ANAHEIM : Fantasyland a Reality for Ailing Girl

Most of all, Willow Wadman wanted to go on a roller coaster ride.

But the 11-year-old had other wishes. She wanted to ride horseback on the beach, to be on “Wheel of Fortune,” to take a train ride, and to go to Disneyland, Knott’s Berry Farm and take the Universal Studios Tour.

Most of her dreams will come true this week as she and her family explore Southern California, thanks to a Montana organization that grants the wishes of chronically ill children.

On Thursday, Willow rode Disneyland’s Matterhorn roller coaster--not once, but twice. “That was awesome!” she declared afterward. “The second time was even better!”’

The girl whose dream came true lives in Cut Bank, Mont., a town of 3,500 people. She suffers from Ewing’s sarcoma, a form of bone cancer.

During her weeklong stay, she and her four brothers and sisters will spend a day at the beach, although they won’t be able to go horseback riding. The family’s sponsors couldn’t find a stable in the area that rents horses for beachfront riding.

But Willow lives on a farm with five horses, so she wasn’t too disappointed about that. And although she couldn’t go on “Wheel of Fortune” because she’s younger than 18, the show sent her a tote bag with assorted souvenirs as a consolation prize.

Because the girl’s cancer makes her bones very brittle, doctors weren’t sure where she should ride on a roller coaster. She recently recovered from a broken collarbone, explained her mother, Valerie Wadman, and jarring Space Mountain was out of the question.

But braced by Linda Douglass of the Montana Hope Project, which sponsored the trip, Willow came through the Matterhorn ride in fine form. “I love roller coasters,” she said happily.

The visit was organized by the Montana Highway Patrol Assn., which sells teddy bears and candy to raise money to grant the wishes of terminally ill children. Since 1983, the group has made dreams come true for about 60 children, Douglass said. The only stipulation of the group is that the wishes must be those of the child, not the child’s parents.

Other kids have wished for canopy beds, cars or a trip to see a space shuttle launch, Douglass said. One child wants to meet basketball star Michael Jordan. “We’re working on that right now. It’s harder, but we’ll do it,” she said.

Before going to Disneyland, the Wadmans were greeted at a Highway Patrol station in Santa Ana and given a VIP escort of two motorcycles and a patrol car.