goody bags, early/daily gifts

[flipflopmom]

OKay, Disney has officially taken over my mind. My friends are all complaining that I am never on Facebook anymore!

I have started buying stuff for our girls. We are going to tell them about the trip on Easter, so their baskets will all be Disney stuff. A very nice DISer is getting me some lanyards, autograph books, and Disney dollars. I have also ordered them Disney crocs on clearance, plush mickeys, nightgowns and t's at disneyshopping.com, and some pins to start them off with pin trading. Not all of this will go in their baskets, the trip itself is the biggie - their first!

For those of you that do gift bags for your kids, do you do one when you get there, or do little daily bags so they have something new each day? I've been picking up small stuff like post-it notes, etc. to do in this manner, as well as I have gotten them a pin to add each day to their lanyard to correspond with what we are doing that day. I wanted to add those as a daily surprise, but not sure if I should put all the rest in one bag or spread out the love???? We are driving, so packing them for flying isn't a prob.

Thanks for reading this book of a post!

 

[squirrel]

How about wrapping a few for the car ride. Might make the drive a bit more fun.

Not sure about the gift thing. I was good the first time about leaving presents from Tink for my niece. This last trip, I forgot most of the time. I had to much packed in the bag and the gifts weren't together.

 

[zoemurr]

while DH and kids looked at the grounds. I left a big bag of stuff that had a note on it from Mickey and Minnie, so they found it when we went in the room for the first time.

 

[jpkkld]

We're going right after Easter too! And I have so much stuff . . . !! I think for smaller kids, spreading stuff out makes more sense. They get overwhelmed when presented with a lot all at once.

For us, some of the gifts will go in dd4's Easter basket, specifically, anything she'll enjoy using at the airport and on the plane: an activity book, some twistable colored pencils, a small handheld princess game from Kmart, a blank notebook and stickers. I thought I would do more princess stuff in her basket, but when I started organizing everything, I found I was saving the generic stuff for Easter. Go figure.

In my carryon I will hide a bag of Disney stuff. This stuff will not come out until we are ON the plane and getting restless (it's a 3-hr flight) - a MYO journal, a MYO activity book (I used the sticky thread from this forum), an Epcot passport (Just For Fun forum - Creative DISigns), and a small photo brag book filled with random pictures of WDW. After the trip, we'll take out those pics and put in pics that my dd took. For a car ride, I would probably bring out one item at a time, and include some trinkets too.

In one of our suitcases will go unwrapped gifts (per TSA requirements), mostly the "bigger" stuff (bigger as in more expensive). These items will be wrapped after we get there, and be "delivered to our room" by "the princesses" each day while we are at the parks. I figure one of the parents can just "forget" something each day when we leave for the bus stop, run back and set out the gift of the day. I found a nice set of MYO princess valentines for $1 on clearance at Target, so I have some beautiful stationery to leave notes from the princesses.

And then it occurred to me that the Easter Bunny and the princesses were getting all the credit, and that my smart little girl would figure out that Mommy and Daddy weren't getting her any presents themselves! So I reserved a handful of cool things for US to give her - a lightup spinner from Target, temporary tattoos, glow sticks, a Mickey kaleidoscope from the dollar store, more stickers, a cool pen, some tiny activity books (3"x4") from Michaels. I'll spread these out over the week, and a few will be efforts to quell the souvenir requests.

Have a great vacation!
-Kristin

 

[poohfriend77]

We went last Feb., and gave them a big box of Disney stuff (crocs, shirts, Disney swim suits, park maps, planning DVD) for Christmas. Mickey included a letter telling them about the trip, and explaining that Tinkerbell liked to leave little surprises for good little girls who were getting ready to visit her. Make sure they understand that they won't get a present EVERY day, lol! Then once a week or so, she'd leave another T-shirt, Disney puzzle, etc. They also got a new Disney rolling backpack a couple days before we left, so they could pack stuff for the plane. When they would fight about something, we'd say "Gee, I guess Tink won't have to stop here tonight..." Worked like a charm!

Tink left a gift each day of the trip: new toothbrush and paste (bonus is that you can pack it ahead of time), binoculars for AK (these were a HUGE hit! Watch for sales at CVS... we got decent one --not toys-- for $3.99), princess dresses for our P&P party, different dress for BBB day, invitations from characters for special meals, sunglasses, disposable cameras, journals, and dress-up jewelry.

The first day, they went out the door first, and I put out the package on our way to dinner. After that, I just put the stuff out after they went to bed each night, so they'd find it in the morning. I'd definitely keep the lanyards and autograph books until you get there. I know in my house they would be broken/lost/or colored if I gave them to the kids at home. Have a great trip!

 

[debraW76]

Tinkerbell leaves bags for our kids every night. She fills small bags of snacks/candy/gum and also cheap toys and glow in the dark sticks. At first she filled their own backpacks that the kids had to leave by the door each night but after realizing that I was the one who wound up carrying their backpacks Tink started leaving plastic party favor bags that the kids can throw away after they are done. (I know it is not very green but it works better for us).

The trick is to get stuff that we normally will not buy (name brand poptarts, small pringle cans, etc) I think we spend a lot less on themepark snacks this way. And the toys are always something that I wont cry if it gets lost or broke in the parks. The glow sticks are always a big hit! We often have other parents stop us to ask where we got them.

We also give our kids disney dollars for their souvies. that way they know that some of it comes from us.

I think this is one of the funnest parts of our disney vacation because I get to be Santa every night!!

 

[NaplesRI]

ok I am a crazy Grandma who is very excited because we are going to Disney in 2 weeks, and it's our 6 yr old grandson's 1st trip.

soooo.... it will be a trip to remember! He knows that Tinkerbell delivers little gifts from Mickey to good little boys and girls. Want to know what I have?
(keep in mind, we are driving and picking the rest of the family up at the airport, staying in a condo offsite)

Buzz Lightyear drinking cup
Puzzles- Pirates of the Caribbean and 2 Mickey ones
Indiana Jones Lego
green army men
Multiple glowsticks, bracelts, necklaces
Mickey Beanie
Multiple pins for trading or keeping
Child's waistpack so he can carry his own snacks
Mickey magic towels
Mickey soaps
Safari Mickey
Animal magic towels
Jungle magnetic board
Magic monkey (put in water and it grows)
Lightning McQueen paper and colored pencils ($1 at Target bins yesterday)
Mickey throw blankets (for everyone in the family)
Mickey cup, plate, bowl, placemat
Mickey tshirts for the whole family
Disney pjs
WALL E cinch bag
CARS Magic painting
Disney coloring books
Disney crayons
Disney dollars
Mickey tatoos
Mickey napkins
mini fan
Disney playing cards
Lots of other misn non Disney stuff like Dot to dot books etc

I have enough that he will be getting surprises every morning when he wakes, and every day when we get back from the park. Thankfully there are 5 adults to get him out of the condo so I can leave stuff out. The safari mickey will be in his carseat the day we are going to AK.

I also have everything in individual store bags marked with the day and morning or night so I just have to take that day's out at the last minute.
(Retirement is great for organization time!)

It's not all Disney stuff, but is geared heavily towards Disney.
I purchased from: Dollar Tree ,EBAY,Walmart and Target
I have had my eyes open for Disney stuff since last summer.

I, I mean Mickey, sent a little book at Christmas, Valentines etc with a note.
We did the Enchanted call from Mickey at Christmas.

I've gone on too long... can you tell I am excited to share Disney with our DGS?