Welcome Baskets

[Feckless]

Hi, I hope I'm posting this in the right forum.

We are heading to the BC on the 1st of May, staying CL. I read a thread ages ago about getting packages together for your kids for when you check in (well, after check in but soon after you arrive.) Can anyone who has done this give me their experiences? Where did you shop for items? How much help is reasonable to expect from the IPO? I didn't want to do one of the pre-fab baskets like I've seen on the Disney site - something more like a Duffy bear, Disney dollars, arcade card, pins, a vinylmation and a balloon or two. I saw an awesome Ferarri remote controlled car on the Disney store website - is something like that possible to hae delivered there for the package?

Also, are the Duffy bears all alike outside of their costumes? If not, I think my kids would rather choose their own so I was thinking of doing a certificate for one.

I seem to recall months ago reading about someone local who has a business doing this kind of thing. Anyone with any experience?

Thanks for any and all assistance.

 

[quirty30]

A couple of years ago, we also stayed BC CL, and one of the advantages of staying CL, is you can have gifts waiting on arrival. The IPO was just great and helped me with a really nice surprise for my kids. I ordered several items from the Disney Store and had them delivered directly to the IPO staff, then they did some shopping on site for me to supplement my purchases. This did require giving them a credit card # and allowing them some flexibility with prices. Just gave them an idea of what characters my kids liked. The surprise was completed with balloons and autographed pictures. It was my kids' first trip to WDW and they loved their arrival gifts!

 

[coopersmom]

A couple of years ago, we also stayed BC CL, and one of the advantages of staying CL, is you can have gifts waiting on arrival. The IPO was just great and helped me with a really nice surprise for my kids. I ordered several items from the Disney Store and had them delivered directly to the IPO staff, then they did some shopping on site for me to supplement my purchases. This did require giving them a credit card # and allowing them some flexibility with prices. Just gave them an idea of what characters my kids liked. The surprise was completed with balloons and autographed pictures. It was my kids' first trip to WDW and they loved their arrival gifts!

Club level will tell you they no longer do this and direct you to Disney Florist, though, based on reports here, some people have had luck with being firm in their request for club level to pre-purchase items for them. I don't think there is any option though to have anything put into your room pre-arrival, though it can be arranged, if all goes well, to be done shortly after arrival.

We used Memories by Betsy on our last trip. She was very communicative and we were overall quite happy with her service. A bit more info on our experience here (http://www.dis.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2805180) if you're interested.

 

[DisneyMomx7]

BC IPO has done this for us several times - the last being July 2011.

I told them what items I wanted, gave them a cc # and they delivered it to our room shortly after we checked in.

 

[pixarmom]

Hi Feckless! As I mentioned on the BC/YC thread, based on Disneymomx7's advice, I just told BC/YC/BWI IPO that I'd prefer to work with them instead of Disney Florist and they were AMAZING! That was August, 2011. I know coopersmom had a negative experience with IPO for Poly and GF, which is so crummy and concerns me (we are staying CL next year at both.) But IPO for BC/YC/BWI was very helpful, at least in our experience. I may have mentioned this before, but Omar from IPO was particularly fantastic. Just contact them with your request! I wish I had photos of our in-room celebration, but the kids were so excited that they just dove into all the stuff immediately!

 

[hannahdrewmom]

We had the IPO at BC have small baskets waiting for our kids. They gave us the number for Disney Florist and I asked for them to do it instead. It wsn't a problem at all.
I had basic gifts though, nothing difficult: specific type of Mickey ears personalized, disney arcade gift card, and an autograph book with balloons. It was charged to our credit card and in our room when we got there! PERFECT!

 

[LindaBabe]

Club level will tell you they no longer do this and direct you to Disney Florist, though, based on reports here, some people have had luck with being firm in their request for club level to pre-purchase items for them. I don't think there is any option though to have anything put into your room pre-arrival, though it can be arranged, if all goes well, to be done shortly after arrival.

We used Memories by Betsy on our last trip. She was very communicative and we were overall quite happy with her service. A bit more info on our experience here (http://www.dis.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2805180) if you're interested.

VERY nice and unbiased report!

 

[Feckless]

Just to update this thread, I emailed BC IPO and they were more than willing to help. They will buy items for me, check and receive items sent from other vendors (just the Disney Store and I'm having Guide to the Magic sent in) and store them until our arrival. SUPER happy with their response and the level of customer service I've had!

 

[coopersmom]

Just to update this thread, I emailed BC IPO and they were more than willing to help. They will buy items for me, check and receive items sent from other vendors (just the Disney Store and I'm having Guide to the Magic sent in) and store them until our arrival. SUPER happy with their response and the level of customer service I've had!

I hope all works well for you. You might want to double check that you won't be charged for receipt of packages shipped to the Beach Club. That has been widely reported on these boards for convention hotels, which includes the Beach Club, if I'm not mistaken (and assuming this policy is still in place).

I had asked about just shipping some items from the Disney Store and Amazon I planned to give my son while there and was told I'd be charged $10 per box by the Grand Floridian. Since the Disney Store often sends various items in separate boxes, this could have quickly become quite expensive for me, so instead I just checked a large box with all the goodies for my son and my friends' kids. (Luckily, we are Gold fliers so no baggage fees.)

When we left my son had accumulated so much loot that we couldn't fit it all in our suitcases and the box we had brought down had been discarded by housekeeping. We asked the concierge and they were happy to provide two smaller boxes they said they had on hand ... It wasn't until we got home and received our final bill (computers were down, so they had to mail) that we saw they had charged us $10 each for the empty boxes. They never mentioned it prior to giving them to us. (Plus, because they had two small ones, we actually did pay $25 on the way back to check one.)

Needlessly pricy lesson learned for our family. (Take an extra duffle or lighten up on the welcome gifts ... Or both.)

EDITED TO ADD: If you're told via email that you won't be charged for receiving boxes you might want to go ahead and print that email out and take it, just in case. Hopefully everything will go smoothly and as described and you won't need it, but doesn't hurt to have a back-up plan.