Making the Magic: Disney surprises, part 1

So since the beginning of this planning adventure, I've read a lot of posts on Disney forums from other planners. I had, from the beginning, had it in my mind that I'd like to have a few surprises along the way. It turns out that a lot of others have similar ideas. The most common I've read was having small gifts that "Tinkerbell" leaves for the kids to find in the morning. We'll be doing a spin on that. I have most of the gifts planned out, from different characters (mainly princesses, obviously), perhaps Tinkerbell is the delivery fairy at the world? Anyway, here's what I've got so far. I'm trying to plan them all for the morning to help ease them out of bed:

5/3 is our arrival day. We've got some stuff planned early on. Obviously our arrival, rental car pickup, then meeting up with a friend, stopping at Walmart to buy supplies for the week at non-Disney prices, that kind of thing. I intend to abandon the kids with David for a bit and sneak to the room for this one. In the room waiting for them will be a "welcome" letter from Ariel (since we're staying in a Little Mermaid room), along with new bathing suits, towels, sunglasses, that kind of thing. And then they'll get to spend some time hanging out at the pool with their new stuff, then we'll go to dinner. I'm thinking some new pajamas and a note from Belle will be waiting on them when we return to the room that evening.

5/4 is our first park day. We'll be splitting it between Magic Kingdom and Hollywood Studios, I'm not sure about this one yet.

5/5 we're spending the day in Animal Kingdom, along with breakfast at Tusker House with the safari characters, so I'm thinking maybe a plush safari character will be waiting for them when they wake up, along with a note from them?

5/6 is a Magic Kingdom Day. Not sure about this one either. Maybe mouse ears?

5/7 we'll be going to Hollywood Studios for the first part of the day and lunch with the Disney Jr characters. I'm not sure what the lineup will be, but I AM sure that we'll be meeting Sofia the First, who just may be my 4 year old's favorite princess. I'm thinking the Amulet of Avalor for Bella. I'm not sure about Penny yet, I'm thinking she'll probably show some sort of Disney Jr character preference over the next 6 months, but right now she doesn't have any. Come on, she's 8 months old.

5/8 is our "World Showcase" day at Epcot. Between now and then I need to get the Duffy book to familiarize them with the story, because I plan on giving them Duffy bears for this, and an Epcot passport for Bella, which I'll need to pick up the day before

5/9 is our last park day, and will be the big one, as far as surprises go. Bella will be receiving an invitation to come to the Bibbidy Bobbidy Boutique to have her hair and nails done by a "fairy godmother in training", and they'll both get princess dresses and an invitation from Cinderella herself to come eat dinner in the castle, as well as an invitation to go to a special dessert party during the fireworks. I'm OMGSOEXCITED about this one.

5/10 is the day we leave. Super sadface. I'm thinking a "we enjoyed having you" letter from Mickey and the gang and a giftcard to go pick out one last souvenir.


I've obviously put a lot of thought into this, especially since our trip is 174 days out. I'm sure there will be alterations as we get closer, but this is what I've got so far!

<3

ADRs are made!

So let me tell you about getting advanced dining reservations. You can make them 180 days prior to your arrival if you're staying on site, which we are, so on November 4th I was ready, at my computer at 6:15am since reservations open at 6:30. It wasn't a big deal, waking up, since I had a pharmacology class at 8, I was normally up at that time anyway. Well here's the thing: the online reservation system didn't give me the option to book all of my dates, only the one for arrival day. UUUUUUUUUUGGGGHHHHHH < that's the sound I made when I figured this out. So I was ready to call the dining line when it opened at 7am. By ready, I mean at 6:58 I started dialing "We're sorry, but no one is available to answer your call at this time. Our hours are..." as soon as I heard the word "sorry" I would hang up and redial. after doing this about 6 times, I finally got through. And had to wait for 45 MINUTES to talk to a real person. I did get through, but by the time I got off the phone, it was 7:58. Did I mention pharmacology lecture starts at 8? It's a good thing I'm a kick ass student, because by that time my bed (and the sweet baby sleeping in it) were calling my name in a way I could not ignore. One lecture won't hurt. Thanks, Disney!


But, we got all of them! Here's the list:

5/4: Mama Melrose's Fantasmic! dinner dining package, 6pm, Fantasmic! at 9pm
5/5: Donald's Safari Breakfast at Tusker House, 10:30am
5/6: 'Ohana dinner, 5:00pm
5/7: Play and Dine Breakfast with the Disney Jr. Characters at Hollywood & Vine, 11am
5/8: Coral Reef lunch, 11:30am; Via Napoli dinner 6:20pm
5/9: Bella's appointment at Bibbidy Bobbidy Boutique, 3:30pm; Cinderella's Royal Table dinner, 5:30pm,           Fireworks Dessert Party, 9pm, fireworks start at 10pm

So there you have it! It's official! Over the next 176 days I need to pay off our trip, buy luggage (we've never been on vacation, so we don't have any!), buy all the rest of the things we need for the trip (photopass!), buy plane tickets, reserve a rental car, figure out what surprises Tinkerbell will be leaving in the room for the girls. The list goes on. I feel like my plans are pretty solid though. My next post will probably be about the list of Tinkerbell gifts I've compiled so far, because it's SO EXCITING!

<3