Advice on How to tell my kids?

[JerzeeGirl4Disney]

OK so we've planned this trip for 2 years and managed to keep it a total secret from my 7yr old daughters- we are now less than 2 weeks away from our departure for the world and my husband and I wanted to really surprise them in a very cool way. I do not want to tell them as we are leaving I would really like them to have a week or so of excitement before we go. So this is what I have planned so far:

Night before thanksgiving - hubby gets home from work, we eat dinner together and then tell the kids we have a surprise for them hidden in the house somewhere. Now this is nothing new to them, dh frequently will bring home barbies or coloring books for them and make them guess or look for their "prize" so I'm so sure they will be expecting something along those lines.

I would like to set up a sort of scavenger hunt around the house where they pick up a clue with a riddle to solve to find the next clue (like supermarket sweep) so they will be running from room to room reading these riddles to get them to their next clue...each of the clues they find will have a very subtle DISNEY undertone - maybe written on mickey stationary or a clue hidden in DD's favorite cinderella cup...etc. I'm thinking the final clue they find will be their Parkhopper Pass with some disney dollars in a minnie wallet - what do you guys think?

Has anyone done this before or has stories on how they surprised their kids with WDW - I need some help and advice I want this to be really cool!!!

Thanks!!

 

[NBFUN]

Your scavenger hunt sounds completely awesome. What cool parents you are.

I still remember when my parents surprised my brother and I with a trip to Disney. We were in 8th and 6th grade and at the same school. One day we were called down to the principals office, and when we got there my parents were standing in the office. They told us to get our stuff because we were going to Disney World. I will never forget it. We got into the car and off we went. It was something I will always remember.

My son is 2 now and we are already planning trips throughout the years just so we can surprise him and hopefully he will always remember it.

I think your scavenger hunt idea is perfect. Good luck with everything. I hope you guys have a great trip.

 

[JerzeeGirl4Disney]

Hahaha...I just had to add this...

My girls just got off their school bus, my Daughter Hope says - "Mom - Kara is going to Disney next week when we still have school!!!! Her parents are letting her miss school for Disney!!" I laughed and said "Oh yeah like Daddy would ever let you miss school for vacation...right" the other one chimed in - "I already asked if we could go in the summer when we are off and he said he didnt think so...too much money!"

hee hee this is going to be sooooo great!!

 

[Kitty-chan]

That sounds excellent.

My son's 8 and a Disney veteran (twice to WDW, once to DL, once to Tokyo DL). We're going December 19 and he doesn't know it yet. He *does* know that I've been telling him that next time we go, he's going to have to be responsible for carrying more of his own things, and he's agreed that he could handle the fashion implications of a plain black fanny pack. Also, he's really into pin trading.

So, I'm not sure when I'll tell him (I'm having a hard time holding it back! I'm afraid he's going to catch on) but when I do, I'm going to tell him I have an early Christmas present for him, and then give him a fanny pack with some snacks, a lanyard pin, a new lanyard, and the travel itinerary. He's really into hotels, and will be excited that we're staying at a Disney resort this time, so I might include a printout of the POP web page.

 

[Kitty-chan]

This also reminded me of a story my son's teacher told. One Christmas morning she and her brother went to their stockings, and found airline tickets. She was too young to understand, and at first was sad that Santa brought her paper. But then her brother figured it out, and they all left for Disney that very morning.

 

[Bugsmom73]

You could also do it so they take the first letter of each clue to spell out Disney World or clues about Florida etc. Have fun. I am sure someday we will surprise DD too.

 

[lark]

That sounds like a great idea if you want to create the one week excitement situation.

You shouldn't underestimate the effect, however, of waiting until departure day. I still remember a similar thing from my childhood -- that feeling like, "are you kidding, we're going to the airport right now?"

 

[ChristyJ]

It sounds like we'll be there the same time...

We're also surprising our DDs (5 & will turn 8 during our trip), but we've decided to wait until the morning we're leaving. My oldest DD would drive DH & me, as well as her teacher, absolutely crazy if she found out ahead of time.

We're going to be all packed and tell them when they get up in the morning. We have something all typed up that slowly tells the news. Plus we have gifts to open, etc. SInce we have to leave the house at 8am, we don't have a lot of time for something cool like the scavenger hunt (that sounds like fun!!). We'll definately videotape their reactions!!

 

[coinkc]

I surprised my daughter last June. Two days before her birthday I woke her up at 4:30 in the morning (we had a 6:30 flight). I told her I was too excited about her birthday present and did she want to open it now even though it was two days early. Being 7 she of course said YES. I had gotten the biggest box the Disney Store had with the princesses on it and put in an entire package of tissue paper. At the very bottom was a card that was from the characters telling her they couldn't wait to see her and that she better go get dressed because the plane was leaving in an hour! The look on her face was absolutely priceless and we love watching the video together...there is this one moment where you hear a little "gasp" as she realizes what was going on. An awesome experience and made all the secret planning well worth it!

 

[CynJ]

Eons ago (1991) I surprised my 13yr old brother with a trip for Christmas. I found this enormous box and filled it with tissue and a few marbles and pennies for noise - then stuck a stuffed Santa Mickey in the middle holding the tickets.

lol - he was thrilled with just the stuffed animal - lol then he finally read the tix and realized what it was.

 

[Tigger&Belle]

I love your idea--make sure the clues are real subtle at first and then eventually get more and more obvious. You don't want them guessing too soon, afterall. I think a week before is a good idea. I can't believe you've been able to keep the secret so long-- I would be ready to burst!

Report back here how it goes!

T&B

 

[nygrl]

JerzeeGirl
wow you are so creative . We suprised my ds for his 5th birthday by wrapping up a disney promotion video and popping it in the vcr lol I think your idea is much better. Have a super time!

 

[lmhall2000]

How fun!!!

It might be too late...but they have these really neat "Guest of Honor" badges you can order with your child's name on it.....they look very similar to the badges the CM's wear...the fun of it is the wait staff/hotel staff CM's in general will call them by name and it tickles the kids. My children forgot they had them on and when the princesses called their name out at one of the breakfasts...they thought it was magical.

You can do a search on here for them....other than that I think your idea sounds way tooo cool! Enjoy!!!

Tara