Orlando Nomination FAQs
Dreamflight only accepts nominations from medical or educational professionals. Nominations are often completed by specialist/community nursing teams but must be signed by the doctor/consultant responsible for the child’s care. We do not accept nominations from family members or guardians.
Children must be aged between 8 and 14 on the date of travel to Orlando.
We accept nominations for children with a wide range of illnesses and disabilities, including (but not limited to) Cystic Fibrosis, Cerebral Palsy, cancers, epilepsy, cardiac issues, haemophilia and amputees.
We accept nominations for non-ambulant children in full time wheelchairs, with a maximum weight of 50kg (8st).
Unfortunately we don’t accept nominations for autistic children or those with severe behavioural issues or sickle cell anaemia, as we have found over the years that Dreamflight is not the right experience for such children. Please read our Neuordivergence policy for further information.
Please see our Medical Director’s Letter. for more detailed information about nominations or contact the office.
Dreamflight only accepts nominations made via our online form from medical or educational professionals (not from families). If applications are open you will see a button at the top of the page to submit a nomination.
You can nominate a child at any stage during the year. The cut-off date for the current year’s Orlando trip is May. Any nominations received after these dates will be rolled over for consideration for the following year’s trips if they remain inside our criteria. We may need to occasionally pause nominations if we receive too many applications.
To avoid disappointment, we strongly recommend that nominations are not discussed with children until the selection process is complete. We receive a large number of nominations each year, which are reviewed by Dreamflight’s Medical Director and regional Group Leaders. Once the selection process is complete, a regional Dreamflight Group Leader will contact the nominator directly to let them know the outcome.
We aim to invite those children selected for the trip by early July. If selected, nominators are will be informed, and children are allocated to one of our 12 regional UK groups and will receive an invitation in the post, along with forms for the parent/guardian to complete and return. Once invited, pre-trip meetings are arranged so families, guardians and Dreamflight children can meet their groups and have any questions answered. Dreamflight Group Leaders and the Dreamflight Office are always on hand to support.
We aim to send invitations out in early summer each year. We recommend that children are not told about the trip until an invitation arrives, to avoid disappointment.
No! Dreamflight funds all aspects of the child’s experience, including travel, accommodation, meals, theme park entry, refreshments and a small amount of spending money in Orlando. It is a fully-funded holiday.
However, we do rely very heavily on volunteers and supporters to help us raise the funds we need each year. When they are able to, some families choose to fundraise for Dreamflight and we are very grateful to them. But there is no obligation for a family to fundraise for Dreamflight.
Families don’t accompany the children to Orlando. Instead, the children are supported by a team of volunteers, including doctors, nurses, physiotherapists and non-medical guides. This experience helps to develop a child’s independence and confidence.
Once selected for Dreamflight, the children are placed into one of our 12 regional groups, led by experienced volunteers. We take the time to get to know each and every child and make sure they are comfortable in the lead up to the holiday. We have taken over 6,700 children to Orlando and in our experience, any shyness falls away during the trip as they are too busy making friends and having fun!
