JAMBO! The UN-official AKL Thread ~ UPDATED(short film/pg 8 & slideshow/pg 12) Part 3

[kimmar067]

Nope. Those are all old. I'd welcome a new one though!

...oh, I thought the orange one was new ....mah ba-a-a-a-ad....

ps...I have ants in my pants!...

....hope they're not fire ants....

 

[RachelTori]

We're prepping our "great reveal", too.;

We're leaving Jan 3rd. We're picking our daughter up a bit early from school...popping a DVD into the car DVD player that will basically tell the kids: "We're going to Disneyworld!".

They'll have no clue until then.

Awwww - another great surprise!! But, I have to ask..... are you driving to the airport or driving all the way to WDW!

 

[ugadog99]

I posted this on the cake thread on the restaurant board, but I thought I'd put it over here, too. We are taking my mom for a surprise Christmas/70th Birthday trip in a few weeks. I'm getting her the slipper at 1900 Park Fare and the mini castle cake at the tea. I want something delivered to the room at AKL but think the zebra cake will just be too much. I thought about tuxedo strawberries. Do they do these at AKL, or does anyone have any other suggestions?

 

[d4est]

AWESOME!!! Don't forget us when you return home -- we'll want to hear all about it!!

Will do! Forgot to mention...we are flying, so he will definitely figure it out with in 2 hours.

....hope they're not fire ants....

At this point, they are starting to feel like it!

 

[CJsMom]

We are leaving on Monday...a school day...soooo, I am going to wake him up and tell him that Daddy wants to play hookie and go to a huge before Christmas sale (early bird, like Black Friday--which, btw, my son LOVES!) at Gander Mt. (they are outdoor boys, LOVE this store). He will be excited to do this. Then we are going to get him in the car and just keep driving. When he figures it out...the jig is up!

He is going to be floored!!

That is so fun! I love the way you are doing it - just letting him figure it out on the way. We are surprising the kids too and I think that has made planning so much more exciting! The worst part is that I can't be excited about the trip in front of them. We had my older son's birthday party this weekend and I was convinced that one of the relatives was going to forget and spill the beans, but luckily no one did (even after we gave him some Disney Dollars to use "someday" - I was sweating at that point).

Looks like the weather is going to be beautiful!! I can't wait to get out of the cold!

4 DAYS!!

 

[pilferk]

...instead of playing a DVD that specifically SAYS that you are going to WDW, why not play some Disney movies instead? After the 2nd or 3rd one, they might start to get the hint - THEN pop in the 'message' one...
[... just a sugggestion... ]

We thought of that....but while the kids are relatively clueless, so far, they'd figure it out if we were in the car for 4 to 6 hours...or they'd get antsy and nag us with "are we there yets" and "where are we going" chants. We're hoping this minimizes (we know it won't eliminate them) them a little.

We'll have plenty of Disney movies to follow up with.

 

[pilferk]

Awwww - another great surprise!! But, I have to ask..... are you driving to the airport or driving all the way to WDW!

ALL the way from CT to WDW. Straight shot. Overnight. Picking up our oldest at 2 PM from school (about an hour early) and just going. The kids will sleep in the car (something they're well practiced at, FYI) for a good chunk of the trip and I'll collapse when we get to the Nick hotel on Friday afternoon (hopefully). My wife (who is also a good car sleeper) will occupy the kids while I get some shut eye either in the room, by the pool, or in the lobby if need be. We're not due to check into AKV til the 5th.

 

[kimmar067]

I posted this on the cake thread on the restaurant board, but I thought I'd put it over here, too. We are taking my mom for a surprise Christmas/70th Birthday trip in a few weeks. I'm getting her the slipper at 1900 Park Fare and the mini castle cake at the tea. I want something delivered to the room at AKL but think the zebra cake will just be too much. I thought about tuxedo strawberries. Do they do these at AKL, or does anyone have any other suggestions?

...perhaps, instead of decorating the strawberries to look like tuxedos, mebbe they can decorate 'em like zebras, with black and white stripes....

 

[pilferk]

On the same note...the "big surprise reveal"....we're putting together the DVD in Window's moviemaker, now.

We have all our pictures selected, and are starting to arrange them into a slideshow. The whole thing will be around 15 minutes, with the big "We're going to Disneyworld" at the end.

So now we're trying to select some good music to run with the pictures. We're DEFINITELY using "Remember the Magic"...but that's the only song we're married to at this point.

Anyone have any other suggestions. We'd prefer it be Disney related. I'm not adverset to buying tracks on itunes, etc, and we have a TON of Disney CD's (Music from the parks, varying soundtracks, etc) as well. So don't hold back!

 

[kimmar067]

We thought of that....but while the kids are relatively clueless, so far, they'd figure it out if we were in the car for 4 to 6 hours...or they'd get antsy and nag us with "are we there yets" and "where are we going" chants. We're hoping this minimizes (we know it won't eliminate them) them a little.

We'll have plenty of Disney movies to follow up with.

...well how about packing a big bag with clues - items that begin with a "D", an "I", a "S", an "N", and so on, but give them the item (or picture of the item) in a 'jumbled way', in other words not the "D" first, followed by the "I", etc. and then they have to unscramble the letters...of course, I don't know if your kids are too young to do this...

...another version might be to give them Disney-themed things to do, like a WDW coloring book or activity book, a Disney puzzle, request WDW park maps and have them circle them things that they REALLY want to do, sorta like THEM making an itinerary, etc....

 

[RachelTori]

...perhaps, instead of decorating the strawberries to look like tuxedos, mebbe they can decorate 'em like zebras, with black and white stripes....

hmmmm, which reminds me of....... Zebra Domes!!! I bet they can do something creative with ZDs!

 

[pilferk]

...well how about packing a big bag with clues - items that begin with a "D", an "I", a "S", an "N", and so on, but give them the item (or picture of the item) in a 'jumbled way', in other words not the "D" first, followed by the "I", etc. and then they have to unscramble the letters...of course, I don't know if your kids are too young to do this...

...another version might be to give them Disney-themed things to do, like a WDW coloring book or activity book, a Disney puzzle, request WDW park maps and have them circle them things that they REALLY want to do, sorta like THEM making an itinerary, etc....

I think they're too young to "get it". The 5 year old might...she's doing letters in kindergarten, obviously. But the 3 year old would be clueless, as would the baby. It's a great idea, though, and one I'm going to file away for a future trip when they're older.

We DO have a bunch of Disney themed "stuff" for them to do. Coloring books, activity books, movies, some small toys...that kinda stuff. We're bringing some printed park maps, too, so they can look at them (or color on them, if they prefer). Anything we can do to help pass the time, and "temper" the excitement with things they can focus on, rather than leaving them with no way to "work it off".

 

[RachelTori]

On the same note...the "big surprise reveal"....we're putting together the DVD in Window's moviemaker, now.

We have all our pictures selected, and are starting to arrange them into a slideshow. The whole thing will be around 15 minutes, with the big "We're going to Disneyworld" at the end.

So now we're trying to select some good music to run with the pictures. We're DEFINITELY using "Remember the Magic"...but that's the only song we're married to at this point.

Anyone have any other suggestions. We'd prefer it be Disney related. I'm not adverset to buying tracks on itunes, etc, and we have a TON of Disney CD's (Music from the parks, varying soundtracks, etc) as well. So don't hold back!

Are there any attraction songs that the kids love? I know in our house, "It's a Small World" would get one DD to singing along & swooning and the other to screaming "I HATE THAT SONG!!!!!" I'd suggest either songs from the actual attractions, or maybe a song from a favorite Disney movie? (of course, this coming from a person who doesn't have a creative bone in her body!!!)

Your plan for the drive down sounds good. It wouldn't work in our family since I have to back-seat drive (from the front passenger seat!) and wouldn't/couldn't sleep a wink!

 

[pilferk]

Are there any attraction songs that the kids love? I know in our house, "It's a Small World" would get one DD to singing along & swooning and the other to screaming "I HATE THAT SONG!!!!!" I'd suggest either songs from the actual attractions, or maybe a song from a favorite Disney movie? (of course, this coming from a person who doesn't have a creative bone in her body!!!)

Your plan for the drive down sounds good. It wouldn't work in our family since I have to back-seat drive (from the front passenger seat!) and wouldn't/couldn't sleep a wink!

The kids LOVE the POTC song....and we've got a version on one of our CD's that I particularly like. That's a good possibility

Maybe the Haunted Mansion "Grim Grinning Ghosts" "rework" by The BareNaked Ladies. They recognize that one, too.

We're also considering "Circle of Life", since everyone likes it, to cover the END of the DVD, just before the "we're going to disneyworld" clip, which will be pictures from AKL/AKV and seems to "fit" the theme.

But I'm open to suggestions on other specific songs, too!

Edit: The drive isn't too bad. My wife makes a great navigator, when necessary, but doesn't "love" the job. We have a Tomtom GPS that will handle the duties for this trip, so she's off the hook. I do all the driving, she "navigates", when necessary and is the "entertainment coordinator" for the kids.

 

[Tea Rose]

I posted this on the cake thread on the restaurant board, but I thought I'd put it over here, too. We are taking my mom for a surprise Christmas/70th Birthday trip in a few weeks. I'm getting her the slipper at 1900 Park Fare and the mini castle cake at the tea. I want something delivered to the room at AKL but think the zebra cake will just be too much. I thought about tuxedo strawberries. Do they do these at AKL, or does anyone have any other suggestions?

We just got back from our trip celebrating our 10th anniversary, and this is what I ordered from In Room Dining. It was in our room when we checked in.

 

[RachelTori]

We just got back from our trip celebrating our 10th anniversary, and this is what I ordered from In Room Dining. It was in our room when we checked in.

WOW!!! Those look Dee-lisch!

 

[ugadog99]

That would be JUST perfect!! Thanks!

 

[luckytobeme88]

un-subscribing......

 

[RachelTori]

un-subscribing......

 

[d4est]

...beats me...