[A Goofy Family]

When the kids were smaller, Mickey would always leave something in the room for them. Sometimes after we would leave in the morning to find when we returned, sometimes while they slept. A variety of things...stuffed animals (found at the Disney store at home for 1/2 price or better), bathing suits, swim towels, Disney Dollars, Disney Candy/Snacks to carry in the park w/them, quarters & pennies, special autograph books ordered from The Laughing Place prior to the trip, special autograph markers, Stickers, gum since you can't buy it at WDW. Sure saves on buying so many souveniers and spending so much at WDW and makes it fun for the kids. They've pretty much caught on to our secret now, they're 12, so we mainly leave Disney Dollars for them to find under their pillow, folded in the towels, in their clothes drawers, etc...Money=Power in the mind of a pre-teen...and we have enough stuffed animals...so that's what works for us. Have fun with it!

[ak172]

You guys are great. Thank you so much. I am having a blast doing this. I got a few things already but I will be heading to Kohl's tomorrow.

Thanks

[beth]

I liked the Disney Dollars idea. Our first night, we arrived at 3pm. We planned ahead so that we were not going to the parks that day. We went to DTD instead. My DS 5 and DD 2, loved the Lego Store. We were glad that we did that first, so we could concentrate on the parks for the rest of the trip.

[tmcquaid]

One of the sites somewhere has a disney journal that you can print out for the kids. Our oldest DD was in 2nd grade at the time and her teacher just asked that she keep a journal so it worked out well. If I recall correctly it was broken down by park and asked them to record favorite things about their day, etc. I printed them off, had them bound at Kinkos and put them in their surprise bags. It's upstairs on her bookshelf. It made a nice keepsake.

[KarenT]

Originally Posted by tmcquaid

One of the sites somewhere has a disney journal that you can print out for the kids. Our oldest DD was in 2nd grade at the time and her teacher just asked that she keep a journal so it worked out well. If I recall correctly it was broken down by park and asked them to record favorite things about their day, etc. I printed them off, had them bound at Kinkos and put them in their surprise bags. It's upstairs on her bookshelf. It made a nice keepsake.

That is a great idea for any kid who will be missing school!

[daisyd]

Originally Posted by ak172

My sister and I were thinking of getting together a basket with Walt Disney items to give to the kids when we get to WDW.

We have been hitting the Disney store and found a ton of stuff marked down with additional 50% off. Great stuff like hats for two bucks, key chains for 50 cents, large stuffed charc. for 5 buck, etc...

None of us have ever been to WDW and we were wanting to do something for the kids to make it special. When we arrive we will not have enough time to visit any of the parks that day I dont think so we were trying to think of something special to do for them.... I know they will all think that was way neat and special....

So that was what we came up and we were wondering if you had anyother ideas or what you have done for your kids....

I know that going to WDW is special in its self but wanted to do something since they will be so excited to get there and then all we can do is walk around the hotel when we get there.

Thanks

We plan a swim in the pool and dinner at 'Ohana on our arrival day.

We buy things from the Disney Store before DL trips and every morning when the kids wake up they get a special surprise before we go into the parks. It helps to cut down with the "I want that" once we are inside.

[sendme.todisney]

When I went for the first (and so far, only) time, I was 17. We didn't get to the hotel until almost 4pm, so none of us spent our tickets on going to a park that day. Because we got there before we could check in, our tour was taken first to the marketplace to walk around and shop. I didn't spend any money at that time, but it was fun seeing that spot.

What us girls did (we came in a group of about 60-70 people, as a dance group for Magic Music Days), was spent the afternoon exploring our hotel, then exploring the sports one next door, using the pool, etc. We did end up going to Pleasure Island that night.

I think the kids might have fun exploring the larger than life value hotels, even if you are not staying there. 3 story tall Buzz Lightyears, the Herbie car, etc. Take a camera, and get some pictures of them going nuts!

The basket is a wonderful idea. Add in some stuff to do at night when they are done with the parks to wind down, like card games & coloring books. A few special snacks they don't get very often is another add in. Thier own sports bottles to fill with drinks, too.

I was at a Disney store this past weekend, and the disney pj's were on clearance for only $5 a set! Maybe get a pair of those for each of the kids. Disney beach towels are nice, too. The towels in the rooms of -any- hotel are hardly adequet for the pool.

Disney Dollars are great! Give them each an envelope with some disney dollars, and then they can use that for spending money. It's a nice way to give them each a pre-set limit on how much they can spend, and gives them the flexibility of being able to use thier "own" money.

A small purse for the girls, and wallet for the boys is good, too. You can usually find cute ones cheap at Wal-mart, and it gives them a place to store thier money.