Need Ideas for some EXTRA MAGIC! HELP

[thesoldtrain]

Hi again! My family and I are making our first WDW trip July 1-11 and staying at AKL. This last year has been a particularly stressful one and this trip will be a welcome relief! In celebration of it, I would like to surprise my hubby and 2 young dd with little "surprises" before & during the trip. I have tried thinking of some little ideas, but wondered what sorts of things you may suggest?

TIA,
Jeanette

 

[jlima]

For DS, buy a character t-shirt or PJs before the trip & tell him it's new for vacation. I did this for my 2 boys last year and they loved it, to have new Mickey shirts before the trip. Another thing I did last year before our DL vacation was I purchased two Nemo twirly things that light up, the kind of toys they sell at night in the parks; they were thrilled to have the "souvenir" before the trip. I got these at TDS.

If your son has a favorite character, get a shirt with the character & try to meet that character on a day he wears it; I've seen Tigger and Stich go nuts when they see a kid with a shirt with "themselves" on it. We just came back from Anaheim and we saw Stich at CA and he was a hoot with kids that had on Stitch shirts!!

I am sending DH on the segway tour at Epcot when we are there the week after Father's Day . . . but I told him about it ahead of time as he doesn't take surprises well. How does your DH do with surprises? Maybe you can surprise him with something like that? Or would he flip if you told him one morning that he was going on the Richard Petty Driving Experience or taking water skiing lessons or going parasailing . . . Good Luck!

 

[Grumpy92]

Fill their backpack or fanny pack with things they will need for a day at the park.
Sunscreen, Autograph Book, Pen, Disposible Camera, Hat, Sunglasses, Disney Dollars.

Contact the FD and see if they can have balloons and an autographed charater photo waiting in your room upon arrival.

Play a Disney CD on your trip down.

Make your schedule flexible so that you have some downtime to sit in the park and soak up the atmosphere or time at your wonderful resort.

We loved the informal talks the African CMs give in the evening. It was so interesting to hear them talk about their homeland and they loved answering our questions.

 

[coinkc]

To help make the waiting for our first trip fun, I started a game with my 7 year old she called the "Box Fairy". I got a box from the Disney Store and about every 5 days the Box Fairy put a surprise in it. These were all things that I needed to buy for the trip anyways such as sunscreen, sunglasses, etc. plus a few Disney things I got at TDS for her. We had an absolute ball with this last summer and it made the time go by fast since she never knew when the Box Fairy was going to come.

 

[mmeb144]

When the kids and DH are out of the room, doing whatever, put seasonal window clings on the mirrors, windows, wherever. Plus, you can now identify your room from the outside, just walking around the resort. My brother and sister loved this when I did it on our vacation.

Marie

 

[EricnJackie]

We stayed at AKL last year and I wanted the same thing... Here's what I decided to do... I arranged ahead of time to have flowers delivered to the DW and a 'snack' basket delivered to the kids... My in-laws were with us on this trip too, so they got snacks... After a long day in the parks, we came back to the room and SURPRISE!!

Made the day magical.. and also helped out at night when the kids still wanted to snack...

I'm not sure where I ordered these from, but I think WDW florests (sp?)... Got the idea from these boards, so maybe some searching can help...


HAVE FUN!!

 

[Aisling]

Hi Jeanette,

We'll be at AKL, too, July 5-10, then CR until the 12th.
I have older kids, DSs 12 and 18, but they still love the little Disney surprises.
I have something, bought in advance, for "pillow gifts" every night.
Night 1) Disney beach towels
2) AKL flashlights that I found in Target
3) T-shirts with their favorite characters
4) Disney books...Quotable Walt Disney for the 18 year old, and Disney Mosaics for the 12 year old
5) pins for trading
6) A bag of edible goodies that I'm going to sneakily buy at the Main Street confectionary store
7) Each gets a Disney-themed video game. I bought these on sale for $12 each at Toys R Us months ago in preparation, and I'm not giving it to them until the last day so they won't be tortured that they can't play until we get home.

I'm lucky my 18 year old still goes for these corny gifts that I say come from Mickey.

As for your DH, I agree with earlier posters that the Segway tour is a great idea, but call right away, since they only take 10 people per day, and it's getting close. I booked the tour for DS18 back in March.
Also parasailing, or perhaps leaving the children in Simba's Clubhouse for a couple of hours while you and DH have a nice dinner alone.

Cirque is great, too, but on the expensive side. What else, hmmm, how about a massage at the AKL Fitness club?

There's so much! I hope this helps.

 

[BurleyGirl]

I had so much fun doing this for my DS4 last October!

I brought all my stuff with me, and with the help of my DH, I was able to place them in our room without DS4 knowing. Upon our arrival, I got to the room prior to my DS4 and had a Pal Mickey waiting for him (w/a note saying "I've been waiting for you!", along with a goodie basket, and then when we left for the park the next morning, I snuck back in as if I'd forgotten something and placed another goodie basket on the bed, which as we were going to AK the next day, it had a stuffed Simba (from the Disney Store at home) with a note that said "I can't to go on an adventure with you!" on it, along with some AK binoculars and animal crackers. I did this every day, according to what we'd be doing the next day (for MGM, I did Star Wars figures, and for when we returned to MK, a Peter Pan/Captain Hook figure since we were doing the Family Magic Tour, and for our play day at the Poly, a beach towel and beach stuff). It was so much fun, and I remember him saying that Mickey must have told Peter Pan where he was staying!

It was a highlight of my trip--planning the surprises, and seeing his face light up each time, and knowing that he really thought that each one of the characters had placed them there!

You won't regret the extra effort!

 

[thesoldtrain]

Thanks for the ideas.....I booked DH on the segway tour for 7/7 and now just need to get myself to a DS for some gifts!

 

[Aimeedyan]

I preordered the Cinderella glass slipper dessert at the Grand Floridian for this trips surprise, and it was a big hit! You could consider surprising them with that, if you are dining at one of their places!

I honestly think that by just being at WDW, there will be plenty of magic to go around =)