I need help creating the magic....

Dumbo777

DIS Veteran
Joined
Jul 14, 2017
Hello All,
I am new to these boards. I have been lurking a bit the past week, but this is my first real post. First of all I think all of you are awesome in the aspect that you are community that shares ideas of all things Disney. We are taking our first trip to Disney in spring 2018. Im dying counting the days, it seems so far away. To give you a little background... I have a ten yr old son who asks each year if we are going to Disney and each year I have to tell maybe next year we can afford it. This year is the first year that we are going to be able to go. We are taking him for him and his sisters for their birthday. There are four kids in all, a teen, my ten yr old, a toddler and a baby. I am here asking for advice on what I can do to make this trip the most magical trip possible. We are planning on driving, for us I think it is a sixteen hour drive. I have already started putting together travel journals for them. They include travel planning pages that I bought off of Etsy, word searches, and coloring pages. I am looking for any ideas as what else to put in them. I have also read about tinkerbell gifts. I have picked up a couple of things at Target. I am looking for any other ideas that I can do to make this trip as magical as possible. Does anyone have any suggestions? Im also looking for suggestions on how to surprise my ten yr old that we are going to Disney World. He doesn't know yet and honestly it is so hard to keep it a secret. My teen knows we are going because she is helping me plan the trip and thank God for that because if I didnt have someone to talk about the Disney planning with I would probably go crazy.
 
You are going to Disney that alone is magical enough.

Sometimes I feel we put so much pressure on ourselves to make things perfect with Pintrest, Instagram and everything else. It is easy to get caught up in the details. I know I need to stop, give my entire focus to another person and silence that to-do list running on a hamster wheel in my head.

Your trip will be magical because you will be there with your family. Your trip will be magical because you have been working toward it, building excitement along the way. The ability to give up the plan and pivot because one of your kids becomes captivated by something or just HAS to ride barnstormer a 3rd time or everyone needs a mickey bar will make the trip magical.

All that being said, I totally bought in to the hype...We stayed 8 nights and I did three tinkerbell gifts--medium Disney plush I got on sale at home and packed with me, Disney lego mini figures the day we were going to Disney Springs and the Lego Store and mickey straws with OJ our last park day (we only get orange juice on holidays in our house). The first day was the biggest hit and I feel like everything else had diminishing returns.

While the kids were sleeping, we put up some Disney Park maps and a countdown chain. When they woke up we explained that we were going once we all the links of the chain were gone. Then we watched a video tour of our resort. My oldest does better knowing what's going to happen vs being flat out surprised. I think we told them 70 days in advance. In hindsight, I would have waited until 21 days.

I know you will have a wonderful trip!
 
You are going to Disney that alone is magical enough.

Sometimes I feel we put so much pressure on ourselves to make things perfect with Pintrest, Instagram and everything else. It is easy to get caught up in the details. I know I need to stop, give my entire focus to another person and silence that to-do list running on a hamster wheel in my head.

Your trip will be magical because you will be there with your family. Your trip will be magical because you have been working toward it, building excitement along the way. The ability to give up the plan and pivot because one of your kids becomes captivated by something or just HAS to ride barnstormer a 3rd time or everyone needs a mickey bar will make the trip magical.

THIS! I am struggling with managing my own expectations, so I know the feeling. Especially with a first trip it's easy to think you have to do EVERYTHING and everything has to be PERFECT! But... it doesn't. You can't. and it's ok.

To tell your son... You can start a count down chain. Or, before that, you could get some Dollar Store Disney things (I found some figurines & some of those compacted wash cloths) and leave them where they will be found. Or put little bits of edible glitter on his lunch sandwich and blame it on Tinker Bell (I wouldn't use regular glitter around the toddler & baby, just in case). Or start a tradition of watching a Disney movie once a week. Or have him send a letter to his favorite character (Attn: CHARACTER, Walt Disney Communications, PO Box 10040, Lake Buena Vista, FL 32830-0040) and add a note telling Disney that you're coming, and let the character tell him when the reply comes in.

Then, after he knows, let him pick out 3 things to do for each day. If you get to do most of what he picks out, it'll be a memory he'll never forget. That is enough. *hugs*
 
Thank you both so much for your advice:dumbo:I am not married to a schedule, I do have a bit of a an for each day, but am totally ok straying from it. I just like adding all the little extra touches. I'm also thinking about giving the bigger kids a drawstring backpack for the car ride filled with Disney snacks and maybe Disney odds n ends.
 
RE: Telling him....

Do what makes YOU happy! He will be so thrilled no matter when or how he finds out. But chances are high that his reaction will be more of a memory for you in years to come than for him. If telling him now with special gifts feels right then do it. If you think a surprise later would be more his speed- then go for it. I have a hard time keeping secrets about these exciting things too! In our case we only planned our trips 2-3 months before so it was a bit easier and our focus was on the surprise of going.

On our first trip we told our girls the evening before we left. It was easier to keep the secret because our oldest was only 6 at the time. We had considered surprising them when we woke them up the next morning for the airport. But, we decided against it. We had to get up at 3:30am and felt it would be too much for them to process when being ripped out of bed in the dead of night :-). My brother did that with his kids and said it ended up being a little bit of a let-down for him and his wife because they expected the kids to be totally over-joyed. Instead, they were so tired and disoriented that one of them started crying and the other two were quiet on their way to the airport and took a couple hours to actually process what was happening and get excited. Sleep (or lack thereof), affects everyone differently-- that's for sure!

Instead, we brought them into the living room and had set out Mickey t-shirts and their passes on top. They were so excited and had the rest of the day/night to enjoy the anticipation of it. They hopped out of bed at 3:30 with big grins because they had time to prepare. Half the fun of Disney is the build-up of excitement in going! We didn't do any other gifts. We felt the t-shirts were enough since the expense of Disney is the gift itself, and it was a practical gift that they could wear to the parks.

We are going on our third trip in August and the kids know. I did tell them it is 100% refundable (lie), and that we would not be going if they do not get their chores done, and summer reading. They don't know when we are leaving within August so I think I will keep that a surprise until the last couple days. We are also surprising them with tickets to MNSSHP and we are meeting up with cousins there, which is also a surprise. That is happening at the end of our trip so it will be a great way to finish off the vacation with a huge bang!

RE: The Drive

We are 20 hours and drove the second time (kids 9 months-7). I printed out some trip games from google- license plate game was a big hit with my 7 year old. I bought each one a blank $2 notebook to journal in. I stocked up on fresh crayons and white paper, as well as sharpened pencils. I did pack some small toys and books, and I will honestly say my little ones did not use those and I am leaving them home this time because they took up so much space in the car. They mostly enjoyed the portable DVD players we purchased for our van. We don't have them and only use them on 3+ hour drives so it's very much a novelty. I rented about 15 movies and TV series DVDs from our local library and they binged on a bunch of movies during the drive. So much so that I didn't even offer them a tablet to play on until the drive home. If you do this, just remember to renew the videos while you are away. Our library has a 7 day loan and you can renew once so I did it from my phone one night while I was doing laundry down there. It's a $1 a day if you don't renew and that can add up!

Best of luck!
 
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Yes keeping this secret is honestly so hard. Thank so much for the info. DVDs are a good idea, it seems obvious, but I didn't think of buying portable ones for the rental.

I was thinking about waking him at 430 am the morning that we leave and tell him, but after reading your story we might just tell him the night before.
 
By the time you are ready for your trip you will have invested lots of hours of prep. So make sure you manage expectations of your family reactions. Heck I wanted a parade and a float by the time I got done each time!!!

When to reveal -
You will stress yourself if you wait too long. You will have luggage to pack and Mom where are my favorite shorts I want to wear today after you've finished laundry and stashed in suitcase (from experience!)..
You will stress yourself if you tell too soon. Is it today? Why not today? Why do we have to wait? Cryyyyy (From experience)...
But it's amazing to a see them get excited for the trip and anticipate few days ahead. Your teen will most likely want to pack own. And could be a big part of helping prepare the younger ones.
I have done both - I really enjoy sharing anticipation with them. And I keep secret certain Fastpasses and ADRs and even resort until we get there!
Tinkerbell Gifts -
Your mileage will vary. I have a bin full of dollar store crap that I've never used. But we had lots of compliments on our Dollar Tree Minnie Mouse pink Santa hats last holiday too. I also get general stuff like bows or chap stick, glitter nail polish, or jewelry not just Disney related stuff.
I get a blank book and let them decorate it with stickers all over. Then I write the schedule in the front of the autograph book along with our resort and my cell number - in case it gets lost! They carry the book and the click sharpie - yea no cap to keep up with!
It's a lot of work to prepare but it's so rewarding too!!!!
 


I would tell him a good while before- looking forward to something special is exciting, and he's old enough to help plan and enjoy the anticipation. Maybe , since he's been asking when for so long, New Years Eve would be fun? 2018 is going to be his year! You could even have little Disney NYE party ( ending early- like midnight is celebrated at 9/10).
I would get his a Disney for Kids book, so he could get familiar with the parks and rides and such. Actually, by NYE you will have to have already picked your dining, so that may be late. We let our son choose a couple of places to eat. There are so many great places, and if you give him a book after the dining window and he really wants to go to Sci-Fi or Chef Mickey's, you could be stuck without a reservation.
So I guess it depends on how much you want to involve him in? Having a must-do dinner and ride or two can be very fun!
We never did gifts, other than the book, I don't think. When we were there, we told him he could pick any shirt, and any hat. He looked at them for days-in many parks and saw what other people wore, before he decided. He also made a lightsaber for a special gift while there.
Another reason to tell earlier rather than later is to become familiar with some Disney characters and films. We watched Tom Sawyer, Peter Pan, and a few others- which went a long way once we were exploring Tom Sawyers Island....
 
I didn't even think of having him watch Tom Sawyer. What a great idea. I gave him the Bernbaums (sp?) Disney for kids and told him to look over it in case we did get to Disney he would know what he liked.
 
How about letting our children create their own magic? Everything doesn't need to be so choreographed. With all the pressure to have everything be perfect just sets everyone up for disappointment. I'm glad my kids are older so I didn't feel forced to have special ways to tell my kids we were going to WDW or get them gifts for months before our trip. Wow then the next time everything will need to be more elaborate. We don't have to force feed kids joy. They will find it on their own if we allow them to!
 
How about letting our children create their own magic? Everything doesn't need to be so choreographed. With all the pressure to have everything be perfect just sets everyone up for disappointment. I'm glad my kids are older so I didn't feel forced to have special ways to tell my kids we were going to WDW or get them gifts for months before our trip. Wow then the next time everything will need to be more elaborate. We don't have to force feed kids joy. They will find it on their own if we allow them to!
Thank you so much for your opinion. Part of planning things and buying special little surprises is fun for me. It brings me joy and helps me pass the time until our vacation.
 
I agree with your last post completely, going the extra mile may not be for everyone but it is something I enjoy so I do it.

One advantage to planning so far ahead is you can watch for sales on disneystore.com. Last year I bought snow white dresses for 16 bucks a piece! Got red Minnie mouse dresses for only 13 bucks a piece. Ordered in the next size up and those are going to be great tinker bell gifts for our trip this October. Stuff they can use on the trip make great tink gifts, like autograph books. Sign up for the emails on disneystore.com and wait for free shipping.
 
We also like to do elaborate countdowns. This year we are watching a lot of Disney movies leading up to the trip and I have a craft or activity that goes along with the movie for example I bought little gemstone mining kits while we watch snow white they can pretend to be dwarves and mine gems, during Little Mermaid we are going to make seashell bracelets, during Frozen I'm putting a tarp on the floor so we can "ice skate" in our socks, you get the idea.
 
One more thing for the reveal- last trip I made a scavenger hunt throughout the house and the end of it was the announcement we were leaving for Disney in a month, then we started the countdown from that day. My dd really enjoyed that, I would think a 10 year old would also. Just google scavenger hunt and you'll come up with all sorts of ideas of how to lead from one clue to the next in your house.
 
Forgot to add- at the end of the scavenger hunt the trip was revealed by dd putting together the puzzle pieces she found there. You can print a picture as a puzzle pretty cheap on Walmart.com or any other photo place. You can just use a pic of the castle or you can make it say "we are going to Disney" or whatever you wanted.
 
I enjoy planning extra touches too, so wanted to share our Disney tradition. I always plan one night 'in' during our trip... we call it a night early and everyone gets their own Disney pajamas that I purchased before the trip and washed and secretly packed (you could wrap, but no need unless you wanted to...). Everyone must wear their pjs, even mom and dad!! Usually I buy pjs w/their favorite character or we teased my husband one year and he got Grumpy pajamas... you could buy matching (could be hard w your age spread!), it's whatever you like! You have plenty of time to watch for sales, too (my Gap has loads of Disney jammies on sale right now!)

Once you are 'in', then you watch a short show/movie, or talk about the day or get desserts from room service... no stress & quality time.

One important thing!! Brand it, name it, whatever! You get 'more credit' with the kids (if you know what I mean) and the kids will talk about it that way: "Remember our: (Your family name) Jammy Night!?" ...PJs and Popcorn. ...Pajama Time. Etc.

You will have a blast!!! Happy for you!!
 
I enjoy planning extra touches too, so wanted to share our Disney tradition. I always plan one night 'in' during our trip... we call it a night early and everyone gets their own Disney pajamas that I purchased before the trip and washed and secretly packed (you could wrap, but no need unless you wanted to...). Everyone must wear their pjs, even mom and dad!! Usually I buy pjs w/their favorite character or we teased my husband one year and he got Grumpy pajamas... you could buy matching (could be hard w your age spread!), it's whatever you like! You have plenty of time to watch for sales, too (my Gap has loads of Disney jammies on sale right now!)

Once you are 'in', then you watch a short show/movie, or talk about the day or get desserts from room service... no stress & quality time.

One important thing!! Brand it, name it, whatever! You get 'more credit' with the kids (if you know what I mean) and the kids will talk about it that way: "Remember our: (Your family name) Jammy Night!?" ...PJs and Popcorn. ...Pajama Time. Etc.

You will have a blast!!! Happy for you!!
Thanks for the awesome idea
 
Hi! My husband & I are taking our DD6 & DS4, on an extended family trip to Disney this December (5 adults total, 5 kids total). We decided not to surprise our kids with the trip itself, but will be surprising them with some things while we are there (for example, they don't know we're splurging on the MVMCP for one night). I agree with other posters who said to think about sharing the surprise 1 or 2 weeks ahead of your trip rather than last minute. The reason I say this is because I am getting a LOT of enjoyment from talking to my kids about Disney, and the anticipation is something that they are enjoying too. They are asking lots of questions, they want to watch Disney movies and see some ride videos on Youtube, and they talk about what they will say to the characters when they meet them. I think it actually helps kids feel in control when they also have time to prepare for something new.

Like you, though, I am bringing some "Tinker Bell" gifts that we will surprise them with during our stay. I have picked up a few things here & there that we will put on their pillows when we leave the hotel. My plan is to either send my husband with the kids down to walk to transportation earlier than me, or I will walk the hall with them all and say 'Oh, Mommy forgot something!' and then run back & put the gifts out. That way, they'll be there when we come back to the room from the parks.

I am also bringing some Disney stickers and glow sticks from home. My intent is to give my kids extra ones each day for THEM to share with other kids - if they see a kid in line or next to them at a parade, they can just say 'Hi, want a sticker?' and it will encourage them to make new friends & pass on a smile. Hopefully it might start a conversation that could make the time in line pass more quickly too!

We are going to play the "Hidden Mickey" game, and probably "I Spy" games a lot as well. Plus, I'm bringing a set of Disney playing cards for short games of "Go Fish" if we're waiting for food or similar.

In addition, I'm doing some crafts beforehand - autograph books, some Disney shirts, Mouse Ears for each kiddo, and personalizing their Magic Bands once we receive them. I don't yet know how I will do it without them seeing it, but I am also planning to buy some Disney postcards on our trip that I will write a short "thanks for visiting me" message on & then get signed by some favorite characters. I'll mail them from Main Street or our hotel on the last day of our trip. Then, once we are home, each kiddo will get a postcard from a favorite character that talks about how nice it was to meet them & they hope the kids enjoyed their visit. I think all of these things will contribute to the fun of the trip.
 
Hi! My husband & I are taking our DD6 & DS4, on an extended family trip to Disney this December (5 adults total, 5 kids total). We decided not to surprise our kids with the trip itself, but will be surprising them with some things while we are there (for example, they don't know we're splurging on the MVMCP for one night). I agree with other posters who said to think about sharing the surprise 1 or 2 weeks ahead of your trip rather than last minute. The reason I say this is because I am getting a LOT of enjoyment from talking to my kids about Disney, and the anticipation is something that they are enjoying too. They are asking lots of questions, they want to watch Disney movies and see some ride videos on Youtube, and they talk about what they will say to the characters when they meet them. I think it actually helps kids feel in control when they also have time to prepare for something new.

Like you, though, I am bringing some "Tinker Bell" gifts that we will surprise them with during our stay. I have picked up a few things here & there that we will put on their pillows when we leave the hotel. My plan is to either send my husband with the kids down to walk to transportation earlier than me, or I will walk the hall with them all and say 'Oh, Mommy forgot something!' and then run back & put the gifts out. That way, they'll be there when we come back to the room from the parks.

I am also bringing some Disney stickers and glow sticks from home. My intent is to give my kids extra ones each day for THEM to share with other kids - if they see a kid in line or next to them at a parade, they can just say 'Hi, want a sticker?' and it will encourage them to make new friends & pass on a smile. Hopefully it might start a conversation that could make the time in line pass more quickly too!

We are going to play the "Hidden Mickey" game, and probably "I Spy" games a lot as well. Plus, I'm bringing a set of Disney playing cards for short games of "Go Fish" if we're waiting for food or similar.

In addition, I'm doing some crafts beforehand - autograph books, some Disney shirts, Mouse Ears for each kiddo, and personalizing their Magic Bands once we receive them. I don't yet know how I will do it without them seeing it, but I am also planning to buy some Disney postcards on our trip that I will write a short "thanks for visiting me" message on & then get signed by some favorite characters. I'll mail them from Main Street or our hotel on the last day of our trip. Then, once we are home, each kiddo will get a postcard from a favorite character that talks about how nice it was to meet them & they hope the kids enjoyed their visit. I think all of these things will contribute to the fun of the trip.
All awesome and crafty ideas!! I want to say we really DID get a thank you card from our last visit to WDW Wilderness Lodge. I'd have to hunt for it, but I think it was a card or something that came in the mail with several signatures and some kind of thank you message. That was 2015. Maybe others can weigh in... super sweet idea either way, or if you left something stamped with a CM to get signed and mail I bet it just might get done ;)
 

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