AKL Surprise Help!

[kamerino]

Hi all,

My family has recently been through a pretty rough time (I lost both my dad and stepdad with the last three months, and my boyfriend's mom was diagnosed with cancer 2 months ago). We desperately need a little magic in our lives, and so I booked a trip to Disney, which coming up in less than a couple of weeks... they know that we're going. Here's where the surprise comes in. Both my partner and my 8 year old daughter are HUGE animal lovers, and so I changed our reservation from CBR to AKL- Savannah view, and I want to surprise them as we pull up to the resort! I've booked a night safari for our arrival night, too!

I'm thinking about giving them small hints during our drive (we're driving up from Miami and it takes about 4 hours to get there). I was thinking about giving them the first hint as we got on the highway, a second during our rest stop, and the third as we pulled into the Disney World property. This is what I need help with... what should I give them that would be good hints, without giving too much away? Maybe a small plastic giraffe? LOL, honestly, that's all I've come up with... Help?

I'd love any and all ideas... and the hints should be something that can fit inside a gift bag. I'm making 3 with labels to not open until the specified parts of the drive.

Thank you!!

 

[tgarre06]

So sorry for your losses and your difficult past few months. IMO Disney is a great place to escape reality and just have fun. What about some stickers? Like Pink Flamingos (they are by the pool area at AKL). I'll
Post if I think of anything else!

 

[kamerino]

That's a great idea, thank you!

 

[Bree]

I'd keep it a secret the entire way! The looks on their faces when they realize where you are staying will be priceless.

 

[tgarre06]

Another one: Fruit Striped Gum for the zebras at AKL.

 

[kamerino]

I'd keep it a secret the entire way! The looks on their faces when they realize where you are staying will be priceless.

I thought about that, but I can't resist! Not to mention that neither one of them will figure it out, lol. It'll be really unexpected, and hopefully pretty great. They may think we have something going on at AK, but never that we're staying at AKL, much less with a night safari on arrival! I'm more excited about the surprise than about the trip!

Another one: Fruit Striped Gum for the zebras at AKL.

Yes! That's awesome!

 

[DisneyWishes14]

How about small boxes of animal crackers and small, plastic binoculars? It looks like you can also find some Animal Kingdom and Animal Kingdom Lodge pins on ebay for a reasonable cost.

 

[Pintail]

Rough, it is nice you can cheer up at AKL.

Maybe toothpicks for all the trees on the savanah, and big bottles of water for the really big pool.

I do like the giraffe idea, and would do that one last.

We got a giraffe magnet when we were there. Have fun!

 

[buzznina]

I'd keep it a secret the entire way! The looks on their faces when they realize where you are staying will be priceless.

This is exactly what I did for my family. They thought we were staying at CSR and when we got into the resort area I told them that we were running late and that I had made a reservation at Boma's, so we will have to go straight there. The look on my DW face when I stopped at the guards booth and told him that we were checking in (and not coming for dinner) was priceless.

 

[cassie58]

All the suggestions above are great - only others I thought of were small Lion King/Safari stuffed animal or Hot Wheels type Safari vehicle. What an awesome surprise! We also did this with our kids who thought we were just going to Boma and moving to different room at CSR, then told them we were staying for our last two nights. DD is a big animal lover and wants to be a vet, and really enjoyed the activities they offer at the resort, so if you have some time during your trip to hang at the resort, check them out. You can make an animal feeder they use on the savannah later, do African drumming, learn animal tracking, etc. Check for a guide when you get there. Enjoy!

 

[hockeybabe]

Maybe play some African-inspired music as you get close, or the Lion King soundtrack?

Good luck with the surprise!