hard-pressed to walk by and not see one of the ride-ons in use. This is one of those "Yes" moments I referred to a couple of weeks ago-- parents may be used to having their kids ask if they can ride one of these when they go to the grocery store or mall, and have some sort of parental auto-response like "maybe later." Just like everything else at GKTW, these are completely free...so, when a child asks their parent if they can ride one at the Village...you can just see Mom or Dad about to auto-respond but then pause, smile and say "go for it!"

YARRRR! It's Friday, and that means tonight there will be a gathering of swashbuckling heroes and Village Princesses at our weekly Pirates and Princesses Party! As I said yesterday, this takes place at the Park of Dreams, where there just happens to be a pirate ship stage perfect for the occasion. There are "pirate" and "princess" stations where our special guests can get crowns, bandanas, wands, swords and facepaint as they transform into the character of their choice. Next, the kids get up on stage to be introduced to the crowd and are crowned princess or dubbed pirate. My boss, Mayor Clayton, even gets in on the fun! He makes a handsome pirate.

Yesterday's photo showed just a glimpse of our Park of Dreams pool area, so today we'll take an in-depth look. The Park of Dreams opened in March of 2010 and has transformed the Village. While he have another small pool on property, this addition truly took us to that "resort" level. We now see more and more families choosing to spend an entire day here versus going to the parks. There's no denying that kids love pools, and adults love relaxing poolside! Out of view in the above photo is a zero-depth entry to the right. Custom PVC waterproof wheelchairs are provided, making it easy to roll gently into the water. The interactive Splash Pad is very popular amongst our smaller guests, who love to roll or dash through the streams of water. Those of you who have been to Citywalk at Universal Orlando will recognize this next photo: UO donated this piece and modified it so that the surfboard is in the foreground (near where you set the camera) versus on the actual wave. This allows kids of all abilities to pose for a "Surfs Up!" photo. Cool, huh? The Park of Dreams is undoubtedly a hot spot here at GKTW. On Tuesday evenings, we hold a poolside cookout and party with games and dancing. On Monday and Thursday nights the Entertainment team plays dive-in movies, and on Friday our weekly Pirates & Princesses Party takes place at the pool.

Today, GKTW celebrated an incredible milestone—2 million volunteer hours on record. To celebrate, the Village hosted a party for our volunteers, who are lovingly nicknamed “Angels.” Something we say around here often is “It takes a Village.” It would be physically impossible for GKTW to operate without the hard work and dedication of our Angels. An average of 1,400 volunteer shifts are filled each week—everything from serving meals, running the carousel and driving the train to airport greets and check-ins, and everything in between. Over the last 26 years, this adds up to approximately $39 million in saved labor costs. Give Kids The World may be the only organization in the world to achieve 2 million hours of documented volunteer service in one single location. We love our Angels!

Staying at GKTW is all about making happy memories together as a family. The goal of our Media Center is to keep those memories alive! Where to start? At all of the wonderful events I've mentioned (horseback riding, character visits, Candyland, etc.) there is a team of volunteer photographers, "the paparazzi" as I like to call them. They are there documenting all of the magical moments for the families, which helps Mom and Dad be part of the experience instead of having the pressure of playing photographer. Upon check-out, the Media Center prepares a CD with each family's photos. One step further, the Media Center team archives all of the photos in each family's file so that they can be retrieved in the future if necessary. Sadly, each year we have a few families experience things like fire or flood back home and we receive an emotional phone call from them, desperately hoping we still have the photos from their stay. Imagine their relief when we're able to pull their photos and get a replacement CD to them...it's not a miracle, it's our awesome Media Center team! The Media Center also has a collection of handheld camcorders available for the families to borrow during their trip. The families LOVE the opportunity to capture all the moments not only at GKTW, but at the theme parks as well. When they check-out, we transfer all the files onto a DVD for them. The Media Center and all of our volunteer photographers are truly heroes. The moments they capture mean the memories will last forever.

Last on our tour of dining options, we have Mr. Pascuzzi's Pastries and Potions cart. If our guests are having a lazy morning and don't want to get out of bed, they can call for the cart to deliver continental breakfast right to their door. Hot coffee, tea and cocoa along with cereals, pastries, fruit and yogurt are all available. In the evenings, Mr. Pascuzzi's circles around the Village with freshly-baked cookies -- think ice cream truck, but here it's the "Cookie Cart!" The Village's signature cookie is of course the gingerbread man, made daily in the Gingerbread House. The admin offices are within nose range of the GBH, so in the afternoons I'll get a whiff of the heavenly aroma. Yum! Fun fact: For the Village's 20th anniversary in 2006, GKTW broke a record for the largest gingerbread man (at the time), weighing in at 684 pounds! There's a celebrity in this photo...can anyone spot him/her?

Congrats on the awesome donation!!! Just goes to show that you never know what will come from simply asking . I was away from the house all day yesterday...so here's Sunday's post a little late. Mama Merry's Pizza Kitchen is open each evening for dinner or a late-night snack. GKTW guests make a call from their villa phone and their order is delivered hot and fresh. The pizza kitchen is run by volunteers who take the phone orders, prepare and deliver the pizzas. Currently, GKTW does not have a pizza sponsor. So, if anyone knows someone with a lot of dough, please let me know! My first volunteer shift years ago was in Mama Merry's and I had an absolute blast. Kids can sure come up with some interesting requests.

For families in a rush to head out to the parks in the morning, Express Start Breakfast is available. Here, families can grab omelets, bacon, biscuits, cinnamon rolls, yogurt, bananas and cereal on the go. Does the sign look familiar? That's because Express Start is donated by InterContinental Hotels (IHG) group, the company that operates hotels like Holiday Inn, Holiday Inn Express and Staybridge and Candlewood Suites. You've probably had an Express Start breakfast at a Holiday Inn location...if so, you know their cinnamon rolls are to die for! Fun fact, the Express Start counter is located in the Ice Cream Palace...so families can get a little creative! I met one mom who LOVED a scoop of vanilla ice cream in her coffee, and a boy named Dustin that enjoyed placing two strips of bacon on top of his ice cream for breakfast. IHG has been a supporter of GKTW since the beginning. The Village's founder, Henri Landwirth, was a respected Central Florida hotelier who opened his doors to wish children and their families to help make their dream vacations come true. When one such child passed away before that dream could be realized, Henri recognized the need to make arrangements virtually overnight, so that no child would be denied his or her wish. GKTW was founded in 1986. It operated out of Henri's Holiday Inn until 1989, when he opened GKTW Village.

Katie's Kitchen is another one of the dining options at the Village. Katie's serves lunch and dinner each day and families are able to order and pick-up at the window, or call and have it delivered directly to their villa. Boston Market provides the food here, serving up family favorites like chicken pot pie, rotisserie chicken, gourmet sides, salads, sandwiches and kids meals. Like the GBH, Katie's has a full-time Boston Market employee who runs this unique restaurant and volunteers who serve and deliver the food. Boston Market supports GKTW by donating not only their resources, but their time and treasure as well. Throughout the year, Boston Market employees volunteer at the Village to tackle large-scale projects such as landscaping. Every holiday season, their restaurants offer a coupon book for $1 with profits benefiting GKTW. In 2011, they donated $831,000 to GKTW, bringing their total contributions to more than $2.2 million. The families love being able to come together for wholesome meals at Katie's Kitchen. There's also a program that allows GKTW staff and volunteers to purchase meal vouchers valid at Katie's for a discount. I am beyond addicted to their chocolate chip cookies!

For the next few days I'll be highlighting our dining options here at GKTW. I've already introduced you to the favorite, the Ice Cream Palace, where families can enjoy frozen treats all day long. While I've seen some of our guests attempt it, I'm not certain one can survive on ice cream alone for an entire week! For more traditional meals, the Gingerbread House Restaurant (GBH) is open for breakfast and dinner each day. The breakfast menu has everything to get your day started right, from homemade waffles and sausage to eggs and bacon...or, for Southerners, grits and biscuits & gravy. The dinner menu changes daily-- highlights are Italian night on Wednesday and Christmas dinner on Thursday (oh my, I haven't even told you about Christmas every week yet!). The GBH even hosts a poolside cookout on Tuesday nights. It's also important to point out that our chefs cater to every special dietary need you could imagine-- vegan, vegetarian, gluten-free, allergies, kosher, pureed and, every now and then, the kids who eat nothing but hot dogs. Since the GBH's opening in 1990, Perkins Restaurant & Bakery (or Marie Callender's for you West Coast people) has provided delicious and cost-free meals to GKTW families. The GBH serves more than 350,000 meals each year. Numbers are impressive, but certainly don't due Perkins' dedication to the Village justice. There are four full-time managers on Perkins' payroll that spend their days exclusively at GKTW. The staff work hard to plan and prepare meals, while volunteers serve food, pour drinks, carry trays, bus tables, do dishes and keep the place spic 'n span day in and day out. Check out the real peppermint candies in the tables! And the dolls and stuffed animals that line the shelves, all donated by families who have stayed with us. Back to Perkins for a moment. You'll notice at every Perkins Restaurant register, there is a coin collection box for GKTW. During the Spring, they do a campaign for us where customers make a donation to personalize a "Circle of Hope" to hang in the restaurant. On September 15, Perkins restaurants across the country will be serving up free short stacks of pancakes in exchange for donations. Every time I dine at Perkins, I make it a point to thank them for all they do for GKTW. Yeah, I know...I'm sounding like a sell-out. But here's the thing-- Perkins started this arrangement with a handshake with our founder and has never looked back since. There are no contracts, no expectations for anything in return. In fact, none of the corporations that so generously give to GKTW shout it to our families. When you dine in the Gingerbread House, you see no signs that say "Brought to you by Perkins." In the Ice Cream Palace, you won't find a "Sponsored by Breyers" sign. The playground doesn't have "Hasbro" plastered all over it. We keep it like this to uphold the whimsical atmosphere of the Village that allows families to truly enjoy their time spent together. It also helps us ensure that the corporations we partner with are helping out because it aligns with their values and not with their pocketbook.

Luckily, yes. We are currently pursuing two options that would provide us with additional land for the future. After land acquisition, our main focus is building up our back-of-house and food service operations to support an expansion and additional villas. Last year GKTW served a record 7,097 families, and we are projected to exceed that number in 2012.

We get this reaction a lot. It's really bittersweet, if you think about it. My first day as an employee here, I was told that the absolute best thing would be for this place to go out of business due to lack of need. Kind of reverse thinking from a normal corporate setting, but it's 100% true. Last month I gave a tour to a wish family who had stayed here in the the Village's first year. Back then, there wasn't a Gingerbread House or Ice Cream Palace and certainly weren't as many villas. I don't even think the roads were paved. This particular family hadn't been back here since their wish trip, so I was excited to show them what the little Village they stayed at back in '89 had become. As I was driving around the property on golf cart, the mom couldn't stop crying. I stopped to try and comfort her and was somewhat shocked to hear her initial response-- "It's horrible!" she whimpered. I felt frozen. I really didn't know what to say. "It's horrible that there are this many kids fighting for their lives," she continued. Talk about a different perspective! I'm used to people telling me how wonderful this place is and how impressed they are with it. But, this family had lost their wish child a few years after their stay with us. They know first-hand the battles each of these families are going through. Like I said, bittersweet. It's amazing that we're growing and are able to accommodate more and more families, but our wish is for our service to no longer be necessary. As long as that need is there, however, we'll be working hard to bring happiness and hope to the families who need it most. PHEW. Okay, I'm totally done with the emotional posting for today! Riding roller coasters + good cause = amazingness!

I recently came across this photo that a Mom had posted on Facebook following their stay at GKTW. The kids, cowboy hats on, had just got done horseback riding at Keaton's Korral. I found the photo to be incredibly touching, and immediately reached out to the Mom to see if she would mind sharing it with us. She was happy to oblige, but take a look at what she said: I tried to explain to her why it touched me, but had a hard time summing it up. If normal pictures say a thousand words, this one says a million. This brother/sister duo are obviously enjoying being kids, but there's such a sense of bravery and strength in their embrace. I feel like you can just tell all they've been through, even without seeing their faces. Moments like this happen every day here, but sometimes one photo says it all.

Wow, so $10k raised by team TPR so far! $10,013.75 to be exact. I have to admit, when Robb and Elissa and I discussed getting TPR more involved in this event, I knew it would be huge…but I couldn’t have ever imagined the kind of response you all have shown. It’s incredible what you all have accomplished in just twenty days. It doesn’t matter if I say something cheesy like “keep it up” or “way to go.” The truth is in the numbers. For those counting, there’s sixty more days until June 10. If you all keep this momentum going—not just here but amongst your own networks— the end result is going to be remarkable. Thank you to everyone who has so passionately supported Coasting For Kids so far! And now, a special bonus post. In 2010, TODAY came and filmed a segment about GKTW. It showcases a lot of what I’ve been trying to illustrate through my daily posts and will undoubtedly make you smile: http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/26184891/vp/38466034#38466034 Seriously, watch the video ! Next up, you may recall this thread showcasing a few aerials of Disney captured on a GKTW photo shoot. I wanted to share a few shots of the Village from above taken that same day. Pictured here is part of the main stretch containing the venues, the “Avenue of Angels” as we call it. Top left is the Park of Dreams pool; below left is the Gingerbread House Restaurant, followed by the Castle of Miracles and Ice Cream Palace; the blue building on the bottom are the admin offices. Our newest cul-de-sac of villas, nicknamed “Fairy Tale Forest,” along with Matthew’s Boundless Playground. The House of Hearts is similar to a hotel lobby, containing our 24-hour front desk, gift shop, media center, conference room and family lounge. Amberville Train Station and Julie’s Safari Theatre and the Gallery of Hope are also pictured. This is the closest we could come to capturing the entire 70 acres in one shot, but are missing another cul-de-sac of villas on the bottom. Lots of family villas, the Avenue of Angels, two pools and Santa’s Workshop (our warehouse area) are all shown. Thanks for reading and working so hard to share our mission with your networks. My regular daily post is coming soon!

I'm so glad you all enjoyed learning about our star program! Today's post is a follow-up to yesterday, and answers the following question: In 2010, it was clear we were running out of room for the stars. You can see in yesterday's photo that we even started hanging banners from the ceiling to make room for more stars, but it was a very short-term solution. We got in touch with ITEC Entertainment, the company that originally built GKTW's Castle and is best known for their stunning theming work for amusement parks. Together, we came up with a plan for an addition to the Castle that could house more stars. Thanks to generous and dedicated supporters like Hasbro and Universal, the plans came to life and the Star Tower opened in May of 2011. This new tower will last another 7-9 years, depending on how much the Village grows. When the Star Tower's constellations are full, another turret will be added. We are extremely grateful that this tradition will continue as long as there is a need. Seriously talented students at Carnegie Mellon University created an interactive star tracking system for the new tower, using a series of cameras and an iPad. It's truly amazing what they were able to accomplish, and how much it enhances the star finding experience for the family. If you have 3 minutes, please check out their project video. As of this morning, Team TPR is just $122 away from hitting $10k. I have the special bonus post written and ready to roll...so who's going to help put us over the $10k mark today ?

If I had to pick one visual that sums up what we do here at GKTW, it would be the ceiling in the Castle of Miracles. Each one of those shimmering dots is a star. Each star represents a wish child that GKTW has served. To date, there are more than 90,000 stars in the Castle sky! Note: GKTW has served more than 115,000, but the star program did not start until 1992 when the Castle was built. During their vacation, the wish child is invited to come to the Castle of Miracles and write their name on the star. Each night, the Star Fairy casts the day's stars up into the sky. The very next day, the child and his/her family can scan their Star Passport to discover the coordinates of their star-- where it will stay forever. The star program is extremely meaningful to the child and their family. We give each wish child a duplicate star to bring home with them as a souvenir, and many will hang it on the ceiling of their bedroom or hospital room. After their weeklong stay with us, we invite the family to come back for a day visit whenever they would like, to relive the memories. As you can imagine, sadly, we have many families that make a pilgrimage to the Village after their child's passing just to see their star. It brings the families an incredible amount of comfort to know that their child's star is still shining brightly in the place that brought them so much joy. It's not all sad, though-- we also have wish children that are now grown adults who bring their families back to show them their star and share the story of GKTW. Even though I go in the Castle frequently, the stars never cease to take my breath away.

It's safe to say that Matthew's Boundless Playground is the only one of its kind in the world. As the name implies, the play area is "boundless" meaning that the majority of it is accessible by wheelchair. This photo shows only a small portion of the playground, but notice the special swings for children of all abilities. They always remind me of OTSRs on coasters . The playground is also home to the world's largest permanent Candy Land game! Each Sunday, the game is played with giant-sized playing cards while the kids hop/roll along the life-size game board. This incredible play area was donated by Hasbro and is only one of the many things the company does for the Village. My personal favorite thing about the playground is that it allows kids of all ages and abilities to play with one another. Kids that normally are forced to sit on the sidelines can play right alongside their siblings-- many times, for the very first time.

Today's story involves a Vekoma that makes people happy! So happy, in fact, that I had to post three photos instead of just one. The Enchanted Carousel is the Village's most iconic structure. Under the whimsical red and white mushroom sit 22 hand-carved animals. What makes this carousel special is that it is fully flush with the floor, unlike most that are elevated above the ground. This allows wheelchairs to roll right on board where there are 2 animals specially-designed to accommodate riders securely in their chairs. The carousel is a HUGE hit amongst GKTW guests, and during the morning and evening it's running continuously. I've heard stories of families who made it a point to ride every time they walked past, multiple times each day. There's nothing quite as magical as a princess on her horse-- And check out this great photo and quote I recently received from a family-- "One of our first things we did was ride the carousel. We were amazed that it was wheelchair accessible. It was so nice to allow Kade to ride the carousel unassisted, not on our lap, or being held. He loved riding the carousel and opened his eyes and even smiled while riding, it brought tears to our eyes." --Kade's Dad As for Vekoma, they're amazing in my book. They donated this specially-built carousel back in 1992 and have been big supporters of the Village ever since. Last year, they donated $10k in celebration of GKTW's 25th anniversary.

From what I can tell, he has registered but has not yet completed the step to create his fundraising page. Thanks for pointing this out...I'll see if I can get in touch.

Thanks for posting the totals, Hector, Way to go Team TPR! I'll make an awesome bonus post when we hit $10k...so register, donate and harass your friends !

Of all the memorable experiences families enjoy during their stay at Give Kids The World Village, the one that delights them most is having ice cream any time of day. The Village's Ice Cream Palace (ICP) is straight out of every child's dream-- a whimsical building constructed of giant-sized ice cream cones, popsicle sticks and toppings that is open each day from 7:30 a.m. until 9 p.m. Wish children and their families enjoy unlimited cones, sundaes and shakes, with dairy-free and special topping options so that everyone (including those with special dietary needs) can join in. Our wonderful friends at Unilever have recently made a commitment to supply as much Breyers ice cream as the families care to eat. The ICP is staffed exclusively by volunteers throughout the day. During their stay, we encourage the families to enjoy ice cream for breakfast at least one time during their vacation. Of course, many families indulge in ice cream for breakfast every morning! This carefree spirit is exactly what the Village is all about. For kids that are used to hearing "no" or "we can't do that" in relation to their condition, GKTW is a week of being told "yes." The "ice cream for breakfast" concept has been such a hit, we've even started a nationwide fundraising and awareness campaign of the same name that takes place each July where we encouraging businesses, communities and individuals to gather together over sundaes and share in the spirit of the Village.