need help planning "surprises" for kids

[pleakley]

Hi everyone, we are planning our first trip to WDW in June, my son is a Star Wars fanatic so we are going to be there for one of the SW weekends. Last week while browsing this board I discoverd that his all time favorite character (Jango Fett) will be there the weekend we are, I was so excited, I actually cried - what a sap! It will be a complete surprise, as I haven't told him anything at all about the SW weekends.
I also have a 4 year old daughter, I have already secured a 10:20 am ressie for CRT on our first day to the MK, it is an ee day so I thought that would give us enough time to do most of Fantasyland (maybe all?) and then top it off with a meal there. Do you think that makes a comparable surpise? Any other suggestions? Her favorite characters are Snow White and the 7 dwarves, we went to Disneyland last summer and she met a few of the princesses. I just want to make sure they both have a truly magical time
Let me know if that made sense and TIA for any help you can offer!

 

[pooh2001]

Are you willing to spend a few $$'s ?
Check out the WDW Florist
www.disneyflorist.com

look at 'our specialties'

I am gettng my DS & DD the Welcome Treat baskets.
They have Welcome lunch boxes, Family Treat Bag, etc...

They can add balloons, Disney beannie characaters,
coffee mugs, mickey hats, autograph books/pens, etc..

Check them out. Give them a call or e-mail.

We have never been disappointed with the magic
of the WDW Florist.

 

[KSDisneyDad]

My older two DS's love Star Wars and Jango Fett is their favorite as well. When we were there in December, they were excited to find a life-size Jango Fett made of Legos at the Lego Store in Downtown Disney (also loved the life-size Bionicle).

We, too will be there for our second Star Wars weekend. We too haven't told them about it and they don't know they'll be seeing Jango Fett.

Other surprises -- the trip itself will be full of little surprises. We find we don't have to try to hard, they'll come. We are always discovering new things each trip. One of my favorite surprises was we found the moving, talking trashcans in Tomorrowland. My kids had a ball with it.

Don't have two many ideas for daughters (I've got 3 boys). However, we ususally see Snow White and the dwarfs at the Exhibition Hall at the entrance to MK. You might consider the Princess Storybook Breakfast at Norway and the 7 dwarfs are usually at Germany.

 

[Baloo]

Hi Pleakly,welcome to the DIS!!

No you don't sound likea sap at all...I'm TOTALLY excited for you!! LOL!

I also have a son who is a Star Wars freak.His obesession began when he was,I think, around 4...when they re- released Episodes 4,5 and 6,ya know the ones we were obessed with when we were kids? I was thrilled because his favorite The Return of the Jedi was always my favorite...it's the Ewoks..they look like little teddy bears and I have a thing for bears! He even went to MNSSHP 3 years ago as an Ewok.Anyway when I found out that MGM was having Star Wars weekends and we would be there then I was thrilled beyond believe! Erich always LOVED our trips to WDW but that made it even more special for him.He loved getting his picture taken with an Ewok,Chewie and other favorites...Mommy loved Hans Solo!

I agree not to worry about other surprises,they're around ever corner in WDW!! The talking trashcan is a great one...look around the east side of the entrance plaza fountain in EPCOT for a glowing, talking water fountain.That reminds me of Star Tours...listen while in line,you can hear the Ewoks up in their huts.And always have your eyes open for Hidden Mickeys!

I think your little girl will love the breakfast.Germany in EPCOT is where we've spotted Snow White several times.During the Flower and Garden show ,that will be going on while you're there too,there's always a topiary of SW and the 7.

Y'all have a great trip and........
May the force be with you!

 

[house_of_princesses]

I just love surprises! I think the two planned surprises are comparable. DS gets his wish, DD meets a princess, and at CRT to boot! It's sometimes difficult keeping things "equal" isn't it? When we go, I typically pack a gift bag with Disney surprises (t-shirt, stickers, light up toys, new edition of Birnbaum's WDW for Kids by Kids, thick pen, etc...). I hide it and then pull it out either the night before we arrive, or the morning of. I've even had notes from their fave characters included, as if they brought them by themselves. Have fun!

 

[Familyof6]

I think you've done it up right! It's so exciting to plan surprises! We are taking our 4 kids next week for their school vacation...AND THEY HAVE NO IDEA THAT WE'RE GOING!!! Isn't it fun when we parents can surprise our kids like this! We enjoy it as much, or more than they do!

We hadn't planned on this being a surprise. We just didn't know when to tell them. It went on so long that we knew we just COULDN'T tell them now! I even had to be secretive with a specialist that wanted to schedule our sons surgery for the Monday of vacation! I told him that wouldn't work for us... and later explained in private. Now DS will have the memories of Disney to think about as he's falling asleep under the anesthesia.

Pleakley, you are doing a wonderful thing for your kids! They will remember this forever! Have a ball on your trip!

Lisa

 

[Brier Rose]

How about surprising her with a Snow White Princess dress for her breakfast at CRT.
We always see LOTS of little girls dressed up to meet their favorite princesses in the castle.

Since your going to be in Fantasy Land anyway, maybe you could slip over to Tinkerbell's Treasures(right beside the castle) and get the dress, and drop it off at the castle with a premade note to your DD, like it was left for her by Snow White.
Of course this would depend on the CM's at CRT helping you out , but I bet they would.

Not sure how much extra expence you wanted to go to, I believe the last time we bought a dress like that for our DD it was between $50.00 to $75.00, that's been a few years ago.

 

[pleakley]

Thanks so much for all the great ideas! I've been checking in and now I finally have a minute to post. It's hard to get a thought together with two kids in the house
I wonder if the disney florist does special requests, I really liked the beer gift basket, I thought that might be a nice surprise for dh since we will be celebrating father's day at WDW...
I love all the great suggestions you have given me and I really appreciate the support, I feel much better knowing that they will both have great surprises and wonderful memories and anything I add to it now will just be icing on the cake!
I can't say thank you enough!

 

[Daffy]

I took my 8 yr old niece to WDW and wanted to make it really special because it was her first vacation ever. Before we left, I wrote notes for each night we were there signed by different characters and bought little surprises to leave with the notes at the foot of the bed. After that first morning, her first reaction to waking up was looking immediately at the end of the bed to see who had visited the night before and what they left her.

I bought some trinkets at the Disney Store prior to leaving on our trip, as well as looking at Target, Wal-Mart, etc. They ranged from Disney character cookies, a straw w/Minnie on the top, some new T-shirts, the large striped sucker Disney sells (found at Target for $1.50 instead of the $3-$4 at park). I planned the trip out so the notes and surprises were related to whatever park we were visiting that day and who we were likely to see. The morning of our breakfast w/Cinderella, I left a T-shirt dress I'd found on sale at the Disney store for $15 and the note read somthing like, "To a special princess, we're looking forward to meeting you this morning! Love, All the Disney Princesses". When we arrived at the castle, the lady at the door told her, "Oh, we've been waiting for you. You have the special table." Once inside all the Disney princesses worked their way around the room and each of them called her princess. I could not have planned it better if I'd paid everyone to do it. My niece's eyes were so shiny they absolutely sparkled. It's been two years and my niece still talks about her trip.

Oh, I almost forgot... I discovered the clerk at the Disney store was going two months before we did and I gave her some money to bring me back an autograph book. I found pictures on the internet of as many Disney characters as I could find that I thought would be at the park. I copied and pasted them into Word and then printed them off, cut them out and pasted them (one on each sheet, using a stick glue) in the autograph book. As she came across different characters in the parks, she found their picture in the book and had them sign on that page. Everyone made a big deal out of having their picture in the book. I took pre-cut clear contact paper in the backpack and after the character signed it, I would put the clear contact paper over that page so the signature wouldn't get smeared. I also placed the autograph book into a baggie so it wouldn't get wet on the water rides.

I also bought her a Disney journal (found at Target) and had her write her favorite ride, show, food, character meeting, etc. about that day. I had her skip a couple of pages in between the days and when we got home, I placed her pictures with the characters on the pages for that day.

 

[house_of_princesses]

Daffy, All I can say is I wish you were my Aunt! What a wonderful thing you did for your neice!

 

[Familyof6]

Take me with you next time! I want to have magical surprises too!
What an absolutely fabulous trip you planned for your niece! Just think how special those memories will be to her! She will remember it for the rest of her life. And she'll tell her kids about when "Aunt Daffy" took her to WDW for the first time! So precious!

Lisa