Something special for 4 yr old girl's first (probably only) visit?

[MouseMadness]

Mickey ears. Get them stitched with their names. A great keepsake they can treasure for years to come.

I think autograph hunting in WDW is more stressful that its worth with two young children. Lines are long and after the first few the kids are harder to keep excited while they wait. DS has been 8 times and has never even considered autographs. :shrug:

Pins and lanyards are another keepsake worth considering. Pin trading can be overwhelming for some and an absolute joy for others. The great aspect of trading is the CMs are much more accessible that characters! Again, DS has a lanyard full of pins that are a great memento but he's never really gotten into trading [he buys pins he likes and doesn't see any logic in then trading them away!].

Although not cheap, the Bibbity Bobbity Boutique princess make-over packages are a great way to pamper little girls. The make-over won't last, but pictures and memories of how special they're made to feel will. They're pampered like real princesses as it's done and then for the rest of the time they're made up the extra attention they'll get will make them feel like they really are royalty!

I'm sure you'll find an option the girls will enjoy.

I agree with all this :wave:

The boutique isn't awful unless you get the big package with the dress and all.

The nights we manage to stay out and watch fireworks we usually let the girls pick up one of those little light up toys they sell at the carts. Those get kept and played with for years.

 

[SonicRuin]

Since the ages are pretty young, I am going to stress PICTURES! Take an outrageous amount of pictures. Put them into any form of photo album you can find, and look at those pictures often. On our trip we bought a ton of trinkets, did the autograph thing, met a ton of the characters, but the one thing that all of us keep returning to are the pictures. My son is 4 and I think the constant visuals and stories of the trip will keep it fresh in the mind. Even if he really does forget stuff about it, he will think he remembers it all and it will form his own "real" memory. So just make sure you have a decent camera (digital preferrably), take a TON of pictures (either have back-up photo cards or bring a laptop if you have one to clear the card off each day). You might also want to keep a journal of each day.

The way we did it:
We got up, went to the parks. Did our thing during the day, riding rides, taking pictures and whatever else.

At night we got back to our room. My wife sat down and wrote out a journal page of the day. During that time I sat down and emptied the photo card onto our computer.

After she did the journal and I did the picture thing, we then sat down and relived the day through the journal and the pictures.

Now a month+ later we have all of our pictures to keep looking at and about 20 pages of journal entries detailing the trip.

 

[ThinkTink721]

Since the ages are pretty young, I am going to stress PICTURES! Take an outrageous amount of pictures. Put them into any form of photo album you can find, and look at those pictures often. On our trip we bought a ton of trinkets, did the autograph thing, met a ton of the characters, but the one thing that all of us keep returning to are the pictures. My son is 4 and I think the constant visuals and stories of the trip will keep it fresh in the mind. Even if he really does forget stuff about it, he will think he remembers it all and it will form his own "real" memory. So just make sure you have a decent camera (digital preferrably), take a TON of pictures (either have back-up photo cards or bring a laptop if you have one to clear the card off each day). You might also want to keep a journal of each day.

The way we did it:
We got up, went to the parks. Did our thing during the day, riding rides, taking pictures and whatever else.

At night we got back to our room. My wife sat down and wrote out a journal page of the day. During that time I sat down and emptied the photo card onto our computer.

After she did the journal and I did the picture thing, we then sat down and relived the day through the journal and the pictures.

Now a month+ later we have all of our pictures to keep looking at and about 20 pages of journal entries detailing the trip.

I usually take 400 to 500 pics each trip.
I made a scrapbook & assembled photo albums of our last 2 WDW trips.
When we go to WDW this year, we are planning to use the PhotoPass option as often as we can, spend less time taking our own pics (but, I will probably still take a lot) & order the on-line WDW scrapbook or DVD w/ the PhotoPass pics & our personal pics.
:wave:

 

[Mickwine]

Thanks again to everyone for all these great ideas. But can someone tell me what Photopass is?

 

[potatoheadman]

I don't know if it's been suggested already, but here's an idea.

Give the children their own disposable cameras. I know they are young, but let the snap pictures of what ever they want. Even if they shoot the ground or a fence, they will enjoy taking pictures and cherish the memories of taking them.

Also, you might call guest relations and see if there are some special treatment you can get as first time and maybe only time visiters. Most of all, don't be shy about letting the cast members know of your status as first time visitors! (getting the button was a great suggestion). The cast members will usually go out of their way to speak to them or do things for them to brighten their day. That has been my experience.

The lanyards is a great idea too. It's a another chance to interact with cast members, it's lots of fun, and it gives the kids a feeling of accomplishing something when they make a trade.

 

[Laura]

I was going to suggest the family magic tour, but it's been mentioned already. I have heard though that these days its no where near as good as it was when my kids took it.

What about the pirate cruise at the Grand Floridian?

 

[Laura]

Thanks again to everyone for all these great ideas. But can someone tell me what Photopass is?

From the photopass website:

Welcome to DisneyPhotoPass.com!

You're in the right place to see and share your Disney vacation photos! It's easy, fun and there is no charge to get a Disney's PhotoPass card to create your account.

To get started, have your photos taken by any Disney's PhotoPass Photographer. You can find them in all of our Walt Disney World ® Resort and Disneyland ® Resort Theme Parks as well as at our Florida Water Parks and at World of Disney ® New York. You'll then be able to:

• Order high-quality prints of your favorite photos
• Get all of your Disney's PhotoPass photos on a CD
• Share your photos online with friends and family
• Enhance your photos with character signatures and fun Disney borders -- even crop them to suit your needs
• Create customized PhotoCards, PhotoBooks and PhotoMovies

Plus, we're excited to announce we have more magic than ever! Now you can upload your own photos and create some incredible Disney photo keepsakes including Disney's PhotoMovie, PhotoBook, and PhotoCards. So, get started creating your masterpiece today!

Be sure to log on now to view your photos. They will only be available for 30 days after they are claimed, and we don't want you to miss out on the fun!

 

[disneydudette]

Autographs are a great idea, but the time spent searching and waiting in line (especially with two small kids) can be rather time consuming. Since your not interested in doing character meals, I recommend looking for "group character" locations such as the Judges Tent at the Magic Kingdom, the Character Connection at Epcot, and Camp Minnie + Mickey at Animal Kingdom. These are great oppurtunites to recieve several character autographs and pictures at one time.

We also enjoy the pressed penny machines around the park. These machines imprint a certain Disney image (usually 3 per machine) onto a "flatened" penny. It costs 51 cents per penny but they're great keepsakes of some of our favorite characters and attractions. Machines can be found in all 4 parks and every resort as well as DownTown Disney. They also sell "keepsake books" to hold all the pennies you've collected.

At Epcot you can pick the girls up a World Passport in which they can have "stamped" at every kidcot station around the World Showcase. Every country has a kidcot station and Cast Members will even write messages and your names in your passport in their own language! The passport cost us $11 but was a great way to tour the World Showcase area and a special, personal keepsake.

Photopass is great but expensive in our opinion. We love it since it's a chance to get the entire family pictured together and the Photopass photographers can think of some really cool poses! We've found that the most affordable way to utilize Photopass is to take as many pictures as possible and purchase the entire CD of them for $120ish. Photopass photographers can be found in certain locations all around the themeparks and with characters and scan a card (think of a thiner credit card) after taking photos of your group. Hand this card to every photopass photographer before they take your pictures, and they'll add more pictures to the card. You can then view pictures online by entering the code on the back of the card. This service is free of charge until purchasing the pictures.

 

[C.M.O]

I don't know if it's been suggested already, but here's an idea.

Give the children their own disposable cameras. I know they are young, but let the snap pictures of what ever they want. Even if they shoot the ground or a fence, they will enjoy taking pictures and cherish the memories of taking them.

We just got our disposable camera pictures that my 4 year old daughter took (they sell ones with DIsney characters on them at Walgreens) and I am now the proud owner of a picture of one of Disney's toilets :lol:

 

[maryszhi]

i would do everything that has been already listed:
mass character meet and greet
give kids camera
passport thing
have a fun trip

and you can request kosher meal as long as it is in advaned for meals
the uunofficla guide, which we get eveyyeear for our trip, has good info. its worth it bc it has soo much advice and stuff... alos the guide the creaters of allears.net came out with should help at least i thinhk it should
a dream is a wish your heart makes
when you wish upon a star