Best tips for sectetly prepping a kid to go for the first time?

[adSimba]

I'll be taking my child to DL in a month, how can I have him all primed up, without letting the cat out of the bag?

 

[beachdreamr1229]

How old is your child? With my oldest, we started taking him when he was 2 1/2. We watched Disney and Pixar movies to familiarize him with the characters. We also "stumbled upon" the old Disneyland sing-along from the early 90s and watched that to show him some of the rides and what it looked like. We asked him if it sounded like fun, what rides he liked, etc. Youtube videos are also great for this. Then, it was a huge surprise when we took him and he was super excited.

 

[Indiana Scott]

I think it's more fun for the kid if he/she can look forward to the trip for a couple of weeks. Anticipation if often a large part of the fun, telling their friends and thinking about what it will be like.
Please don't take offense because I'm not aiming this at you but springing it on them kinda seems like more fun for the parents - maybe without realizing it.

 

[adSimba]

DS is 6, and he has some idea we will eventually go, but no idea when, and probably no time soon. He already drives my wife and I crazy talking about minecraft all the time, I can only imagine if he knew about this. He would probably be all packed within the hour, just like I was when I was a kid.

 

[adSimba]

Oh, also, not offended, different styles for different folks

 

[iKristin]

Watch rides on YouTube that he can and will be going on!! Mainly things like Splash Mountain. You don't have to tell him you're going soon, just watch some ride throughs with him and see what he thinks of them.

Splash Mountain:

Winnie The Pooh:

Pirates:

Indiana Jones:

Roger Rabbit:

 

[momtohms]

We're surprising our kids as well (the oldest will turn 6 the week we are there). They know we are saving money to go sometime, but they have no idea that sometime is next month. We've been getting them looking forward to a future trip by casually watching Disneyland related videos among their usual YouTube favorites. My older two love the family vlogs and so that was a convenient transition to watching some family Disneyland trip videos. We also own that Sing a Long Songs at Disneyland DVD that they've been watching for years so I've put on some ride through videos of the rides they like on that to get an idea of what they think. For the last month or so I haven't talked about it much and they haven't asked so I'm fairly certain they have no idea, but thanks to our video watching they have a good idea of the rides that look fun and that they'll get to meet characters so when we show up at Disneyland they'll be somewhat familiar with what it is.

 

[lalasmama]

I surprised my daughter for her 8th birthday. I told her we would go when she was 9, which allowed us to "daydream" about our trip without her ever catching on. I'd ask what rides she thinks she wants to go on, what characters she wants to meet, what treats she wants to try, etc., "just so I can plan ahead."

I *almost* told her that we were going to take an airplane ride just to see if she likes flying, and end up at Disneyland, but instead, she got a letter from Minnie Mouse at her birthday party. She didn't believe us for several minutes

 

[agamble]

Start taking him for long walks in the shoes he'll wear while at the park. So serious about this. You all need to get those shoes worked in and feet ready for all that walking! Have fun.

 

[theluckyrabbit]

We started practicing standing in lines (at the supermarket, WalMart, mall, etc.) by talking about expectations, good manners, being nice to other people in the lines, being patient, playing eye spy, etc. Our older one caught on pretty quickly, even though lines were still a challenge. I knew our younger one would need more prep, so we started working on this earlier. Both kids did really well -- and I could always remind them, "Remember, honey, how we talked about this?" The shoes suggestion is a good one! Kids with sore feet are not having fun, that's for sure. If your son is a picky eater (our oldest certainly falls into this category), you might want to start working on being around unfamiliar food or studying the menus on allears.net so you can help him know what to expect.

 

[bumbershoot]

He already drives my wife and I crazy talking about minecraft all the time, I can only imagine if he knew about this. He would probably be all packed within the hour, just like I was when I was a kid.

FWIW, I found that Disney trips helped to teach my son a sense of time passing. Months, weeks, days, even hours as we prepared. Many people make paper chain countdowns, which, as they are cut out and pasted together show how the days add up and how it seems like SO many at first, but every day you take down another link in the chain and it slowly starts to become closer. Absolutely invaluable method of teaching this, IMO.

And hey, if he's all packed that's less you have to do in a month!

 

[ella6599]

We managed to take our girls on a surprise Spring Break trip to DisneyWorld a few years ago (they would have been 7 and 9, I think? We've been there a lot and it wasn't our first time). The thing that makes it all worthwhile, IMO is what you plan for the reveal. In our situation, I sometimes have to travel to conferences for work- I've taken them with me to, so this time I told them I was going somewhere boring, and they were going to stay home with dad, but they all needed to get up really early to drive me over to the airport (hour and a half away)- because they were going to be going to the zoo after they dropped me off. We had started secretly collecting their summer clothes, packed them all and threw the suitcases in the back of the car. When we got to the airport, we turned to them and said- what if, instead of me going to a conference, we all go to Disney instead. And when they realized we were serious and had their luggage in the back, their screams probably woke people sleeping about a mile away

I think you can only pull that sort of thing off once, but it's fun...and this time, we're still being cagey, and throwing out all sorts of cryptic clues about where we're going this summer (they're older now- wouldn't recommend that for a 6 year old), but our reveal will be putting on the Disneyland planning video when it comes (this is our first time going to DL)- and actually, the WDW planning video was how we prepped for the first trip there (that they both remember)- I'm not sure how long it takes to come, but that might be away to prep your son

 

[agamble]

Be careful about telling him you're going somewhere else, like Grandma's. I've seen some videos online of kids who were terribly upset when they found out they were going to Disney instead of wherever the parents had told them they were going. Best if you can get away without saying anything.

 

[ella6599]

Be careful about telling him you're going somewhere else, like Grandma's. I've seen some videos online of kids who were terribly upset when they found out they were going to Disney instead of wherever the parents had told them they were going. Best if you can get away without saying anything.

Agreed. In our case, telling them they were going to the zoo was not a big deal- they've been many times before, but it was to get them not to complain that they had to get up and take me, rather than me driving myself and letting them sleep in their first day of Spring break. My SIL also told her kids for their first trip that they were going to "housecleaning camp" so they could learn to be more efficient doing their chores...they really didn't believe that but didn't argue...and it was NOT something they were looking forward too Better to say nothing, or make it seem sort of boring like "just taking a drive to get out of the house- oh look, we're at the airport..."

 

[adSimba]

FWIW, I found that Disney trips helped to teach my son a sense of time passing. Months, weeks, days, even hours as we prepared. Many people make paper chain countdowns, which, as they are cut out and pasted together show how the days add up and how it seems like SO many at first, but every day you take down another link in the chain and it slowly starts to become closer. Absolutely invaluable method of teaching this, IMO.

we actually have a chain for him, but he thinks it's just for a trip to the aquarium, which happens to be 3 hours away and in the same town as the airport, this way my wife and I can get all excited about our upcoming 'aquarium' trip without arousing suspicion, and he is a little excited, but it's not a super big deal to him. He thinks this trip will be a e to prove he is ready for DL

 

[momtohms]

We managed to take our girls on a surprise Spring Break trip to DisneyWorld a few years ago (they would have been 7 and 9, I think? We've been there a lot and it wasn't our first time). The thing that makes it all worthwhile, IMO is what you plan for the reveal. In our situation, I sometimes have to travel to conferences for work- I've taken them with me to, so this time I told them I was going somewhere boring, and they were going to stay home with dad, but they all needed to get up really early to drive me over to the airport (hour and a half away)- because they were going to be going to the zoo after they dropped me off. We had started secretly collecting their summer clothes, packed them all and threw the suitcases in the back of the car. When we got to the airport, we turned to them and said- what if, instead of me going to a conference, we all go to Disney instead. And when they realized we were serious and had their luggage in the back, their screams probably woke people sleeping about a mile away

I think you can only pull that sort of thing off once, but it's fun...and this time, we're still being cagey, and throwing out all sorts of cryptic clues about where we're going this summer (they're older now- wouldn't recommend that for a 6 year old), but our reveal will be putting on the Disneyland planning video when it comes (this is our first time going to DL)- and actually, the WDW planning video was how we prepped for the first trip there (that they both remember)- I'm not sure how long it takes to come, but that might be away to prep your son

I love that! My mom did something similar when my siblings and I were about 3, 5, and 7 (so not too far off from the ages my girls are now). My Dad had gone to Boston for a business trip so my Mom decided to surprise us with a trip to Alaska to visit our cousins. She told us that we had to take some luggage that Dad forgot to the airport (a little white lie that she wouldn't have gotten away with were we much older, haha!) When we got there she took us out to the terminal to eat dinner and watch planes take off (pre 9/11 of course!) When they started calling boarding info she goes "I think we should go somewhere, lets go see your cousins!" and then told us it wasn't really Daddy's suitcases but ours and we were going to Alaska for a week. She got it on video and we were pretty excited, so I think it'll be fun to do a surprise for my kids around the same ages. I don't think we could pull it off as well as they get older!

Be careful about telling him you're going somewhere else, like Grandma's. I've seen some videos online of kids who were terribly upset when they found out they were going to Disney instead of wherever the parents had told them they were going. Best if you can get away without saying anything.

Agree as well. It definitely works to our advantage with this trip that my parents are also coming along. We're not telling the girls we are going anywhere until we are heading to the airport and then will only say that we are going to see Grandma & Grandpa. Leaving out the fact that we'll be seeing Grandma & Grandpa in California and not Washington ;-) Our flight to CA is on the same airline, and roughly the same time (just a bit longer flight) that our trips to Seattle are, and my parents are getting into CA before us and will pick us up at the airport just like they do in Seattle. Aside from an unfamiliar airport and my parents having a different car it'll be pretty much the same travel routine, but I expect my older two will pick up on the fact that things are different once they start seeing Palm Trees instead of Evergreens. Ha!

 

[agamble]

Leaving out the fact that we'll be seeing Grandma & Grandpa in California and not Washington ;-) Our flight to CA is on the same airline, and roughly the same time (just a bit longer flight) that our trips to Seattle are, and my parents are getting into CA before us and will pick us up at the airport just like they do in Seattle. Aside from an unfamiliar airport and my parents having a different car it'll be pretty much the same travel routine, but I expect my older two will pick up on the fact that things are different once they start seeing Palm Trees instead of Evergreens. Ha!

My parents live in Washington too. If I told my daughter we were going there she might be broken hearted if we went to Disneyland instead. LOL! She really wants to go to Washington again. Sounds like a fun trip for you. We met my parents (and their older 2 grandkids) at Disneyland last year. Had such a great time. Have fun!

 

[momtohms]

My parents live in Washington too. If I told my daughter we were going there she might be broken hearted if we went to Disneyland instead. LOL! She really wants to go to Washington again. Sounds like a fun trip for you. We met my parents (and their older 2 grandkids) at Disneyland last year. Had such a great time. Have fun!

Haha! My girls love going to Seattle too, my husband and I are from there so both sets of our parents and our siblings and their families live there too so the girls are always excited to see their cousins. We're actually going in July for a few weeks and they already know about that trip, so this is like an added bonus. Thanks! We're so excited and I'm sure it'll be a great time

 

[pinkprincess30]

We are 12 days away from our SURPRISE trip! The way we have gotten the kids excited without them having a clue is...
We started a Disneyland savings jar for a "someday when we save up enough" trip. I give them small opportunities to save, which allows us to talk about the trip often. Example: "Would you guys rather get an ice cream sundae for dessert here at the restaurant for $20 (there are 5 of us), OR get ice cream from the store on the way home and put the $20 in the DISNEYLAND fund?" That always opens up an opportunity to talk about our "someday" trip. "I wonder if they have ice cream at Disneyland?"..., etc.
Also, because we are saving for our "someday" trip, the kids have received Disney gift cards for gifts and they just put them in the jar with their name on it, for souvenirs. THEN we talk about what they could do with their gift card. The possibilities are endless!

We also have the Disneyland Resort Official Album which we listen to in the car (got it on itunes). It has all the soundtracks from the rides in DLR and DCA. My kids love it...ah who am I kidding? *I* love it!!!

Have a good time!

 

[JenKate]

Be careful about telling him you're going somewhere else, like Grandma's. I've seen some videos online of kids who were terribly upset when they found out they were going to Disney instead of wherever the parents had told them they were going. Best if you can get away without saying anything.

When we went the first time it was a surprise. My kids stamped their feet and whined because they wanted to go back to the hotel and swim.