Thank You Gift for Inlaws

[sgmom]

I'm looking for any ideas of a gift to give to my inlaws for providing us with our magical vacation. As an early Christmas present, we are going as a family: DMIL, DFIL; DH, DS, DD, me; DBIL, DSIL, and DNephew. Without their generosity, it may be years before we can afford to go on our own.

I thought it might be a good way to say thank you by sneaking something into their room... should I wait to see something they like in a store and purchase it? Pay for a carriage ride for the 2? Any suggestions would be much appreciated. Please hurry as we are leaving in a week and 1/2 - who's counting...LOL!!

 

[a*lil*bit*goofy]

I just posted this reply on another thread, so i am copying and pasting: (and i did the same thing, a gift for my mum for giving us a wonderful gift of a family vacation to WDW! AND Sarah who I am suggesting you contact, is going to deliver the item at a specific day/time to make sure my mums room has been assigned and to make sure she is not there (out at dinner))

I have the solution!!!!

http://www.memoriesbysarah.com/baskets.html

She is absolutely wonderful! She went out of her way to accommodate me for payment. PLUS she was able to make a few suggestions based on my price range, AND she even went out shopping to see if she can find something that I suggested (a tote bag rather than a give box/basket). She is a true gem. Her price is very fair. And I know my mum will be thrilled when she sees her gift waiting in her room after dinner on Saturday! Check her out, give her an email . she will work with you and for you to create something that will have a 'wow' factor for the girls all travelling, and it will be to what you want and what you can afford.

suggestions: mickey ears embroidered with each persons name, disney snacks, drinks, something a bit extra for the birthday girl (ie a beanie plush with a birthday theme? a gift card with $20 disney dollars for a dinner out on you? ) just afew suggestions.

Give her an email you won't regret it. AND the best part: absolutely NO SALES PRESSURE.

Have fun planning your surprise!

 

[Dopey's Girl]

We are doing the same thing at Christmas. My in-laws are paying for their kids, spouses, and grandkids (that's 12 of us!) to go for Christmas, the 17th-26th. Don't know how much you want to spend, but we wanted to do something too so we are surprising them with tickets to Cirque for an evening out just the two of them. We split the cost between the adult children so it ended up not being too bad.

 

[Eljay]

www.allearsnet.com/btp/tours.htm
Here is a link to info about all of the tours available at WDW, as well as reviews. There is a tour for every interest and budget, from $12 for the "Behind The Seeds" tour at the Land pavilion at Epcot, to $199 for the incredible Backstage Magic Tour, that covers MK, Epcot and MGM.
Discounts are available on the tours if you are a AAA member, AP holder, DVC member or Disney Visa holder.

Another wonderful gift would be "Lunch With An Imagineer" This is an awesome experience, a little pricey, but soooo special!
Here is a link with info. No discounts are available for this.
www.allearsnet.com/din/dine_imag.htm

Or, you can call 1-407-WDW-TOUR for info or tour reservations.

 

[gayles]

I'm a mother-in-law & grandma now--- My thought is unless they really want to be alone.. Do one of the following ==== If I am going to Disney World I want to be in the 'MIX" to enjoy all the kid's -etc-----
Maybe set up the Sleigh Ride or Safari Sunset -Sunrise Tour.
Or treat for Coffee and a Dessert at one of the nicer Restaurants ,so everyone can talk about all the fun things they have been enjoying at D W .

 

[sgmom]

Great ideas! Please keep them coming. I can't do research on the suggestions right now because my family is yelling for dinner but wanted to check in on the great ideas so far!

We are doing the same thing at Christmas. My in-laws are paying for their kids, spouses, and grandkids (that's 12 of us!) to go for Christmas, the 17th-26th. Don't know how much you want to spend, but we wanted to do something too so we are surprising them with tickets to Cirque for an evening out just the two of them. We split the cost between the adult children so it ended up not being too bad.

Can you tell me what the cost of these tickets are and where to read about it?

Thanks again everyone!

 

[mla2177]

My parents gave us the same gift for Xmas last year

We sent them a really nice gift basket from the Disney Florist and flowers.

 

[dianemb]

I totally agree with the memories by sarah site. I have been working with her and she will bend over backwards to come up witha great custom gift!!!!!

 

[Dopey's Girl]

Can you tell me what the cost of these tickets are and where to read about it?

Sure...you can check it out at:

www.disneyworld.com/cirque
or
www.cirquedusoliel.com (then pick Orlando as city from the drop down menu)

The venue is small enough so there are no horrible seats. You do NOT need to pay for the front and center tickets. Category 1 ($97/each) or 2 ($79/each) are fine.

 

[disnut8]

I love all these suggestions too. Yesterday, my mother-in-law said she'd like to take the whole family to Disney World again (yes, they've done this twice now). It won't be until the summer of 2008 but part of it will be to celebrate (a bit late) their 50th wedding anniversary. A tour for the two of them would be great. They really get into that kind of stuff, especially my father-in-law and he's not exactly keen on Disney.

Another thing I thought of for the entire group (12 in all but probably will grow) is to set up the Hoop Dee Do Musical Revue for all us. The in-laws love to see all of us happy and that would do it. They wouldn't get into Cirque since neither one of them has an imagination.

I'm going to be following this thread.

 

[momof2cutegirls]

One year we thanked my in-laws with a WDW snowglobe, but didn't give it to them until Xmas. This year my husband and I are giving them the CP package with dinner at Le Cellier, and then my sister-in-law paid for their tickets to MVMCP.

 

[blessedby3]

My DMIL is doing this also for our trip in 15 days!!! We would love to do something special for her also. She isnt going to do a tour/show or anything because she has macluar degeneration so I still dont know what we will do for her. She isnt too much into knick knacks either so I will keep thinking. Arent inlaws great

 

[Torontogal]

That is wonderful you have such a great relationship with them! How about a really nice framed print? It is something that will be in their place and they can always see it. You can pick out a few and have them pick one that they would like which would match their decor...
Just an idea...

 

[schoen]

Last year my in-laws took us to walt disney world in Dec. We gave them a Wishes cruise. The whole family went, and we all really enjoyed it. I don't know when your trip is, it might be too late to plan something like that, but we had a great time with that. If you REALLY want to splurge on them you could purchase dinner for them at Victoria and Alberts. That is an AMAZING experience. I like the Cirque Idea, if that is something your in-laws would enjoy. You could pair it with Disney Dollars so they could enjoy a nice dinner. Maybe you could even make the ADR for them. You could look into upgrading their airline tickets to 1st class so they could arrive in style. There are lots of nice little things you could do! Have a great time.

 

[TheRustyScupper]

I have always found the best presents for DMIL & DFIL are more grandkids.

 

[steelfish535]

How about a nice frame (they have great ones at Downtown Disney) and get a few of the fastpass pics printed out? This way everyone can get in the pic and you have something to remember the trip.
I also love the tour ideas.

 

[HMHunters]

I'd suggest doing a scrapbook of the trip for them afterward. I did this once for my DSIL and she really appreciated it! Collect maps, menus, etc to include with photos.

 

[deekaypee]

Wow, these are all great ideas that I wouldn't know how to prioritize any of them. Good luck with that.

But I especially like the idea of an after-trip thank you where all other members of the family put together the scrapbook/memory book to commemorate the trip. I'd have a one of the front pages be a Mickey autograph on a page that says, "To the Greatest (Grand)Parents in the Whole Wide Disney World" or something like that.

And if they're t-shirt wearing folk, I'd think about creating shirts that say that for them to wear in the parks, with the month/year of the trip.

 

[slkant]

My parents are doing the same thing for us. The smiles on their grandchildren's faces are probably what my parents will appreciate the most. I agree that a scrapbook would be a great idea. Here's a link to an idea for a book that highlights everyone's favorite memories in a very simple way:
http://www.simplescrapbooksmag.com/mag/article.ihtml?idx=159&issue_idx =11

I also agree that you may want to consider working with Sarah from Memories by Sarah. We are trying to get some Disney-related things before we leave to use as Christmas presents, and she has been amazingly helpful in the short time that I've been working with her.

 

[sgmom]

I have always found the best presents for DMIL & DFIL are more grandkids.

HAHAHAHA!!!

That is funny. I always thought I wanted at least 3 kids, but now that I have my DS and DD, we've decided we are done.... and after dealing with our 2 little ones for the past 10 days since we told them about Disney, I'm going crazy keeping them calm!! That would be cute, a Disney baby with a princess or prince name!!


Thanks for the great ideas. I've been saving them and sharing with DH. The days are numbered!! I never knew about the tours, those have looked interesting!

The idea with the upgraded tickets to first class, how much does that cost??