Kirk's Birthday Trip Surprise - Pre-Trip Report-Updated June 12 - YIPPPPEEEE!!!!! About This Page:

[Joy J]

Okay, so my grown-up son decided he truly wanted to spend his birthday at WDW this year whether or not anyone else in the family could accompany him or not. His birthday is on August 6 and having been to WDW in August before, I really didn't want to do that hot and steamy and crowded experience again. It's also exceptionally difficult for me to get time off from work at that time of year so I told Kirk that unfortunately I wouldn't be able to go along.

Kirk took the news like a trooper and he set out to plan a solo trip to WDW from Aug. 4-18. Of course his idea of planning goes like this: "Hi Mom! I want to do a WDW trip from Aug.4-18. Can you look after all the arrangements for me? Here's my credit card."

So, since I adore planning WDW trips in the first place and even more so when I'm planning them for those I love, I immediately went into full-fledged planning mode. Also, after a great deal of thinking, I decided that perhaps I could brave WDW in August after all and if I was going to do that, why not surprise my son and simply show up at his resort to spend his birthday trip with him after all? It sounds simple enough, especially since I'm the one doing all his planning for him and making all the arrangements but unfortunately I'm not terribly good at keeping this sort of surprise secret in the first place. I get so excited about everything that I tend to bubble over and it just spurts out of my mouth before I realize what I'm doing. However, this time around, I'm determined to keep this secret and give my son the surprise of his life. If I feel myself starting to weaken, I'll log onto these boards for moral support and one of you guys will please give me a good swift kick in the seat of my pants to keep me on the straight and narrow. Already I've been finding myself tempted when Kirk starts whining about how he wishes that he didn't have to do this birthday trip all by himself. And then he makes this poor little wounded puppy dog face. What mother on earth can resist the puppy dog face?

All kidding aside, Kirk is very excited about making this trip and I just know he'll be tickled pink when he eventually learns that he won't have to celebrate his birthday all by himself at WDW.

We already have annual passes so that part of the trip is looked after. Although I'm a DVC member, I've already got my 2005 points tied up in a Nov/Dec. vacation with my mom so the first thing on my agenda was to secure a hotel room for Kirk. Naturally, my first thought was to contact Debbie at Your Magical Journeys as she's been so helpful to me in the past at getting me great rooms at great rates. She didn't disappoint as she was able to book a room for Kirk at POFQ for $99/night. Now that has me excited as well as I've never stayed at POFQ but have driven through it while on the horsedrawn carriage ride. It looks like a beautiful resort so I'm really looking forward to staying there.

I already booked Kirk's plane fare for him as he had airline points he wanted to use up. Because of that, though, he will be travelling a different route to get to WDW than I will. This will end up working to my advantage as it will make it that much easier to keep the secret until I surprise him at the resort. I've yet to book my plane ressies but I plan on doing that this evening so that will be one more item checked off my list.

Now, here's where I can really use a lot of import from all you helpful, knowledgable Passporter folks. I'd love to plan something extra special for Kirk's actual birthday day. Any suggestions?

Okay, now I have to plan out Kirk's list of Priority Seatings or whatever the heck Disney is calling them today.

Joy

[Jillybean]

Joy!!! What a fantastic surprise!!!

My surprise was a little easier to keep since keeping things from a 3-year-old are a bit easier!

Just keep remembering the look on his face when you surprise him at WDW!!! It will be priceless!

What kind of things does Kirk enjoy? That way we could give you ideas of what would really make his big day extra special for him!

Fun! You are such a good mom!

Jill

[LisaJ]

What a nice surprise, but I could never keep it a secret. TELL HIM!

[Tara O'Hara]

Wow! That will be some surprise!! You are one terrific mother Joy!!

[lauren-roxy]

That's really a nice surprise Joy!!

[Annabel]

What a cool surprise, he's going to love it Good luck on keeping it a secret til August - I'm not sure I could

[poohsgirl]

<font color="purple">Joy, do you want to adopt me?
I love this surprise!
Now about Kirk's actual B-day: What does he like the most? Dining- Victoria &amp; Albert's? Another tour maybe? I can't remember if you went to Cirque with him on your last trip. Maybe that? </font>

[Joy J]

Keeping this surprise is probably going to be one of the hardest things I've ever done but with all of you great folks as moral support, I know I can do it.

Now here's a brief description of Kirk and his tastes so you might have a better idea of what sort of suggestions might work to help celebrate his birthday. He will be turning 31 years of age on his birthday. He's a teacher and loves children and in fact, is pretty much just an overgrown child himself. While in the parks, he's character-crazy and loves collecting autographs of them, particularly from the villains. He majored in drama at university and loves all things theatrical. In fact, he's usually involved in some amateur theatrical production of some kind or other. He's one of the biggest Star Wars fans on the planet. He loves most types of food and has a real sweet tooth, especially for all things chocolate. As far as WDW tours go, he's already taken these ones: Keys to the Kingdom, Family Magic, Mickey's Magical Milestones, and Dolphins in Depth. He's not into sports at all.

Any and all suggestions would be greatly appreciated as I'd love to make this birthday very special for him. He's a wonderful son who's always doing things for me and it's going to be fabulous to get the chance to surprise him like this.

Joy

[Joy J]

Here's one possible scenario for Kirk's actual birthday day. I thought about starting the day off with an early birthday character breakfast at Cape May Cafe. Then a nice relaxing boat ride to MGM where he can spend the day indulging in lots of Hollywood-style hijinx before having a nice birthday dinner at Hollywood Brown Derby followed by a viewing of Fantasmic. After that, I thought we'd head over to Pleasure Island and do some more celebrating. How does that sound? I think he might like it but then I wonder if it's special enough or if there's something else I could do to help make his birthday more magical?

Joy

[luvnwdwgal]

Good luck at keeping your secret and have fun planning!!!

[Fortissimo]

Joy, what a great surprise!

I like your plans for his birthday.

Another thought would be to have him do a savanger hunt, or plan something with Gifts of a Lifetime.

[Joy J]

Oh, a scavenger hunt! I love that idea!!!! Maybe I could plan something with a Star Wars type theme? I could have him running all over MGM looking for "the force." LOL

Joy

[Joy J]

Okay, I'm pretty sure that I'm going to do the scavenger hunt thing on Kirk's birthday but now I'm thinking that instead of doing the Fantasmic dinner package thing at Brown Derby for his big birthday meal, perhaps instead I should get tickets for La Nouba for that night and eat at one of the DD restaurants beforehand. What do you guys think? I've never seen La Nouba so I don't know whether it will appeal to Kirk or not. Does he sound like the kind of person who might enjoy this show? Oh, and what are everyone's recommendations for a nice restaurant at DD to have Kirk's birthday dinner?

Thanks everybody!

Joy

[chezp]

What an amazing surprise this is going to be Joy. Best of luck with keeping it secret - and anytime you feel yourself weakening, just remember, we're here for you.

As for La Nouba for Kirk's birthday, I think he'd love it. I don't know anyone who's seen the show and hasn't loved it. You could always go for the early show at 6.00 and then you've still got some of the evening left, so you don't have to confine yourself to Downtown Disney. My idea of a lovely night out would be La Nouba followed by a meal at maybe the California Grill?

[eliza]

Joy - This all sounds terrific.
If you can squeeze it in, the Segway Tour is absolutely FANTASTIC!! I cannot recommend it highly enough and the two of you would have the time of your lives!!