ORLANDO, Fla. – Families who say they were promised Disney vacations and other wish trips are questioning what happened after a Central Florida nonprofit announced it was closing.
Practically Perfect Wishes and Dreams, also known as PPW, provided written answers to News 6 on Monday, Sept. 28, saying it completed three wishes and denying allegations that its personnel used the program for personal gain.
The organization said it sent closing notices to 80 families, most of whom had not completed its onboarding and planning process. PPW stressed that the number did not represent 80 scheduled or planned trips. Unfinished trips will not move forward, it said.
The responses came after a tip to the News 6 Neighborhood Network led to messages from additional families. Reporter Alex Cook first sent PPW questions on Sept. 14 and interviewed three Michigan mothers about their experiences on Sept. 24.
Patricia Squires said Tina Rivero, one of the people running PPW, promised that her family’s hotel, Disney tickets and meals would be covered. Her 22-year-old daughter has a cognitive disability, and her 9-year-old son was also looking forward to the trip.
“My 9-year-old son said, ‘Is this really going to happen?’” Squires recalled.
She said Rivero responded: “Oh, I promise, I promise this is really happening.”
Screenshots Squires provided to News 6 show a travel itinerary with hotel information and Disney activities. A dinner entry states: “This meal will be covered by the Visa given to you by Practically Perfect Wishes and Dreams.”
Squires said Rivero was still discussing the arrangements with her the day before she received the closing notice.
“I was on the phone with her, going over all those things that she had promised,” Squires said. She said Rivero assured her that confirmations would be provided before the family left.
Danielle Dickson, another mother interviewed by News 6, described a group where parents had been comparing their PPW experiences. During the interview, she read off several states where members said they lived.
“Two from California, one from Pennsylvania, two from Missouri, one from South Carolina, one from Texas,” Dickson said.
In responses provided through attorney Chad Rogers, PPW said telling a family its wish had been “granted” meant the approval and planning process was moving forward.
“It did not mean that trip arrangements were finalized or that all expenses had already been funded,” the organization wrote.
PPW said families still needed to complete required paperwork before setting dates and that fulfillment could depend on subsequent fundraising.
The organization also said fundraising was voluntary.
“Families were invited to fundraise but were not required to; families coordinated their own fundraising,” PPW wrote. It said transaction records would need to be reviewed before it could explain how particular families’ donations were allocated or spent.
PPW’s closing letter cited Rivero’s health, saying her condition had taken an unexpected turn and that the organization could not continue operating without her. The letter announced an immediate closure and said families would be contacted individually as necessary about further details.
In Monday’s responses, PPW identified several contributing factors: Rivero’s health, funding challenges and “negative accusations surrounding the organization.”
It said it applied for one grant this past summer but had received neither a decision nor funding.
PPW said its personnel estimate they contributed approximately $10,000 of their own money toward trips and operations. It also reported receiving approximately $1,500 in commissions associated with wish-granting activities, which it said were fully reinvested in the program.
“It disputes allegations that its personnel used the program for personal gain,” the statement said.
PPW said it completed three wishes. News 6 also received a positive account from Shalynn Miller, who said the organization fulfilled a wish trip for her mother shortly before her mother died.
Miller described the experience as “the most phenomenal gift” her family could have received.
PPW said it is aware of four families who incurred a combined $6,383 in personal travel expenses related to anticipated trips.
Although its agreements assigned responsibility for families’ own travel expenses to the families, the organization said it intends to reimburse that amount.
PPW reported sending an initial installment on Sept. 22. It expects to finish reimbursing the first family in October, then make further payments of $600 per month until the full $6,383 has been reimbursed.
The organization said it had contacted or attempted to contact three of the four families and was working to contact the fourth.
Asked for supporting records, PPW said it would consider providing information about specific transactions while taking families’ privacy and the possibility of litigation into account.
News 6 is continuing to seek an interview with Rivero about the organization and the families’ concerns.
For Squires, the immediate challenge is explaining the change in plans to her children. She said she cannot afford to provide everything Rivero promised, but she is trying to put together a trip to Florida.
“Disney is someplace that we never would have been able to afford,” Squires said.
She recalled her son asking a different question after the plans fell apart:
“Well, at least we can go see the beach, right, Mom?”
