How to tell the kids "we're going to Disney!"

[disneymami]

I thought this would be a fun discussion.
How do you plan on telling your kids about your disney trip? Everyone keeps asking me how I'm going to make the announcement to my twin girls, age 8.



I have a very unique situation. I have one child who would LOVE to go to WDW. Her twin is another story. She has autism. If I tell her we're going, she will have anxiety for the next two months. I'm better off waiting until we get off the ferry from WL arriving at MK to finally say, guess what honey? We're at Disneyworld. I"m going to capture this on video.

 

[RahRah573]

I thought this would be a fun discussion.
How do you plan on telling your kids about your disney trip? Everyone keeps asking me how I'm going to make the announcement to my twin girls, age 8.



I have a very unique situation. I have one child who would LOVE to go to WDW. Her twin is another story. She has autism. If I tell her we're going, she will have anxiety for the next two months. I'm better off waiting until we get off the ferry from WL arriving at MK to finally say, guess what honey? We're at Disneyworld. I"m going to capture this on video.

September 2008 my parents and I took DS to WDW to celebrate his 4th birthday.....we're going again this September to maintain this as a tradition with them each year! Last year DS really wanted DH there, but he had to work, so couldn't go....same with this year - bummer - but DS, being a little older, seems to understand better that Daddy won't be with us again - he's happy we're going again, in fact, excited and asking how long until we go....but still wants DH to go, but accepts he can't because he has to work.

DS doesn't know we're going again for Christmas Eve-New Year's weekend.....we'll be getting in late, so the plan is for DS to hopefully be asleep when we get to our resort.....bring him up and put him to bed, set up the Christmas tree and some gifts and have him wake Christmas morning at WDW.....with daddy there.....and his cousins, my sister, BIL, and my parents! Once he falls asleep, he's usually down-for-the-count.....not even a bomb could wake him, so we're hoping he continues this and we can actually get him up to the room and into bed without waking him!

 

[RMulieri]

I don't know...I know that my daughter gets anxious about changes or new situations( she is not autistic though) and I tell her when we book the trip to give her time to adjust.I am not sure just springing it on your DD would get the best reaction.

 

[james'mommy]

We've tried to keep the trips secret from my son but he always figures out before we even hit the main gate. He has this Disney radar that makes him wake up in the car at 4:30 am and he automatically knows where he is. He can even tell when he wakes up in a hotel parking lot. Now we just tell him ahead of time since we can't suprise him. He already knows we are going this December but that's mainly because his grandparents are coming.

 

[PolyndianPrincessJes]

I made this one for mine: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=86lhqnibMK4

Then I made this one for anyone to use if they're going in September (of any year, obviously): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BE-hsg6nYAI

 

[Disneyliscious]

I have read about surprise trip announcements before and just teared up reading them. I have decided to surprise my 2 boys with a trip to MNSSHP in October. My oldest will trn 16 while we are there. He went when he was 10 in 2004. My 8 year old has never been and is dieing to go.

They get out of school for fall break on Oct. 9th (we are leaving that night). When they get off the bus at my parents house Im going to tell them that the have a treasure hunt to go on and that they will find a surprise birthday present at the end (my oldests b-day is the 12th and both my kids get gifts on each others b-day) My youngest is ALL about pirate stuff so he will love this.

I plan to have their bags packed and in the rented mini-van, which they will pay no attention to since my parents run their business at their house and there are always different vehicles there.

Im going to give them clues on where to find the next clue...and ultimately....they will come across the FREE Disney maps I ordered off the Disney site (got them in the mail yesterday and they look all piratey).

These maps will be the 'last clue' that we need to get to where we are going - Disney.

I cannot wait to see the look on their faces.

 

[dawgs4disney]

We have had a lot of fun surprising our children with Disney trips over the years. It also helps limit the question of "How many more days until Disney? One summer we just did a trip down to Blizzard Beach. We were driving down, and I found out that there was a Dairy Queen off the interstate. We stopped in and got blizzards for everyone, and then told them this was a clue to where we were going. They were able to guess right away!! We usually always pack, and surprise the kids in the car. Twice, we have picked them up from school, with the car packed. We have had a cd playing with "It's a small world", had the Disney DVD planning guide to play once we got down the road, and when they were really small, we had their stuffed mickey and minnie in their car seats. Those are just a few of the things we have done. Hope you have a magical trip!

 

[fussymonkey]

Omg I feel like such a bad parent, here's what I did: "Guess what FussyPrincess, we're going to Disney". That was it.

 

[EnchantedForest]

For our trip this year we will be leaving for the airport about the same time we would take our kids to school. We'll have the car packed the night before and we'll tell them we just have a few errands to run before school. Then the big surprise is when we pull up to the airport. "Why are we at the airport?? Is Daddy going out of town??" Surprise We're Going to Disney World" They're going to love it. We've been telling them we couldn't afford to go this year, and up until recently that was true. We booked a couple of weeks ago and I've been doing all the planning in secret. My DD is 10 and DS in 8. They absolutely love Disney!! It is going to be a grand time!

 

[SnowandMittens]

We're suprising my little sister (9) for her 10th birthday this year.

I'm paying for the trip, so I told my mom that I got to choose how to tell her.

She thinks my Dbf and I are going to DW again in Sept. for free dining. We're staying the night and while she's sleeping, we're going to pack her stuff, put all of the bags in the car (my bf and my mom are going as well) and get everything ready for the morning.

The day we leave, I'm going to wake her up and tell her there's a present for her in the living room. We're going to wrap a huge box and when she opens it, there will be baloons that come out and are attached to a gift basket. The card will say "Happy Birthday Sage! I love you, and hope you have fun with your suprise, Love Shelly!"

Inside the gift basket will be luggage tags (one for her and one for my mom... which is how she will find out she's going as well) a stuffed build a bear, a pin laynard with pins, an autograph book, her mickey ears I picked up the last trip, travel size shampoo and conditioner, the free personalized maps, the planning dvd, some POP century info (from our last trip) a planning book (I always make one when I go to DW) and some small toys.

Hopefully she'll be so excited that when she puts the dvd (which will be personalized) into the tv to watch, she'll be paying attetion when the slideshow starts. We've been taking pictures with people holding mickey/disney related pictures behind her for the past month or so) and at the end of the slide show, it'll say, get dressed! Because we're leaving RIGHT NOW!

The best part is my other Dsis and HER Dbf are going and are going to suprise us at the airport... we're all on the same flight. So Sage won't know who's going until we get there.

 

[tarabelle13]

So far we have convinced the kids that we are going to the sea coast for the week. We plan to tell them that night in the hotel. I have scrambled the letters to a riddle that reveals we are going and if they can figure it out they can open the wrapped box I have with us. I think I am going to use the balloon idea from the above poster. I have also bought them each pins and lanyards, mickey ears, a vinylmation figure, a necklace for pick a pearl, custom maps, and pennies and quarters (so far)

We know they wont unscramble the letters, so that night we will give in and let them open it. My husband wants to wait until the next day (he is afraid of a sleepless night) but we have an early flight...

 

[TinaLala]

We're actually not going to tell our kids until we arrive at the airport and they see that the plane we're taking is to Orlando. Surprise!! We have an early flight so they might not even notice until we're in the air.

I can't believe we've kept it a secret this long. Having to pack in secret will be tough, but they've been so good saving and going without this year so we could save in secret they deserve it!

 

[weheartdisney]

This has been planned for two months now and I can't believe we've kept it a secret! I agree with the above poster that it's going to be hard to get packed in secret.

We are going to Disney for my birthday and our youngest son's 2nd birthday (just 2 days apart). We are planning to have cake/gifts with family the night before our trip. I'll have two special gifts wrapped and waiting. One will be my youngest son's gift and the other will be supposedly for me, but I'll ask my oldest son to help me open it. They will both have Mickey balloons inside that will float up with invitations attached to the ribbons inviting them to Disney for a birthday celebration - from Mickey Mouse. Also inside the gifts will be Disney beach towels, t-shirts, sippy cups (for the 2 year old), lanyards, trading pins, and pj's.

We are eating at T-Rex the night we arrive (we will check into POFQ the next morning) - so I bought them each a dinosaur shirt to wear for dinner. I'm going to have those wrapped in different boxes with a separate dinner invitation for T-Rex inside them.

My oldest who is 6 has been asking all summer to go back to Disney and we've been telling him we aren't going this year. He is going to be so excited. I cannot wait to see his face. I LOVE going to Disney and it's been so hard to keep it from our 6 year old. I know seeing him so thrilled is going to be the best birthday gift I receive this year.

 

[tjbaggott]

Several years ago, my friend and her DH planned a surprise Christmas trip for their two boys. They never said ANYTHING before, and then woke them up CHRISTMAS morning, really early and said "MERRY CHRISTMAS!! GET DRESSED, We're going to WALT DISNEY WORLD"! THey already had their van packed, and they had a REALLY early flight.
I thought that was awesome!

 

[Maggie'sMom]

Our next trip won't be until August 2010, but I'm going to try to keep it a secret. My thought (for now) is we will be taking a very early morning flight. DD will be at my parents' house for the week before we go. I'll have everything packed and in the car when she gets home from their house. I'll wake her up in the morning and tell her she needs to get dressed quickly because we have a plane to catch... to DISNEY! She's usually an early riser so this shouldn't cause too much grief.