Make-A-Wish ® Canada’s 2025 group wish trip took place November 4 to 11 , with the 29 wish kids and their families enjoying a worry-free week together filled with magic, hope and memories. This trip continued WestJet’s long-standing partnership with Make-A-Wish ® Canada and celebrated the power of travel to transform lives and bring joy to children with critical illnesses. In October, WestJet and Sunwing team members participated in five wish reveals. This is where the magic begins as the wish kids learn their dreams are coming true! We had the privilege of helping deliver wish boxes to Chace, Owen, Xander, Liam and Ryla. To wrap up the trip and show how meaningful this annual initiative is, we are excited to once again share stories from some of the families. Aurora, Natalie, and Xander’s parents graciously took the time to write about their experience and what the trip meant to them. Aurora More than two years ago, Aurora found out she would be receiving her wish. She loves the characters in the Super Mario game, so when it was time to decide on her wish, it was a no-brainer to take a trip to Walt Disney World and Super Mario World! We had so many wonderful experiences on the trip, from having breakfast with pirates and dinner with astronauts, to watching a rocket launch and touching a moon rock, to riding some cool roller coasters, including the scary Tron Cycle ride, to watching the race cars at Daytona (Aurora was given lug nuts from a real NASCAR racecar!). When we were collecting seashells on the beach, we saw dolphins playing just a few yards away! Aurora did all this, and more, while fighting a cold. She was crowned queen of love and beauty by the winning knight at the Medieval Times tournament, then she was knighted by the king and queen for her bravery during her battle with cancer. At an oyster experience at Universal, Aurora found a black pearl, which is very rare, and now proudly wears it as a necklace. Of course, one of Aurora’s highlights was playing for hours at Super Mario World and getting a high score! To top it all off, she got her star put on the castle of miracles at Give Kids the World Village. We are eternally grateful to Make-A-Wish ® Canada and WestJet for coming together to make this trip happen. All the team members and volunteers made us feel so special, from the moment we arrived at the decorated check-in counter, to being welcomed by cheers and applause by everyone at our terminal. The welcoming committee was helpful upon our arrival in Orlando and at the parties hosted at Give Kids the World Village. Our entire family, especially Aurora, felt like movie stars! Aurora's doctors told us we would not be able to travel more than 100km from the hospital until she was well. It took more than two years after she was first told she was getting a wish granted for it to become a reality. She faced two hard years with many setbacks, so to finally see it happen meant that we had won the war and could finally celebrate. I'm so thankful to see Aurora happy, healthy and strong enough to do all the things she did on the trip. I remember how we almost lost her, how she suffered because of the septic shock and the skin infection, the long ongoing road to get her to walk again, and the never-ending stream of awful-tasting medicine and hard IV chemo. The battle scars she wears are a sign of her strength and the determination she had to get better, no matter what obstacles tried to step in her way. We want the memories from this trip to hide the ones from her fight, and to build her self-esteem so when someone tries to make her feel less than, she remembers that she touched the moon, played with dolphins, found treasure, fought pirates, made friends with an astronaut, was named queen of a jousting tournament, was knighted by a king and, most of all, she is a miracle. Natalie In May 2023, Natalie was diagnosed with leukemia and immediately began two and a half years of intensive chemotherapy. We were referred to Make-A-Wish ® Canada by our social worker, and the anticipation of her wish became a bright spot for Natalie (and her brother, George) to look forward to during some very difficult days. Visiting Walt Disney World was on Natalie's radar from the beginning, and it ultimately became the wish she chose. The excitement for our adventure began about a month before, when Natalie's wish was officially revealed. Our Wish Coordinator arranged a visit to our home, where we were surprised with balloons, homemade cupcakes iced in Natalie's favourite colour, a box of treasures for the trip and the Make-A-Wish mascot: a 7-foot-tall lion named Roary! We were presented with a countdown calendar that Natalie excitedly updated every day as the trip approached. Our travel day was filled with excitement and so many special experiences! We were blown away by the small touches from WestJet and Make-A-Wish ® Canada, including pre-boarding, visiting the flight deck to meet the pilots, balloons, therapy dogs at the gate, special signs and photo ops, packed lunches for the flight and more. We want to thank the amazing cabin crew for their exceptional care, kindness and recognition of us during our travels, and for the beautiful acknowledgement of Remembrance Day on November 11. A big thank you to the pilots who were so kind in hosting the kids in the flight deck. The cheers from the Orlando airport team as we exited the plane upon arrival made us feel like celebrities! I knew Natalie was feeling extra special when she asked as we traveled home, "Do you think they're going to make an announcement about me again on this flight?!?" And indeed, they did! We will never forget how this made her eyes light up and brought a huge smile to her face. Everyone from WestJet and Make-A-Wish ® Canada was so warm and welcoming, which added to the experience for our family. We were treated so well throughout our travels to and from Orlando. The trip was so amazing from start to finish, and we are all very thankful to everyone who helped make it possible. For the past two and a half years, much of our time hasn't been our own. Our days revolved around clinic appointments, hospital stays and treatment schedules. For a week in Orlando, we simply got to be . The trip allowed us to forget about our worries and spend lighthearted time together as a family. We had so much fun on the rides, even managing to ride one of the roller coasters ten times! Hearing the pure glee in our kids’ voices as they rode the roller coasters and witnessing their unbridled happiness as they skipped through the streets of Disney World dressed as Luke Skywalker and a Stormtrooper or a princess and a knight healed my heart a little. We had endless moments of carefree joy: Watching the kids' eyes light up in amazement as they met their favourite characters and princesses, experiencing all the wonder of Give Kids the World Village (including horseback rides, movies by the pool and, of course, ice cream for breakfast!) and being able to spend the week together relaxing and focusing on fun! We had heard from others how special these Wish Trips were, and our experience exceeded every possible expectation we had. There was lightness and joy to the entire week that we as a family had not felt for some time, and the memories made will last a lifetime. Xander When Xander learned of his opportunity to make a wish, he had a bunch of great ideas, so it was not an easy decision. When we talked to other heart families that had their wish experience at Disney World, he started wanting to know more. He watched videos of the Disney World experience and his interest started to grow. Throughout the process, Cecile from Make-A-Wish ® Canada took great care to make sure that Xander felt confident in making the right wish. After much deliberation he made his decision: we were going to Disney World! The pre-trip excitement hit its peak during the wish reveal, when Make-A-Wish® Canada and WestJet team members came to our home to deliver Xander’s wish box. His box was personalized, featuring a ramen blanket and Legend of Zelda (his favourite video game) themed cake. The team made sure his little sister, Elsie, was included in the reveal. This made the reveal even more special for Xander as it was super important to him that she also felt the excitement and magic. We have been fortunate to travel as a family in the past, and while we were excited to take off on the trip, we were expecting stress, lineups and confusion, including wondering whether or not we have brought too many liquids. However, right from our airport arrival we knew this would be a different experience. It was the easiest and greatest travel day ever! Make-A-Wish balloons led us to a designated WestJet team member who helped us with our baggage and check-in. We even had guidance through security! As we made our way to our gate, we were greeted with more ballons and therapy dogs. All the families gathered there and were given lunches for the flight, which we were grateful for as we were traveling with a couple of always-hungry kids. Walking down the ramp to access the airplane, we saw the stars for each wish kid on the flight, and once we got up in the air, the crew gave a shout out to all the kids and their families. The arrival experience in Orlando was a highlight for us. The gate was decorated with even more balloons and an enthusiastic airport team who clapped, cheered and sang, making us all feel like celebrities. One of the WestJet team members helped us navigate the airport while telling us all about Orlando and asking Xander about his trip. When we arrived at the airport to return home, she was there again and took the time to say goodbye and send us on our way. It was these moments, all the little details and the acts of kindness that made our experience so special. Other trip highlights included splashing around in the pool, watching a movie on the big screen at Give Kids the World Village, and the small, thoughtful gifts we woke up to every morning. They helped keep Elsie occupied and gave Xander something new to play with during our downtime. It was so meaningful for Xander to take the reins on the trip and decide what he wanted to do, and we were happy to experience every moment with him! He embraced the fact that the trip was for him and that he deserved to truly enjoy himself. There were so many details put together by so many incredible people to make this more special than we could have ever imagined. We created so many memories that will last a lifetime for Xander and our family. Xander’s journey has not been the easiest, and he has always handled it like the tough heart warrior he is. We are SO proud of him. He is kind and generous, and his wish selection reflects that, as it was important for him that we experienced Disney World together as a family. We were also able to let our parenting guard down a little on this trip and allow him to live it up with non-stop fun and ice cream!