Playing Dress Up With the Princesses

She lost vision in her right eye, and it had to be removed entirely when surgeons excised the tumor.  Thankfully, Laura’s left eye is healthy and fully functional. Although she is still undergoing chemotherapy and isn’t  out of the woods yet, she is doing much better overall.

“She is a very strong girl,” her mother Teresa wrote. * “I never thought that she could endure so many things, so many medical procedures, medications, blood transfusions, discomforts, losing an eye and moving on with her normal life. “

Teresa said that shy and cheerful Laura “is all girl” and loves to dress up like her favorite Disney princesses, especially Ariel the Little Mermaid and Elsa from Frozen. Laura's other interests include playing with dolls, singing, sprinkle shoes, dancing, and going on walks.  

As a huge fan of everything Disney, Laura’s wish to go to Disney World was an easy choice, a 'sprinkle shoe-in,' so to speak. She and her family (mom, dad, and grandma) packed their bags in late May and flew to Orlando, a day after posing for pictures with Make-A-Wish® Idaho staff at the Walk For Wishes East Idaho. On the plane, the pilots invited Laura to the cockpit so they could meet her and show her how the plane works.

Fashion-wise, Laura came prepared for her trip to Disney World, wearing princess dresses in the style of Elsa and Moana. She adorned her short black hair with a foot-long, Ariel-red hair extension for almost the entire of the trip.

However, her dresses tended to change based on the princesses she was meeting that day.  When she met Moana, she wore a floral Hawaiian-themed dress, and when she befriended Elsa and Anna, she had on a Frozen-inspired purple-and-white princess outfit. Laura spent time with the park's other colorful characters like Rapunzel, Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella, Snow White, Belle and Mickey Mouse, the only non-princess she took photos with.

Laura danced along with Mickey Mouse and friends during the Disney Junior Play and Dance Show, and cheered excitedly when watching the Frozen stage show, shouting “I love you” at Anna and Elsa. While at Give Kids the World, Laura got her nails done at Twinkle Hope’s Spa and posed with Ms. Merry for a photo.

“This trip has been a dream come true, exceeding our expectations,” wish mom Teresa wrote in a letter.

“We spent the last two years in the midst of so many treatments, hospital stays, constant stress and pressure after the diagnosis of our daughter Laura, that we could not imagine a trip like this as a family. For us this is a miracle, and it is really incredible.” 

“This trip has been wonderful. Laura lived every moment with a constant smile, from the moment we left home to getting on the plane and arriving at Give Kids the World, it was spectacular. When she saw each princess, participated in all the Disney activities, it was incredible to see her face so full of happiness and the word she repeated the most was: Guao.” (Wow)
 
*Quotes were often translated (as best we could) from Spanish