*MODS* PLEASE MOVE TO TRIP REPORTS. THX....OCT 2007....KOTS and it's killing me...

[PrincessasMommy]

I am so excited to be KOTS :ssst: but............

Sometimes I want to dance:dance3: around the house and tell our kids what I am up to and see their cute little faces light up.............. :rainbow:

.........but I won't because it is soooooo going to be worth it!!! They will go crazy and I am so happy to be able to give them that magic!! pixiedust:

So....talk to me about October!!!!

This is my plan.......I have been KOTS since JANUARY.....

We will be taking our 4 daughters princess: princess: princess: princess: to WDW in October for a week. They have NO idea. In fact, it is the last thing they would expect because we just had a new baby June 26th and I told them all that there was no way we could afford it until at least 2009 and even if we could afford it we wouldn't want to travel with such a little baby! ;)

So, the plan is.....DD 11's birthday is Oct 19th. Our flight is Oct 20th. :) She thinks we are taking her shopping in Buffalo for the weekend! We were going to drive to Buffalo early, shop a couple stores, go to AppleBee's in the outlet mall area and over lunch calmly mention that is was getting too cold here (Canada in October is bound to be chilly) and maybe we should go somewhere warmer than Buffalo!! I KNOW she will say "DISNEY" because she always asks to go! And I'll say "Daddy, I think that's a great idea, can we??" She will think we are teasing her, so then we will all get in the car and drive to the airport and she still won't believe it and I will play it cool like we are in fact teasing her until I show them the tickets AT the airport and watch her freak out with her sisters!!! :cheer2: :cheer2: :cheer2: :cheer2:

I have everything booked. I was able to get CRT for a 8:00am reservation at MK and am packing their princess costumes for that. I got a 8:00 am for Donald's Breakfast at AK too! We are also going to Epcot, MGM and TL (they didn't see the last 2 last time)!!!! I am sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo oooooooooooooooooooooo excited!!!! I feel like I am going ot burst soon so I HAD to come here and talk to my fellow DISer's!!!

[Marion]

That is REALLY exciting... no way could I keep a secret like that but the looks on their faces will be so worth it! You'll have to write a trip report for us and let us know how it goes :teeth:

party:

[MegsMommy]

Oh my you brought a tear to my eye. I could never keep that secret. I can see them going crazy when they realize you are really going. Have a blast make sure you get a pic(or video) of their faces when you tell them in Applebee's and then when you actually get to the airport. That is a moment worth saving. Have a fantastic trip....:banana:

[lilyv]

Have a wonderful, memorable trip!

[Checkers]

I am so impressed with all your planning. I can just feel your excitement and am anxious to hear about your trip.

Hope you all have a wonderful time!party:

[GinaGrumpyDwarf]

Keeping it in is hard..omg...totally, but soooo worth it. We did it in May when DD and went just us 2 for 4 days, and OMG....sooo worth it! Have a great time, and take TONS of pictures of their faces when they find out!:hug:

[diswed0407]

So exciting! My brother and his girlfriend did the same sort of thing with her kids in April for our wedding. They told them AT THE AIRPORT. They thought they were dropping my brother off for a trip. Have a great time!!! If it's going on one weekend you're there, I would HIGHLY recommend the Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party. It's so much fun, and I bet your girls would love it. And it's really not scary at all.

[disney[xo]sweetie]

omg i love that! so cute!
wow, i would never be able to keep that secret.
were going on the 13th! woo! more octoberers!:cool1: :cool1:

[mimif1]

Good luck in keeping the secret! We did this last October. The kids thought we were going in May and they helped me plan the "May trip". They thought we were going to their Grandparents house. We drove during the night and woke them at 5:30 AM outside of the arch at Disney and told them we had gone the wrong way. Their faces were priceless and the pictures are great! They had always said that it would be so cool to be surprised for a trip, but I wasn't sure we would be able to pull it off. It was SO worth all the trouble.

[bob6sims]

What a fantastic surprise :cool1:

Your kids are going to have a blast :wizard:

Enjoy every minute :hourglass

[myAAbatteries&aTD]

Your girls are beautiful! I'm excited for them (and you!!!)... Have a magical time!

[MNWDWMANIAC]

Thats so wonderful!!! My wife and I are planning a surprise trip for March 08. The boys haven't been to WDW since 2003 and we are heading on a planned trip this Oct. We figure once they get a real idea what it's all about they will be unable to control their happiness when we surprise them :0

Have a wonderful trip!! :banana: :banana: :banana:

[Figment's Girl]

I'm right there with you! I'm planning a surprise trip over at the end of October too for just me and my oldest son. We're leaving Daddy and baby brother at home and flying down to meet up with Grandparents. He has absolutely no idea. He thinks I'm just taking off of work to stay home while he's off of school. When we get to the airport, I'm going to tell him that we are just going down to FL to see his grandparents. It won't be until he sees the sign that he'll know we are going to WDW.

[PrincessasMommy]

Thanks for all the encouragement...... :thumbsup2

Because it is killing me, I want to tell them so bad.....especially since hubby & I booked our 1st cruise for February so we've been talking travel and our oldest dd (who is the birthday girl) asked if we could PRETTY PLEASE try to plan a trip to WDW when the baby is 2???? The baby is 3 months old so it was so great to know she is thinking that far out.....she is going to be sooooo SHOCKED!!!!:eek:

And, our 3 year old asked if we could have her 12 year old sister's birthday party at "Dinny Word".....heehee.....:woohoo:

I already have their suitcase packed and they have no idea!!! I just took the other suitcase (for us) out of the furnace room and she thinks it's because I am a planner and want to throw our summer clothes in their for our cruise 5 months away!!:rotfl:

Only 29 more days until these smiles are bigger.......

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v114/princessasmommy/4girlssept.jpg

[pomcoach]

Oh your post is so great! I cried and got the shivers! You are a wonderful Mom and hope they tell you, when you let the secret out!
Can you tell me exactly what "KOTS" stands for. I understand the meaning, but don't know what the exact words are.
Thanks and have a fantastic trip! You totally deserve it!
Pomcoach:cheer2:

[PrincessasMommy]

KOTS = Keeper Of The Secret :ssst:

Only 25 days to go. I almost lost it this weekend. My oldest had a fight with her friends and she was sobbing and I wanted to make her happy and just tell her but my hubby told me to be strong so I took her for a double whip cream cafe mocha instead! ;) It worked. :thumbsup2

I can't believe how hard this is now that it is so close. I can't even believe I made it this far!!! :woohoo:

I even called her teacher :teacher: today and he is secretly working with me too - he thinks it is super cool and I am going to meet him privately to get assignments!!:)

It's all falling into place! I am so glad I can come here because it is SOOOOOO hard to not tell anyone!

[adaygaby]

How exciting..!!

You have a couple of more days to reveal your secret... Hang on!!!
so how are you planning to give them the surprise?

[pomcoach]

Thanks for letting me know the meaning of the letters. Hang in there. It won't be much longer and you'll be dancing down Main Street! :cool1:
This will probably be the only time in your life you'll ever be able to keep a secret this long, so you better hold on to it. We're all proud of you! Hold on.......
Pomcoach:thumbsup2

[germangirl]

What a big idea! I can feel with you, it must be very hard to beware this secret!

We go to WDW on Oct. 20 too, but my family knows it, and I can't stop to speak about it. If I had to be silent, I am sure I had to die...

Your girls are so sweet!

[PrincessasMommy]

This will probably be the only time in your life you'll ever be able to keep a secret this long, so you better hold on to it. We're all proud of you! Hold on.......


You are so right! I could never do this again! But I am glad to be able to do it once! :) I always tell my girls everything, we are a very open family, so this is especially difficult!!
I can tell you are a pomcoach :cheer2: - thanks for the encouragement!! :thanks:

What a big idea! I can feel with you, it must be very hard to beware this secret!

We go to WDW on Oct. 20 too, but my family knows it, and I can't stop to speak about it. If I had to be silent, I am sure I had to die...

Your girls are so sweet!

See you there!! :wave2:It is so hard because it is so exciting - I mean I am excited and I can't act it and I am packing in secret and confirming reservations secretly in the garage on the phone :confused3 but I just know how much it will mean to them and how much it will mean to me when they are big girls and I can say "Remember when....?"

[PrincessasMommy]

Just saw my ticker.....
only 21 days until my daughters do the happy dance!!!!
:jumping1: party::dance3: :cool1: :banana: :woohoo: :yay: :dance3: :cheer2: party: :jumping1:

[suzimar57]

thanks for explaining the KOTS!

[Rudy6]

That's cool.

On our fourth trip to WDW, we did not tell the kids. We told them that we were taking the plane to Valleyfair, which is only about 20 or 30 miles from the airport, but it was early in the morning, so they did not know what was going on.

They did not know we were going to WDW, until the Captain announced that we would be landing soon in Orlando.

It was a lot of fun, but I do not think that we will be able to fool them again.

Have fun, fun, fun.

[iluveeyore]

Oooh, what fun - have a wonderful trip! We are driving down and leaving the same morning as you and crossing at Buffalo. Have a safe and fun trip - the girls will never forget it! We surprised our three kids in Dec. '99 for Christmas and they talk about it every time we plan a trip. It's worth it for you to keep the secret, especially after this long - way to go!:thumbsup2

[PrincessasMommy]

I love hearing how some of you have done it before and that it is worth it! :)

Slight change of plans for us. :upsidedow I am really concerned about driving :drive:over the border and having to explain where we are going and the girls hearing :listen: and because of the US $ at par with our Cdn $ I have heard the border lines are getting longer so we may not have shopping time, etc. so we have changed our minds on when we tell........

New plan..........Friday, October 19th.........dd's 12th b-day and the night before we leave........we have decided to tell her that we are doing a small party (just family who knows) and we will give her her gift from Daddy & I....a "BINDER" :confused3 !!!! On the front page is a cover page with a castle. The next pages are tour plans for MK, AK, MGM & EPCOT. After is lists of rides at each park so the kids can look at them and decide their top 3 each while on the plane or in the car as we drive the 2/3 hours to Buffalo. At the very back are journal pages and the last page is our itinerary.....she won't GET it until she sees......It says.....OCTOBER 20 to 27 and has our park plans, ADR #'s, parade & park times for each day as well as our flight/stay info!! So we are just going to let her open it and read until it all CLICKS!!!! :faint:

I really liked the idea of the airport but there are so many ways of that going wrong and then my 10 months of secrecy wouldn't be as I hoped it would be. :sad2:

Telling at home the night before has it's advantages....the grandparents get to see their faces, I will be able to take video of the reveal, we can play Disney songs the whole way to the airport in the car and laugh and sing with our very happy girls the whole way there. I don't have to talk in whispers to the border patrol and I don't have to try to explain away 4 suitcases and the double stroller for a supposed 1 night stay!!:rolleyes:

:woohoo: Only 18 more days!!!!:woohoo:

iluveeyore - Have you always driven from Canada with your 3? See you crossing in Buffalo!! :wave2:

Rudy6 - That sounds awesome!! Why won't you do it again??? They would expect it or it's too hard to keep the secret? Just wondering......

Figment's Girl & MNWDWMANIAC - See you there!!!! I have my LGMH's laminated as tags on all our bags so if you see a crazy lady with a baby in a sling pushing a double stroller with a couple more kids and a blond girl walking along side.....that will be me! princess: princess: princess: princess:

[iluveeyore]

:thumbsup2 Good plan telling them before you leave - good luck getting everyone to sleep the night before!
We drove for our surprise Christmas trip, but we usually fly out of Buffalo since it's so close and cheap. We're driving this time because it's DH's 40th birthday trip and we're going to the Nascar race in Martinsville, VA on the 21st before we continue the trip down to WDW on the 22nd. Otherwise, we would be flying - at least this breaks up the drive.
We told our kids their surprise before we crossed the border too - we were also concerned about them overhearing us telling the guard. We picked them up from school, said we were going Christmas shopping and they needed to go home to get lighter jackets for the mall (didn't want the bulky winter coats in the car). We made them put on their matching fleece sweaters and pose in front of the Christmas tree together - for the second picture, I told them sorry, we weren't going shopping, would they rather go to Walt Disney World for a week? The picture I have is priceless, three mouths hanging open in total shock!:woohoo: Enjoy your surprise - the look on their faces alone was worth the wait!

[jojo14]

How have you managed to keep the secret so long? I booked bounceback when we were there in August for Sept 2008. After reading the boards, thought it'd be a great idea to surprise my 7 year old daughter, but already I've caught myself almost saying it. It'll be a miracle if I can pull this one off!!

[PrincessasMommy]

Hello my fellow Canadian!!
YOU CAN DO IT!!!
I am the worst at secrets but I just thought of how amazing it would be and my hubby is great at secrets so everytime I would think of revealing he would say..."You've made it this long!" Are you going to try to keep the secret??

[jojo14]

Thanks so much for the encouragement! You've inspired me, so I think as it draws closer I'll switch my focus to the plan to tell her. If it was this year, I almost think I could get away with telling her we were flying to visit her grandparents and see her face at the Orlando airport, cause she hardly paid any attention to flight announcements etc. Although going through customs might not work... But am thinking next year she'll be 8 and might be more clued in!

I have a long way to go yet, but yours is almost here! Please keep us updated on your surprise! I'm excited for you!!

Happy Thanksgiving to you and all Canadians today!

[rozilla]

How wonderful! What a beautiful surprise for them! Rose

[LaDolce]

What a great plan! I hope you'll fill us all in on how they reacted and how your trip went. Good luck and have a wonderful time! :wizard:

[PrincessasMommy]

I will be uploading it to youtube right away because my family is dying to see their reaction too!! I can't believe I have held on since January and now there are only 9 days left!!!!

party: SINGLE DIGIT DANCING!!!!party:

[justadisneygirl]

I thought the KOTS stood for Keeping October Trip Secret...lol
we'll be there from the 15th-26th....the kids will have lgmh on their lanyards with all my contact info....
I can't wait to see the pic of your kids reaction....:thumbsup2

[PrincessasMommy]

Just 2 more days until we tell!!!!:cool1:

Anyone know how I get the mods to move this to "TRIP REPORTS"? :confused3 I would like to continue it there when we get back.