“Look Disney Dollars!!!”

The title is all Wyatt could talk about as Peyton tore into the envelope with the tickets, letter, stickers, and three “Disney Dollars”. (The Disney Dollars were from the trip we took with Peyton and Wyatt in 2003. When you turned in your stroller they gave you a dollar back, in Disney Money. You can only spend that money in Disney. I chose to save mine. I’m glad I did. They were a perfect something to add to the letter.)

So I did get a few pics of the kids AND I was able to video their reaction.

Also I got a few pics of them with their stash

(click on the image to see it full size)
We are ready only 30 days to go!

M-I-C-K-E-Y-M-O-U-S-E

I’m a Disney freak. I love it all, movies, parks, ice shows, and eventually Broadway shows.
I absolutely love taking my kids to Disney World, and I would go more often if I didn’t have to save every penny so we can once a year, or every two or three.

Let me see if I can remember the times Chris and i have been since we have been married.

July 2000- Peyton was a baby 9 months I think
May 2002- Again Peyton was I think about 18 months old. this was a celebration because we had just found out he got the job in DC that he so desperatly wanted. (Great time to go BTW)
October 2003- this time we went to celebrate Peyton’s fourth birthday. Wyatt was only 3 months old and we felt since Peyton was taking the roll of big brother so well we would reward him for it.
October 2006- This was just a weekend trip to Downtown Disney.(Weekend trips are easy now since we moved from Va this year. Now we only live 3 hrs away!) No parks involved.
April 2008- First trip as a family of 3. Rhett was about 14 months old, Wyatt was 4 and Peyton was 8. We only went for two days and had a great time.
Present Day:

We will be taking our 6th trip to Disney for Spring Break for a whole week! (Thank-you free kids deal) Disney is offering so many deals right now it’s crazy. We happened to get in on a Pay for the adults kids get in free deal PLUS dining and we couldn’t pass it up. If you are looking into Disney anytime soon go check out their Website.

Enough promoting. Lets talk surprises.

It is so difficult to plan a trip with a nine year old. Peyton is so curious that I’m sure he knows something is up. I don’t flat out lie to him, because I hate it when he lies to me. But if he asks questions about Spring Break I just change the subject, tell him I don’t want to answer him right now, or give him a blank stare until he leaves me alone.

Yes I play dumb. It works.

Well tomorrow will be 30 days until the day we leave and I can no longer keep it a secret. I love talking Disney with the kids and planing what we are going to do and talking about our favorite ride. I became a member of a Disney Forum and found lots of cool ways to surprise your kids about your trip. So I found someone who shared their Idea about making tickets, downloaded a Walt Disney handwriting Font and made them “tickets that tell when we are going.

See?

I also found some Mickey Stationary and made a letter from Mickey to the kids.

I have also made a countdown chain of Mickey Heads (Courtesy of Disney Paint samples from Home Depot) to put on display to count away the days until we go. I’ll get a pic of those when I put them up.

So tomorrow night when Chris comes home from work we are telling the kids that a letter came in the mail for them and let them open it up. In the envelope they will find “Tickets” for everyone complete with one for “Mom” and “Dad” as well as the letter from mickey letting them know he can’t wait to meet them.

I think they will be surprised. I’m going to try and video their reaction so I can post it.

I think I will blog about my Pre trip planning and pop in a few tips for those of you wanting to take a trip to Disney with your kids, for those who are looking to go again, or for the first time.

You have never seen such joy as you will see when you take your kids to Disney for the first time. It’s a whole new experience.