I took my medically complex daughter to a Florida getaway called Give Kids the World Village. It was better than Disney World.

• I'm a mom of four, and my oldest daughter, Claire, was born with multiple disabilities.
• In 2016, she was granted a visit to Disney World through the Make-A-Wish Foundation. 
• We've visited Give Kids the World Village multiple times since and love it.

South of Disney World, there's a place even more magical than the Magic Kingdom.

Ice cream is served all day long, and it's almost mandatory to have a sundae for breakfast. A quick call is all it takes for a cart of cookies to arrive at your door. There is a pool, a playground, a carousel, a movie theater, an arcade, a mini-golf course, amusement-park rides, and parties every night without fail. Children receive gifts every day, and a visit to this wonderland includes tickets to all the Orlando, Florida, theme parks.

But getting an invitation to visit isn't easy, and you can't book a stay for any price. Every family that visits is part of an exclusive club most hope never to join. Only children with life-limiting illnesses and their families are granted entry to Give Kids the World Village, a one-of-a-kind getaway that offers these children and their families a chance to gain some respite from the daily realities of living with medical complexities and chronic uncertainty.

My family stayed at Give Kids the World for a week in 2016 when my daughter Claire was granted a wish to visit Disney World through the Make-A-Wish Foundation. Since then, we have visited regularly as an alumni family.

It's all accessible

When Claire first had her wish granted, we had no idea what to expect from Give Kids the World. The volunteer wish granters who were guiding me through the process assured me it would be a fun place to stay, but I was expecting more of a kid-friendly hotel than the incredible resort that greeted us.

I noticed right away that everything on the grounds was accessible. My daughter uses a wheelchair, and we are constantly confronted with places she can't go and things she can't do because they are not designed with people with disabilities in mind. From the moment we walked in, it was clear that my daughter and other kids like her were not overlooked like they are almost everywhere else.

There were no stares from others

I instantly felt a sense of community among the other families at Give Kids the World. There were no stares or uncomfortable questions. We had all been through the experience of wondering whether our kids would live or die. Some of our kids would go on to live long lives after their visit, while others would not be around the following year. Some had completed treatment, while others were taking a break between hospital stays. But while we were at Give Kids the World, our kids were just kids, and parents could relax a little, too.

The staff and volunteers at Give Kids the World didn't see my daughter as a burden or someone to be pitied but as someone to be celebrated. She had been through many hard things and would face many more challenges. At Give Kids the World, she was a star. A visiting beauty queen even let her wear her crown.

Even alerts from the Give Kids the World app are filled with joy. A breaking-news alert might be that Mickey Mouse is about to arrive or that horse and carriage rides through the grounds are starting soon.

All holidays are celebrated, regardless of the time of year

All Give Kids the World families know nothing is promised, not another Christmas, birthday, or Halloween. Many of our children have missed celebrating these events, sometimes repeatedly, because they were sick or hospitalized. Give Kids the World knows this and brings a different celebration every night. Santa, complete with a huge variety of toys, visits once a week all year long. Kids can attend a birthday party with cake, games, and a balloon artist every week. Once a week, the cafeteria serves turkey with traditional Thanksgiving sides.

There can never be too many celebrations, but families with children with complex medical needs feel this more acutely. While my daughter's wish was to go to Disney World, and she loved the parks, the highlight of the trip for her wasn't the parks — it was her time at the village.