"Rules" for the kids

[LoKiHB]

Ok, Disboarders, need some help!

We are leaving for our Halloween stay on Sunday. Attending MNSSHP and looking to have really fun time. Our trip last year was a bit of a downer, three out of four of us got sick, and we were already pretty bummed out about other stuff going on in our lives. My wife and I are really looking to make this trip special.

Our boys have no clue we are going. Total surprise. Unfortunately, when we planned this early this year, we didn't take into account Halloween Fun Night at my oldest's school (lame event, but it's his last one), football games and birthday parties he might might miss. Our 10 year old has a tendency to get moody and miserable when he's not happy, and tends to make it very hard for the rest of us to enjoy, so we're going into this trip with an "anything goes" mindset.

I came up with an idea, don't know how original it is, but I'd love some input from the experts. I decided to come up with a list of "rules" for the trip, FUN rules... Here are some ideas:

1. Eat dessert for breakfast
2. Catch as many new Pokemon as you can (he's huge on Pokemon Go and we decided to let him play while walking around the parks and at the hotel- not on rides/attractions, or at meals)
3. Meet as many new characters as you can
4. Get as much candy as you can at MNSSHP
5. Take a silly picture
6. Try a new ride/attraction (he's never been on ToT, I think that will be the one he wants)

I know the folks here are the best at this kind of stuff, so any ideas are greatly welcomed and appreciated. The plan is to hand him the envelope on the Magical Express and have him read it aloud to us and his little brother.

As always.. Thanks in advance!!!!

 

[yulilin3]

moody and miserable when he's not happy

Everybody I think can get this way As to you ideas:
1.Fun, how so the kids react to sugar should be taken into consideration
2. Fun
3. Do they like meeting characters?
4. Fun, start with the tent in the back of new FL, 3 stops in one line
5. Do they like taking pics?
6. Fun
As much liberty in the plan as you can will be good for them and a good way to keep them happy since they will be doing things they want to do Maybe have options like "we can do this attraction or this one, you chose"
I hope it works out and you have an awesome trip this time

 

[vicb]

I used to buy a $25 disney gift card for my kids at xmas and put it in their stockings. Then I'd tell them they can spend it on any souvenir they choose. Then at disney I would keep my mouth shut while they spent their money....it was always interesting to see what they picked!

You might also let your son help choose/plan a dinner and evening. My kids enjoyed checking out pictures and themes of restaurants during trip planning.

 

[Lisa F]

Ok, Disboarders, need some help!

We are leaving for our Halloween stay on Sunday. Attending MNSSHP and looking to have really fun time. Our trip last year was a bit of a downer, three out of four of us got sick, and we were already pretty bummed out about other stuff going on in our lives. My wife and I are really looking to make this trip special.

Our boys have no clue we are going. Total surprise. Unfortunately, when we planned this early this year, we didn't take into account Halloween Fun Night at my oldest's school (lame event, but it's his last one), football games and birthday parties he might might miss. Our 10 year old has a tendency to get moody and miserable when he's not happy, and tends to make it very hard for the rest of us to enjoy, so we're going into this trip with an "anything goes" mindset.

I came up with an idea, don't know how original it is, but I'd love some input from the experts. I decided to come up with a list of "rules" for the trip, FUN rules... Here are some ideas:

1. Eat dessert for breakfast
2. Catch as many new Pokemon as you can (he's huge on Pokemon Go and we decided to let him play while walking around the parks and at the hotel- not on rides/attractions, or at meals)
3. Meet as many new characters as you can
4. Get as much candy as you can at MNSSHP
5. Take a silly picture
6. Try a new ride/attraction (he's never been on ToT, I think that will be the one he wants)

I know the folks here are the best at this kind of stuff, so any ideas are greatly welcomed and appreciated. The plan is to hand him the envelope on the Magical Express and have him read it aloud to us and his little brother.

As always.. Thanks in advance!!!!

my son is on the spectrum and while he is not particularly moody or miserable, he is kind of sentimental and likes things "the same" and has a hard time with change. I would never book a trip ON halloween for him because he'd be devastated to not ToT at home even if disney is better, for example. So I get it and how your little dude might be feeling.

That said, I am also a single mother and I feel like I have to be the bad guy all the time. We have a lot of rules at home and like to reverse them on vacation. So right now we just have one vacation rule and that is to eat ice cream every day. ice cream is his favorite (and mine) so we talk a lot about how it is a sometimes treat blah blah blah, you know all that crap teaching your child the moderation that you don't have lol. (or maybe that is just me). So we have a rule, we MUST have ice cream EVERY day, Shakes at Sci Fi, ample hills one day, a special ice cream treat at the christmas party dessert party. It has been fun planning out when and how we will meet our rule too.

i'm not sure I'd do the "eat dessert for breakfast" one though (although to be honest one of our ice creams one day is the bottomless milkshake at breakfast at WCC lol). I agree with the PP that a sugar bomb in the morning could have mood/behavior impacts I'd not want to deal with. how about try a new treat every day? you could spend a little time on the boards (ha ha) finding treats you'd think he likes. There are halloween specific things and so many new things since the last time I went, I'm sure you could find a treat a day.

my kiddo is into pokemon too. I plan to let him play while we are waiting for parades/shows and in Disney Springs only. I have read on the internet that there are rare pokemon at Disney Springs. I have actually planned a late morning/early afternoon stop at Disney Springs specifically to shop and pokemon hunt. I also am thinking of surprising him with some purchased pokeballs and incense so he can attract them while we are there and not worry too much about running out. I make it a rule to never spend money on that kind of thing (might as well flush it down the toilet) but for his once in a lifetime chance of pokemon hunting at disney I may spend a few $$ out of the vacation budget and make sure he is well stocked.

 

[bumbershoot]

1 and 4 would cause our trip to be awful. And 4 is IMO just such a waste of party time. You can buy better candy at home for so much cheaper. What's the point of it at a paid party? Do the dance parties. Ride the rides.

We just realized that we can't do halloween because of my son's dance classes, which he won't skip out of choice, and he's bummed enough. I wouldn't surprise my guy with a trip like that. Would start it off terribly.

 

[frisbeego]

I used to buy a $25 disney gift card for my kids at xmas and put it in their stockings. Then I'd tell them they can spend it on any souvenir they choose. Then at disney I would keep my mouth shut while they spent their money....it was always interesting to see what they picked!

I'm stealing this idea!

 

[KaSe]

Sounds like a blast! You could also try something like a dessert or take a silly photo (or silly photo eating dessert. LOL!) in every country at Epcot or something like that. No matter what, I hope you have a great trip!

 

[msmama]

Are you married to the idea of keeping it a surprise?

Personally, if I thought my kid might be unhappy, I'd tell him now to get him used to the idea so it's not as much of a shock. I'd then spend the next week talking up our trip. That's just how things work in our house - surprises are BAD!! Preparation is good.

You could still do the envelope idea, just maybe do it earlier.

Also, for your list, at least one Mickey/Mickey pretzel per day.

 

[KittyKitty]

I was watching TheTimTracker's video, who lives in Orlando, at Disneyland. He was so excited to find different Pokémons when he and Jenn went to California. I think this will be a big hit for your 10 year old. (Aren't we all 10 years old when we go to WDW!)
I love the idea about dessert for breakfast.

You might add.... Ride your favorite ride 2 times in a row. Play Sorcerers of Magic Kingdom game at MK, Wilderness Adventure game at AK, and Agent P's at World Showcase.

 

[2Gma]

How about No Rules? Whatever happens, happens.

We had a very stressful week before our vacation 2 weeks ago, didn't even know if we could go and would be out airfare, condo rental, etc. It all worked out and we had a blast! Not having a set agenda made the trip more fun than previous trips because we just enjoyed each moment for what it was. In fact one of my best memories was being stuck at ride platform during a thunderstorm at Islands of Adventure and my kids playing the 20 questions game with the team members!

 

[lborne]

All great ideas. Sometimes we will go to the park and let the kids decide what ride we do. To avoid them fighting between each other, they take turns picking rides. Still not perfect, because they will still argue a bit, but they did that even when we picked the next attraction. Yes, we walked a heck of a lot more and rode fewer rides than when my DW is in control, but at the end of the day we realized everyone was happier.

 

[mindeola]

My niece is just a kid that cannot be surprised with a trip. She makes it miserable for everyone. Maybe you should tell them ahead of time?

As far as the candy, I was there Saturday. Had no plans to go through those lines ( no kids with me!) and we ended up going through so many. There was no wait. We just walked through and they loaded us down - all with name brand good candy!

 

[LoKiHB]

Are you married to the idea of keeping it a surprise?

Personally, if I thought my kid might be unhappy, I'd tell him now to get him used to the idea so it's not as much of a shock. I'd then spend the next week talking up our trip. That's just how things work in our house - surprises are BAD!! Preparation is good.

You could still do the envelope idea, just maybe do it earlier.

Also, for your list, at least one Mickey/Mickey pretzel per day.

We actually thought about telling him earlier, but decided to go with the surprise. He's good with missing his Halloween Fun Night at school as long as it's something "better". When I asked him what would be better, he said a trip to Disney. We laughed about it and I told him, that would be great, but there's no way we could plan a trip in a week.

The problem with telling him in advance, is that depending on his mood, one day he'll be all raring to go, and the next, he might be mad about having to practice his trumpet and will say he doesn't want too.

So fingers crossed that a week in Disney and a Halloween Party is an awesome enough substitute for 90 minutes of fruit snacks and pencils, some cheesy carnival games and warm fruit punch and cookies coupled with really bad music.

 

[bjscheel]

I was going to say I would consider giving him a heads up about the surprise in advance. When we surprised our girls we did it at 10 days out so they wouldn't freak out about missing 2.5 days of school on the spur of the moment. They said 10 days was perfect, still a surprise but time to feel ready. You will find as they get older, it's harder to manage a surprise. I cringe when I see people planning to surprise high schoolers with a trip during school time, etc.

I see, however, that you have floated the idea of missing the party and he responded (very appropriately) that Disney would be a good substitute, so you at least have that! As long as you know the things on the list are things that will appeal to him, it will probably be a success. Good luck and have fun.

 

[Nancyg56]

My niece is just a kid that cannot be surprised with a trip. She makes it miserable for everyone. Maybe you should tell them ahead of time?

As far as the candy, I was there Saturday. Had no plans to go through those lines ( no kids with me!) and we ended up going through so many. There was no wait. We just walked through and they loaded us down - all with name brand good candy!

My DGD is this way as well. She would be totally overwhelmed, so a surprise needs at least one or two days for her to process.

To make a trip especially fun, I would tell the kids that they could have ice cream once a day, whenever they wanted it, and pray that they did not want it for breakfast.

I think the candy lines would be fun. My DGD loved trick or treating at the Party, so I would offer that as well.

I also would discuss what they wanted from the party. Some kids are into the special characters, others not so much...they want attractions. To me, letting them drive the plan for a bit would be fun for kids.

 

[mickeyluv'r]

You know your kids best, and these threads can always be a little rough....

I can't say we've ever had ice cream for breakfast- BUT- we always go with the idea of minimizing waits. A COMMON trade-off for us is having Mickey ice cream bars for lunch or before lunch. We usually avoid the noon QS lines at all costs. Another practical alternative is to share a Mickey bar before lunch, which is kind of the best of both worlds. At noon, the ice cream line is very short! At 2pm the QS lines are very short.

Personally I can't imagine playing Pokémon during WDW time. At WDW, we try to stick with things that an ONLY be done at WDW. Park time costs too much! We don't stop for it, but we are always looking for hidden Mickeys.

DO make sure to ride HM! after dark!

 

[Nancyg56]

Personally I can't imagine playing Pokémon during WDW time. At WDW, we try to stick with things that an ONLY be done at WDW. Park time costs too much! We don't stop for it, but we are always looking for hidden Mickeys.
!

My DGD and her dad did this in July. They had a blast! It really did not take too much away from attractions and they really enjoyed the walk from place to place. I do not play this game, but I was told they really enjoyed all of the waterways because I guess there are plenty to catch there.

They also look for Hidden Mickeys. The two of them like any kind of scavenger hunt so for them, these activities enhance their stay.

 

[Corbinator]

My 8 yr old is similar. We are not telling him until we wake up that morning for the airport and I know one of his first questions will be what about school/chorus concert/church/poetry project/etc. I mean jeez if we'd gone anytime in the last two months he would have missed soccer too. It's always something. I will tell him everyone at school has been informed and he's not in trouble and let's try some new things to take his mind off of what he's missing...like pin trading, those MK cards, getting autographs, having a sucker in line for a ride (we pretty much don't allow candy at home), putting out the money for mousekeeping, letting him take photos on our phones. Giving him jobs. We are also going to let both of our kids order fancy drinks like milkshakes or Shirley Temples (which we also NEVER do at home). He also won't have his booster seat because we are taking ME. So that will be a mature change for the week. I know every family is different but I've thought about what my own child needs. If your list makes you happy go for it!! GL!!

 

[mjkacmom]

Well, dd13 and dd15 have ice cream for breakfast frequently (in between 2 waffles). They're very physically fit (competitive dancers), and also eat healthy at other times (fruit for dessert). They don't seem to suffer.

 

[Kimber733]

What a fun idea! I enjoy doing things like this, adds something extra silly/fun to keep everyone in good spirits. It's a nice change from "actual" rules that can be a drag for a kid!