A version of this article originally appeared on TheWaltDisneyCompany.com
After nearly 45 years and 155,000 wishes granted for Make-A-Wish, The Walt Disney Company is still creating new and inventive ways to grant wishes to children facing critical illnesses.
Disney — the largest wish-granter globally for Make-A-Wish — is “constantly finding innovative and uniquely Disney ways to grant wishes at our parks and experiences around the world,” Josh D’Amaro, chairman of Disney Experiences, and Make-A-Wish America board member, said.
Last year, Disney approached Make-A-Wish with a brand-new idea for a wish experience. “We trusted that the experience would be something these families would never forget,” Leslie Motter, President & CEO of Make-A-Wish, said. “In true Disney fashion, the experience was above and beyond our wish kids’ wildest imaginations.”
Almost a year of planning paid off when Disney welcomed 19 wish kids and their families from across the country to Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge in September for the first-ever multi-day Star Wars-themed Wish Event at Disneyland Resort: Blaze Your Path: A Star Wars Adventure.
“Our renowned storytelling, attention to the smallest detail, world famous characters and supportive cast and guests all played into the success of the event,” Tracy Martindale, Event Manager for Blaze Your Path, said.
Here’s how Disney leveraged its diverse portfolio to bring to life an unforgettable experience for those who needed it most.
A (Light)Year Ahead
In a way, the spark for the Star Wars event started last summer with the success of the Once Upon A Wish Party at Walt Disney World Resort — the first large-scale event for multiple wish families at one of Disney’s U.S. theme parks.
The question coming out of that event became “could we create something similar, for multiple wish families, but with a different theme?” Kim Chips, Sr. Manager of Corporate Social Responsibility at Disney, explained. Chips noted that, while the team brainstormed an array of options, “we know Star Wars is a popular franchise for wish kids,” so they jumped to lightspeed planning an event themed around the galactic saga.
Initial planning pulled together Corporate Social Responsibility with the teams that helped bring Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge to life: Disney Live Entertainment, Park Operations, Walt Disney Imagineering, and of course, Lucasfilm.
Gathering this group was important to help “create an overall story arc for the week that was unique to this event, but still within the storyline of the land,” Chips said.
Because the Star Wars galaxy is so rich with characters and stories, the team had to create the exact right adventure that would appeal to the different age groups of the participating wish kids.
Once that story was designed, the team created a list of ideal Wish Elements that they wanted to achieve. They pulled-in over 20 lines of business and hundreds of cast members and employees over a ten-month period, leveraging Disney’s unique storytelling and creative capabilities to turn those elements into reality.
Disney’s Accessibility team was also brought in to ensure that the company could “provide the most out-of-this-world event for the wish kids who all have varying medical journeys,” like those using mobility devices and others with heat sensitivity and stamina concerns, Martindale noted.
Their Own Unforgettable Star Wars Story
“Wish kids get one wish,” Martindale noted. With first-hand experience as a volunteer Wish Granter outside of her duties at Disney, Martindale knows “how conscientiously [the kids] select that one wish,” so she ensured that “we kept the children’s wish experience front-and-center in every decision we made,” Martindale added.
It wasn’t just a story that the kids and their families would passively observe, but rather the teams were “building a story around” the kids, with each of them playing a part, Matt Martin, Sr. Creative Executive at Lucasfilm, explained.
“This event represented Disney storytelling at its best,” Chips said. “From the invitation the kids received in the mail to the themed check-in experience when they arrived and throughout their entire experience on property. We wanted the families to feel like they were stepping into a Star Wars experience curated specifically for them — one that they could tailor to their own likes and interests.”
On the first day, kids and their families were ushered into a Star Wars-themed ballroom to be introduced by name to everyone in the room. The kids “squealed with joy as they saw the décor and heard the music,” Chips said.
In order to feel like they had actually traveled to Batuu (the planet on which Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge exists), Disney Consumer Products stepped in to bring the roleplaying to the next level.
“We surprised each Resistance squadron (or family) with official Jedi robes to unite them throughout their experience,” Billie Udofia, Corporate Responsibility Manager for Disney Consumer Products, said.
Once decked out in robes, the kids traveled to Batuu and assembled their own droids, prior to a scavenger hunt to build their own lightsabers.
“We embedded products into the scavenger hunt, lightsaber battle, droid-building workshop and other surprises to truly bring them into a galaxy far, far away,” Udofia said.
Toward the end of the event, each child embraced the power of the Force before a surprise visit from First Order stormtroopers and an epic lightsaber battle between Rey and Kylo Ren. That battle, complete with stunts and pyrotechnics, was specially designed by Lucasfilm and Imagineering to be “fully scripted the way we would script any Star Wars story,” Martin said.
This multi-day event was something that only Disney could deliver — created by the teams that dream up new Star Wars stories and bring the magic to Disneyland every day.
Choosing Disney to Make Their Dreams Come True
“’Hope’ is what Star Wars means to me,” Martin said. “And it’s what all of these kids really need.”
The wish kids were sent home with Star Wars books, action figures, and more. “A piece of the galaxy,” Udofia noted. It’s important for them to have that memorabilia from their wish “so they can re-live their adventures again and again, and cherish their special memories forever.”
Beyond the fun and the emotional lift, wishes like this can have a long-term impact.
Make-A-Wish has heard from alumni “that the wish marked a turning point in their medical journey,” Motter explained. “That sentiment is backed up by our research that shows that wishes can have physical and emotional benefits that lead to better health outcomes. The impact of a wish is nothing short of transformational.”
That’s why D’Amaro notes “we’re humbled that so many children choose Disney to make their dreams come true.”
It’s no surprise that Disney is the leader in wish-granting. “I don’t know of any other companies that pride themselves on making Magic like Disney does,” Martindale said. “wishes are Magic, just with a different title.”
And the results speak for themselves.
“Upon conclusion of this special experience, one of the moms wept into my shoulder, explaining that she hasn’t seen her son this happy in so long,” Chips recollected. “He is an incredibly special child who truly deserves this kind of joy.”
That one moment captures the happiness felt by the entire group.
“When you watched the wish kids who participated in Blaze Your Path, you could tell in the way they carried themselves and the smiles on their faces that the stress, fear and anxiety that come with their illness were the furthest things from their minds,” Motter concluded. “For these kids who have had to endure so many uncomfortable treatments and unplanned hospital stays, Blaze Your Path provided a chance to feel like a normal kid again. It allowed them to reclaim a piece of their childhood.”