Fun Day for Special Kids : Visit: A group of handicapped and seriously ill youngsters from Canada were brought to Disneyland for a few happy hours to fulfill a lot of dreams.

About 73 Canadian children smiled impatiently as photographers scrambled to take their picture Wednesday in front of the Disneyland train depot.

The children were getting antsy after a 2 1/2-hour flight as a park photographer took one final shot. That last click of the camera was like the starting gun of a race. The kids were off, with just six hours to have the time of their lives.

All of the kids--ages 8 to 17--suffer from severe handicaps or life-threatening illnesses, and for most of them, just flying on a plane or coming to California was a brand new experience.

Fifty members of the Orange County Sheriff’s Department, along with four officers from the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, greeted the children as they arrived at John Wayne Airport Wednesday morning. Most of the children were paired with an officer for the day.

When the children arrived at the airport, knowing that they would return home Wednesday night, many could hardly contain their excitement. When someone pointed out Disneyland as they flew over the park, cheers erupted in the plane, one of the chaperons said later. Noise- abatement standards were lifted to allow the children’s plane, a Canadian Air 727-200 class, to land at John Wayne, an airport-access noise specialist said.

Nine-year-old Daniel Allard of Port Coquitlam, British Columbia, disembarked and shook hands with Orange County Sheriff Brad Gates and an officer with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, but he had only one thing on his mind: getting to Disneyland.

“I want to see Space Mountain,” he said. Asked if there was anything else he wanted to see, he said again, “I want to see Space Mountain.”

The visit was organized by the Sunshine Foundation of Canada, which helps severely handicapped and ill children. Ed Czach, an organizer of the visit, said that he helped form the Canadian chapter after his 15-year-old son died of muscular dystrophy in 1985. Since then, the group has visited Walt Disney World in Florida several times, but this was its first trip to Disneyland.

Many of the children suffer from cystic fibrosis and spina bifida, two diseases that have confined them to wheelchairs. Others have life-threatening diseases, such as cancer and hemophilia.

“A few kids couldn’t come because they had to have a blood transfusion or couldn’t make the trip because they had to have more chemotherapy,” Czach said. “There are some very sick children here.”

But he predicted that those who came would take back a lot of memories.

“It’s a trip they never forget,” he said. “It’s no doom or gloom.”

Once he got into the park, Luke Thomas, 10, of Maple Ridge, B.C., who is confined to a wheelchair, rattled off a list of rides he planned to go on, including Space Mountain and Pirates of the Caribbean.

“This is really exciting,” he said as he snapped pictures with a disposable camera. “I am really happy.”

Eleven-year-old Cole Vassey, of Burnaby, B.C., needs a wheelchair most of the time, but he almost leaped up when he ventured into the realm of the Pirates of the Caribbean and Splash Mountain.

“This is cool,” he said, marveling at the animated figures as he drifted among the Pirates who were busily sacking a town. Both he and his buddy, Daniel Allard, were amazed when they saw a figure firing fake shots from a gun and asked their sheriff’s escorts how it was done.

Some sheriff’s personnel, ranging from assistant sheriffs to deputies and clerical workers, were eager to help out. Many brought cameras.

“Even though cops are kind of cynical, what better thing can you do but give them a day at Disneyland?” said Sheriff’s Capt. Tim Simon of the special investigations unit.

Simon escorted Jamie Whitman, 15, of Delta, B.C. Although he is confined to a wheelchair, Jamie said he was happy to at last get to the park and its Splash Mountain and Space Mountain attractions, among others.

“My mom said, ‘You’re going to Disneyland,’ and I said ‘No way.’ I really didn’t think I’d end up making it. My parents kept on saying, ‘We’ll go someday.’ Now I’m here.”