How should I surprise my kids with the trip?

[dancer4life22]

you could have a friend send you a letter that has mickey or any of there favorite characters inviting them. tell them its a good idea and you might as well go!

eh not the best idea ever.

if you live near florida you can do what these people on youtube did i saw this years ago. they said they were going out for lunch and they were really going on a disney cruise. the girls were in the backseat and they noticed the disney cruise at port and they were like "i wish we could go on one someday" the dad said "lets see if theyll let us on for lunch" he slipped a piece of paper to the guy at the window telling him what was going on and all the cast members made it seem like they were letting them on for lunch. it was kinda funny when the ship left and the girls thought that they were stuck onthe cruise! ahah even if you only did this for the cruise part like just tell them about wdw and not the cruise.

 

[lakehead92]

My 8 yr old son is a pretty alert kids...I'm not sure I could pull that off. haha
and the only plane my daughter has been on is to WDW.

I think she'd figure something was up.


It would be so fun to surprise them the morning we go though.

We'll have to see.

 

[Rainwater]

A week after Christmas we plan to be on a Disney Cruise Ship, with a few days at WDW prior to it.

I am looking for unique and fun ways to surprise/announce our trip to our two children (6 and 8 yrs) on christmas morning?

Any ideas????

I have heard of scavenger hunts and puzzles...what did you do?????

Put together a picture of your Disney Cruise Ship and Walt Disney World. Then have this made into a puzzle. You can search the web for a number of different places that will do this. Then on Christmas morning, after all of the presents have been unwrap, you can have the family build the puzzle together. You can also have something cute written on the puzzle, like we're sailing to Disney World. As they build it, the excitement should build.

 

[Chloesmom]

I surprised my DD 4 years ago with a trip that started the day after school got out. I knew she would see me packing etc. so I told her that we had to go to Michigan for 3 days for a work related trade show. She was not at all happy about this. So the morning we were due to leave I handed her a letter on " Cinderella" letterhead from Cindy herself.. inviting her to come see her at WDW . She read it about 30 times I think... then started screaming and jumping around when she realized what it meant. Later though, at the airport, she realized she had been tricked and she is very sharp and didnt like being tricked and was a little mad at me but that didnt last long when she went back into Disney Mode....

 

[Blarneystone]

I am suprising my kids too!! We haven't been able to go to the World since 2005 . I keep telling them that as soon as I can afford it I will take them again. Well, I've been saving and saving and now I can take them (and me!!) this August. I'm not telling them we are going mainly so I don't have to hear the constant badgering "Is it August YET?!?", and also in case something happens and I have to cancel, I don't want to dissapoint them.

Anyway...my big plan to suprise them is pretty simple. They know we are going on vacation that week, they just think we are going to the Dells like we have the last two years. I plan on waking them up the morning we leave and just asking them do they mind going to Disney instead??

 

[IScrapbook]

My sister and her family, along with my family all went together. We told the kids Christmas morning by making a card with the details. I also got an unused paint can from a local hardware store and we decorated the outside of it to fit each child's personality/favorite character. Then inside we put a penny press book, an EPCOT passport, a lanyard and pin, autograph book and pen. In the toddler's we put a light princess jacket she could wear and a small Minnie Mouse doll, along with an autograph book and pen.

Also, when doing the penny press machines, we've found that the tubes the mini M&M's come in fit quarter's perfectly. We alternated 2 quarters and a penny so we didn't have to dig and then threw that in the bag we took to the park each day. They have the machines at each resort, restaurant and park, and there are location sheets online.

Happy planning!

 

[Hobbitmomma]

We surprised our kids with the land/sea combo in August 2006. They were 6 and 8 at the time. I scanned the different color Mickey heads that they have for paint colors at Home Depot and put Disney sayings and characters on them. (Like Bibbity, Bobbity, Boo or When you wish upon a star.) Then I made a sheet with Capt. Jack Sparrow saying that they were going on a treasure hunt and they had to be really careful to find the clues. I hid all of this in their books and things that they would be bringing on the plane. (We told them we were going on vacation to Florida to the beach.) They were young enough to be fooled but old enough to read the destination at the boarding gate. So I put the Jack Sparrow sheet where they would find it first and then the hunt was on. I acted as surprised as they were when they found the sheet. My husband was filming everything. We even got the flight attendant in on it and gave her one of the clues to slip to them. Another passenger also helped. Eventually, they found a sheet with all of the Disney characters on it and Cinderella's castle saying: Mommy and Daddy lied. We're going to Disney!" The funny thing was that my daughter (the 6 yr. old) didn't get it right away. She exclaimed, "Another clue!" Everyone was laughing. My son got it, but was in disbelief. It was classic. Then we did not tell them about the cruise. On the day we were to leave for the cruise, we went to AK for the morning, (I highly recommend this if you are doing land/sea BTW.) and told them that after we rode some rides and saw Lion King, we were going to take a bus to the beach. So they didn't even notice that the bus said "Disney Cruiseline" on it! As they showed the video on the bus about the cruise, my son turned to my husband and asked if we were doing that, and we said, "Yes!" It was excellent. My daughter was again oblivious. She was busy looking out the window trying to find alligators!
It was great though. We will always remember it. They still talk about it too.

We are also surprising them for Christmas this year. We're going to WDW the week between Christmas and New Years and we're also thinking of how to surprise them this time. I wish we could do the cruise, but timing and finances did not allow. I'm thinking of making t-shirts and making them the last gift they open. Or, making a DVD. I'm not sure. It's fun to plan though, isn't it?

 

[lakehead92]

Thank you for sharing that wonderful memory with me.
I am so very much looking forward to planning our surprise, and am happy to hear I have company in the planning.

 

[Juls]

Several years ago I planned a trip with my parents who live several states away and decided to surprise my dd. The day before we left to drive to wdw I took her out to lunch. My parents were driving down that day and went straight to our lunch spot. When they walked into the restaurant my daughter couldnt believe her eyes and kept saying those people look just like grandma and papa, then when they came over to our table she just kept staring at them saying but... but... but... lol it was priceless. But the best part was when she asked them what they were doing here, and they said "oh we're going to disneyworld tomorrow, want to go?"
She still talks about how good we got her.

 

[lakehead92]

It's so hard to be this excited and yet keeping it a secret from them.

 

[santa's surpriz]

We're surprising our DD7 with a trip to WDW and MNSSHP in October. I'm thinking of telling her we're going to visit my sister and her family in North Carolina so that is why we have to bring the cats to my parent's house. I'm hoping she won't figure out where we're going until we get to Orlando Airport.

The challenge is going to be getting schoolwork for her from her teacher without her knowing.

I got all the way on the plane, before landing the attendant delivered a "letter from Santa" telling where she was going. The letter told her to be extra good, listen and stay close to mommy (it's just the two of us). Santa also left messages for her each day to tell her what he planned for her. It was soo much fun!

 

[justgeorgi]

My daughter is graduating from High School in 2 weeks and this is how I am going to surprise her :

She wants a Minnie Mouse t-shirt from the clothing store Forever 21 but I told her if I'm going to spend over $15 on a little tank/tee with Minnie on it I'd rather buy it in Disney. She pouted but oh well.

I purchased said $15.80 tee with Minnie while she tried on other clothes in dressing room and stuffed it to the bottom of my purse.

I then bought a nice shirt gift box, pretty tissue paper and graduation wrapping paper and a large bow. I taped a homemade card to the bottom inside of the box and placed tissue paper over it and taped that down so it wouldn't slide out. Then placed shirt in tissue paper and wrapped it up.

This is what the card says :
On the 1st page it says "Happy Graduation Day! We are SO proud of you" Love Mom and Daddy

Page 2- Do you like your Minnie Mouse ?

Page 3-Where do you WEAR Minnie Mouse tee shirts?

Page 4-YOU WEAR THEM HERE! (below that is a pic of Disney characters in front of the castle) and below the pic it says HURRY UP AND PACK! We are WAITING for YOU!

and the next few pages are print outs of hotel, flight, dining and all that information.

We plan to give her JUST a teeshirt for graduation and then scold her when she doesn't give us a great reaction for her graduation gift. Knowing our 17 year old slightly sarcastic daughter she will say something along the lines of "Its JUST a shirt guys" and THEN we will point out that we taught her to read the cards FIRST when she gets a gift and she will have to peel back the tissue paper to find the card.

I'll let you know her reaction in 2 weeks!


2 years ago we told her we were taking her boyfriend and best friend with us camping for 2 days for her birthday and we packed up the van and started driving. After 6 hours in the car when she was wondering why we hadn't gotten to the campground yet we gave her the Disney Planning DVD and said put this in and watch this movie and stop pestering us. It had a sticky note on the inside that says "Happy Sweet 16 Love Mommy & Daddy" ...she cried like a baby.

When she was 8 we just told her we were going to Kentucky to visit "old relatives" and that she would be QUITE bored and she had ZERO interest in going. When she got to the airport we let the flight desk woman tell her. She cried and jumped up and down lol.

 

[kwdancer26]

Wrap up the trip itinerary in wrapping paper and place it with the rest of the presents. It's not too glamorous but it will guarantee the biggest surprise!

 

[figment301]

I would suggest doing the nesting doll effect with different size boxes all wrapped. Put a different gift that can be used during the trip in each section. T-shirts, glow sticks, activity books for the plane (found some great ones in the target $1 section), etc... The last box (smallest) can hold tickets/maps etc... with a note saying Disney here we come. I also agree with doing the lunch idea for the cruise. That could be something you could add in the box. Say something like, special occasion lunch aboard the cruise line ship with tour for a future trip.

good luck, I am taking my girls to Disney in December (5th-12th) and will be doing the waking them up and surprising them trick. I will have gift bags with dresses for them to wear that day along with activity books for the plane. They go with their dad every other weekend so I will be able to pack while they are not around.

Any way you do it, they will be thrilled. Have fun

 

[spoonfulofsugr]

This prob. wouldn't work in Dec. but here is how we surprised my sisters with their surprise trip!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IRjQbmc-WVk

 

[lakehead92]

This prob. wouldn't work in Dec. but here is how we surprised my sisters with their surprise trip!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IRjQbmc-WVk

That was so fantastic...a job well done.

 

[EpicDisneyFreak]

I then bought a nice shirt gift box, pretty tissue paper and graduation wrapping paper and a large bow. I taped a homemade card to the bottom inside of the box and placed tissue paper over it and taped that down so it wouldn't slide out. Then placed shirt in tissue paper and wrapped it up.

This is what the card says :
On the 1st page it says "Happy Graduation Day! We are SO proud of you" Love Mom and Daddy

Page 2- Do you like your Minnie Mouse ?

Page 3-Where do you WEAR Minnie Mouse tee shirts?

Page 4-YOU WEAR THEM HERE! (below that is a pic of Disney characters in front of the castle) and below the pic it says HURRY UP AND PACK! We are WAITING for YOU!

That's an AMAZING idea! She is going to be so happy!
You could just tell the kids that you're going somewhere boring, a relatives far away or something, and then just let them figure out the rest for themselves...

 

[heatherwillmom]

A friend of mine wanted to surprise her kids, ages 9 & 15, about their Disney trip. It was during Spring Break. We were going to be there as well. They didn't know that their Mom had also arranged for us to meet them at MK. Their father's company has a private plane that they got to use. They told the kids that Dad was going to a trade show for work in Atlanta & needed the family to help run his booth. They were OK with that because they like Atlanta. Since it was a private plane, there were no announcements about their destination. They even got someone to stand in front of the airport sign so they didn't see the name. They got into a cab to drive to the hotel. As they drove through town, the kids said,"This doesn't look like Atlanta." To which Mom & Dad said, "No, it's Orlando. We're going to Disney World." Both kids were thrilled. We met them the next day at MK to tour together. The kids didn't know about this either. Their Dad called my cell phone when they got there. I arranged for my kids to bump into them for another surprise.