Before we went, we shopped at a Dollar Tree store for several (I guess around 26-28 after I added them all up) Disney-based items for our 4 year old. Everything from small figures, stickers, coloring books, Cinderella crayons, balloons, pins that lit up, party centerpieces (we put in center of the table before she woke up), activity books, packets of princess pencils, bubbles, packages of sidewalk chalk, lip gloss, chap stick, plastic cups (we used these in the room for her), miniature puzzles, even a jacks set. There were more but I can't tell from the receipt what some of the items were and my memory isn't what it used to be. But, they were all Disney themed (Princess, Pooh, Pirates, Mickey & Minnie) and we bought several small "goodie bags" as well. We filled up one each day with small candies and a few treats and when she woke up each morning, she had a special letter (we wrote and printed these out for her before we left) and a special bag of treats. It never failed to start our day off well, and our "less than early bird" riser was no trouble at all to wake up and get ready. We even worked it out so that her father and brother were keeping her busy looking around the resort as I slid a letter I had ready in my bag under the door to our room. Wouldn't you know...it had her name on it, was covered with pictures of characters and contained a warm welcome. She was thrilled. She never knew they came from home and it made her trip all the more special. BTW, we did the same for our almost 14 year old son until he was a few years beyond knowing where the letters came from and he never felt lied to or cheated or any of the things people sometimes accuse or worry about. He has saved every letter he ever got and said it really made it feel special and like it was all about him for a bit. Not a bad thing when so many times the kids have to wait in crowds to see characters and then have to hurry. He would often thank the characters for their letters and gifts and they would always be gracious (even without words) and give a special hug. I've been told that parents can really help continue the magic beyond the parks and we always figured that's what it was all about!
You can easily tailor this concept to include a WOW birthday card to go along with the pins from the parks and the cakes at dinner. Hope she has a great birthday!!!
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