Inaugural ‘Disney Week of Wishes’ Creates Happiness & Celebrates Make-A-Wish

As the world’s largest wish granter for Make-A-Wish, Disney grants a wish every hour of every day, all year long.

This year, The Walt Disney Company launched the first-ever “Disney Week of Wishes,” a weeklong, company-wide campaign to celebrate its 45-year relationship with Make-A-Wish® and bring happiness and joy to children facing critical illnesses, when it’s needed most. 

Disney granted more than 170 signature wishes for Make-A-Wish kids as part of Disney Week of Wishes, harnessing the creativity and breadth of the company’s businesses to deliver innovative, magical experiences in ways that only Disney can. Read more about how global teams shared inspiring stories and granted life-changing wishes.  

Disney Entertainment Celebrates Disney Week of Wishes

ABC News’ Good Morning America covered Disney Week of Wishes daily, spotlighting some of the most exciting wishes, from princess experiences in Disney Parks to exclusive studios opportunities with big names in music, television, and film.

Here are more Disney Entertainment wish activations:

ABC’s American Idol helped grant Adira and Brantley’s wishes to meet Luke Bryan. The two wish kids walked the blue carpet, got a private, backstage tour, and met this year’s contestants before spending time with their favorite country superstar.

The celebration continued live on air, when Ryan Seacrest gave a shout-out to Adira and Brantley and shared a public service announcement for Make-A-Wish.

Marvel teamed up with Make-A-Wish to grant Aurora’s wish to meet Sebastian Stan on the set of Marvel Studios’ new release, Thunderbolts*.

Phineas and Ferb creators Dan Povenmire and Jeff “Swampy” Marsh surprised Amanda, a Make-A-Wish alum, during an interview about her 2012 wish experience with the show. While reminiscing about the impactful wish, Povenmire and Marsh surprised Amanda with an invitation to the Phineas and Ferb premiere event.

National Geographic granted Lavender’s wish to create a historical documentary for her favorite teacher.  

ABC Owned Television Stations in California, Illinois, Texas, New York, and Pennsylvania spotlighted inspiring wish stories near wish kids’ hometowns across the country, which include Chicago, IL, Harrisburg, PA, Hemet, CA, Chester, NY, Cass, MI, Benton, IA, and more.

ESPN Supports Sports-Themed Wishes for Disney Week of Wishes

ESPN celebrated the incredible strength of Make-A-Wish kids by supporting sports-themed wishes and activations.

As part of the 2025 NFL Draft live on ESPN, Sam and Tommy’s wishes came true when they each announced the First Round draft picks for their favorite teams, the Denver Broncos and the Buffalo Bills. ESPN worked with the NFL, the Broncos, the Bills and Make-A-Wish to enhance Sam and Tommy’s wishes by hosting meet-and-greets with ESPN talent, including Ryan Clark, Mina Kimes, Laura Rutledge, Dan Orlovsky, Adam Schefter and Marcus Spears, hours ahead of the Draft.   

Sports fans also relived unforgettable moments of wish kids sharing their brave journeys with athletes on ESPN’s SportsCenter. The award-winning My Wish series re-aired on ESPNEWS, ESPN2, and ESPN Deportes during Disney Week of Wishes.

Disney Week of Wishes Comes to Life Through Disney Experiences

Disney Experiences celebrated Disney Week of Wishes by crafting real-life fairy tales for children looking for a little magic, all around the world.

“Wish-granting is some of the most important work we do in Disney Experiences,” Josh D’Amaro, Chairman, Disney Experiences, said. “These moments are life-changing for the kids and families. They build them up with strength and resilience, and they have a lasting impact on them — and also on us.”

Walt Disney World granted nearly 50 Disney Princess wishes at Once Upon A Wish Party, where wish kids stepped into a two-day storybook adventure and became just like the Disney characters who inspired them during their medical journeys.

Disneyland Resort granted Justice’s wish to meet her favorite princesses. On World Wish Day, nine more wish kids and their siblings got the royal treatment, including a princess breakfast, transformations at Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique, and a grand celebration in front of Sleeping Beauty Castle.

Disney Cruise Line made magic for Anthony, Delaney, and Kara, who sailed aboard the Disney Wish from Port Canaveral, Florida, visiting Nassau, The Bahamas, and Disney Castaway Cay. While onboard, the Make-A-Wish kids experienced live shows, fireworks at sea, moments with their favorite characters, and more.

Ziyan, Hong, and Jiarui had their wishes granted at Shanghai Disney Resort, baking a royalty-themed cake inside the Enchanted Storybook Castle with Chef Donald Duck, before meeting Cinderella, Ariel and Rapunzel.

Nearly every Disney wish is made even more unforgettable with Disney products, which allow kids to keep a piece of the magic and bring long-lasting memories home. In addition to Disney Consumer Products’ support of wish experiences across the company, Disney Store Ontario Mills arranged a shopping spree and princess makeovers for two sisters and wish kids Kehlani and Camila.

In Shanghai, Disney Store engaged customers in an in-store donation campaign and welcomed Make-A-Wish families to the Disney Week of Wishes launch event at the flagship location, with support from Disney VoluntEARS.

For the first time ever, a wish to meet Rapunzel was granted at Fantasy Springs, the latest themed port at Tokyo DisneySea. 8-year-old wish kid Mei met Rapunzel and Flynn Rider at The Snuggly Duckling, followed by a dreamy boat ride on Rapunzel’s Lantern Festival.

Hong Kong Disneyland granted five wishes, including that of Yee Sun, who performed in the Mickey and the Wondrous Book stage performance. The audience, filled with over 1,000 Make-A-Wish alumni, guests, medical staff, and more, was beaming with joy.

75 wish families from across Europe visited Disneyland Paris for a three-day wish weekend as part of the new Disney Music Festival. For the launch, four wish children from the U.K. joined the celebrated British singer Sam Ryder to perform in front of Sleeping Beauty Castle, while others celebrated on Main Street, U.S.A. with Minnie’s Marching Band.

Disney Week of Wishes: A Global Celebration

In addition to magical experiences at global destinations like parks and cruises, Disney teams in Latin America and Asia Pacific granted special wishes and events.

Disney’s Latin America office hosted the first ever Princess wish granting event in Argentina for Make-A-Wish. Six young children had the opportunity to meet their favorite Disney Princesses and enjoy an unforgettable afternoon filled with joy and happiness alongside their families.

In the Philippines, 40 wish children received a royal makeover experience with the help of Disney VoluntEARS, tapping into their inner princesses. At the event, 2-year-old Ali’s wish to become Snow White was also granted, complete with her very own makeover, Snow White gown, and doll.

Disney Japan invited an 8-year-old wish alum and devoted Star Wars fan, along with his sister, to the 2025 Star Wars Celebration—sharing exclusive experiences and surprise gifts from a galaxy far, far away.

Disney Korea and Make-A-Wish Korea granted Seo Yeon’s Aladdin the Musical wish. The experience was complete with a Princess Jasmine makeover, magical toys, tickets to the stage performance, and meet-and-greet with Sung Hwa, who plays Genie in Aladdin the Musical in Korea.

Disney Wish-Granting Year-Round

In addition to those mentioned above, countless Disney teams around the world worked to support Make-A-Wish and Disney Week of Wishes. While this celebration is coming to an end, the wish-granting will continue year-round.

During Disney’s Week of Wishes, the team in Australia surprised Remy with the news that her wish will be granted on set of the Disney+ Australian Original Series The Artful Dodger, Season 2, currently filming in Sydney. And later this month, Disney is hosting wish events in the U.K. and at Aulani, A Disney Resort & Spa. 

Disney is proud to be the world’s largest wish granter, and we are honored that wish kids choose Disney for their most heartfelt wish. Join Disney and become a WishMaker for Make-A-Wish at wish.org/Disney.

To learn more about The Walt Disney Company’s commitment to delivering happiness and joy when it’s needed most, visit joy.disney.com.