Best way to suprise my kids with a trip?

[Stitch35]

Hello! We've done a few surprise trips in the past. We threw this together in the last 4 weeks (we leave next week on the 19th for our airport hotel before flying out on the 20th). My husband retired from the army and we weren't sure a trip was possible this summer. He has since found an amazing job, but we still have our boys convinced we can't go until at least November.

My youngest turns 6 tomorrow, but we don't want this to be a birthday present. My oldest is 8 and his best friend will be joining us with his mom for the first 4 days (we will be there 8). We are sharing the airport hotel and fly out on the same plane. My boys know that their friend is going with his mom and think we are driving them to the hotel before their flight, swimming for a bit, and going home.

When would you let them know they are going with their friend? How would you let them know? I've been really good about completely avoiding Disney talk (so hard!!). I need some good ideas. I've searched the board, but nothing has seemed quite right. Thank you!!

 

[valiamo]

Always so hard to tell how kids will react to the news that they are heading to Disneyland. They have a habit of getting the most unusual reactions to going.

Several Suggestions:

- I would break it to them 1 or 2 days earlier, then they have 1-2 days of not being able to sleep.

- Tell them at the pool, when they are being good. Tell them you are so proud that you have decided to take them to DL.

- At the Airport... well that can go sour real quickly. Imaging your child being upset that you are "taking" them somewhere and the TSA hears it you are "taking them".

My story... we had told our sons 10 and 13 that they were joining me on a business trip to Vancouver, and I told the younger one that I would take him in the Limo to my hotel. We arrived in the Vancouver airport, and I told them we had a change of Plan and that we were going to DL, the youngest one was VERY upset that he was not getting a limo ride to Dad's piano hotel (Westin Grande). I thought We could do the limo to the hotel in Las Angeles....do you know how much a limo from LAX to DL is (Yikes), the entire trip he talked about the failed Limo ride in rainy Vancouver.

 

[talentedmummy]

We didn't tell our 5yo until we were checked into our room at PPH. We just kept adding on to what we were doing. First we were just going to the city to stay at a hotel, we woke him up in the morning and said lets go to the airport and see the planes, hey you want to go on one? He was so excited to be doing something new we ended up having to explain where
We were.

I know this year he and his sister will figure it out quickly. I am thinking of giving them
something with Mickey and Minnie on it right before we go to the airport.

 

[nikkislaght]

We told our son and his friend on April 1st.. lol yeah that took 45 minutes of convincing... they only believed us after we made them pack and set their alarms for 4.30am for the next morning..

My son needs a lot of time to process this kind of trip so for him to be told the day before was a bit tricky. but it worked..
I think it would depend on the child as to when and how you tell them..

Hope you all have a great trip...

 

[Dot2Vegas]

We have surprised our girls a few times with Disneyland trips. They are older now and know as soon as we hit the 15 South we are going to our happy place, so no more surprises!

We have waited until we arrived at the park- fun but not so fun for DH and I because we couldn't talk about it!

Our favorite was when we surprised them 2 days before the trip. It was a tough year for us while I recovered from a few surgeries and everyone was just blah. The kids figured Disneyland was still off the table because of my back. We asked the kids about ideas for family fun that weekend and one of their responses was Disneyland (always is!). DH said "ok. Lets go". They were so excited and had no idea we had been planning for a few weeks.
I like giving them a couple of days notice so that they can talk and plan and build up anticipation!

 

[KalamityJane]

We are going in the beginning of February, so I'm going to tell the kids at Christmas. I figure that will give them enough time to be excited for it (my oldest STILL talks about the paper chain countdown we did last time!) and process and be excited for going. I may wait until the 2 week mark. I know I don't like being surprised like that and the anticipation is half the fun, so I figure this is enough time for them to have that anticipation.

 

[Renae De Liz]

For our last trip I made a HUGE present box and wrapped it with a giant bow, so when they pulled it, the box sort of fell open with balloons popping out and and a picture of the Disneyland castle inside that said "You're going to Disneyland!". They loved it

 

[KalamityJane]

For our last trip I made a HUGE present box and wrapped it with a giant bow, so when they pulled it, the box sort of fell open with balloons popping out and and a picture of the Disneyland castle inside that said "You're going to Disneyland!". They loved it

OMG, I LOVE this!!! I may have to steal this.

 

[DisneyJamieCA]

We have surprised our kids a few times, but I'm trying to think of any that may work in your situation (staying overnight at the airport hotel and them knowing the friend is going throws a wrench into it a bit).

Our last time, they knew we were going to NM, so us being at the airport was logical. I told them we had a layover in LAX, so when my older ones saw "Los Angeles" at the gate, it was explainable. I had somebody from the DISigns make boarding passes and the gate agent helped us. We gave them to her, she had them paged (we thought just at the gate, but no, she had them paged through the entire airport!) and when they got up there, she handed them the new "boarding passes" telling them. If my kids weren't as social as they are, I could see how this could have ended badly and in panic, but it all worked out and the people at the gate had fun watching

We've told them we were going some place else, made an unexpected stop on our way from Vegas and once told them we had to drive to get a Christmas present. And then it go late, so we agreed to stop for dinner. And it got later, so we agreed to stay in a hotel for the night. They figured it out when we took the exit and they saw a DL bus

 

[lorijohnhill]

On our last trip I made up a t-shirt that said "I'm going to Disneyland!" We told my daughter ( then 4 yrs) that we were going on a road trip. When we stopped for breakfast, we gave her the shirt and had her read it to us. It took a few minutes to sink in, but then she was so excited she chattered about it the rest of the drive.

 

[Renae De Liz]

OMG, I LOVE this!!! I may have to steal this.

Oh yay! My boys loved it so much! They were SO excited when they saw the giant present!

 

[Renae De Liz]

Oh I suppose I didn't realize the OP's predicament!

If I were you, I'd get a really cool looking bottle, and then make a pirate map, a la Pirates of the Caribbean (made of either cloth or laminated paper to make it waterproof) that depicts either A) the "You're going to Disneyland!" message, or; B) if you want to get more elaborate, make an "ancient" looking map of the hotel, with a treasure hunt that they follow to pick up various clues about the trip, the final treasure being the full message about going to Disneyland.

You roll up the map, put it in the bottle with something to weight the bottle down, and discreetly put it into the deep end of the pool. Then you can casually say "Hey! What's that in the bottom of the pool?" and let the kids dive to get it.

Hope that all makes sense! Good luck!

 

[Nole95]

DW is running the half marathon in a couple of weeks, and it is our first time out to California. We have managed to keep it secret from both kids, 10 and 8, for over 6 months now.

We are pulling them out of school early one day so that we can drop mommy off at the airport. Once we are in the car and on the way, we plan on telling them then.

Even better is that both of them have been saying that it's not fair that mommy gets to go to Disneyland while they stay home.

 

[SweetAlex]

Fun!! I absolutely LOVED surprising our girls the last two trips. For our upcoming trip, we told them right after we booked it and it seemed so... boring .

First trip, we had booked for February so on Christmas, we wrapped a big box addressed to both of them and all that was in there was a clue on a small piece of paper. That led to their next clue and so on and so on. The last clue led them to a little poem and a Disney poster with the final reveal.

Second trip, we convinced them for months that we were taking a holiday to Seattle for a week, about 3 hours away from us. The morning of, we acted all sad and brought them into our room and explained that we weren't going to Seattle after all but hoped that the "gift" we had would make up for it (we had gift wrapped Disney luggage tags and Disney gift cards). They opened it and stared at it all for a moment then clued in. We left for the airport an hour later for Disney. They were SOOO excited. I know this wouldn't work for all kids but I loved that they got a good night sleep the night before and they are both easy-going and could handle the quick switch no problem.

The absolute COOLEST surprise was when dh and I were dating in high school. As a graduation gift to him, his family planned a Disney trip for them all. Little did he know that I was going along. Keep in mind, this was before 9/11. I dressed up like an old lady (frumpy, floral skirt and blouse, big glasses, white curly wig) and actually right sat next to him on the plane. He had NO idea it was me until his dad finally turned to me and asked me what book I was reading. Dh looked at me and slowly realization set in. He was floored. Yes, I actually went through security looking 100% different than my passport and they didn't care. The "good ol' days"...

Your kids will be SO excited no matter how you tell them!

 

[Nicolette11785]

Make them a build a bear and dress the bear in a disney outfit. Then record a message telling them they are going to Disneyland on the custom recorder they sell and put it in the bear. When they press the bears hand they will hear their surprise.

 

[Stitch35]

These are all great suggestions. I think I might do the hotel treasure hunt. They're really into pirates at the moment. Getting so excited! My oldest was just saying it feels so weird not to go on a trip before school is starting again. He was pretty bummed. It was hard not to just tell him!