Anyone ever surprise your children

[crelange]

with a trip to Disney. We are going in August and our kids have no idea. They are 5 and 8. They think we are driving to the beach for a few days like we did last summer. They are going to be shocked when we pull in to the airport. Any ideas on how to tell them where we are going once we get to the airport?

Chris

 

[MEG&MINNIE]

I would "possibly" like to surprise my DD9 also! She has been 3x before ,but now that's she's older I think it would be fun to surprise here... maybe make a little game out of it ,like a scavenger hunt that leads to where we are going !!! She knows that we've been talking about going ,but doesn't know that I actually made plans earlier this week !!!!Any ideas would be appreciated

 

[fiveacesmmb]

My 10 year old DD know we are going to Disney.....but she thinks that she has to endure a 2 day car trip to get there. She'll be shocked when our neighbor comes over on the morning we leave to drive us to the airport!!!!

 

[stacieps]

We are also surprising our kids (5 and 8) with a trip in August. We go every year, oldest was 1 1/2 on first trip, so she's been several times (went in 1/05, they know we're already booked for 4/06). So, we decided to keep this short (4 nights) trip to POP a secret. We've never been to POP.

The plan is to tell them the morning we're leaving that we're going away for the weekend and we need to pack. I'll let them pick out some clothes and swimsuits, but I'll have the stuff to keep busy on the plane already packed and ready to go. Because we make the trip every year and fly, they'll guess where we are going once we get to the airport.

For your kids - howe about giving them each a WDW guide book when you get to the airport? That will tell them where they're going and it will give them something to keep them occupied on the plane. I know my DS(5) loves to look at the maps, etc., in the Passporter.

 

[crelange]

My kids have been there a bunch of times too. I am not sure where they will guess we are going once we hit the airport. They have flown several other places too. Maybe a tour book would be perfect. Thanks for the suggestion.

Chris

 

[ValDisney]

I am taking my children in Oct. I do not paln on telling them until we leave for the airport. I am also not telling about about MNSSHP until that night. Maybe I'll even wait until after dinner. I am sure they'll notice something when the see the characters at LTT w masks on and many customers dreesed up.
We usu go to Hershey for Halloween and they love the decorations, characters and parties there, so I can just imagine how much they will love it in Disney. Hey, they love it in Disney anytime. We went last Dec (the cruise too) and they keep asking when are we going back.
And, they are already planning their customes so I can't wait to see the look on their faces when they find out.
our 1st MNNSHP oct 6
Valerie

 

[tinknme]

I surprised my 2 boys(11 & 9) on our trip this past June. I asked a friend of mine if she wanted to join us(she had never been before). I told the boys that she was going to Disney & that we would be giving her a ride to the airport. Our airport is 45 minutes away, so I asked the boys if they would like to spend the night at a hotel & go swimming & shopping. That took care of them wondering why we were taking luggage Once we arrived at the airport & parked dh got out the camera & my youngest asked why he needed the camera. I told him we wanted to take pictures of my friend taking off on her 1st trip to Disney. As my friend was taking her luggage out I told the boys I had something to tell them. I held them both & said we are going to Disney They both looked at me & said no way mom you are teasing us I told them I would never tease them about something like this. I told them to get our luggage so we could get started. They would not budge, they had these looks like they wanted to believe me but was scared I would say it was a joke I finally pulled out the plane & park tickets & said would I have these if we were not going The looks are their faces were priceless All the time I was trying to convince them dh was snapping away with the pics & all I could do was laugh because they did not believe me After showing them the tickets they believed me. This was their 1st time flying, so my youngest was very excited about that as well. It was very hard for me to keep this a secret, I so much wanted to tell them about the trip. I am glad I did surprise them, but I do not think I could get away with it again

 

[threeboysmom]

I am planning on surprising my children this year. We have a 7:30 a.m. flight out of Manchester so I just plan on waking them up at 4:30 (ouch!!) and yelling "guess what? we're going to Disneyworld!!" I figured that will get them moving! LOL!

The problem I am having is how to pack the day before without them knowing what I'm doing....

 

[tinknme]

This is where I lucked out. School was still in when I was planning the trip. I was able to pack a little at a time without them noticing Of course they did wonder where their new socks & swim trunks had disappeared to

The problem I am having is how to pack the day before without them knowing what I'm doing....

 

[Eeyoreloverforever]

On the day she thought she was suppose to return to school after the Christmas break (but actually the day before she should return), we got ready as if we were going to school. Dh came with us, with the excuse that he was going to video tape her going back to school so he could test his new camcorder. When we pulled up to the school and no one was there I said "oops, we got the day wrong, it is tomorrow you come back to school". We asked her what we should do now. Her response was "I don't know". I turned to her and said "Let's go to Disney" She said we couldn't just do that. I said sure we could. And we went to her grandparents to get our already packed luggage. She figured out then that this was planned and was a surprise for her. She was thrilled and it has made for some great story telling. We will probably surprise her again in the future, but not for a while. She helped plan the next trip and she knows that for her 9th birthday we will go on a Disney Cruise. Maybe I will "fib" and tell her we couldn't get it or maybe we will be lucky enough to squeeze in another "surprise" trip sometime. It was the best!

 

[Disneyrsh]

We surprised our kids last fall when we went-we go a few times a year so we thought that this would be sort of a new twist for them.

It wasn't nearly as much fun as when we get to all anticipate and plan the vacation with them ahead of time, though, so now they always know a few weeks beforehand so we can get their input on what they'd like to do and see.

My five year old daughter just informed me that she's ready to try Test Track so we're putting that in the plan for the next time. She's really looking forward to it, having just conquered Soarin' for the first time in May.

 

[rahwest]

our kids are little (only 2 and 4) but we surprised them when we went a month ago. we didn't talk about it at all. then the night before we put everything in suitcases and so when they woke up in the morning we just told them we were going someplace fun. we went to the airport and they still didn't know (and we've been to disney every year for the past 4 - so it should've been their first guess). as we got on the plane people started saying "are you going to see mickey??" and the 2 year old caught on to it first! luckily they were separated on the flight and the 4 yr old was distracted cuz the pilot let him sit in his chair. SO ... the entire flight he just knew we were going somewhere fun but still didn't know where. we were amazed he hadn't figured it out yet because he is normally SO quick with a fantastic memory! but, he was clueless. so by this point we decided to wait as long as possible and have him hopefully figure it out when we pulled in to WDW. We distracted him from the HUGE disney store at the airport and got him in the car ASAP. He finally figured it out when he saw the monorail! ha ha ha he was SO excited! It was so fun because i actually think he really took in so much more of the plane ride - and got excited about the pilot -- and little things that had he known we were going to WDW he probably would've been thinking about only that and missed the little things.

i would totally surprise them again! but we'll have to wait a little while -- otherwise they'll suspect it ha ha

 

[lomillerin]

I surprised by DD in Jan. for her B-day. The evening before we left, I told her I had a special surprise for her.
I made a scavenger hunt around our house. I gave here a wrapped box and inside was some princess t-shirts I got at Disney store and a picture of another place in the house. I told her she had to figure out the clues for a big surprise. In each box, I put another small item and a picture of another place in the house and hid the boxes.
She had so much fun trying to find the boxes. She opened each one and I thought she would figure it out before she found them all, but she didn't.
I put a Mickey and Minner figure in one box, some Disney store candy in one, etc..
I just went to the Disney store and found several small inexspensive items. I also put some Disney Dollars in one for her.
The last box- I printed off a picture of the hotel we stayed at, the castle, and an airplane.
When she opened the last box, she said-"I think I know the puzzle, We are going to Disney, but I just don't when"
I said how about as soon as you wake up in the morning.
She couldn't believe it, she kept asking if I really meant it.
It was fun.

 

[Zippa D Doodah]

We surpised our kids with a trip this past April. DD is 8 and DS is 5. DW had packed some of their things along, a little bit at a time and put the suitcases in the trunk of the car the night before (we drive from NC). I picked up DS from preschool at at noon. DW got DD8 out of school, telling her she was going to the eye doctor, but that they had to swing by the house on the way. When we all got there we told them we were going to Disney World. We left at 12:15 and headed on to a wonderful vacation. I am so glad we surprised them on that trip. We videotaped the whole thing and it is so cute. I loved their little looks of disbelief that melted into joy

 

[Sam60]

The joy is in the hunt, not the kill.

My brother "surprises" his kids with trips to Disney. He's also sometimes disappointed by their reactions- equal parts joy and confusion/disorientation.

I would never do that to my daughter. For anyone considering this, I would urge an honest self-assessment. Isn't the planning and dreaming and anticipation AT LEAST as much fun as the event itself? If that is so for us, why wouldn't it be so for our kids as well? JMHO.

 

[McKelly]

We are going in August and I want to surprise my DD6 and DS4 too. I plan to just wake them up in the AM, at 4:00am (it is an hour to the airport) and tell them Surprise! we are going to Disney!! They will be sooooo excited and even more excited because we will be flying. The only problem is, we will have to kennel the dog the night before and I don't know what to tell them that will be believable without giving the vacation away! I just can't seem to come up with a believable excuse.

 

[nhmomx2]

We surprised our kids two years ago. They've been many times so we thought a surprise trip would really get them. We told them we were going up to Maine for a few days. They were thrilled with the idea. We go them up early. It was pouring out and the forecast for the week was dismal. We told them they had a choice (as if they really did!) either go to Maine in the rain or go to Disney. My DD (then 5) was fine about the change in plans, however, my DS (then 8) wasn't. He was ticked for the first two days of our trip that we weren't in Maine.

I will never, ever, ever plan another surprise trip anywhere for my kids. It was so disappointing. I never expected him to be so upset. It boggles the mind...what 8 year old gets upset about a trip to Disney?!

 

[Laurajean1014]

We've done so for the past 20 trips. This past trip in April was the first time we told my son that we were going. It's a lot more fun that way.

 

[MomofKatie]

The joy is in the hunt, not the kill. Isn't the planning and dreaming and anticipation AT LEAST as much fun as the event itself? If that is so for us, why wouldn't it be so for our kids as well? JMHO.

Here's how we plan to give DD "the thrill of the hunt" as well as the surprise element- we will be going to Disney a month BEFORE we told her we were going!

We had origionally planned on going to WDW at the end of October/ beginning of November, but then the free Dining offer came around. We switched our dates to the first week of October, but DD still thinks we are going a month later.

We plan to tell her the night before we leave that we need to go out of town in the AM (DH does do some travel for work, and sometimes we go along with him). We will pile in the car, and head to WDW- I plan to not tell her where we are REALLY going until we pass the Disney sign!

She still gets to plan and save her $$, but she will get the surprise of not knowing when we are going.

 

[PatsGirl]

I've never surprised the kids with a WDW trip but a few years ago while we were there Tink or Goofy left gifts each night under their pillow so when we returned to the room they got a gift for being good all day (and not asking for souveniers). The gift the last night was luggage tags for a Wonder cruise -- boy were they surprised! They had been moping all day about the trip being so short (I think we stayed three nights) and how they had to go back home to the cold weather and school on Monday. So, instead of going to the airport in the a.m., we drove to Port Canaveral and boarded our very first cruise. My kids and myself have always wanted to do this and we LOVED it. We've cruised three times in three years since then!