How did you spring a "surprise" trip?

[wvrevy]

If you've ever managed to "surprise" your kids wiith a trip somewhere (particularly to WDW), how did you spring the surprise?

We are headed to WDW next Saturday for a 9 day trip, and DD6 has no idea. We've been trying to think of ways to announce the surprise to her - anytime between now and when we arrive at the airport, as she'll figure it out then . So, I thought I'd ask the best Disney resource I knew (while hoping flattery will help )

 

[mrsltg]

I did this just last month. I had my dd6 convinced we were taking a presentation to my boss at the airport. When we got to airport I parked and asked her to help me get the boxes from the trunk. When we got to the trunk I said, "Do you know what today is?" She said, "no." I replied, "Today is the day I picked you up from school and took you to Disney World!" She shrieked, "Mom!!!!" and labeled me "Miss Sneaker Pants" as per my latest tag. It was great! She's still smiling!

There are so many ways to go about doing this. It was a lot of fun for me to plan over the months I kept it a secret.

Good luck and have a great trip!

 

[CathrynRose]

IN january I took my 11 y/o to the airport to pick up my boss and tempted him with a "Ill take you to breakfast if you keep me company"



I didnt tell him until we were sitting in the remote parking lot.

It was freaking AWESOME! He was utterly SHOCKED! And then asked "What about my clothes?"

 

[Charade]

Maybe you could tell her that someone you know forgot their luggage and you need to take it to the airport for them because they don't have time to go and get back and get it. Obviously (unless you're a BAD parent ) you wouldn't leave your 9 yo home alone so she has to go with you. Then you just keep going... You could say something like, well, since we're already at the airport, we might as well get on a plane and head to WDW!

I believe you only have one kid so this wouldn't work but what my ex and did one year for my niece and nephew was give them and envelope with WDW written on it. Each had the same card in it but they didn't know it. We told them to open the letter and then they had to (without saying where) convince the other one that their vacation place was the better choice. It was really fun to watch!

 

[Christine]

I told my son that we were going on a trip to Iowa. So, he knew he was going somewhere. The best part was that I had a flight to Tampa so NOWHERE along the way did the word "Orlando" get announced. The pilot never even said Florida. My son assumed we were going to Tampa, Iowa. We landed and he still hadn't figured it out (he was only 6 years old at the time). I finally told him as we were getting off the plane and he was thrilled.

On our last trip, (he was 12), I didn't tell him at all. Just told him we would be going to Busch Gardens over Easter. The night before the trip, I told him. He was sort of mad at me for a bit because I didn't give him enough time to "emotionally prepare."

So, I guess no more surprises at my house!

 

[SC Minnie]

I picked DD up from school early 2 years ago on a Friday. She was a little worried when they called her out of class because I never pick her up early unless she has a dr's appt. When she came to the office I asked her if she wanted to go to WDW- she gave me one of these and say yes when? I told her right then. She argued with me until we got to the car and say the suitcase. She was so excited. She still didn't believe me until we were almost an hour away from home. As we were driving through Jacksonville she said 'I need to pinch myself because I must be dreaming!!!!'. It was so much fun to surprise her like that. The hole drive down she kept saying but I don't have this or that and I would say 'its in the suitcase'. She is the ultimate planner like her dad.

 

[Pooh's Pixie]

We did this last October with my 3 kids...didn't tell them anything. The week we were going (we left on a Fri) we told the boys that we would pick them up from school early on Fri to do something fun (they thought they were going fishing!). Their teachers and our families knew, but no one let on. I had packed and hid everything in closets. After they left for school, my DH asked my preschool daughter, "If you could go anywhere for dinner tonight, where would you go?" He expected her to say "Disney World!", she, being an unpredictable 4 year old, replied "Bugaboo!" He then let her know we were going to WDW! When my DH picked the boys up from school, I put all the luggage in the kitchen so when they walked in they would see it. The boys walked in, looked at the luggage with a very puzzled expression, and DH & I yelled, "We're going to Disney World, go get changed!!!
It was absolutely priceless. They were bouncing around the house and almost couldn't believe it. I highly recommend it. It adds to the magic
After we came back though, every time we would say "Guess what we're doing today?" they would think we were going to WDW again!

HAVE FUN!

 

[Blueeyes101817]

my parents surprised my brother and i when we were younger--we were probably 6 and 7, so itw as awhile ago...They sent us on a scavenger hunt...we found sunglasses, got sent to a nother spot to find sunblock, i think we eventuallyfound, camera, a new shirt, and eventually fanny packs with disney park maps in them

 

[wvrevy]

Thanks for the ideas! Our flight leaves pretty early in the morning, so I think we may have to go with one of the airport suggestions (I love the idea of a scavenger hunt, but if we did it the day before she'd never go to sleep that night...lol). I think we can be devious enough to fool a kindergartener about what's going on.

 

[Aidensmom]

Is there anywhere else you might go that you would fly too? You could tell her you were going there instead. I hope you all have a fun trip!

We surprised my son several months ago with a weekend trip to WDW, we never actually told him where we were really going, he figured it out when he saw the signs as we drove onto Disney property, although at first he thought I had gotten lost. He had been told we were going shopping for a new lawn mower. (We only live an hour from WDW, so we could get away with such a lame cover.)

 

[wvrevy]

Is there anywhere else you might go that you would fly too? You could tell her you were going there instead. I hope you all have a fun trip!

We surprised my son several months ago with a weekend trip to WDW, we never actually told him where we were really going, he figured it out when he saw the signs as we drove onto Disney property, although at first he thought I had gotten lost. He had been told we were going shopping for a new lawn mower. (We only live an hour from WDW, so we could get away with such a lame cover.)

The rugrat is too smart to think we're flying to buy a new lawn mower.

Seriously...the only place she's ever flown has been to go to Orlando (either to the park or on the cruise). I think we may just use the "delivering some luggage" idea and try to keep her distracted until the plane takes off. She's pretty bright, so I'm sure she'll catch on before that, but it's worth a shot.

 

[cardaway]

We went to local travel agency and asked for a few of the large ads they are given by Disney and then put them up in her room. Disney sends out some really nice looking posters. She still keeps one on her wall.

 

[JESW]

We completely surprised the kids back in January when we went down for a few days to celebrate dd's 8th birthday - so cool as the first Pirate & Princess party was on her birthday!

Well, EVERYONE knew about the trip except our two kids. We picked them up at lunch time at school - dd was wondering why her teacher said "have a good time!" - when I had told her they had to come to a dr's apt. with me.

The funny part was when we got them home and sat them down and I said to dd - "If you could go anywhere on your birthday, where would you want to go?" Expecting, of course, for her to say Disney World! Instead she answered - "That place in Boston" She wasn't even sure what she meant. When we told them Disney we also told them they had 10 minutes to pack their carry-on bags as the driver was picking us up soon to take us to the airport.

It was fun, but I am sure she will be expecting it every birthday now! (And we *may* do it again in November when ds turns 13...no plans yet)

Jill

 

[phorsenuf]

We did this one year but we were driving. We left from the science fair and told the kids we needed to bring suitcases to grandma because they were going on a cruise and had loaned their luggage to my brother. So after driving about 3 hours (NH to CT) they finally realized we've been driving a long time. My mom only lived an hour away. We pulled over and told them. They didn't believe us. One opened the suitcases to actually see the clothes. The other one said no way, let me out of the car. We still don't get that reaction.

Anyways, they were thrilled. Not anything I could pull off again, but I'm glad I got to do it at least once.

Now, if my DH would only do that for me.......

 

[barkley]

we picked up the kids on a friday (had it set up with the teacher ahead of time) and said 'tell your friends you'll miss them but you'll send the class a postcard'. kids look at us like , then say 'miss them', 'a postcard from where'. DISNEYWORLD! the kids and the whole class went nuts (we lived in california at the time and it's still pretty rare for kids to actualy know someone whose been to disneyWORLD.

 

[zulaya]

We are getting ready to do this next week...we are leaving the morning after school gets out for a long weekend.

We did surprise them once before...a week long trip in October and it was agony waiting to tell!

We woke them up at 5am...turned on the lights in the hallway and just yelled, "Wake up! Wake Up!" My DH had made a banner that said, "You are going to Disney World today!"

They freaked and were so excited! It was a school day when we were leaving so they had no idea...the teachers had all secretly cooperated with homework sent home and everything.

I'm still not sure what to do this time around. I thought about having an Enchanted Call come in at 5:30am and just put it on speaker phone so they can hear it ~ my kitchen phone with the volume turned all the way up can be heard up the stairs ~ and having Mickey wishing them a fun trip.

Or, I thought about recording some Disney music and just playing it loud enough on the landing to get them up.

Not sure yet...but I'm pretty excited!

 

[TammySB]

In 1999 my husband planned a trip for the three of us over spring break, our daughter at the time was in first grade. He didnt tell us where we were going, he had packed everything, and then locked the luggage so I couldnt figure out where we were going. I had no clue we were going to WDW, we drove and its about 16 to 18 hours. My husband loads up the car and we set out driving, we get about 1 1/2 hours away from home and he realizes that he left the luggage keys on his other key ring. So we head back home get the keys, and are off again. We get into Shreveport and he finally tells me and our daughter where we are going. It was the best surprise, little did he know it was the start of going to WDW every summer that we can!!

 

[kimmikayb]

I did this last fall and it was one of the best things I've ever done. The memories are priceless! I had originally planned on telling my kids DD13 and DS11 at the airport. We set the plans in motions months earlier by telling them that their Grandma (who was going with us) was taking a trip with a friend. Casually I asked them a week or so before the date if they wanted to get up early (we needed to be at the airport at 5 am) and help take Grammy to the airport...then we would go eat breakfast before school. Well, this is a treat for the older kids because they like to spend time with me without their younger siblings so they were both excited to do this.

We changed the plans slightly because my Dad wanted to be able to say goodbye to the kids....so instead of telling them at the airport when we got to my parent's home...I made them load up Grammy's luggage. We already had our bags in the car. I told them we were taking Grammy's friend's luggage because she didn't have room Then.....

It was homecoming week for our school and I asked the kids....how would they feel about missing all the homecoming activities. They looked at me with their sleepy eyes and I know they thought I was crazy. My DD asked why. I said "because I'm taking you to Disney World! And Grammy is going with us!!!" My DD jaw dropped to the floor and the look on her face was great. My DS thought I was kidding (I do joke around with the a lot). But it only took him a few seconds to realize it was true. Then for the rest of the day I heard "I can't believe this, I can't believe this".

It was the most magical trip we've ever had. I'd do it again in a heartbeat!

I plan on doing it with my younger kids (DD6, DS4) when they are 11 and 13.

 

[Rachie0507]

We did this about 6 months ago. We had an evening flight so we told the kids that we were going out to dinner. DD6 whined that it was taking too long, couldn't we eat somewhere closer DS4 fell asleep. My daughter read the signs at the airport and figured we were going somewhere. We told them we were going on a quick, surprise trip to MK only.
The second, bigger surprise came two days later when we pulled up in Port Canaveral to go on a 3 night cruise on the Wonder I got both surprises on video--it is absolutely priceless

My kids worried about the funniest things when they found out--DD wanted me to call her teacher and was shocked to find out her teacher had known for about a month! DS was worried that we had left the dog home alone, so we explained to him that his aunt was picking her up after we left the house. Their first concern was that they didn't have extra clothes (then we showed them the trunk full of luggage) and then DD was worried that I might have forgotten to pack summer clothes

Good luck with your surprise trip

 

[minnieandmickeymouse]

It was so nice to read all these surprise trips. I am 99 days away from my 2 oldest ds 11 and dd 8 surprise trip! I cannot wait to surprise them, it's going to be so much fun!