Special mommy/daughter trip

[MischaOz]

Hi! So I decided to take my DD5 in Nov for a short mommy/daughter only trip. We have been to WDW 4 times as a family so this isn't entirely new to her. I am looking for any crearive suggestions on how to make this trip "special" with it being just the two of us. The typical things like a character meal or BBB will be difficult since we're already inside the 180 days. Thanks!!

 

[twoplustwins]

I've taken both my girls (separately) on mother/daughter trips. You could do the Princess Tea Party at the Grand Floridian. It does require ADR, but you'll likely be able to get a time. DDs also really liked the Pick a Pearl in Japan. If your daughter is the spa type like one of mine is, you can get a mani/pedi at one of the resort spas. Depending on when you go in Nov, you might be able to go to one of the Christmas parties at MK.

Have fun!

 

[barbliny]

Afternoon tea at the Grand Floridian?
Pick-a-Pearl in Japan in Epcot?
Horse-drawn carriage ride at Port Orleans
Special Mickey ears
Meet more princesses than other family members might be willing to indulge
Extra Morning Magic in MK Fantasyland (additional charge and ADR needed) if it is offered when you are there
Get matching Pandora charms or Alex & Ani bracelets

And you still may be able to get some character meals (maybe the less popular ones) within 180 days - maybe 1900 Park Fare or Trattoria al Forno breakfast?

 

[MischaOz]

Oh, thank you both! I didn't think of pick a pearl and that's something my daughter would really like. I will look at those other dining suggestions, and thanks for the shopping ideas as well. We definitely plan to do more shopping on this trip!

 

[scoobygrl79]

My girls like it when I dress up similar to them, bonus points if its disney princess-esq. Since you go often and will likely go back, I bet it would be fun to use this time to start a new souvenir collection...something girlie like Minnie ears? My oldest daughter collects those in the huge selection of prints and themes they put out every year. My girls also went to the tea party at GF. Not the expensive doll one, the other one. However if financially able, the doll one would be SUPER special for you two. That was fun for them to get all dressed fancy and wear gloves. Have a great time!

 

[TJDisneymama]

I'm doing the same with my DD in August (she's been a few times but this is our first trip with just the 2 of us). We are definitely doing the Pick a Pearl and I also booked the Fireworks dessert party at MK.

You may possibly be able to get an opening for BBB at the DOwntown Springs location.

 

[akemom]

My DD5 and I leave for our special girls trip in two days! We are doing the Princess Tea Party, new character breakfast with Rapunzel (her favorite princess) and the MK dessert party. We will probably pick a pearl. We also have BBB booked and lunch in the castle, keep checking for openings, we booked at the 90 day mark.

 

[DisMommyTX]

I would suggest that you involve her in the planning. She has been enough to know what she wants to do. I had a fabulous mother/daughter trip when DD was 9. One day she wanted to play in the pool instead of going to park early or swim late then sleep in. Other days she wanted to hop to another park for a single ride. We had a blast! Just the two of us were like stealth ninjas flying through the parks and crowds in a fraction of the time it takes for the whole family. We were also able to walk up to restaurants at the last minute and find openings for a party of two! Just relax and have fun!!

 

[jvz82]

How old are your other kids? I would love to take my daughter on a mom/daughter trip one day (she's 6 right now) but I feel like my boys would be so upset! I would love to figure out a way to do something like that without upsetting the rest of the crew! She's got 3 brothers so I feel like it's important for us to have time without them.

 

[MischaOz]

I would suggest that you involve her in the planning. She has been enough to know what she wants to do. I had a fabulous mother/daughter trip when DD was 9. One day she wanted to play in the pool instead of going to park early or swim late then sleep in. Other days she wanted to hop to another park for a single ride. We had a blast! Just the two of us were like stealth ninjas flying through the parks and crowds in a fraction of the time it takes for the whole family. We were also able to walk up to restaurants at the last minute and find openings for a party of two! Just relax and have fun!!

This - yes - thank you for the reminder! We don't have to leave for the airport until about 2:00 on our last day, so I am thinking of not planning anything and just letting my daughter decide what she wants to do before we leave. The thought of not booking fastpasses is killing me though!

 

[MischaOz]

How old are your other kids? I would love to take my daughter on a mom/daughter trip one day (she's 6 right now) but I feel like my boys would be so upset! I would love to figure out a way to do something like that without upsetting the rest of the crew! She's got 3 brothers so I feel like it's important for us to have time without them.

My daughter is 5 - she's an only child so that makes this easy! Maybe on your next family vacation you could pick a day to split up boys and girls? Then you could have some mommy/daughter time but the boys wouldn't feel left out!

 

[mi*vida*loca]

I'm planning a mother/daughter trip for next year. DD will be 12 at the time. I'm planning a few special things we probably wouldn't do if the boys came along. Fireworks dessert party, afternoon tea at the GF and maybe matching shirts. I'm also thinking of doing 1900 PF breakfast.

 

[mi*vida*loca]

How old are your other kids? I would love to take my daughter on a mom/daughter trip one day (she's 6 right now) but I feel like my boys would be so upset! I would love to figure out a way to do something like that without upsetting the rest of the crew! She's got 3 brothers so I feel like it's important for us to have time without them.

I know this isn't directed at me but my son is 17 and going on his senior trip in March so I used this as an excuse to go just her and I. My SO is fine with it and told me to go ahead. He likes Disney but I don't think he wants to go with just the girls. He would come if my son was coming.

 

[dprincessmom]

This - yes - thank you for the reminder! We don't have to leave for the airport until about 2:00 on our last day, so I am thinking of not planning anything and just letting my daughter decide what she wants to do before we leave. The thought of not booking fastpasses is killing me though!

Book the FP+ for what you think she might like to do, you could always cancel them. I have a surprise trip coming up with my DD. I am picking parks and FP+ for rides that I know that she will want to do. I have been picking her brain as we have a trip before the surprise one about places she would like to eat (it's a weekend trip so I have her giving me lots of places "in case I can't get a ressie"). We have been often enough that I know our touring style and what we hope to accomplish.

As far as new things to try -
why not buy her a starter pack and introduce her to pin trading? My DD first did when she was 5 and loved it. She was a trading beast on our first few trips. With it being just the two of you, you would have time to explore and seek out cool pins.

You could do a pressed penny collection also.

My DD also likes to do Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom but she usually doesn't get to play for long because we are go go go. This trip, if she wants, we can go all out and she can play multiple segments each day if she would like. We had an earlier trip and she played for several hours (good news is this one is free and you can both get a new pack of cards each day).

 

[DisneyWishes14]

I don't have a daughter, but I've done numerous mother/son trips to WDW with DS9. One thing we did on our last trip in December was a special DIY "Highway in the Sky" adventure and we had so much fun! We started at the Poly and when to Trader Sam's at 4 pm right when it opened to see the antics and special effects. They have really good kids' "mocktails" there and they were fairly inexpensive (I think about $5). We then poked around in the gift shop and heading to GF to see the huge Christmas tree and get some gingerbread at the life-size gingerbread house (not sure when you are going in November, but if it's later in the month, this could be a possibility). We then had a 6 pm dinner at Cali Grille with a spectacular view of MK and where you can see EP and we saw fireworks from DHS that night. Then, we headed over to MK where we attempted BTMRR (we got rained out) and ended with the MK fireworks dessert party.

If they schedule it again, I also took him to Club Villain on that trip which is absolutely spectacular.

DS also loves the entertainment on the Boardwalk in the evenings.

 

[DisneyCAL]

Hi! So I decided to take my DD5 in Nov for a short mommy/daughter only trip. We have been to WDW 4 times as a family so this isn't entirely new to her. I am looking for any crearive suggestions on how to make this trip "special" with it being just the two of us. The typical things like a character meal or BBB will be difficult since we're already inside the 180 days. Thanks!!

I'm having some special mommy daughter time on our upcoming August trip by doing the Garden View Tea Room at GF Afternoon Tea. I am also ordering some special tea time dresses that are very mommy and me and plan to dress up for our tea time. We are also going on a scavenger hunt at Epcot. I made clues for each country with a map and keyword pictures to help. Each country we get to she can purchase a little gift like a magnet, keychain, shirt, etc.
On our last trip we did pedicures at Senses which was great.

 

[TJDisneymama]

The other thing i am planning is a very low-key trip as compared to when it's the whole family and we are always go-go-go.....we're going to shop as we want, watch any street shows as we want, meet as many characters as we want (normally ODS balks at waiting around for characters), etc. etc. We don't do any thrill rides so we don't have to worry about getting to those (normally we still go to them and then just wait for the others to ride it).
We are also doing BBB and lunch at CRT.
As I mentioned - pick a pearl in Japan and the dessert party at MK.
Also going to do the Passport book at EpCot (normally we don't have time to leisurely spend in the WS)....

I went with just ODS a few years back when YDD was a baby, so that's how I justify this trip to him. I promised him we will do future mother-son trips (maybe I will alternate years.....one year with him, one year with her, one year with all of us).

My favorite trip so far was my mother/son trip, SO much easier and less stress than a whole family trip. And I am sure this upcoming trip will be tied for favorite. It's just a different feel, IMO, than a family trip.

 

[jvz82]

My daughter is 5 - she's an only child so that makes this easy! Maybe on your next family vacation you could pick a day to split up boys and girls? Then you could have some mommy/daughter time but the boys wouldn't feel left out!

We accidentally did that on our last trip. I got a last minute CRT reservation for 2 so my daughter and I had special lunch just the two of us. I like the idea of trying to have more one on one time with my kiddos during the trip. It was so much less stress!