Pre-Planning for a Kindergarten Graduate Surprise Trip! **UPDATED 6/5**

[BlvInMagic]

Hello everyone! This is my first pre-planning thread on the Dis-Boards, and I'm getting super excited as the departure date quickly approaches for our June trip to WDW!


We are a family of 3 -- myself, DH and our 5 yr-old son (soon to be a Kindergarten graduate!). This will be our 2nd WDW family trip. Our very 1st family trip was in 2013, when we took our son down shortly after his 4th birthday, and enjoyed the Halloween festivities.




The upcoming trip is a currently a SURPRISE to our son -- we wanted to do a special reveal on his graduation day, "Surprise, we are gong to Disney World TOMORROW!" But as we get closer, DH and I are now worried -- can we make the delivery epic enough?! We're still in the early planning stages of the trip unveiling for him, so any ideas on the "how to" would be most welcome! Right now, I have a Disney Autograph Book purchased for him to unwrap, I may buy one of those "I'm going to Disney World" tee shirts and see if he can put the clues together.

Here's our current trip plan:

Arrive on June 11 for a 7 night stay at the Caribbean Beach Resort. We arrive just in time to participate in the last Star Wars Weekend, which makes DH super happy (on a side note, since today is May 4 -- "May the Fourth be With you!")

We have ADR's planned at:
-Jedi Mickey’s Star Wars Dine at Hollywood & Vine + Fantasmic Show
-Be Our Guest
-Cinderella’s Royal Table
-T-Rex
-Coral Reef
-Tusker House (Character Breakfast)

I was really hoping to get us reservations for Star Wars Dine-In Galactic Breakfast at Sci-Fi (I've been attempting regularly since January, if I'm not mistaken, and the odds have not been in my favor....womp womp). Ever the optimist, I won't give up on this ADR.

 

[Gracefulskinny]

joining in!

 

[cogero]

I'm in. Sounds fun.

 

[BlvInMagic]

Tonight, DH and I are working on our "New Must Do's!" for the upcoming trip -- these will be the park experiences that are totally new, first-time experiences for us. Topping my list is:

-THE DOLE WHIP! I need to find out what all the hype is about
-Ride the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train
-Meet the Interactive Mickey
-Getting Character Autographs (seriously, I can't believe we never made time for this during our meet and greets!)
-Meet Anna and Elsa (all the Fastpass + reservations are currently and totally sold out during our visit. bummer!)
-Teamboat Springs at Blizzard Beach
-Dinning at T-Rex
-Dinning at Be Our Guest
-Meet Daisy Duck (seriously, where does she hang out?!)
-Stay at the Magic Kingdom until the "Kiss Goodnight"
-And finally, we would love it if our son would be brave enough to do the Jedi Training! We had him signed up during our last trip, and unfortunately, he had a big case of stage fright as they were walking to the venue (in full Jedi garb) and he didn't participate in the show.

I'm sure I'll come up with a few more Newbie items for us to conquer. After all, I have about 30 days to keep my wheels turning!

 

[JoshAndEvsMom]

Hi! Joining in! I'm totally with ya on the elusive Ms. Daisy Duck! My DD loves her and we couldn'the find her anywhere!

Can't wait to hear how your surprise goes! So fun!

 

[Colleen27]

I'm in! We're planning a June surprise too, though I haven't quite worked out the details.

We've seen Daisy a few times near the entrance to Epcot, on the right hand side as you enter the park, but that was a couple years ago so I'm not sure she's still in the same place. Have you checked Kenny the Pirate's site to see where she's hanging out now?

 

[BlvInMagic]

Oh my goodness! I can't believe that we are 36 days out from our trip, and it just occurred to me that I never gave Guest Relations our flight info for the Magical Express! Thankfully, as I was going over our plans, this just JUMPED out at me. I called up this morning, gave them the info -- and now we're good to go! I just wish our My Disney Experience would update to reflect the ME addition -- but, they said it would take a few days to appear there. **sigh**

 

[BlvInMagic]

I'm in! We're planning a June surprise too, though I haven't quite worked out the details.

We've seen Daisy a few times near the entrance to Epcot, on the right hand side as you enter the park, but that was a couple years ago so I'm not sure she's still in the same place. Have you checked Kenny the Pirate's site to see where she's hanging out now?

Good call, thanks for the tips! I'll check it out

 

[BlvInMagic]

Hi! Joining in! I'm totally with ya on the elusive Ms. Daisy Duck! My DD loves her and we couldn'the find her anywhere!

Can't wait to hear how your surprise goes! So fun!

Yea! Glad to have you here!

 

[BlvInMagic]

I'm in. Sounds fun.

Thanks for tuning-in!

 

[BlvInMagic]

joining in!

Glad to have you here! Thanks!

 

[BlvInMagic]

Here's a thought...where have all the "I'm going to Disney World" t-shirts gone on Disney.com? I was thinking today, that this would be a great item to have for our son when we present the SURPRISE to him -- but they are nowhere to be found on the website. Hmm. Looks like I'm going to have to get crafty! Oh dear!

 

[Colleen27]

Here's a thought...where have all the "I'm going to Disney World" t-shirts gone on Disney.com? I was thinking today, that this would be a great item to have for our son when we present the SURPRISE to him -- but they are nowhere to be found on the website. Hmm. Looks like I'm going to have to get crafty! Oh dear!

Did you try Etsy? A friend got some cute ones for her boys there when she couldn't find them on the Disney Store site.

 

[Mommyof2Boos]

You can buy the t-shirts on on etsy.com.

We are surprising our Kinder too this upcoming Sunday. She does not process things well without being told about plans, so we are telling her that we will be going "soon" (10 days after we tell her) and that she has to finish school first. In actuality because of a snow make up day she will miss the last 1/2 day, but that is alright they do not do ceremonies or anything for Kindergarten here. For her birthday which is this Sunday she is getting a guidebook, a suitcase, Disney jammies, and a postcard from Cinderella saying she can't wait to see her. We will see if she figures it out before we tell her where we are going. She has had a lot of input on planning unbeknownst to her. I made her shirts for each day and will have everything packed and ready to go and in the car that day so we can just show up at the airport. This is everyone's first trip (except me) so it should be fun!

 

[Sleepingbeauty101]

What a fun surprise! My daughter is graduating from kindergarten this year as well. And we are headed back in July!

 

[cogero]

I love the idea of a shirt and definitely recommend easy.

 

[JoshAndEvsMom]

I love your shirt idea! I was just on etsy last night and there are tons & tons of cute ones. One that especially stood out was two Mickey hands pointing upward and the text said "This kid is going to Disney World!". Anyhow there were lots. Looked like you could even just get the vinyl iron-on from some sellers so you can put it on your own shirt.

 

[BlvInMagic]

Hi everyone, we are officially 1 MONTH away from our Disney vacay!

I completed our Online Check-in for Caribbean Beach Resort last week and I HOPE, fingers crossed, that our 2 preferences -- Lower Level and Martinique Village -- will be granted. We've stayed at CBR in 2005 and 2009, and each time we've requested the Martinique Village in advance and have had zero success in staying there. Our previous rooms were in the Jamaica Village and the Aruba Village. Both Jamaica and Aruba were really nice, but I would love to stay in either Martinique or Trinidad North as they are nearest to the Old Port Royale (food court / gift shop). We'd also LOVE lower level room, since we will have a stroller rental in tow (thanks to Orlando Stroller Rentals -- they are super awesome) -- and that lower level room will really come in handy at the end of a long day, where we wouldn't have to lug the stroller up the stairs!

Now onto some fun stuff... Vacation Clothes! For myself, I indulged and purchased 3 new Disney themed shirts:



For DS, he already has lots of Disney themed shirts -- here are a few that have made the pre-packing "cut." My favorite is the anniversary Small World tee! And bonus, it was DS's favorite ride on his first trip in 2013



I think for DS though, I'll be packing a lot of solid cotton and mesh sleeveless tank tops to keep him cool. He doesn't take the heat well, so the cooler / comfortable he is - the happier he'll be! I'm still patrolling etsy and other websites for "I'm Going" shirts for our big surprise reveal. Lots of great ideas and options out there, I've got to make a decision soon!

 

[BlvInMagic]

Did you try Etsy? A friend got some cute ones for her boys there when she couldn't find them on the Disney Store site.

Thanks so much for the tip! You're right, etsy is loaded with "I'm going" options!

 

[BlvInMagic]

You can buy the t-shirts on on etsy.com.
and a postcard from Cinderella saying she can't wait to see her.

I love the idea of a postcard from Cinderella! Nice touch! Perhaps I can do a Mickey one for the my DS... hmmm! Thanks for the tip!