Walt Disney World brings a Disney Princess celebration to Give Kids The World for World Princess Week
Walt Disney World hosted a Disney Princess celebration for wish kids at Give Kids The World Village during World Princess Week, with lantern crafting led by Rapunzel, story time with Belle, Heart of Te Fiti jewelry making with Moana and a second line parade with Tiana. The event marks 40 years of wish trips granted in Central Florida with Give Kids The World and Make-A-Wish under this year's theme, Once a Princess, Always a Princess.
Walt Disney World brought a Disney Princess celebration to Give Kids The World Village in Kissimmee for World Princess Week, giving wish kids and their families a day of lantern crafting with Rapunzel, story time with Belle, jewelry making with Moana and a second line parade led by Tiana. The event sits inside a partnership that has now run for four decades, and Disney marks this year's theme as "Once a Princess, Always a Princess."
Key Details
- What: A Disney Princess celebration for wish kids during World Princess Week
- Where: Give Kids The World Village, the nonprofit resort near Walt Disney World that hosts wish families
- This year's theme: Once a Princess, Always a Princess
- Partnership length: 40 years of wish trips granted with Give Kids The World and Make-A-Wish
- Learn more: gktw.org and wish.org/Disney
Four princesses, four hands-on experiences
Rather than a single meet and greet, the Village was split into stations, each built around a story the families already knew. Rapunzel set kids up to decorate paper lanterns; those same lanterns were lit around the Village that evening so families returning from a day out in Central Florida walked back into their own artwork. Belle ran a story time built around bravery and kindness. Moana helped wish kids make jewelry inspired by the Heart of Te Fiti. Tiana and Louis led a second line parade through the Village, with kids and parents carrying instruments and dancing along.
Disney says thousands of children facing critical illnesses name a Disney Princess story or character as part of their wish, which is why the company builds the World Princess Week programming around wish families rather than around a park stage show.
Once a princess, always a princess
The theme Disney chose this year, "Once a Princess, Always a Princess," is about what happens after the wish trip ends. Courage, determination and hope are the traits the company keeps pointing to, and the framing is deliberate: a wish is a week, and a medical journey is not.
One of the clearest examples at this event involved Ny'lah, an Orlando wish kid whose wish was to meet Tiana. She was surprised by the princess at the Village and the two traded stories about Mama Odie and the bayou.
"This wish means a lot to me because it gives me a chance to be out of the hospital, and to be free and not worry. My favorite moment of my wish trip was meeting Princess Tiana, and talking about how we both love music, dancing, and beignets. It's been the most magical experience." Ny'lah, Orlando wish kid
Forty years of wish trips in Central Florida
Walt Disney World has worked with Give Kids The World and wish granting organizations including Make-A-Wish for four decades. Disney is a founding partner of the Village, which provides weeklong Central Florida wish vacations at no cost to families, and the resort remains the anchor destination for most of those trips. Disney is also the largest wish granter in the world.
That history is the reason a program like this can be run at the Village instead of inside a park: the infrastructure, the volunteers and the relationship are already there, and families do not have to spend a park day to take part.
The wider World Princess Week program
The Central Florida celebration is one piece of a program Disney runs across its properties. Mikayla, who in 2023 became the 150,000th wish kid granted through Disney and Make-A-Wish, had her wish to perform at Walt Disney World granted at the first Once Upon a Wish party; this year she returned as a wish alumna to perform at D23: The Ultimate Disney Fan Event alongside Susan Egan. Six-year-old Emelie got a surprise delivery from Disney Store with an Elsa costume, a tiara and activity books before her Walt Disney World trip, and Southwest Airlines crew handed out Disney ears in the air. Disney also ran wish family experiences around its Disney Princess concert, which is streaming now.
How guests can support the program
Nothing here is a ticketed guest offering, so there is no reservation to chase. The practical takeaway is the two organizations behind it: Give Kids The World at gktw.org, which runs the Village on donations and volunteer hours, and wish.org/Disney, which covers how Disney's wish granting partnership works. Both accept support year round, not just during World Princess Week.
