enhancing the magic

[maddi]

Since everyone seems to have wonderful ideas on how to help create and maintain the magic before, during, and after disney plus there are quite a few newbies I thought it would be neat for everyone to share their rituals, ideas, and creations of magic.

Some of the pre-trip magic we create are:

~*~ I type out a letter with disney font on Disney paper and put in a decorated envelope addressed to our DD. Then I place it in another envelope and mail it to our resort with a small note asking them to mail it back to us so it has a Florida Postmark. Or DD is so excited to recieve a letter from Mickey asking about her puppy, a certain outfit she will be wearing, and telling her he will definitely be looking for her so he can wave to her during the parade.

~*~We make special outfits for each day we are there themed around whatever park we are visiting that day. 101 dalmations outift for MGM, Safari Mickey and Minnie outfit for AK, Princesses for MK.

~*~The last month, we make a Disney Calender with stickers to place on each day until it is time to leave.

~*~The week before we leave, it is everything Disney. Snacks, food cut in shapes of(Hamburger, pancakes, etc)painting toes and fingernails with mickey on them. We make our Disney themed thank-you cards for all of the wonderful CMs, mousekeeping, and people who help spread the magic while we are in WDW.

~*~The day before we leave, it's a movie marathon of all of our DD favorite movies.

~*~The day we leave, we let our DD help write with car window paint on the windows of our SUV about our destination. "We're going to see Mickey" Or "WDW or BUST" or "HONK, if you like Mickey Mouse" just to help keep her entertained on the trip to the Airport.

~*~ At the Airport, we sneak a gift from Tink to a flight attendant and have her deliver it to our daughter mid-flight. Nothing like a present from Tink to help entertain her on the flight.

 

[maddi]

TRIP FUN

~*~ A special delivery letter, after we are in our room, from Mickey exclaiming how happy we made it safely to WDW and he will looking for her at the park.(Hubby does this while we stop to check out the lobby after checking in.)

~*~ An invitation each night when we return room inviting her to a special meal with a character(Cinderella, Mickey, Donald, etc.)

~*~ A small trinket, stuffed animal, etc each morning from Tink.

~*~ We look for pixy dust while waiting in line for rides. (yes, there has been times when we see glitter here and there). DD thinks Tink is close when she sees it.

~*~ We take certain items for different characters to get a little interaction going(dog bones, cheese, silk flowers) or say certain things or make noises to get interaction(Bark at Cruella, tell Donald Mickey is her favorite, etc).

~*~Basically as her parents, we turn into little children and act as she does, sees as she sees, and have fun with her.

~*~ Leave Mousekeeping notes taped to the mirror on how great of a job there are doing and how much we appreciate the magic they bring into our rooms(We usually find DD toys positioned on the bed, table, towels made into animals or a cake, etc.)

 

[maddi]

So how do you make Disney extra special before, during, and after your trip???

 

[barkley]

our kids are'nt generaly told until 2-3 days before we leave so nothing major there. they do get excited when the help pack and find the new disney themed jammies i've gotten at walmart or from the disney store. we also try to get all of us matching disney t-shirts that we wear our first day in "the world".

before we leave i've take a package to the post office address to them at the resort and fill it with small items to keep them occupied (coloring book, crayons, a few new dvds for the portable player we bring with us, sometimes if disneyonline is having a good sale on the packages of little figures i get each a set that i know they would like (ds got villians and heros last time, dd got princess polly pockets).

we take lots of photo that go right into the album upon return as well as in some 8x10 frames around the house and in their rooms. if we see a disney poster that realy means something to us-we buy it and them put it into a poster frame for the family room.

in '05 i extended it a bit longer than ususal-dd had seen a tink themed item and realy wanted it-i told her it was too fragile to take home on the plane, but i arranged (behind her back) to buy/have it shipped home with a note from tinkerbell. it was kept until christmas and put under the tree by santa. same situation with a castle playset for ds-it was waaaaaaaaaaaaaaay too big to travel with us-peter pan ended up gifting it to him for his birthday.

 

[tatooed goofy]

I love all the ideas but, what do you do for older kids.....12 or so?
Some of these ideas are so awesome for little kids.....what about older say, Middle school kids? I am looking at having a basket made by Peggy for the room ahead of time but other than that, what else?
I made shirts but I am looking specifically for them alone.
Thanks.

 

[juligrl]

After the trip I had DD3 "help" me make a scrapbook of all our Disney memories. Now, every time we have people over, she hauls out the scrapbook and tells them all about Disney. I've created a monster!

 

[lnh'smom]

Since everyone seems to have wonderful ideas on how to help create and maintain the magic before, during, and after disney plus there are quite a few newbies I thought it would be neat for everyone to share their rituals, ideas, and creations of magic.

Some of the pre-trip magic we create are:

~*~ I type out a letter with disney font on Disney paper and put in a decorated envelope addressed to our DD. Then I place it in another envelope and mail it to our resort with a small note asking them to mail it back to us so it has a Florida Postmark. Or DD is so excited to recieve a letter from Mickey asking about her puppy, a certain outfit she will be wearing, and telling her he will definitely be looking for her so he can wave to her during the parade.

~*~We make special outfits for each day we are there themed around whatever park we are visiting that day. 101 dalmations outift for MGM, Safari Mickey and Minnie outfit for AK, Princesses for MK.

~*~The last month, we make a Disney Calender with stickers to place on each day until it is time to leave.

~*~The week before we leave, it is everything Disney. Snacks, food cut in shapes of(Hamburger, pancakes, etc)painting toes and fingernails with mickey on them. We make our Disney themed thank-you cards for all of the wonderful CMs, mousekeeping, and people who help spread the magic while we are in WDW.

~*~The day before we leave, it's a movie marathon of all of our DD favorite movies.

~*~The day we leave, we let our DD help write with car window paint on the windows of our SUV about our destination. "We're going to see Mickey" Or "WDW or BUST" or "HONK, if you like Mickey Mouse" just to help keep her entertained on the trip to the Airport.

~*~ At the Airport, we sneak a gift from Tink to a flight attendant and have her deliver it to our daughter mid-flight. Nothing like a present from Tink to help entertain her on the flight.

You are such a good, fun mom. Your daughter is very lucky!

 

[lnh'smom]

okay, not just maddi, you are all good, fun parents!

 

[barkley]

I love all the ideas but, what do you do for older kids.....12 or so?
Some of these ideas are so awesome for little kids.....what about older say, Middle school kids? I am looking at having a basket made by Peggy for the room ahead of time but other than that, what else?
I made shirts but I am looking specifically for them alone.
Thanks.

dd is just shy of 12 and she likes to "extend the magic" by taking a laundry marker along to have characters and friends she makes sign a t-shirt. she loves wearing these to school and remembering the events around meeting a particular person/character. i also budget part of her school clothing around a wdw trip-she can pick up a few items that will be included in her school clothing-she seems to enjoy that.

if the older one likes computers at all and you have a digital camera, have them put together a photo montage for a family letter (holiday or otherwise)-it can be fun for them to include their reviews of certain attractions and events.