Surprises BEFORE Disney...HELP.

[linanglab]

As many of you know, my family has gone through quite a bit of drama. And NOT the good drama! So this Disney vacation will be a wonderful get away for me and the kids. We are so excited.

We are almost hitting our 50 day mark. WOOHOO! So....I have decided that every Thursday from here on until our trip, I will give the kids something Disney related. Today I gave them some Disney pins that I bought through Ebay (through SR of course!) I need help from here on out. I am on a HUGE budget. Not much extra spending money. SOOOO.... Any ideas and suggestions will be appreciated!

Thanks so much!

[Hedy]

Do you have a Dollar Tree near you-they have some good and cheap Disney stuff. You might want to check out half.com or Amazon used for cheap copes of disney trivia or hidden mickeys. Could you pick up lanyards some where cheap. Cheap ponchos?

[m 'n c]

Check out the Target $1 spots as well. Sometimes there is disney stuff thrown in there.

You could also start saving some pennies and quarters for the penny press machines.

[iluvamystery89]

you've gotten some great ideas so far! i agree with Cate about the pennies. pennies and quarters in an mini M&M tube are great! my DD loves pressed pennies and they're a quick, cheap souvenir.

[Breeze88]

Disney shopping has a set of 3 luggage tags for something like $5.99 for the set if that would work.

How about disney dollars for each kid as spending money. You can get them at a local Disney store.

I did some gift certificates on my computer for my kids that were good for one treat of choice at Goofy's candy kitchen at DTD. Just make sure to set a max amount they can spend.

Certificates for *my choice of the day* are always fun. What I did was give each kid one for a certain day we'd be at Disney and they got to pick the first thing we had to do that day.

[pattip03]

How about some puzzles - create your own - FREE!

http://puzzlemaker.discoveryeducation.com/WordSearchSetupForm.asp

:wizard:

[ligrumpygirl]

What about making a chain one day with the kids? Every day closer and a chain link comes off. Decorate the chain with Disney characters and stickers. I am waiting for somebody from the DIS to send me a template she has. When I get it, I will pass it along.

[Breeze88]

What about making a chain one day with the kids? Every day closer and a chain link comes off. Decorate the chain with Disney characters and stickers. I am waiting for somebody from the DIS to send me a template she has. When I get it, I will pass it along.

That sounds awesome and I'd like that one as well for the grandson for next year when we'll be taking him on his first trip to see the mouse :banana:

[Magical JenK]

Do you have this year's planning DVD? Maybe one Thurs you could all watch it together? Or any old maps from previous trips? You could look at those & pick your plan of attack...or your dream day at a park...make a game of it. Or maybe put together a photo album of your favorite photos of them from past trips??

(See...totally thinking inexpensive here babe!)

[wilsonfamily4]

We did the chain from the DIS and my kids really enjoyed seeing it get shorter adn shorter.

There is also a thread over there that has stuff to make a night around a movie theme. So you would have spaghetti and watch Lady and the Tramp or so on.


I will try to think of other cheap/free things to do.

[mmm611]

Maybe you could bake something disney related? You could do Mickey cookies or something along those lines.

If you're planning on making your own shirts to wear, you could do those one week.

Maybe a small game/toy to keep them busy en route?

[fourfoxesinpa]

If they have MP3 players, you could load them up with some Disney songs from the internet, like the parade and fireworks music. Or you could burn some songs to CD for them.

You could go to the library and check out some classic Disney movies for free that you haven't seen in awhile.

Don't know if you're driving or flying, but you could get a little travel pillow for very little $ at WalMart and, if you can sew, buy 1/2 a yard of fabric for each to make Disney related pillow cases suited to each kid's taste.

I was just at Dollar Tree tonight and saw little battery operated fans - I should have grabbed some - me thinks it will be quite warm in June. They might like those?

Do they each have a water bottle for the trip? You can get one at DT and personalize them. Saves a lot of $ on drinks. Then give them each a box of their favorite drink powders.

I found a pair of red and white pompoms at the Dollar Tree for DD - she thought she was the cat's meow at the High School Musical Pep Rally and, everytime she had them out at the parades, she was invited to participate. They have tons of HSM and Hannah Montana stuff over there - hair ties, chapstick, coloring/sticker books. I know...it's harder with the older boys. The girls are easy.

DT also had a big sheet of window clingies of Mickey and friends. I bought one and the kids had fun decorating our hotel window. You could make signs to decorate the window too. It made it easy to find the room when they wanted to walk faster than Mom could keep up.

I found these light up balls on a lanyard for $1 in the toy dept. at WalMart. When you squeeze them, they light in random different colors. Even the boys wore them to Fantasmic. Either those, some glowsticks or those mouth glow things for the nighttime events.

If you're flying, grab some gum for the plane - there are 4 packs of Bubblicious at the DT for $1.

[schaery]

How about ordering the free souvenier park maps. They're pretty neat, if you haven't seen them. Come printed with your name on them. You'd have to hurry, though, cuz I think it takes about 4 weeks to get them.

Also, lots of times on ebay, you can find Disney pins in lots for really cheap. SuperWalmart also has Disney stickers - sometimes they're on the scrapping aisle and sometimes near the party supplies.

[3dog2kidmom]

How about a Mickey mac & cheese night? I got the Disney pasta at the grocery store, you could make it yourself.

[linanglab]

Thanks guys! LOTS of great ideas. I did see some Mickey pasta at Aldi last week. Maybe they are still there.

I will visit my dollar store. Definitely going to start watching Disney movies. We have been playing Disney scene it too.

I may make some Mickey pancakes for dinner one night too.

[pbhall13]

Thanks guys! LOTS of great ideas. I did see some Mickey pasta at Aldi last week. Maybe they are still there.

I will visit my dollar store. Definitely going to start watching Disney movies. We have been playing Disney scene it too.

I may make some Mickey pancakes for dinner one night too.

I like the idea of the mickey pancakes for dinner....always a big hit at my house......maybe even print up a menu with a few options for them (that is easy for you to prepare....I know you don't want to be at the stove the whole time)

....another ' breakfast' option for dinner is (this is if your kids like this)...the goofy breakfast option from Kona take a piece of toast and cut a hole in the middle. Fry an egg and then either drop it in the hole or place toast over it...so easy to do.

....call the orange juice a fun name on menu...Poohs punch....Eeyore's OJ..get creative...

Have fun with it....I know you will!!

[Blessing and Miracle]

Wow. What great ideas! I think they sale Disney themed popsicles at the grocery store. Maybe you guys can do that one day while sitting outside enjoying the weather and getting prepared for the Florida warmth.

Sounds like you have enough ideas here to get you through the countdown.

This thread has gotten me even more excited and impatient about our vacation this summer. We have a lot longer than 50 days, though. We have until July.

Good luck and happy planning. Let us know what all you come up with.:)

[wdwabby]

Sorry to hear of all you're going through Angela, but what if one of the Thursdays you all sat down and had a "planning meeting" of sorts - everyone can go around and tell what they're most looking forward to, what ride(s) they absolutely HAVE to hit - make a top ten list!

Disney planning is a lot of fun!

I also echo the idea of doing a dinner and movie night - its fun, disney related, and you're 'giving' your kids time with you and with each other. That's better than any physical thing you could give them!

[linanglab]

Today I found Disney Pez. I bought 3 of them. An Incredibles one, a Nemo one, and a Cars one. My kids love Pez, so this worked out well. They will get these on Thursday.

Thought about having a memory day with going through pics of our old trips, but being that their Dad is in all of those pictures, I thought it might be sad for them and not fun. So I foregoed that idea.

[ShanPooh]

Any Disney videos/DVDs that you don't have around the house, you can always get at the library :D
The Disney sing-alongs are great for getting my kids really excited about heading to WDW.
All of these are live action sing alongs that take place in the parks:


Disneyland Fun
Campout at Walt Disney World
Beach Party at Walt Disney World
Let's Go to Disneyland Paris
Happy Haunting - Party at Disneyland
Flik's Musical Adventure at Disney's Animal Kingdom

[Hedy]

What about making some personalized luggage tags?
http://www.themouseforless.com/downloads.shtml#trip