How do you buy a Disney trip as a gift for Dad?

[Markstudy]

I was thinking of buying my dad a gift.

He mentioned he wanted to go to Disney. I don't think he wants to spend the money so he probably won't go.

He took me many times when I was a kid... now I'm thinking about buying him a trip.

Can you get a gift certificate? Can you leave the dates open? (maybe just pick the season...Value Season Jan-Feb )

Can you buy parts of a package. I might just buy him the room.
(I think he'd like Grand Floridian Lagoon View...going in Jan-Feb it might be cold for us Florida people and GF seems better if the weather is cold compaired to outdoor poly)

Can he still get a package deal for park tickets or meal plan?
Getting him a Gift Certificate would be fun, But I'm worried that you have to pay for the entire package all at once.

Or if I can afford it... Room, tickets, meal plan... can I buy Gift Certificate for all of that and then let him pick the exact dates?

Any ideas, or tips would be helpful ... thanks

 

[DizneyNutz]

But i'm afraid it is not very practical from a surprise standpoint. Disney likes to know who is coming and when they are coming. Maybe you can ask when he would like to go and do the planning/ reservations for him.

 

[Markstudy]

But i'm afraid it is not very practical from a surprise standpoint. Disney likes to know who is coming and when they are coming. Maybe you can ask when he would like to go and do the planning/ reservations for him.

Yep... I'm thinking the same thing. I know the time frame Jan/Feb is when he'd want to go. But I would be working with him on the planning... but I first need to know what I can buy in the way of Gift Certificate or if anyone has done this or heard of this?

I'm my Dads son... we are both way too logical, but I still would like to give him something fun, to get the project started. Maybe give it to him for early Christmas present, and then start planning trip for Feb.

 

[wdwnomad]

You could buy him a Disney Gift Card. You can put up to $1500 on one card. He could use that towards making a payment for a trip that he decides to take.

 

[Markstudy]

You could buy him a Disney Gift Card. You can put up to $1500 on one card. He could use that towards making a payment for a trip that he decides to take.

That does sound like the easy way to do it

Just checking disboards becaues I've seen some weird questions asked...and there's always someone that shows up and says "Yes, we can get blue ice cream on the blimp ride over Orlando"

Just wanted to test the depths of disboards before we do it the easy way

 

[Coll0610]

Could you make up your own certificate that says something like "good for one Disney trip, planning included" and give him that at Christmas?

 

[Markstudy]

Could you make up your own certificate that says something like "good for one Disney trip, planning included" and give him that at Christmas?

That's a good idea also.

Even though Jan/Feb is slow time at Diseny. I would probably have to give him early Christmas present in November...to allow us a little more time to make ADR's and get a good choice of resturants and times

 

[TnTWalter]

We surprised my parents with a cruise for their 40th Anniversary....

I snuck in their house and decorated their table with beach themed items and wrote a poem about their anniversary and their gift....

They then got to plan the date and pick from 2 cruise choices [island stops].

They still talk about it 4 years later....

So how about something like that??

It would make a great Christmas present....a bunch of Disney themed items in a box with a poem or something in a Disney picture frame.....
that would be great!

And you could capture it on film.

What a wonderful gift!

Trish

 

[fla4fun]

The few times I've planned surprise trips, I've gone the route of "Gee, I wish I were going to Disney today. If you were there right now, where would you want to be staying/eating?" etc. I get the ideas out of them about the kind of things they like to do, go ahead and book the hotel and some ADR's for their favorite restaurants, and then leave some time open for last minute planning once they know they're going. It's worked out fairly well. Either they never catch on, or they don't mind how I plan - I'm not sure which!

 

[chyam]

You know you could go ahead and make some reservations for him since they can be changed up to 5 days in advance, ( just pick out some dates in Jan or Feb) And if I am correct it doesn't look like he will need airfare, unless he doesn't live in Clearwater. Since most of Jan. and Feb. are fairly slow I don't think you will have a real problem making ADRS. You may also like to consider the WL it would be a bit cheaper allowing you to pay for some other park of his trip. The WL is very nice, and I find it not to be so "stuffy". Perhaps too you could purchase him a resident seasonal pass (that is if he is a FL resident, I am basing this on your location of Clearwater) or even a annual pass.