Best Disney Surprise?

tsflash

Earning My Ears
Joined
Apr 24, 2013
Messages
19
Okay, so I'm interested to hear from any other parents or others who have surprised their families with a trip to the Disney. I know there has to be some pretty awesome stories out there. Here's ours:

2008

I have three children. At the time my DDs were 9 & 11, and my DS was 14. My DH & I had each been to Disney World once as teenagers (separately) and once on our honeymoon -- magical :)). However, my children had never been.

We had had an especially difficult year, and a wonderful couple from our church offered us their timeshare in October to use over Christmas break. We knew EXACTLY where we wanted to go -- the most magical place on earth! However, when we called to book our reservation, there was no availability in Orlando for that week. We were crushed but decided to try Tampa & Busch Gardens instead. Disappointed but still excited about a family vacation, we told our children the plan.

Fast forward to the first week of December. We get a phone call from the Timeshare company telling us that a spot had opened up right outside Disney World. Oh HAPPY DAY! But, do we tell our children or let it be a surprise? Hmmm...Christmas surprise it shall be! (It about KILLED my hubbie to keep the secret for that long!)

We never said a word about the change. Instead we tried to talk cheerfully about our trip to Tampa & promised that Disney would be another time. We left & drove through the night & pulled into the resort at 1:30 AM. Once again, I had to make my DH keep the secret until morning. We checked in & got settled. The kids did not know we were even in Orlando!

We woke up early the next morning to go to "Busch Gardens." The kids were trying hard not to be disappointed that we weren't heading to Disney. On our short drive there, my son saw a Disney directional sign, and I saw the first hint of true hope flash in his eyes. Then.....there it was....the giant arch above the road....Chaos! My 11 year old DD was clapping & screaming; my son was grinning & laughing; and my 9 year old's mouth literally dropped open, speechless & bewildered (NOT a common occurrence at all for her). We went straight to the MK, then the Luau at Polynesian, & then back to MK for Mickey's Christmas Party. By the end of the day, we were exhausted, but SO HAPPY!

Needless to say, mom & dad were instant heroes, and we had an amazing & magical trip that all of us will always remember.

That's our Disney surprise story. I hope more people will share theirs as well!
 
That's a really nice story! We're surprising our kids in 39 days! They're gone for the day, so I am organizing and hiding things today. I created invitations to the character restaurants that we're going to, and decided on how we're going to tell them. The week of the trip I will have the girls open an envelope with different pictures in each one. The pics are from clipart, not Disney, so they won't guess right away. There's a plane, a suitcase, a hotel, some rides a tiara and a mouse. On the final day, the morning of the trip, they'll open the last envelope containing a letter from the "Disney family" and a postcard from WDW. I've already packed a rolling backpack for each daughter with coloring books and that kind of thing, for the plane ride, and a special outfit to wear. They know that there's been talk of taking this trip, but they think that vacations only happen during the summer so they will be completely shocked!
 
Love hearing these stories! We are surprising my DD 8 and DS 6. WDW is their dream and they have never been. My mom and I are taking them over fall break and they have no clue. We are still tossing around ideas on breaking the news. We are flying SW from Nashville, connecting in Raleigh. I am thinking of telling them we are going to NC and somehow getting the SW flight attendants to help me break the news we are actually headed to WDW...
 
We aren't able to surprise ours with the trip itself, but we are surprising them with tickets to MNSSHP. We're secretly packing costumes for them. I can't wait! :)
 

Our trip is going to be a Christmas surprise! My children are 3, 6, 7 and the oldest will be 9 in November (so I have a fear this is/will be the last year for Santa Claus for her :( ) The details are just ideas and there may be more to come but these are what I've come up with so far (any other ideas are greatly appreciated!!) We will start off with a letter saying from Santa explaining that he knows how good they are and instead of buying toys and things that he decided they deserve a vacation instead and the next gifts are going to be clues and stuff we need for the trip. First gift will be a pair of shoes with an explanation of needing comfy footwear for this trip because there's lots of walking... Second will be snacks, etc because this will be a long trip... Third Disney stuffed animals.... Fourth Disney t shirts and Mickey ears and last but not least boxes in boxes to get to their tickets and Disney goodies!
 
We did it once, for our 4th trip, that we decided on only 5 weeks in advance- since it was so short, it was easier to keep the secret! 10 days out, we sent them on a treasure hunt in which they gathered clues to help them solve a code message. The message told them to look at the November calendar and there they saw "Disney World" written on our dates. They jumped and screamed and fell on the floor- the desired reaction ;).

For us, this plan worked. I wanted them to have time to pack for themselves, anticipate and plan a little, and feel ready to miss 2.5 days of school. They said 10 days was perfect. I also didn't tell them which resort until we got to Caribbean Beach- they remained oblivious even with the ME tags on our luggage and the signs at ME, so that worked out too.
 
We're surprising ours at Christmas! We have been planning all year in secret, we cannot wait to see their faces!!:goodvibes
 
I have been watching youtube videos all morning of how families surprise their kids with a vacation. It seems like some of the best ones are the ones that manage to keep it a secret until the airport or when you are already in the car. Can't wait to do this for my kids someday. If you want a good laugh watch a few of the surprise trip fails. There are some kids out there who cry (sad tears) when then find out they are going to Disney.
 
Subbing ... our daughter thinks she has to wait until she's 10 to go back but we're leaving the day before Thanksgiving and staying until 12/7. She isn't finding out until the morning we leave.
 
mchelle77 said:
Subbing ... our daughter thinks she has to wait until she's 10 to go back but we're leaving the day before Thanksgiving and staying until 12/7. She isn't finding out until the morning we leave.

Lol my Older dd thinks the same thing! We are telling our kids the morning of also
 
My oldest thinks she needs to be 8 to go, currently she just turned six. She has no clue about our upcoming trip and I don't want her to because I'll never hear the end of it "how many more days, Mommy?". Any who, the day that we leave we plan to tell her that we need to go to the airport because her Uncle Chris is going on a trip and he forgot his luggage so we need to take him some. Of course the bags she'll see are the bags packs with her things in them. Once there, we are going to say that we're taking a surprise trip to Florida. We go every year to the gulf coast, so she will be thrilled about this and likely wont think otherwise since she has no clue where/what Orlando is. We aren't spilling the beans until we land in Orlando, but weren't not sure how exactly that part will be announced but I do know I want to video it!
 
My daughter is telling her kids that dad has a business trip and they have to take him to the airport. She will open up a shirt that says "Surprise, we're going to Disney". (She has one for each of them to wear) I can't wait to hear about their reaction.
Grandmom and Poppop are going to be waiting in the hotel lobby, as a second surprise. We will have been away from home for almost a month by then, Pop is retiring, and we usually see each other near every day. I figure I'll be in tears for that reunion. Costumes for MNSSHP will be in my trailer. They thought they were being made for their friends Disney themed Halloween Party at home. Can't wait!
 
We are going in October. 39 days!!! We have known since January but our kids still don't know. We are going to ship almost everything to the resort so we only have carryons. We are going to tell our 3 boys ( 13, 9, &8)that we are going into a bigger city to have a night away in a hotel. Our favorite hotel that we always stay at is near the airport. We also plan to talk up my favorite coffee place which is in the airport. I figure after we get there to get moms coffee they will figure it out! I hope to at least get to security before the cat is out of the bag!
 
We took our 5 year old and 1 year old last September and we wanted to surprise my 4 year old.. ( 4 Year Old went at 2) We ended up flying and he had no clue... He stepped all over the Mickey heads in airport and still didn't get it... We ended up telling him on the bus!! He was so surprised!!! My mom has terminal cancer so she came along and my dad met us there as another surprise. He was waiting at our resort!! That trip was so special and I'm so happy to have those memories, as my mom passed on in April.. We are leaving for another trip on October 18th for a " happy getaway" after this hard year... We are driving halfway on that Friday and will pick up baby from daycare, come home and do a few things.... Pick up Lawson from after school and will tell him when he asks where we're going!! :) I love surprises!!
 
Okay, so I'm interested to hear from any other parents or others who have surprised their families with a trip to the Disney. I know there has to be some pretty awesome stories out there. Here's ours:

2008

I have three children. At the time my DDs were 9 & 11, and my DS was 14. My DH & I had each been to Disney World once as teenagers (separately) and once on our honeymoon -- magical :)). However, my children had never been.

We had had an especially difficult year, and a wonderful couple from our church offered us their timeshare in October to use over Christmas break. We knew EXACTLY where we wanted to go -- the most magical place on earth! However, when we called to book our reservation, there was no availability in Orlando for that week. We were crushed but decided to try Tampa & Busch Gardens instead. Disappointed but still excited about a family vacation, we told our children the plan.

Fast forward to the first week of December. We get a phone call from the Timeshare company telling us that a spot had opened up right outside Disney World. Oh HAPPY DAY! But, do we tell our children or let it be a surprise? Hmmm...Christmas surprise it shall be! (It about KILLED my hubbie to keep the secret for that long!)

We never said a word about the change. Instead we tried to talk cheerfully about our trip to Tampa & promised that Disney would be another time. We left & drove through the night & pulled into the resort at 1:30 AM. Once again, I had to make my DH keep the secret until morning. We checked in & got settled. The kids did not know we were even in Orlando!

We woke up early the next morning to go to "Busch Gardens." The kids were trying hard not to be disappointed that we weren't heading to Disney. On our short drive there, my son saw a Disney directional sign, and I saw the first hint of true hope flash in his eyes. Then.....there it was....the giant arch above the road....Chaos! My 11 year old DD was clapping & screaming; my son was grinning & laughing; and my 9 year old's mouth literally dropped open, speechless & bewildered (NOT a common occurrence at all for her). We went straight to the MK, then the Luau at Polynesian, & then back to MK for Mickey's Christmas Party. By the end of the day, we were exhausted, but SO HAPPY!

Needless to say, mom & dad were instant heroes, and we had an amazing & magical trip that all of us will always remember.

That's our Disney surprise story. I hope more people will share theirs as well!

That is a wonderful story! So glad it worked out for Disney!!
 
We wanted to surprise our kids (7 & 2) but we weren't able to do it because we are also going with extended family and they would always talk about all going. So we couldn't really surprise them. So we decided to try a different surprise, and starting this week we have been telling my 7 yr old (2 yr old has no concept of time) that we are leaving in 3 1/2 weeks (actually leaving in 2 1/2). the day before we leave, in the morning before school, we will sit them down and tell them "we are really leaving tomorrow!" I haven't figured out a good way to tell them yet though!!

I'd prefer to wake them up when we leave for the airport but I think my son would prefer to tell all his friends at school and make it a little more exciting!
 
I have been watching youtube videos all morning of how families surprise their kids with a vacation. It seems like some of the best ones are the ones that manage to keep it a secret until the airport or when you are already in the car. Can't wait to do this for my kids someday. If you want a good laugh watch a few of the surprise trip fails. There are some kids out there who cry (sad tears) when then find out they are going to Disney.

This is what we are trying to do!

We leave next Wednesday evening and my boys (9 & 7) still have no idea.

Somehow, I have to figure out how to pick the boys up from school, get to my husbands office to pick him up, and get to BWI and onto an airplane, without them figuring out anything!
 





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