Help planning birthday trip!

[Pablaron]

Hi guys! Long time lurker (very long time, like years long) first time poster! I am so excited to finally be joining this community for realsies now!

The main reason is because I am planning my trip (for this VERY month) but I have reached a roadblock, and I wanted to turn to this for some help.

I am going to Disney in 2 weeks with my mom and dad to celebrate my moms 50th birthday. My mom and I have had a strained relationship at times, but we have gotten much closer recently, so we are both really excited for this trip. I know (literally) millions of people celebrate a birthday in Disney each year, but I am really looking to make this trip absolutely outstanding for my mom. My dad and I have both been saving up for the last few months, so we definitely have some room to play around money wise.

Here's the lineup of things we have scheduled so far.

Dining:

Plaza Restaurant (on arrival day for an easy/cheap dinner)
Chefs de France (one of her favorites)
Flying Fish (it's Friday in Lent and IMHO the 2nd best restaurant at Disney -behind V&As of course)
Le Cellier (my mom's absolute favorite restaurant in the world)
Crystal Palace (Also one of her favorites)

We've already ordered a cake to be delivered to Le Cellier for her birthday, and we've told them that it is her birthday.

Other plans:
Carriage ride at POR (she loves carriage rides, and we're at POFQ)
Deliveries from Disney floral
Wishes Fireworks cruise.

We also added Memory Maker - something we've never done before, so we can finally have some good family photos!!

We've ruled out watersports and dinner at V&A... ideally we'd like to do something that won't take too long. It's already a short trip and we've got a lot of things planned.

Some info about my mom:

She's not HUGE into thrills but is generally willing to try anything once.
She's doesn't know too much about Disney movies (especially 90s Renaissance movies... though I'm trying to change that LOL), but she does love history!
She doesn't particularly like the Animal Kingdom.

So please, help me out!!!

Have you ever been surprsied by anything on your trip that really enhanced the experience?
Can you think of any activities/experiences that I haven't mentioned that she would possibly really enjoy?

Thank you so much in advance!!

Now let's just pray she isn't also a lurker on these forums

 

[LWB]

Have you thought about doing a tour? The Keys to the Kingdom tour is a good one, reasonable cost, and full of Disney trivia.

 

[Weather_Lady]

Frankly, I think what you've planned sounds lovely. Anything more (other than a small birthday gift -- perhaps a small piece of jewelry of something else she likes, along with a heartfelt card) might be overwhelming.

The only additional thing I'd recommend is that since you've purchased MemoryMaker, you'll have lots of photos. When you get home, use them to make your parents (and yourself) a large souvenir photo book on Shutterfly (or a similar site). If you want, you can include "quotes" from the trip, lyrics from Disney songs, or poetry that expresses how you feel about the trip (and about your Mom in particular). If you're not happy with some of your in-park shots or you want some supplemental background photos of things like Cinderella Castle, there are plenty of free stock photos online you can download and use for your book, as well.

(*I particularly recommend Shutterfly because it makes great quality 12" photo books and runs several "50% off photo books +free shipping"-type specials annually. I go ahead and design my book, save it on the site, and simply wait for a 50% discount offer to come along before I purchase.)

 

[JillC LI]

Pick-a-pearl at the Japan Pavillion. The ceremony is fun, and you could have her pearl set in a necklace or other piece of jewelry as a reminder of this special birthday trip.

 

[Pablaron]

Thanks for the replies guys!

Have you thought about doing a tour? The Keys to the Kingdom tour is a good one, reasonable cost, and full of Disney trivia.

LWB - have you ever taken one of these tours? If so, how long is it, and did you think it was a good value for money.

Frankly, I think what you've planned sounds lovely. Anything more (other than a small birthday gift -- perhaps a small piece of jewelry of something else she likes, along with a heartfelt card) might be overwhelming.

The only additional thing I'd recommend is that since you've purchased MemoryMaker, you'll have lots of photos. When you get home, use them to make your parents (and yourself) a large souvenir photo book on Shutterfly (or a similar site). If you want, you can include "quotes" from the trip, lyrics from Disney songs, or poetry that expresses how you feel about the trip (and about your Mom in particular). If you're not happy with some of your in-park shots or you want some supplemental background photos of things like Cinderella Castle, there are plenty of free stock photos online you can download and use for your book, as well.

(*I particularly recommend Shutterfly because it makes great quality 12" photo books and runs several "50% off photo books +free shipping"-type specials annually. I go ahead and design my book, save it on the site, and simply wait for a 50% discount offer to come along before I purchase.)

Weather Lady - Thanks for those awesome ideas! I know what you mean with being overwhelming (which is why I think JillC's idea is perfect!), so I'm looking for more lowkey things, just like the scrapbook. That sounds like an amazing idea! I literally have absolutely no experience with PhotoPass so I really appreciate the ideas!

Pick-a-pearl at the Japan Pavillion. The ceremony is fun, and you could have her pearl set in a necklace or other piece of jewelry as a reminder of this special birthday trip.

You know what is funny? I was reading a TR where someone did this, and while I was reading it, the email notifying me of your response popped up - especially funny because I've never even heard of this before. This sounds like exactly what I am looking for, so thanks! We never spend too much time in the Japan pavillion for some reason, so this will be the perfect activity! Thanks so much for the idea!!

 

[Gaston's gal]

If she likes purses, you could pick out a WDW Dooney & Bourke purse. Then, she can carry something that will help her remember her trip and all of the hard work you put into it. You have some great plans! I know this will be a very memorable trip. Enjoy!

 

[LWB]

LWB - have you ever taken one of these tours? If so, how long is it, and did you think it was a good value for money.

I took the Keys to the Kingdom tour in October and LOVED it! You had to have park admission already - that's not included in the cost of the tour. I believe the tour was about $80? There are some discounts available- I knocked a % off by booking with my Disney Visa. I thought it was definitely worth the cost. (There is a much more expensive tour that costs over $200. I haven't taken that one, but I was so pleased with the Keys to the Kingdom tour that I suspect I will take it one day.)

I believe it was supposed to be a 5-hour tour, but our tour guide actually stayed with us over 5 hours answering questions, telling stories etc. We started at 9am near the front of Magic Kingdom and walked through the park with ear-pieces so we could hear the tour guide as he talked and we walked. We got trivia about things along Main Street (like the significance of the windows, flags etc), design of the various lands/buildings, etc. We rode the Jungle Cruise and the Haunted Mansion (went through a separate entrance and walked on) and heard details/history of these attractions. Stopped for lunch at the Harbour House (I was not impressed with the food there, but it was included in the cost of the tour). We got to tour the Utilidor tunnels as well as go backstage and see the backside of Magic Kingdom. We ended back at the start of Main Street. We had fast passes lined up to start at the conclusion of the tour and didn't have any problem getting there. You also get a little gold pin from the tour that says Keys to the Kingdom.

I knew I would like to see the tunnels/backstage. My concern going into the tour was whether I'd learn anything "new" since I'm familiar with a lot of the history of the park but I was pleasantly surprised how much I learned. It didn't ruin the magic for me - it actually made me appreciate the details of the park even more. It was a lot of walking, but we did stop a good bit so you could sit as needed to get off your feet. I'd highly recommend. I thought it was great.

By the way - I think the pick-a-pearl option in Japan is a great idea too! That's something that is special, easy to do, and not overwhelming!

 

[seahawk7]

My 20 year old daughter says that you should take her to The Festival of the Lion King show in AK. I know that you said she wasn't particularly fond of AK but my daughter insists that it's a Broadway caliber show that everyone will enjoy.

Because of your mother's love of history, I wonder about the American pavillion. Maybe they might to something special there? You could look up your family crest in The United Kingdom pavillion.

Now with Le Cellier, it has been my experience and I've read multiple reviews on Allears where the servers ignore or forget birthday requests. I would hate for that to happen to you. The fact that you have a birthday cake being delivered might diminish this concern. But if I were you, I would ask to privately speak to a manager before your meal starts.

 

[Pablaron]

You guys are all the bomb! Thank you!!!

LWB - That tour sounds right up my alley (I'm probably an even bigger Disney fanatic than my mom). I'll talk it over and see if it's something she would enjoy. While I would love to do it, I'm not sure if I would necessarily want to surprise her with it, because she might not want to "lose the magic." We originally weren't going to go to the parks on the day our flight leaves but this actually sounds perfect, especially if it's out by 1pm (our flight leaves at 6pm, so DME is leaving at 3!) Thanks for the recommendation.

Gaston's gal - She does like purses! Where could we go to get one?

seahawk - Depsite this being her birthday trip, I am still forcing her to go the AK, at least for a half day. I can't make it through a trip without seeing FotLK. Probably my favorite show in all of Disney (maybe tied with Voyage of the Little Mermaid). That note about the birthdays though, is HUGE! Thank you so very much for bringing that up! I had never heard of that before, so your post could potentially be a trip-saver.

Thanks again for your advice everyone, I promise I'll reward you with a good trip report!!