Anyone here surprise your kids? How?

[Goofy4Disney]

I have to surprise my 2 nieces (10 & 14) in 6-1/2 hrs with their trip to WDW! (My sis just decided last night that they were definitely going w/us!) I have to do this during the youngest niece's b-day party tonight. Has anyone here surprised your kids? If so, how?

 

[Nevergrow'nup]

At Thanksgiving, I surprised my DS12 and DS15 with a 1 week stay. They night before we were supposed to go. I gave them a box with 4 presents.
Present #1 was a "gramp's taxi car as their grandfather was bringing us to the airport. Present #2 was a matchbox plane. Present #3 was a stuffed Mickey and Minnie with a sign saying "Come see us!!" Present #4 was a calendar with the day circled,, the next day!! They were speechless, had no clue and were flying for days after!! It was the perfect way for me to go away. It didn't detract them from school, they didn't have time to get nervous about flying, etc. I had already packed for them. They didn't even complain about going back to school when we got home because they couldn't wait to tell everyone where they were!! I would do it again in a heartbeat!! Good Luck with your surprise!! Have fun!

 

[kidsicet]

We did! Last winter we suprised our DD's with a trip to Disney. I had secretly packed for them the week before. We woke them up the morning of our trip, which would have been a normal school day for them. DH videotaped me waking the girls up. I had new Disney outfits and I told them they needed to wake up right away and get dressed because we were going to Disney! They've never gotten out of bed so quickly. It was so much fun to see their reaction, and although it was hard to keep it a secret, I would do it again in a heart beat!

 

[3kidsmommy]

We will be keeping our trip a secret until we leave town on March 31. To tell, we are signing them out of school early, goign to have shirts for them on the van seats and will see how long it takes for them to get it. lol...We can't wait!

 

[TiggerStac]

My parents did when I was a kid (elementary school). My parents told us they were going away...somewhere, not sure where. And my aunt was staying with us for the week. Ok...no biggie. Well, they packed us up, as well. When we got to the airport and went to say goodbye to them and that we would see us in a week, they told/asked us to go with them. I have very vague memories of this...but have been told the story many times.

 

[jksky4]

We are leaving in on 2/28 for a week and have not told DD 7, DS 5 and DD 2 that we are going. I still haven't figured out how I will tell them. They actually think we flying to NYC for the week. I can't wait to see their faces when they finally find out. :

 

[Juls]

Last June we surprised our DD10 with the trip by secretly inviting her grandparents from PA. DD and I were out to lunch and as we were leaving, we walked by my parents who had just arrived from PA. My DD was speechless! She kept looking at them and saying "wait a minute, wait a minute" After hugs and it finally sunk in, she asked them what they were doing there, and they replied "oh, we just wanted to see if you wanted to go to Disneyworld tomorrow?" Once again she was floored! LOL it was priceless! I have never seen her so surprised!!!!

 

[MsCarsey Luvs Disney]

Actually, our surprise was to us (my mom, me, and my neice). My mom's boss surprised us with a week long Disney vacation for her 20th anniversery with his business. We were already planning a moderate priced trip, but he decided to foot the bill for the entire trip (including a deluxe upgrade, food, and transportation). He's the best!!!!! We are so excited!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[StinkerbellsMom]

We have done it twice ... the best time was when we told the girls we were driving Grandma to the Airport for a month long trip (that's why she needed to borrow our luggage and why there were so many bags!). They were all teary eyed and sad because they were going to miss her, etc. Our little one was so sad to see her Grandma go away for so long and as she was saying goodbye we asked her if maybe we should just go for a trip too. They just said Yeah, right, let's go with Grandma. We then asked them if they wanted to hop on a plane right then and there to WDW? The look on their faces was priceless ... our middle child went pale and the other two just stared at us! We were naughty and pulled them out of school for four days and added those onto their Spring Break. The Ticket Agents at JetBlue all started chanting You're Going To Disney! You're Going To Disney! as we walked by them. It was just such an awesome experience!!!
They swore we would never 'get them' again, but we did! We showed up on the last day of school and told them we were going down the Jersey Shore and as day went to night and we zipped right through NJ they started to get suspicious ... we then gave them folders with 'tidbits and info' about where we were going. They just shrieked when they pieced it all together!
We are doing it again in April. We have told them we are driving down to GA to visit Nanny and PopPop and will just keep going -- wondering how long it will take them to 'get it'. I can't wait!!! Have fun surprising your kiddos! Its the only way to go!

 

[momsully]

I surprised my boys for DS birthday last year. We woke up the morning of his birthday and I gave him his present at breakfast. He unwrapped a boarding pass and a roll of quarters and pennies. (He loves the pressed penny machines.) It took him a few minutes to figure out what was going on but once he did he and his brother were so excited. It was our first mom and kid trip as dad had to stay home and work. We had such a great time we are doing another trip without dad in a few weeks.

 

[CheapMom]

We surprised our kids when they were 7 and 8.
I told them I was picking them up from school early because they had dentist appts., but first were going to drop dad off at the airport for a business trip.
When we got to the airport, they started saying goodbye and my son said- I wish we could go with you- and my DH said- "If you really wanna come I guess it's ok." And my kids were like, "Yeah, right." And then I started pulling their packed luggage out of the back of the van- and the kids were totally confused. And then I said, "We're going to DisneyWorld!" And they were so shocked and excited and they danced around like maniacs. It was awesome. Then my son was like- "you gotta call the dentist and cancel."
BUT- I must say- all of that craziness caused them some trouble adapting to the plan and we had unusual behavior problems with them for the first 2 days of the trip. After that we settled in and had a great time.

 

[icebaby]

Surprised DD when she was 6 and at 8 also. . .after having a Fairy Godmother send her a postcard from WDW saying "Hope you can come visit me soon ! Love, Mickey Mouse. (Thanks DisBoards !)
Woke her up on an early Saturday morning and said, "Eat your cereal, brush teeth, get dressed quickly, We are going to Disney World !
I would do it again and again. You never have to hear "How many more days?, I am nervous about flying . Can my friend, so-n-so come with us ?", etc, etc, etc.
The 2nd time also was a set vacation we had but then DH had a big project at work so we had to reschedule it, I am SOOO glad we surprised her and she never knew because if she would have know originally there could have been big tears.

 

[Waggy182]

My SIL at Christmas one year printed "Gift Certificates", placed them in indiviual envelopes and had their children open them at the same time. Each one read something like "The holder of this certificate is your ticket to a Walt Disney World Vacation. . ." or something like that, with the dates they were going. It was a huge hit!

 

[Cruz91]

I don't know HOW you guys can keep a secret that long (from planning till the day you go or the day before you go). Our DD4 knows we're going 'soon', and we're going to wait to tell her which day until the actual day she wakes up and we leave. But I would NEVER be able to keep it from her for weeks / months... I'm just too excited and I think she'd see it in my face.

It is kinda' nice she's so young, though... We're leaving in a couple of days and have already done a bunch of packing and have boxes of food laying around for the trip - but she hasn't pieced together yet that it's that close!

 

[marcyinPA]

Yup, we did it in September! Our friends were traveling with us, and the trip was a surprise for their 3 boys and our 2 boys (age range 6-13). We planned the entire trip secretly, arranged homework with their teachers on the sly, and packed secretly while they were at school.

My friend and I had our husbands videotape us saying "hello kids....just wanted to let you know that we are going to Disney World. Oh, and we are leaving tomorrow!!!". I watched their kids for them the night before we left because they had a school function to attend. When they returned, I told them there was something I wanted to show them "quick". I popped in the videotape, and all of our kids just sat there! They were in shock! The 13 year old thought we were lying! LOL Finally, once it sunk in, they were screaming and jumping around the house! Getting them calm and ready for bed was a chore, but the surprise was awesome!!

We'd do it again in a heartbeat if we could pull it off again! The older they get, the harder it is to hide stuff from them! LOL

 

[BarbWB]

I'm loving these ideas of how to surprise older kids!!!!

We surprised our kids (1, 3, 5, 7 at the time) last year. It was toooooooo funny. We NEVER told a lie, we just weren't forthcoming with information. We told them that we were going to see their cousins (true -- the cousins who live in NJ were joining us at WDW). We really thought they'd figure it out at the airport, but we told the flight attendants and seatmates ahead of time and NO ONE mentioned WDW on our direct flight to Orlando. Then, at the Orlando airport, they were clueless and still missed it ... we drove all the way into WDW to the Poly for dinner at O'hana's. The girls, who could read, didn't notice a thing bc they were busy playing in the back of the van. My ds 3 saw a billboard or something, and said, "hey, look, a Mickey Mouse movie" ... all along, we kept thinking that surely they were going to catch on ... then we got to the Poly and started walking in and my dd 5 said, "Mom, are we in Vermont????" (we go there a lot and she knew that palm trees don't grow in NJ... maybe they do in Vermont??!!!!!)
We finally spilled the beans after we ordered appetizers waiting for our table at O'Hana's. They DID NOT believe us until they saw the castle out of the window!!! It was so fun. I definitely want to do it again!!!

 

[Princess_Aurora]

I have pulled off a surprise Disney trip before. My daughter was 6. I made her a shirt and on the back it said, "I'm going to Disney World BUT I don't know it yet...IT'S A SURPRISE."

I did this in the hopes that people at the airport would read it and not say anything about it so as not to ruin the surprise. A couple of people mentioned Mickey Mouse and Orlando but she wasn't paying attention (as usual) We had told her that we were going to Memphis. When we drove through the Magic Kingdom gate she finally speaks up (she didn't say anything about all the Disney billboards along the way) and she says, "I didn't know Memphis had a Disney World.

But she wasn't as happy as I thought she would be. I think maybe she felt cheated out of the excitement that builds up before the trip.

 

[checkwriter]

We debated about waiting until the last minute, but decided that much of what we enjoy about going to WDW is the anticipation. So we've told them (we have 5 kids) that we're going -- but not the whole story. They have a bunch of guidebooks to look at over the next month or so, but we're planning to build in some surprises.

They think we're driving. Instead of heading towards Florida, we'll head in the direction of the airport. We're flying. Statistics show that kids prefer a 3-hour flight over a 20-hour drive almost 50,000-to-1.

They think it's our immediate family only. Their favorite aunt will meet us at the airport and will hang out with us for the remainder of the trip. Aunts are SO much better than parents.

They think we're staying off-property (after all, Dad IS a cheapskate). After our first night (off property, and after a hopefully-mellow day at Sea World), Dad will wake up early, complain about the crappy mattress, and force the whole family (including favorite aunt) to switch to two pre-reserved rooms at the Poly.

 

[Disney Ella]

After reading my kids some of the previous surprise trip threads, I asked them if they would ever like to be surprised and they said yes. So for our October 2005 trip, we surprised them. We told them that DH had to go to Kansas City for work and we would go along and swim in the hotel's indoor pool. The morning of the trip, we went in to wake them up and DH said "You know, I don't really feel like going to Kansas City. Let's just go to Disney World instead."

The kids were half asleep and thought he was trying to be funny, and not succeeding! At the top of the stairs was a sign that said "That's right" and at the bottom "You're going to" and in the dining room next to their gift bags, a big "Disney World" sign. It took a few minutes for it to sink in, but they were very excited.

Every other trip we've taken, one of my DDs has gotten sick a few days before we leave. This time, when she thought she was going to Kansas City, was the only time she didn't get sick!

 

[pkitty]

My co worker is going at the end of the month and says he is surprising the kids by telling them theyre going to Niagra Falls, which they do frequently. The kids will pack their bags for a weekend trip but mom and dad have packed other stuff for a whole week. He says the kids will find out about their real trip while on route to DW. Can't wait to hear how it went.