Thank you gift ideas needed!

[LIGrumpyGirl]

To make a long story short, I am in need of some advice. My parents have always helped me raise my daughter. My not-so-darling ex-husband left when she was 9 months old. My parents put everything on hold basically to ensure that we stayed in our home and I was able to continue working. They treat my dd4.5 like gold! Fast forward to 2005...I remarry (at Disney!) and buy SSR points. We are bringing both grandma and grandpa to WDW in July '06 to thank them for everything...they won't accept anything else in return!

We are paying for the plane, the room, tix and even a dinner or two. I want to surprise them when they check in with a little something. Gifts of a Lifetime is too much money and the Disney Florist has too many things they can't eat. Any ideas??? I am even willing to make a basket here and ship it down before.

PS Grandma doesn't travel much...this is probably her first trip since 9/11. Grandpa is on a strict diet of low fat/cholesterol etc.

Any help would make this trip even more special to us all!

 

[bytheblood]

IM feralpag on this board. You would be amazed by the suggestions offered.

 

[Amy&Dan]

First of all, congratulations on your remarriage and also what a nice thing for you to do! We took my parents to SSR with us in October. Their last trip with us, my mother has Alzheimers and won't be travelling anymore. I wanted to make the trip special and picked up the cost of airfare, lodging and most meals. But I also wanted to get them special things. So I bought them each some really nice 50th anniversary shirts to wear our first morning. Also, several times I would sneak into the places where you buy the photos they take and buy a photo of all of us that day, then buy a frame and have it waiting on the breakfast table the next morning to surprise them. I also bought them a pretty snowdome as a momento of our trip. These were all things I did after we arrived. At first they protested with the "you've done so much already" but after awhile they were into it! And finally, I bought one of the very nice photo albums and came home and put all of our trip pictures in it and surprised them with that a week or so after we came home. Good luck and have a wonderful trip!

 

[coinkc]

as a thank you for our friends who paid for our lodging last year, I booked a Wishes cruise and paid for it. It really is a special feeling to watch the fireworks on your own private boat!

 

[liveforthemagic]

How blessed that you are able to thank your parents in this special way.

(Congrats on your wedding, btw!)

I do like the idea of the Wishes Cruise. If they are sensitive about you spending money (which all moms and dads seem to be) they may not realize that it is an "extra" and I know my parents would absolutely love something like that.

Now, if you are trying to figure out some little things for a basket to be waiting for them in their room, how about little things to make them comfy in their room? Some bottled waters so they don't have to drink out of the tap (my personal peet peeve), little candies or mints or breakfast bars that your dad can have (its probably easier for you to find stuff that he normally snacks on at home than it will be for him when he is away), maybe a baseball hat for dad to wear and a straw hat or sun visor for mom, maybe a few of their favorite magazines, a new cook book, a book by their favorite author, small travel size of mom's favorite lotion, bottle of cute nail polish for her to do her toes before going to sit by the pool, a book about Disney or some brochures on each of the parks so they can decide what they want to do the night before you hit a park (you used to get a brochure on each park when you ordered the planning video). I'm running out of ideas here, but I would definitely have a card from your DD saying how much they mean to her (and you and your new DH) and how she wants this to be the trip of a lifetime because they have made her life so much fun.


Anybody else?

 

[LIGrumpyGirl]

Thanks for all of your suggestions! I like a lot of them. I know Peg is not in business anymore but maybe I will PM her for some ideas. Thanks...keep them coming!

 

[MAGGIED]

Just a thought but what about going to a place like Things Remebered and finding anice photo album and having something engraved on the front - like "with love to Grandma and Grandpa from XXX" then fill the album with photos from the past few years and leave space for some new ones to be taken on the trip - you might think of tossing in one of those instamatic cameras for fun.........

 

[wscato]

Will they be staying at SSR? If so what about something at the spa? They range in prices.

Ginger