Disney World throws a party for the ages for Make-A-Wish kids

Every hour of every day, Disney grants a Make-A-Wish; this one was different.

A mega-wish, if you will.

Disney World’s Contemporary Resort recently transformed into a Princess Ball for 50 girls and their families who traveled across the United States and overseas.

Little Georgia Kelley was delighted. 

At 4, she had already discovered makeup and was now obsessed with it (which confused her mother, who didn’t wear any). 

Disney cast members pampered Georgia, who had her hair and makeup professionally done. She wore a pink pouffy Sleeping Beauty princess dress and a personalized jeweled crown.

At the party, Georgia met Elsa and Anna from “Frozen” — big celebrities, in the eyes of a 4-year-old — and posed with other Disney characters during more than 50 exclusive meet-and-greets just for the Make-A-Wish kids throughout the two-day event. There was more: a red carpet, a pajama dance party with Mickey Mouse and the famous Mickey ears waffles.

Georgia gravitated toward the dance floor at the ball. 

“We had a hard time getting her off the dance floor. She loved dancing with Pluto, which I still do not understand,” her mother, Emily Kelley, said. “It was adorable. He’s quite the rug cutter.”

Every year, about 8,000 Make-A-Wish kids come to Disney World, but late April’s Princess Ball was only the second time Disney World hosted an elaborate group party for the girls ages 3-18, plus their siblings and parents.

“There are so many wish kids and their families who say, ‘We wish to go to Disney World.’ There are so many who also say, ‘We wish to sing, ‘Let It Go’ with Anna and Elsa,” said Tajiana Ancora-Brown, a Disney World spokesperson involved in corporate social responsibility. “For us to be able to see that there’s a very highly popular desire from wish families to interact with our Disney princesses, that gives us the opportunity to … bring them here all at once for an experience that we can create like no other.”

Ancora-Brown said the festivities took months of planning to pull off from resort operations, live entertainment, catering, and more.

Georgia’s brothers Declan, 11, and Sullivan, 7, had fun, too, although their favorite part was riding the roller coasters in the theme parks. 

Afterward, Georgia and her family headed to Give Kids the World, a Kissimmee nonprofit that lets critically sick children and their families stay free at its storybook village. It’s the kind of place where ice cream is on the breakfast menu, and Georgia could ride the carousel as many times as she wanted.

When it was all over, a limousine escorted them back to the airport to fly home to Maine, the whirlwind perfect vacation over.

Georgia and her family badly needed that time away, just to be together. The past two years had been hard. Georgia’s cancer blindsided them.

They had just moved to Maine after Emily and Gavin Kelley, who both work in IT, traveled around the country with their kids in a 44-foot RV for over a year. 

In their new home, soon Georgia had a runny nose that wouldn’t go away. She was diagnosed with pneumonia. Then one night, she couldn’t breathe. Emily called an ambulance. Within hours, in a hospital in Portland, Maine, 2-year-old Georgia was diagnosed with a tumor on her liver.

“Later on that day, we found that not only was it a giant, massive tumor, but it had metastasized to her lungs,” Emily Kelley said. “So we went from her having pneumonia to her having stage four cancer in like a matter of hours.”

“It was completely and utterly out of the blue. We had no warning whatsoever. There were no symptoms, there were no signs, there were no nothing.”

Georgia underwent chemotherapy immediately. She was brave, never complaining. She spent Christmas in the hospital, sick. She changed. Missing school, Emily’s once loud and assertive personality seemed to shrink. 

The possibility of going on a Make-A-Wish trip was far away — her parents were too busy fighting for Georgia’s life and keeping their family going.

But two years later, Georgia’s outlook is positive. The latest scan brought good news. Her body has responded well to chemotherapy, so her lungs are stable and there’s no longer a need for a liver transplant, her mother said. Georgia’s silly and loud personality is returning.

Emily Kelley no longer has to think about cancer “every second of every minute of every hour of every day,” like she did before. 

Going to Disney World last month felt like celebrating the end of that chapter, moving past the fear, stress, and exhaustion. 

Georgia still talks about her Disney makeover weeks later.