Surprising kids.....

[disneyfirsttimer18]

We went on our first trip to Disneyland last year. We were actually jumping for joy and stressing over the packing a year ago right now. We told the kids where we were going 2 weeks prior. While at DL, DH and I decided that we would spend our 10th wedding anniversary at my new happy place. Kids were sooo excited that we would be going back.

Fast-forward to actually putting plans in stone, DH and I decide that we are really going to surprise the kids. We have no plans to tell them that we are going back to DL until the morning we leave, though it will still be 2 days before we get there(2 stops to see family and friends on the way). My YDS, 4, says he wants to go back to DL every time he sees anything Disney on tv or watches a Disney movie. ODS and DD started watching the Disneyland 60 on the DVR yesterday and are begging to go back. ODS was so bummed that "I will miss ALL of the 60th stuff", when I told him it will probably be a couple of years before we go back(which isn't true, we're going in August!). Is it bad that I flat out lied to them? It is difficult to keep the surprise and I know it will only get more difficult the closer we get. When my oldest got so excited over the anniversary stuff, I just about let all of my excitement out and informed him we would see it all!!

Please tell me I am not the only parent who has squashed their child's excitement just to be able to surprise them in a few months!

 

[MrDisneyFan]

Sounds like a lot of fun! I love surprising the kids when we can but it's a mixed bag so I feel your conflict Sometimes 1/2 the fun is anticipating and planning and just looking forward to it. But there is something 'magical' about being surprised too. We've had trips where we drove down and didn't tell the kids we were going to Disneyland until we were pulling off the exit and they saw the signs. And we've done the same thing... had to tell a little white lie that we won't be back for a while when we knew we would be there in a few weeks.

Either way is good, they'll burst with excitement when they do find out and have a couple days to enjoy it. Happy planning!

 

[KeKy4]

We leave Saturday. Our kids think we're going to the Grand Canyon. We're just going to wait and see when they figure it out, I'm expecting when my oldest sees the signs for California. They keep randomly saying they want to go to Disneyland when I bring up our vacation. So I think they're going to be really surprised!
The whole family is in on it too, whenever they ask questions, they call it the Grand Canyon too.
Just a warning, we tried a surprise in the past and it didn't go over so well. My oldest didn't want to drive a long time and my youngest went with what his brother was saying. It doesn't always work out!

 

[sherilaine]

Okay there is nothing wrong with lying to them. As it's for a good thing.

We have toyed with the idea of surprising ours before, but as they have seen others surprised they have actually told us that they do not want to be surprised with something like this. They really enjoy the anticipation, part of the overall trip is the looking forward to it, talking about what we want to do when there, where we are staying, what we are bringing, telling their friends ahead of time etc. At their age too it would be a lot of work on my part to keep it a secret and I'd hate to do all that work only for it to backfire on me when I did tell them.

I think with younger kids it is likely completely different and I think your kids will be thrilled when the surprise is revealed.

 

[disneyfirsttimer18]

We leave Saturday. Our kids think we're going to the Grand Canyon. We're just going to wait and see when they figure it out, I'm expecting when my oldest sees the signs for California. They keep randomly saying they want to go to Disneyland when I bring up our vacation. So I think they're going to be really surprised!
The whole family is in on it too, whenever they ask questions, they call it the Grand Canyon too.
Just a warning, we tried a surprise in the past and it didn't go over so well. My oldest didn't want to drive a long time and my youngest went with what his brother was saying. It doesn't always work out!

Our kids know that we are going on a trip, they also know that the trip is taking us into California to see some of DH's family. My kids are road trip junkies, always wanting to go anywhere and see something! If anything, we just won't be able to drive fast enough as soon as they know about DL!

The grandparents have nearly blown the surprise a couple of times, on accident, but we've been able to save it.

 

[crystal1313]

We have surprised our kids quite a few times. Reason being, they do not enjoy car trips and they work themselves up if they know before hand where we are going. Now they are older and figure it out.....

The best ever surprise was going to for the opening of Cars Land. We too said we could not afford to go until a later time. It was about a month after Cars Land opened. We told them we were going to Tahoe (about a 3 hour drive for us). They totally believed that. They both feel asleep before we got to Anaheim, so they didn't see any of the recognizable land marks or anything. The next morning, when waking them up to get going, they still fully believed we were in Tahoe. My husband had to take them out of the hotel room and show them TOT for them to believe we were at DL. They were SO excited and it was awesome!!

But, we have like a PP said, had not quite the reaction we were looking for as well. Once they realized we would be in the car for 6 hours, they started crying Not the reaction we were expecting, that's for sure! They had a blast once we got there though!

Have a great trip!!

 

[kathy040690]

My kids went to disneyland with their grandma in november and didnt know until the day before they flew out. When i woke them up that morning i sat them on the couch and told them "so today you have two options. 1 you can go upstairs get ready and head off to school. or option 2 is grandma will pick you up and you guys can drive to XXX to go to the airport"
they both looked at me wide eyed and bushy tailed and said "mom where are we going"
"you guys are going to disneyland. you fly out tomorrow morning"

they were so excited the hour it took grandma to come pick them up they didnt stop talking about it and were basically bouncing off the walls !!

 

[Phoenixrising]

I rather enjoy plotting against the kids, and have surprised them 2 times with trips to DL. We are currently planning a trip to WDW next year. They know that we are going, but don't when. We intend to tell them a week before the trip. Meanwhile I'm enjoying plotting against them and planning the trip behind their backs. My kids are real stress magnets and it's best that they don't know until just before the trip. However with my kids I can't make up a back story, as it backfired on me once. I just wake them up and tell we are going on a trip to DL or WDW without any warning. I do all the packing and hide the suitcases in a place where they normally don't look. The best surprise we gave them was 10 days before Christmas last year, when we pulled up to the house they desperately wanted us to buy, but we told them it was already sold. They never asked to who, so we gave them the house they wanted for Christmas and moved into it before Christmas. Problem is how we are going to top that this year.

 

[my*gracie*girl]

We are working on 2 surprise trips right now, but have always told/obsessively planned the trips with dd in the past. Dd thinks we are going next February, so that gives me a good excuse to talk about Disney/make plans with her input, but she doesn't know that the trip we are taking to the Redwoods in March is really going to become a trip to DL. Or that instead of flying home from her GS trip in July, we will be meeting her at the Long Beach airport and taking her to DL for her bday instead. Whenever she says something about wanting to go sooner, I say, "I wish we could!" That doesn't feel so much like lying! hahaha! I really hope I can keep these surprises intact for her!!!

 

[Disney127]

We suprised DD14 with a birthday trip when she turned 11, woke her up at 4:30 am - told her that we were going to DL and headed to the airport. And that one trip have turned into annual trips for the both of us!

 

[Indiana Scott]

When I was a kid I enjoyed the anticipation of going to DL for several weeks. It was so much fun talking to my friends and making plans.
Just a view from the other camp.
YMMV.

 

[nolenbelledavis]

We've done it both ways. Our kids LOVED the surprise though. We picked them up from school and I had gift bags on the couch full of disney stuff and said "we're going right now!' They were basically in shock. They still think it's so funny that I dressed them all in Mickey t-shirts that morning and no one even noticed they were matching. They were only 3, 7, and 8 though. We're surprising them in 13 days again. I'm about to BURST!! We're going to pick up everyone from school for "lunch." Then I'm going to have them do a scavenger hunt around our house with clues, culminating in opening a box and having Mickey balloons float out, or something like that. My kids will be 11, 10, 5 and 3. The 5 year old will be turning 6 while there and the 3 will be 4 12 days later, so we have a lot of birthday themed stuff too.

 

[MaggieS79]

If lying to my kids is wrong, I don't want to be right. Haha!

We took my daughter before she was 3 and she knew. We are going again in 6 weeks, she will be almost 7 and my son almost 3 - they don't know. I too just about spilled the beans as we watched the live broadcast of the parade on Wednesday! Sure it's exciting when they are part of the anticipation as well, but we decided to take this one opportunity to surprise them and it may be the only time we do it. We watch ride videos and park related thing sometimes, but we talk about it in part with all the other places we want to go and things we want to do. They know that if we want to go back we have to plan for it and save money... they they just don't know we have done it all without telling them!

Also, maybe they will be the kids that just start sobbing, in complete shock... either way it makes for a funny story with an ending at the happiest place on earth!

 

[DisneyMommy403]

We leave tomorrow, and we told the kids we are going to Kaua'i (We live on Oahu). They're excited to go outer island, and have asked what we're going to do there. We've been flat out lying to them, so that tomorrow on the way to the airport, we can pretend we missed our flight... until I bust out those Disneyland 60th luggage tags and tell them where we're really headed!

Last time I surprised them with a scavenger hunt, and the oldest was not into the game and acted like a snot. So this time, the parents are going to act like the meanies and sike them out!

 

[pirate_smiles]

We're surprising them in 13 days again. I'm about to BURST!! We're going to pick up everyone from school for "lunch." Then I'm going to have them do a scavenger hunt around our house with clues, culminating in opening a box and having Mickey balloons float out, or something like that. My kids will be 11, 10, 5 and 3. The 5 year old will be turning 6 while there and the 3 will be 4 12 days later, so we have a lot of birthday themed stuff too.

Awesome idea for the scavenger hunt! We are surprising the kids in April and pulling them out of school at lunch for "Dr. appointments." We just went in September so this will be a total surprise for them since we usually only go every 2 years. We have a 6 hour car ride, not sure they can handle that long without knowing where they are going. Scavenger hunt might be a good idea for us too. We are also surprising them with my BFF and her kids are going with us too. I have so many surprises that I have to keep secret, I hope I don't burst at the seams soon!

 

[DnA2010]

We've done both- for DD11's first Disneyland trip, she didn't know till we arrived at the airport (we had put her in the car asleep) but with this years trips, with her being old, it was fun to tell her ahead and build the excitement...i guess I'm on both fences

 

[disneyfirsttimer18]

DD asked me Saturday if we can make a list of rides we really want to ride again when we do go back. When I told her it will be a couple of years, she said "I know Mom, but I want to be prepared"!!

For our first trip, I had gotten them all new duffle bags and put in Disney pjs, snacks and drinks, and new swimsuits as well. Gave the oldest a note telling them we were going on a trip and the had to guess where. My 2 older kids guessed Disney World, but were just as excited when we told them DisneyLAND.

Trying to figure out a fun way to tell them this time!

 

[MomForFrozenAddicts]

That is great!! Little white lies don't hurt anyone. I'm sure your kids would love their surprise. My girls also are very excited about the Diamond Celebration, but I told them DL is too far for us. I told them that we will be using our leftover tickets at WDW in April and will be taking a cheap but 6 hours long flight to Orlando. I even made a bogus WDW itinerary, with fake FP+ schedule.

 

[palenskec]

Just a fun idea for those of you surprising day of .... my friend surprised her kids a few months ago. The night before they flew out she put a sign on their pillow while sleeping that said "I'm going to Disneyland tomorrow and I have no idea!" and then took a picture. Very fun way to start the scrapbook!

 

[BryANDJessMom]

I always wanted to surprise the kids so, after looking at all the cool videos and reactions I made my plan. I packed up the car and my husband and I met them after camp. I had a "present" for them. It was special t-shirts that said "we're going to Disneyland" (I had told them we weren't going to be able to go for a year. ) So, with the camera in hand, I was recording their reaction ready for jumps of joy.

They opened their package and looked at the shirts. "Cool, Disney shirts. Thanks!" Then I said read it.

They kept reading it but still didn't get it (they were 7 and 9). Finally I said we are going to Disneyland. My son said.... "Oooooooooooook" kinda dubious like. It finally sunk in and while they were very happy I didn't get the reaction. They later told me that while they always THOUGHT they wanted to be surprised. They missed the planning. Just can't win.