HELP! Making my own Gift Baskets

[Dale-n-Chip]

Any suggestions for what to include in gift "baskets" for DM (70), DF (72), DH (36) and DS (5)?

I don't have lots of money to burn, and I've got two months, so I have some time to bargain shop. I'll check out eBay, my local Disney store, Wal-Mart, Target, and Big Lots to see what I can find.

Here are my ideas so far:
1. Foot massager balls. They are little knobby plastic balls about maybe 1.5 inches in diameter. Easy to travel with and oh-so-wonderful after a day at the parks. I got mine at one of those shoe stores at the outlet malls.
2. Target now carries Mickey undies for women, maybe other characters. I stopped dead in my tracks!
3. Target also has a decent selection of fun women's socks in Disney characters. With a son named Dale, you can imagine my excitement to find a pair with Chip-n-Dale!! (In DS's world, the names are reversed--hence my backwards username )
4. Both Target and Wal-Mart carry lots of Tinkerbell stuff like pajamas.
5. Wal-Mart also carries Disney totebags/purses--might use those instead of baskets or gift bags!
6. Big Lots used to have school supplies with Disney characters.
7. New toothbrushes. Finding a Disney toothbrush for DS (5) should be easy. What do you think the chances are of finding one for the adults in the group?

What I love best about our Disney trips is planning is almost as much fun as going--ALMOST!

Any and all suggestions welcome and appreciated!

 

[albianne]

I have been collecting bits and pieces to make up a welcome basket for my dd, so far have found quite a bit of stuff so will divide it up throughout our 10 day stay
At the local disney store:

Disney baseball caps Grumpy dh, Jessica Rabbit-me, minnie -dd
Disney rubber bracelets
minnie socks
minnie beanies - pink dress with hat & red polka dot dress
minnie keychain
Finding Nemo cosmetic case (actually a pencil case)
nemo watch
nemo foam puzzle
nemo calculator and pen
2 mens t-shirts for dh Grumpy and Mr. Incredible (couldn't resist)

At Walmart:

cinderella lip balm
temporary princess tattoo's (available in assorted characters)
Disney stickers

The local dollar store:

Ladies or girls polka dot panties that match mini's dress
colorful novelty pencils with coordinating
goofy erasors
notepads & stationary to write friends at home

Total cost for all of the above was $99.41 Canadian funds or $79.00 U.S.
It may seem like a lot for a welcome basket but included in that price was 2 t-shirts and a hat for dh birthday present, plus a baseball cap for myself.
I have enough goodies that I made up a welcome basket for dd for when we arrive plus a birthday basket for dd who has birthday during our vacation also another cute little basket just out of the Nemo items which all sit nicely in the pencil/cosmetic case (I might just leave that on the bathroom vanity one day as a surprise), all the Nemo stuff including a really cute watch was $20.46 Canadian or $16.36 U.S. and Nemo is great for boys or girls. I had a blast making up these gift baskets, if I lived near DL I would love to do this full-time LOL unfortunately I am way up here in Canada. It's a shame they only offer the gift basket service to the DL hotels because I think that many people staying at the good neighbor hotels would like the service too, and it would be a lot easier to order on line than pack it in the suitcase to take with us.

 

[Dale-n-Chip]

Well, at least for the adult XX chromosomes. . .

Just got back from a run to my local Wal-Mart and Target and here's what I found:

Target:
Women's socks in Grumpy, Tink, Chip-n-Dale, Eeyore
Women's underwear in Tink, Cheshire Cat, Mickey, Minnie
Women's pajama bottoms/tops on the CLEARANCE RACK in Thumper (cotton capris)
Women's pajama bottoms/tops on the regular price rack in Mickey, Tink, and Bambi (Mickey and two different Tinks in tank tops with cotton bottoms, Tink and Bambi in knit long-sleeved tops and cotton bottoms)

Wal-Mart:
Women's underwear on the CLEARANCE RACK in Mickey/Minnie, Pooh etc, and Dwarfs
Women's pajama choices galore--fleece bottoms, flannel bottoms and knit long-sleeved pajama sets in Bambi, Tink, Eeyore, Si and Am (the cats from Lady and the Tramp!), hmmmm. . . that may be it.

I admit it didn't occur to me to check the girls department. Sorry--no little girls in my world. The one thing I know is that the Disney Princess stuff is omnipresent, so I wouldn't think that stuff would be tough to find. The men and boys departments were a complete bust.

I did see Incredibles tennis shoes for boys at Payless.

Albianne, the Mr Incredible t-shirt reference cracked me up! I may have to find DH one of those, too. And Dad probably deserves one, too, now that I think about it. Thanks for the hint!!

 

[mickeysgal]

How about disposable cameras and fanny packs?

 

[Disneyluvr]

check out a site called Disneydeals.com they are an outlet from DL on ebay. All of the items have come directly from DL, WDW or the Disney Store and they have great prices. I bought some sweatshirts last year for our Christmas trip to DL and only paid $8 and they had a DL tag that said $58!!

 

[laura&fam]

One thing I did that was super cheap and will be lots of fun is I bought water bottles (I bought the little cute midget ones for the kids) and put Disney labels on them.

I just cut off the label that came with it then printed everyones name on patterned 8 1/2 x 11 paper (scrapbook stores have this) in Disney font using my computer. Use the paper that you cut off of the water bottle to measure the size you need. They turned out really cute and were super easy and cheap! You can use character specific paper for each person.

Another thing I got was a $0.50 pack of colored pencils and a Disney coloring book for my daughter and small beach toys at the dollar store for my son. We don't have much space in our luggage so small was important.

 

[BrerMama]

Guest of Honor badges! I'm not sure that's the correct name anymore, but they are name badges with characters around the outside. Several online Disney shopping services have them for about $10/each, plus shipping. I had bought some in 2000, but they are starting to fall apart, so I've already ordered new ones for our June trip. My girls are getting a stuffed animal, a t-shirt to wear as a night shirt, rubber bracelets, and stickers. My son will get pins, pins and pins. I'm also planning to buy candy that's not going to be damaged by heat... sweet tarts, etc. and put those in their baskets.