Photo Credit: Molly Beckley
One of my favorite memories from this trip was what we did for the kids to kick off our vacation the very first day we were there. During the planning of this trip, I had been looking for something to really make it special for my boys. While perusing Disney Floral and Gifts, I came across Mickey’s Grand Welcome. This was the best (and most expensive) package that you could purchase to be delivered to your hotel room. As soon as I laid eyes on it, I knew I was not going to settle for anything less! I had saved quite a bit for this trip and had some extra funds put aside for that something extra special.
We got to our home away from home, the Wilderness Lodge around 4 pm. We checked in and went up to our room on the 3rd floor. We unpacked and had our groceries from Garden Grocer delivered. We had ADRs at the Whispering Canyon at 7 pm, and Mickey’s Grand Welcome would be in our room by 9 pm. We had to stay out of the room until then so the fabulous folks from Disney Floral and Gifts could work their magic! We had a fabulous dinner of all you can eat skillets, and then took the kids for a little dip in the kiddie pool. It was finally 9 pm, and we were ready to take the kids upstairs so that they could discover their surprise. As we walked up to the door Jake spotted the red cloth banner that read “Surprise!” He remarked that none of the other doors had a banner like that hanging on them and wondered why ours did. I told him I wasn’t sure why, and we had better open the door to find out! We walked in and closed the door behind us. The other side of the banner hung on the inside of the door and read “Your Pal, Mickey Mouse”.
Photo Credit: Molly Beckley
Photo Credit: Molly Beckley
Both of the boys’ eyes lit up as they gazed upon what had magically appeared in our room while we were gone. “Mommy, did Mickey bring these things?!” Jake exclaimed. “Yes Jake, I believe he did!” I answered. All little Ben could do was point and say “Mouse!” as he pointed to the two huge Mickey’s that were sitting on one of the beds. In front of each Mickey was a red blanket embroidered with each boy’s name and a Mickey head. In the big red and yellow box behind them were a big pair of Mickey’s gloved hands to wear, A Hidden Mickey book, and a photo album to house all of this trips photos that were yet to be taken.
Photo Credit: Molly Beckley
A Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Balloon floated near the bed, and hanging on the sliding glass doors was another beautiful cloth banner that read “Celebrate”, with Mickey peeking out on top. There was also large Mickey confetti sprinkled all around the room.
Photo Credit: Molly Beckley
On the table there was a big Mickey and friends popcorn tin, with 4 smaller tins nestled inside. Sticking out of the top of this display were 7 chocolate dipped Mickey rice crisp pops that spelled out the word “Welcome”. There was also an autograph book and pen and a frame with a signed photo of the Fab 5! Stuck onto the frame was Tinkerbell’s shadow. I couldn’t help but wonder if she would be coming back around later that night to look for it.
Photo Credit: Molly Beckley
We still have each and every thing that was included in Mickey’s Grand Welcome. The banners are made of a heavy cloth material and serve as fabulous decorations on the kids birthdays. The plush Mickey’s and red blankets are in the boys beds and they can’t sleep without them. The Mickey gloves are in our dress up bin, the Hidden Mickey book comes with us on every WDW trip, and the photo album sits on the shelf with the rest of our Disney memories. We use the popcorn tins on each of our weekly movie nights, the photo frame sits on the boy’s dresser, and Tink’s shadow is stuck to the wall in their room. The autograph book is all filled up and we even still have the Mickey confetti tucked into our photo album. The only things that didn’t make it home were the balloon and the crispy rice pops.
This is one of my absolute favorite Walt Disney World memories. The look on my boys’ faces as they opened each item was priceless. They knew for sure that Mickey had come and delivered these things especially for them. The only thing that would have made it better is if Mickey himself were standing there in the room to greet them!
Photo Credit: Molly Beckley
Photo Credit: Molly Beckley
Contributed by: Molly Beckley (NDM#398) Molly is a DDL Planning with Little Ones Blogger. She is also the creator of The Real Disney Mom.
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