I need help creating the magic....

[leahlefler]

The first time we went, we didn't surprise the kids (they were 7 and 9 and had never been to Disney World before, so I'm sure their reactions would have been a little underwhelming as they wouldn't have known what to expect). This time we ARE surprising them - but still telling them before we go. We're going to Disney World in February and will tell them at Christmas. THey REALLY want to go back so they will be very excited!

 

[brownhaired_girl]

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 andreally 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 would second telling him. Looking forward to the trip is exciting in itself. You can watch youtube videos together.

 

[Dumbo777]

I would second telling him. Looking forward to the trip is exciting in itself. You can watch youtube videos together.

Thanks. What a good idea.

 

[LovesTimone]

Frist off take a breath... Okay, lets do that again....

that's Better... It is very overwhelming planning even for a experienced planner.

Frist tip - You are not going to be able to see it all and do it all...Repeat as necessary..

For your first trip, or any trip really look at the make of your family, add in nap times, with a toddler and a baby you will want them to stick to a normal schedule as possible. Celebrations birthday, anniversary's or some other life moment. I would plan some down time, pool time and possibly a nap for everyone. This gives everyone time away from all the excitement and all the over stimulation.

I would try to plan on 1 TS a day, just to regroup, get off your feet, and in the air conditioning. I would plan on 1 character meal if you are paying out of pocket, if your on the dinning plan you could add in some more.

Do a lot of homework when it comes to the menu's, not only table service (TS) but quick service (QS). There is nothing worse than heading in some where to eat with a hungry family or worse a hangry family and finding out that nothing on the menu is going to work.... Also if anyone has some type of food allergy Disney is the best at helping you, make sure to put it on dinning reservations, and if not sure ask at the QS, they have a book so you can be sure.

I would let everyone pick out a favorite ride, and do those first... yep mom and dad get to pick to... When making your FP's get the ones you really want 1st, start on one side of the park moving from land to land.... to the other side, a lot of crisscrossing the parks is wasted time and steps... So spend some time getting to know your maps...

Use photo pass... That way everyone can be in all the pictures it is your 1st trip... Special Memories.

Stop and smell the roses so to speak, just grab some mickey bars and sit down some where shaded and just take it all in....

For the little kids bring the big stroller trust me when I tell you that you will need it.

Bring lots of snacks, snacks are really costly.... Get a small softside cooler to take into the park, for water, juice boxes, fruit, cheese sticks, soda.

Rule of thumb is 3 to 4 bottles of water per person per day not including meal times... Since your driving this will be easier. You will be surprised at how much water you need to drink, keep everyone hydrated. You can get free ice water in the QS restaurants.

You can also meal share, to save money and not be wasteful... Disney portions are huge and easily shareable. You can share at TS just let the server know you want to share, a lot of times they will divided it up in the kitchen some times they will bring you a extra plate. Please tip as if everyone was ordering a entrée.

The more homework you do now, the better off you'll feel when you arrive...

Wishing you and your family a Magically Adventure...

 

[Dumbo777]

Thank you so much. You gave soany amazing tips

 

[brownhaired_girl]

I've been to Disney many times but the first trip was the most magical. I knew nothing. I did no planning. I had no expectations. Disney's attention to details was amazing!!!! I think that trip I truly smelled the roses.
I now help many friends plan their Disney trips. One suggestion I would make would be to purchase some colored recipe cards, have a color for each park and when you come across something you might want to remember write it on the correct colored card and save it. This might help keep your information organized You might also want a section for fast pass info, dining info, travel info and so on .

 

[krd315]

Yes, a lot of what we do is for us vs the kids but it is fun and we love it! We have done surprise and planned. Both were fun but I agree to surprise ahead of time vs 3-4am. My grandkids are 11 & 13 and I still have a couple of surprises for our next trip...a special meal for each, an extra gift card, etc. Have fun planning and have a great trip!

 

[glassslippergirl]

@Dumbo777 , have you revealed the trip yet? I notice that this thread has been going on for a while. If not, have you considered revealing on Christmas. Maybe open a Christmas gift with a Disney doll or shirt for each kid with a note from Mickey. On this site, there’s Fairy Godmailers, where people at WDW now send your kids postcards signed by the characters. Maybe you could incorporate that.

Also, if you have a car, consider driving from WDW to a nearby Wal-Mart or Target. There will be a huge Disney selection— plushes, shirts, other souvenirs you’ve never imagined. You could sneak out to a 24 h store after the kids are in bed and get plenty of surprises for during the stay.

 

[Dumbo777]

@Dumbo777 , have you revealed the trip yet? I notice that this thread has been going on for a while. If not, have you considered revealing on Christmas. Maybe open a Christmas gift with a Disney doll or shirt for each kid with a note from Mickey. On this site, there’s Fairy Godmailers, where people at WDW now send your kids postcards signed by the characters. Maybe you could incorporate that.

Also, if you have a car, consider driving from WDW to a nearby Wal-Mart or Target. There will be a huge Disney selection— plushes, shirts, other souvenirs you’ve never imagined. You could sneak out to a 24 h store after the kids are in bed and get plenty of surprises for during the stay.

We have not revealed it yet. I'm still waiting to see how I want to reveal it. Thanks so much for the tips. I had no idea that the Walmarts would carry so much Disney stuff. I can't wait to take a look at what they have. Thanks

 

[halfpintpeggy]

@Dumbo777 no pressure...but maybe you could do a trip report for us? It would be SO much fun to see WDW from your perspective!

 

[Dumbo777]

@Dumbo777 no pressure...but maybe you could do a trip report for us? It would be SO much fun to see WDW from your perspective!

That sounds like fun. What exactly does a trip report entail? Are there flcertain guidelines to follow?

 

[halfpintpeggy]

That sounds like fun. What exactly does a trip report entail? Are there flcertain guidelines to follow?

Not really, you can be as in-depth or as casual as you like. Check out the trip report forum for some ideas! Also, reading the forum is a great way to add some excitement to your planning while waiting to go!

 

[Julylady]

We have saved a ton of $$ by letting the kids pick their own snacks before we leave home. Each child can pick up to three packages of snacks. Nothing is off limits. So, they pick things like ring pops that I absolutely would not let them buy at other times. Once we are at WDW, all snacks go into a drawer and are shared. Each child can take as many snacks to the park as she can carry in her small bag. And, they can eat them when ever they want without asking. This approach is such a novelty to them that they rarely ask to buy snacks in the park which saves me a boat load of money.

 

[halfpintpeggy]

We have saved a ton of $$ by letting the kids pick their own snacks before we leave home. Each child can pick up to three packages of snacks. Nothing is off limits. So, they pick things like ring pops that I absolutely would not let them buy at other times. Once we are at WDW, all snacks go into a drawer and are shared. Each child can take as many snacks to the park as she can carry in her small bag. And, they can eat them when ever they want without asking. This approach is such a novelty to them that they rarely ask to buy snacks in the park which saves me a boat load of money.

GENIUS!!!

 

[Dumbo777]

We have saved a ton of $$ by letting the kids pick their own snacks before we leave home. Each child can pick up to three packages of snacks. Nothing is off limits. So, they pick things like ring pops that I absolutely would not let them buy at other times. Once we are at WDW, all snacks go into a drawer and are shared. Each child can take as many snacks to the park as she can carry in her small bag. And, they can eat them when ever they want without asking. This approach is such a novelty to them that they rarely ask to buy snacks in the park which saves me a boat load of money.

That is such an excellent idea. I'm totally mind blown. I'm definitely going to have to do that.

 

[katie111]

I've done both surprise trips and told them in advance. What my kids have told me they like best is finding out about 3 weeks prior. It gives them enough time to get excited but not so long that they feel like they are waiting forever. On one trip when my middle DS was about 7, I woke him up around 5am and told him we were going on a plane to Disney. He did not believe me & just kept climbing back into bed. It got to the point that we would miss our flight if he didn't get up. His sister who was 8 at the time started yelling at him & a huge fight broke out between them. Not quite the "magical moment" i had envisioned. We surprised them a couple other times and most of their reactions were pretty underwhelming. They were excited but it wasn't the crazy reaction you see in commercials. We've also told our kids at Christmas that we are going on a trip on April vacation (not Disney). While they were happy in the moment, they usually get frustrated because it is so long to wait until we actually go. Due to my DH's work schedule, most of our trips are very last minute so I usually didn't have to keep the secret for every long.

I've done little surprise gifts that I bought ahead of time, given them gift cards, booked special meals, etc. And sometimes I didn't do anything extra. I don't think either approach is right or wrong. Usually how good our trips ended up were because of the weather, crowd levels, good or bad planning, and the kids moods while we were there. I don't think we ever really had a "better" time because we stayed in a better hotel or did a lot of extras. I think our best trip ever was when we stayed at AllStar Music. Kids were just the perfect age, crowds were low, and everyone magically got along for a change. And we got stranded for a couple extra days due to Hurricane Sandy so that really made it magical!

 

[Dustykins]

I don't usually do anything huge, but I've made each trip a little special. Our first trip was for my sister's wedding so we talked about it for ages before hand (over a year, I'm sure). The kids were antsy (they were 7 and 4) because it just felt like it took forever for the trip to arrive. I made them both special Disney outfits for every day, even a couple of matching ones, and they had ears before hand (helpful to have a sister who works there - easy to get that stuff ahead of time). I even made them "Disney Bound" shirts for the flight there. Our second trip, two years later, we drove. They had requested a surprise if we ever went again because they didn't like the anticipation for that long. I kept it a surprise until a couple hours into the drive. We met them at the door after school on Friday and told them to get in the car, we were going to a quilt show in Kentucky. When we stopped for dinner, we played hangman and the answer was "We're going to Disney World". When my son figured it out, and I told them "yes we are," they had the best reactions (we got such a great video). I made a couple new things for that trip, but it was harder because I had to hide what I was doing. My mom, though, put together travel boxes for both of them - snacks, hand wipes, kleenex, games, coloring books, colored pencils (the twisty kind - they don't melt and don't need sharpeners), etc. in a flat plastic box so they had something to write on. Our last trip, DS was in 6th grade, so I wanted to make sure we had all his homework ahead of time, I was afraid it'd be too hard to catch back up. So, they knew we were going somewhere but thought we were going to a family reunion in MI. (I told them: "we're missing a week of school - we've got family in MI you've never met" all true, but kind of misleading). That totally blew up in my face. My son spent the last week before trying to get in trouble so he couldn't go. He said pretty much nothing would be worth missing a whole week of school; felt pretty stupid when he found out what was actually happening.