As the “Cinderella” classic song goes, “A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes,” one little girl had hers come true recently at Walt Disney World.
Make-A-Wish kid Rita, 10, is an aspiring designer who is battling cancer. She yearned to meet Disney’s costume design experts to create a “royal dress of her own,” Disney said on Wednesday.
Rita got to have a one-on-one gown design session with Disney designers, as well as tour Disney’s costuming building and fabric library.
“I was so excited because I got to go to a top-secret fashion place at Disney. I got to see all the ways costumes are designed, which was really cool,” Rita said in a statement.
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Rita’s Cinderella-inspired dress that she had a hand in illustrating was officially named, “Rita’s Rose Diamond Dress.” She was able to pick out colors, fabric and sparkles.
Her visit just so happened to coincide with the film’s 75th anniversary, which originally debuted on Feb. 15, 1950.
She was surprised when the costuming team told her that her design would be brought to life by the creation of a scale model replica of the gown for her to keep.
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“As a child, I was in and out of the hospital myself. It means so much to be able to fulfill a wish for someone going through that because I know what it’s like. It’s one of the best experiences I’ve ever had at Disney, and I’m so grateful I got to be part of it,” Allison Atmore, Costume Specialist at Disney Live Entertainment, said.
Disney has been working with Make-A-Wish for 45 years, and is the foundation’s “world’s largest wish granter,” the company said.
“Creating happiness for Make-A-Wish families is what we’re all about here at Disney. Our stories, parks and cast members help them make new memories that bring strength and hope,” Tajiana Ancora-Brown, Director of External Affairs at Walt Disney World, said.
While her mom says they have a long road ahead of them in Rita’s medical journey, she said “there’s no words” for the time together that means so much to them and will be a forever memory.
“I just had a blast!” Rita said about her day at Disney.
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