[smee57]

My creative juices stopped flowing. Dried up. Gone.
I need you!

DS doesn't yet know about our trip in March. It will be a Christmas surprise. Here's what I've pulled together so far to surprise him (and have it be a family-Disney-theme-gift-kinda-thing):

~a WDW calendar with the trip days marked
~Disney dollars
~Hidden Mickeys book
~Disney Theme Park Monopoly
~10 trading pins
~a digital camera, case, and memory card
~Birnbaum's WDW Dining Guide (for DH, 'cuz that's his cup 'o tea)
~The 2008 WDW Passporter (for me, of course)
~a cool water toy that DH wanted to buy for him for the resort pool but I said no and then went back to the store later and bought it for them both

So here's my dilemna . . . I don't know how to put it all together! I want it in one fun package. But I'm fresh out of ideas on how to do it creatively. I thought about a large Disney gift bag. I thought about a large Disney tote of some sort. I thought about wrapping one big box with Disney wrapping paper. I feel like there's some other creative idea out there and who better to ask than my Mousebuzz friends! Anyone have any ideas??

[purplefrogs]

Order a Disney tote from the mail order department and put all of the stuff in it. Then do a scavenger hunt with clues in various places on where to find the tote.

[Dana]

Treasure hunt! You can do a total treasure hunt for this big box...wrap it like a pirate treasure...have all clues that pertain to disney. You can then wrap all the items inside and have them designated.....ORRRRRRRRRRR you can have a present with each clue..slowly buiding up to a big that has a paper inside with your trip descritption...totally a blast either way you do it.

[missy131]

Originally Posted by Dana

Treasure hunt! You can do a total treasure hunt for this big box...wrap it like a pirate treasure...have all clues that pertain to disney. You can then wrap all the items inside and have them designated.....ORRRRRRRRRRR you can have a present with each clue..slowly buiding up to a big that has a paper inside with your trip descritption...totally a blast either way you do it.

I would do Dana's idea and I would hide things in this order:

~a digital camera, case, and memory card
~Disney Theme Park Monopoly
~10 trading pins
~a cool water toy that DH wanted to buy for him for the resort pool but I said no and then went back to the store later and bought it for them both
~Hidden Mickeys book
~Disney dollars
These 3 together:
~a WDW calendar with the trip days marked
~Birnbaum's WDW Dining Guide (for DH, 'cuz that's his cup 'o tea)
~The 2008 WDW Passporter (for me, of course)

This sounds so fun, kind of wish my DS didn't know about our trip at christmas so I could do a hunt.

[Daisee]

Yep, I agree... a treasure hunt would be awesome.

[dac921]

I saw a really nice Disney tote at the post office last week. It wasn't girlish.

[smee57]

OMG, you guys are great!! I can't believe I didn't think of turning it into a scavenger/treasure hunt. Every Easter we do a treasure hunt with clues to his basket. He drops hints days before Easter that he hopes the Easter Bunny gives him clues again. It never crossed my mind to do that for the Disney stuff! See, I told you my creative juices were depleted. I knew I could count on you people. I saw some fun totes and gift bags on Ebay but I'll definitely check out the post office, too(thanks, dac). Now I just have to decide if I should do clues to one big tote (thank you, purplefrog), or clues to individual gifts and top it off with either the combination (thank you, Missy) or the plane tickets/trip desription (thank you, Dana). Hmmm.

THANK YOU!!!!!!

[janiebird66]

I love the scavanger hunt idea!!! That would be so much for fun!!

[WDW Rules]

Originally Posted by smee57

OMG, you guys are great!! I can't believe I didn't think of turning it into a scavenger/treasure hunt. Every Easter we do a treasure hunt with clues to his basket. He drops hints days before Easter that he hopes the Easter Bunny gives him clues again. It never crossed my mind to do that for the Disney stuff! See, I told you my creative juices were depleted. I knew I could count on you people. I saw some fun totes and gift bags on Ebay but I'll definitely check out the post office, too(thanks, dac). Now I just have to decide if I should do clues to one big tote (thank you, purplefrog), or clues to individual gifts and top it off with either the combination (thank you, Missy) or the plane tickets/trip desription (thank you, Dana). Hmmm.

THANK YOU!!!!!!

How exciting. You guys are going to have so much fun come Christmas morning, and smee, you're going to have a ball planning it all out. Enjoy!!

[purplefrogs]

If you do clues to each present then by the time you're half way done they'll probably have already figured out it's a Disney vacation since some of the gifts are Disney related. Whereas, if you give clues to finding the tote by the time they get to the tote they still won't know where you're going until they see the gift.

With that in mind, I think I would still do the one big tote so it's one huge surprise at the end. Either way it will be great!!

[smee57]

Originally Posted by purplefrogs

If you do clues to each present then by the time you're half way done they'll probably have already figured out it's a Disney vacation since some of the gifts are Disney related. Whereas, if you give clues to finding the tote by the time they get to the tote they still won't know where you're going until they see the gift.

With that in mind, I think I would still do the one big tote so it's one huge surprise at the end. Either way it will be great!!

That's a great point. I thought about that earlier, wondering if he'd figure it out along the way. I'm for sure putting all of the books and the calendar together in the last package. The Disney dollars would be the dead give-away, though. The only time he gets those is when we go to WDW. Hmmm. Gives me something to think about. Good thing I have plenty of time!

[nborreani]

Ok.. ready??????
It's a good one!

Mickey luggage!!!!

Wrap all of the items you listed and put them into a large Mickey suitcase.
If you already have one..which I'm betting you do, you could just use that.
Or, watch the disneyshopping.com website for a good deal.
I got my 3 piece Mickey luggage set for $39 last year.

[smee57]

Originally Posted by nborreani

Ok.. ready??????
It's a good one!

Mickey luggage!!!!

Wrap all of the items you listed and put them into a large Mickey suitcase.
If you already have one..which I'm betting you do, you could just use that.
Or, watch the disneyshopping.com website for a good deal.
I got my 3 piece Mickey luggage set for $39 last year.

What an interesting idea!!! Thanks! I'll check that out 'cuz I've never seen them.
Mousebuzzers sure are wise people.

[dancing4disney]

I have a treasure hunt for my kids each Christmas...definitely wait to tell the surprise at the end of the hunt. Perhaps the clues could be hidden near things that are Disney related...a family photo a disney...a stuffed Disney animal...under a disney t-shirt in the drawer. You wouldn't be telling them directly but they might get the hint before the end. Make sure you have the video tape ready. Treasure hunts are priceless.

[MissDisney]

smee, how old is your son? He is going to be so thrilled!!!