Seven-year-old Dakota, an Acworth girl with a severe genetic disorder, recently took the trip of a lifetime to Disney World.
Dakota was one of 13 children between ages 5 and 12 with chronic illnesses selected for the 20th Bert’s Big Adventure trip, sponsored by Bert Weiss and his hit radio show “The Bert Show.”
Dakota, who has DiGeorge Syndrome, a defect in chromosome 22 that can cause severe illness in some children, traveled with her family, the other 12 children and their families on the all-expenses-paid trip from Feb. 22-27.
Credit: Monarch Studio/Zach Thomas
Credit: Monarch Studio/Zach Thomas
Born in Birmingham, Alabama, Dakota had kidney failure at birth and went through open-heart surgery at one week old. She moved to Acworth with her family about three years ago and has lived in Cobb ever since.
A range of medical challenges, from asthma to frequent and overlapping infections, have not kept Dakota from singing and dancing, and she hopes to be a dancer when she grows up.
“She’s bubbly, unique in her own way, I tell her that she’s the strongest, sweetest, one-of-a-kind little girl, that’s mine,” said Dakota’s mother, Jennifer Flowers.
Flowers said her sister has been a longtime listener of “The Bert Show” and nominated Dakota for the 2022 trip.
While Dakota was not selected then, Dakota’s aunt nominated her again this year, and, to the surprise of Flowers and the rest of the family, she was chosen for the 20th anniversary trip, which made Flowers and the entire family “so happy.”
Flowers heard first from Weiss over FaceTime that Dakota had been selected, and Flowers then arranged a surprise for her daughter, replete with balloons and a card to reveal the big adventure ahead.
Credit: Bert's Big Adventure
Credit: Bert's Big Adventure
“She was so excited,” Flowers said. “I think her and her brother matched the excitement of everything.”
Dakota’s six-year-old brother, Logan, had been talking for the past couple of years about wanting to go to Disney World. Flowers said the trip was a great opportunity for the siblings to bond while enjoying everything the parks have to offer.
The trip also offered Dakota and other children with chronic, oftentimes noticeable illnesses, the chance to spend time together and not feel left out.
Weiss said that during the pre-trip orientation when the children and their families meet each other, Weiss and his staff, many of the kids talk about bullying as their least favorite part about school.
Credit: Bert's Big Adventure
Credit: Bert's Big Adventure
With Bert’s Big Adventure, the children’s common experiences with illness bring them together and close the door to that negativity.
“They see kids that look like them. They see kids that have this in common. I think it really brings down any kind of walls because they realize at that point, ‘You know what, we’re all in this together,’ and there is no fear at all,” Weiss said.
Weiss told the Marietta Daily Journal he was inspired by Kidd’s Kids, a trip to Disney World started by late radio host Kidd Kraddick in the early 1990s, while he worked for Kraddick.
“Kidd became kind of my mentor and my brother, and when I left his show, I was really touched by what I saw on that trip. Just the way that families really appreciated getting away from Dallas at the time, and really having this all-expenses-paid trip,” Weiss said.
Kraddick approved of Weiss’s idea to start his own trip, and with his show, Bert’s Big Adventure was born. For the last 20 years, Weiss and his team have been taking children with life-altering medical conditions and their families to “The Most Magical Place on Earth” one week out of every year.
Weiss loves that family members get to join in the fun, and they are appreciated for the work they do to care for the children by being included on the trip.
“The family aspect of this is enormous,” Weiss said. “The celebration for the entire family is really what I’m most proud of, and anybody that’s under the roof that’s helping out goes with us.”
Credit: Bert's Big Adventure
Credit: Bert's Big Adventure
Dakota, whose favorite characters are Mickey and Minnie Mouse, also dreamed of seeing Cinderella’s Castle at Magic Kingdom.
Standing before the castle, in her princess gown and with a big smile across her face, Dakota’s dream came true.
Credit: Marietta Daily Journal
Credit: Marietta Daily Journal
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