We have our tickets for MVMCP in Dec. We will be staying 3 days at the fort which we have done many times, but never at Christmas. Bringing our 3 Grands, 11,7 and 4, who have also been many times, mostly in spring or at Halloween, never at Christmas. They were very disappointed we did not go for Halloween this year, as we have almost every year since the oldest was 3, she felt we were displacing her family tradition This will be a surprise for them, I will be giving them their tickets on Thanksgiving. Really want the giving to be a big deal, any ideas or suggestions to make it AWESOME! Thanks, Tina
Tina, If you don't mind going off property I would recommend the Gaylord Palms-Orlando resort with its ICE show. http://www.gaylordhotels.com/gaylord-palms/christmas-in-orlando/ice-experience/index.html There is a cost ($23-28 for adults and $14 for the kids) but I think it is worth it. They provide cleaned coats for the 9F temps. It was so interesting when we went. For the kids beside the obvious ice sculptures they had a 2-story ice slide for the kids (and us big kids) to go down. Take your time and savor each room. The GP-O is just east of Disney's Wide World of Sports across I-4. Bama ED PS-this is in addition to walking some of the loops at the Fort in the evening to see the campers' site decorations.
If you are looking for ideas on how to give the "big surpise", I'd suggest youtube. There are a ton videos of people surprising kids with Disney trips. And I just LOVE a good surprise! I will say this, I think you find that older kiddos do better at really grasping the surprise and getting excited. I speak from personal experience. We surprised our kids when they were 4, 4, and 7 by pulling under the arch and doing the whole "we're lost, where are we" thing. It was good but not over the top. We were housebound during Sandy and did a "spur of the moment" scavenger hunt to help with the boredom.... SURPRISE! We Leave For Disney in 24 Days! We got the reaction everyone hopes for, but the oldest is all but 13 and the twins are 10.5. An early "look what Santa must have left, what could it be???" might be fun. Or maybe clue the 4yr old in and let them spill the beans... kids have the cutest way of doing that... Or, if you do the traditional turkey wishbone, maybe suggest that they wish really hard for Disney...
I once did a magic trick where I revealed the card that was chosen by showing a video tape of "your card was the three of spades". They were impressed. So how about making a short video of one parent doing a "news announcement" about the trip to Disney World? You could splice it into a real news broadcast and then play it back the next day when everyone is gathered around the TV waiting for a show to start.
My sister and I planned a Christmas trip for the family and told her kids about it at Thanksgiving (they were 12 and 10 and this was going to be their first visit to WDW). To "announce" the trip I ordered some Mickey M&Ms, the special maps that you can order on Disney's website, some Disney decorations (from Walmart), a Mickey helium balloon with a note tied to it saying "You're going to Disney World for Christmas"...put all of this into a box and wrapped it in Christmas paper. We told the kids after dinner that there was a special gift that they could open "early". When that balloon popped out it took them a minute to figure it all out but they were thrilled. Peach
