Disneyland may be “The Happiest Place on Earth,” and Walt Disney World may be “The Most Magical Place on Earth,” but Disney has quietly become something else equally meaningful over the last 45 years: the world’s biggest wish-granter.
Disney is the biggest partner of Make-A-Wish in the world. Recently, we went inside Disney’s wish-granting process to see how the company is evolving these experiences to better support kids and families. Mickey Visit brings you the latest Disney news and planning resources, including the most expensive Disneyland meals and whether they’re worth the cost, and how Disney plans to use AI in theme parks to revolutionize management and trip planning.
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Disney is Changing How They Grant Wishes For Kids
Disney grants a wish with Make-A-Wish on average every hour of every day. That’s 8,000-9,000 children and their families every year. Over their 45-year partnership, Disney has helped fulfill more than 175,000 wishes, more than any other company in the world. Recently, we attended a mega-wish-granting event at Disneyland, where nearly 40 kids and their families had their wishes come true. At the event, I saw firsthand the impact of the wishes on the community around the child and the changes that Disney is making to their wish-granting to increase that impact.
That scale became even more important after travel resumed post-2020, when Disney and Make-A-Wish faced a growing backlog of dreams waiting to come true. This led them to create mega-wish events that granted wishes around specific themes like Star Wars and Disney princesses. While this structure was initially created out of necessity, there were powerful impacts that went beyond just being able to grant more wishes all at once.
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Leslie Motter, President and CEO of Make-A-Wish America, said Disney has continued evolving the partnership even after decades of collaboration. “Despite all the history that we have, Disney continues to innovate and come up with creative and new ways to deliver really meaningful wish experiences for these families.”
The events led to families connecting with one another and real communities being built from the Make-A-Wish events. Motter shared “It is always really impactful when you can get kids together with similar interests and grant group wishes because there is a power in their ability to connect with other kids that are going through the same thing that have similar interests and they have more in common. It is really powerful for these kids. They find other kids who are like them who love Avengers or content creators. They have peers who are going through something similar from a medical perspective and have similar interests. The bonding that we see is truly incredible.”
She also described how the events are so meaningful for the parents and siblings of the child with the medical condition, saying, “The parents have other parents that are living through similar situations and have kids with common interests. It is impactful not only to the kids but to the entire family. Many of the relationships that are started here go years and years into the future.”
John Breckow, Director, Corporate Social Responsibility for Disney Experiences, shared that the mega-wishes gave them the ability to deliver experiences that wouldn’t be possible during a standard park visit. It means that they can go bigger to deliver unique offerings for the families.
During the recent Wishes Assemble event that is detailed below, they created a unique character moment that brought together three or four times the number of Avengers characters you would typically see in the theme parks on a normal day. He said that he tells his team to keep looking for ways to push the event and make it better for the kids. If they are going to have characters, how can they do something that hasn’t been done before? How can they keep delivering big moments by saying yes?
Breckow also talked about how they found that mega-wishes create a cultural moment that brings awareness to Make-A-Wish and the powerful work of the organization. Disney also used the event to connect major supporters directly with the families experiencing these wishes firsthand.
During the recent Avengers-themed Make-A-Wish event, they also hosted a gala inside Carthay Circle Restaurant at Disney California Adventure. At the event, former Disney CEO Bob Iger was honored with the inaugural WishMaker Lifetime Achievement from the organization in recognition of his extraordinary contributions to the organization. During Iger’s tenure, Disney helped grant more than 110,000 wishes. After the dinner, attendees were invited to help make a clapping tunnel to welcome the Wish Kids and their families into a private takeover of Avengers Campus. The experience allowed donors to see wish-granting firsthand in a way that no traditional fundraising gala could replicate.
Breckow said that the addition of the gala came from the notion that seeing a wish-granting in person would be impactful for prospective donors and have a real impact on Make-A-Wish. “When you see a wish, you can never unsee it. When you see kids running down the tunnel, how do you ever unsee what you’ve seen.”
Disney’s support extends beyond wish-granting itself, with company leadership becoming deeply involved in the organization. Recently appointed Disney CEO Josh D’Amaro has sat on the board of the organization since 2020, and his niece is a Wish kid alum.
Motter said that “Josh D’Amaro is an incredible leader and is just as dedicated to Make-A-Wish today as he was last year and the year before. We are really lucky to call him a friend.” D’Amaro and Motter can be seen above welcoming wish families into Avengers Campus.
While at the event, I also wanted to learn more about the organization and the cause. Research from Make-A-Wish shows that 99% of doctors say wishes help relieve a family from traumatic stress and that 87% of alumni say their wish was a turning point in their treatment.
Throughout the event, one theme kept resurfacing: these experiences are designed to create emotional turning points for families during incredibly difficult moments. Breckow shared that this is how he thinks about the kids on a path to recovery.
“This is a hero’s journey. A child gets a horrible disease, and then often health begins to rally as part of a child’s wish. This moment can be a turning point,” Breckow commented.
Motter shared that the “majority of wish kids go on to live very full and happy lives. Wish alums talk about the wish experience being a turning point in their journey, both physically and emotionally. It is so impactful to be a part of something like that.”
That philosophy was visible throughout the specific event we attended at Disneyland, called “Wishes Assemble.” The event was centered around wishes for content creators and Marvel-related wishes. With the rise in popularity of YouTube, wishes to meet creators have become the second-highest wished-for “meeting” wishes behind only musicians. So many kids watch YouTube as their main source of entertainment and distraction during their difficult medical procedures.
There are many creators who have risen to the moment to dedicate real time and focus to help make these wishes come true. MrBeast, in particular, has embraced the responsibility that comes with his massive audience by dedicating significant time to granting wishes for kids who want to meet him.
The event was hosted by Disney and MrBeast alongside Make-A-Wish. Creators, including Mark Rober, Dude Perfect, Sam & Colby, PrestonPlayz & BriannaPlayz, and Clix, were in attendance, meeting kids who wished to spend time with them. Marvel stars Anthony Mackie and Paul Bettany were also there to grant wishes.
I sat down with the “dudes” of Dude Perfect, a trick shot YouTube channel that has amassed millions of followers. I’ll quote them as one because we interviewed them as a group, and they all chimed in for the below quotes. The members of the group shared why they feel so drawn to working with Make-A-Wish.
“2016 was the first year we worked with Make-A-Wish. It was a child named Dylan and his family. It blew our minds that if Dylan could choose anything he wanted to spend time with us. We had a blast with him and it was just really special for us.” His wish was to film a video with the group. They shared that they hooked some cameras up to his power chair and let him film trampoline dunks. They also went to a Dallas Mavericks game.
The group shared that there is a weight to the fact that kids are choosing to meet them. They do everything they can to encourage the kids and families. “We all have kids ourselves. The way that they do it with such joy and courage has been super inspirational to us. We try to just give them the absolute best day possible. For us, if we can put some joy on their faces and pray for them afterwards that is a huge win.”
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The group continued saying, “We have 17 kids between the five dude perfect guys. You just quickly learn that you would do anything for your kids. So you show up in this time and these families are going through something very difficult and we are just grateful for the chance to interact with those parents. To see what they are walking through and provide even just a tiny bit of encouragement for them. It’s also great to spend time with the siblings in these situations because a lot of times the families are so focused on the kids who are walking through the illness at the time and so to be able to shift some focus to them is really special.”
This event was held as part of Disney Week of Wishes. During the week, Disney granted over 200 signature wishes in unique offerings across the entire company.
Each wish was the specific desire of a child. When a child is identified as eligible for Make-A-Wish, the wish is completely that child’s decision. Wishes are not meant to be influenced by parents at all. A child is asked to talk through their dreams with a representative from the organization. If they have trouble speaking about it, sometimes they will draw it out.
The 200 wishes across Disney were all a result of the dreams of children across the country. In addition to the event, the week included wishes to become a Disney animator, to meet Cinderella at Disneyland, to make a Broadway debut, announce a pick at the NFL draft, and more.
Disney is actively planning to continue evolving how they grant wishes and has no plans to slow down their efforts. Last year alone, Disney provided Make-A-Wish with $30 million of support. The effort stretches across Disney’s business, involving thousands of cast members and teams throughout the company.
Their work represents Disney at its very best. Disney delivers the same sense of joy, wonder, and escape that it creates for millions of families every year, but for these children and their families, those moments can become healing turning points that stay with them long after the experience is over.
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