best way to surprise the kids...

[auralia]

My kids have been to Disney since they were babies ever 1-2.5 years. My daughter will be 9 and my son is 5 when we go this april. We decided a few months ago to borrow a week worth of DVC points and do one last vacation before I am suck in college full time for 18 months for an accelerated program. Anyway... for the first time the kids don't know!

I told my daughter Disney was not in the cards this year because of school etc. We told them we are going to a museum for the weekend for spring break.... we will be going to Kennedy space center and the beach april 2,3, and 4. I have some how convinced my daughter that Kennedy space center is in north Carolina.... she wont notice while we are driving she pays no attention to what is outside the window.

I know lots of things will probably say flordia on them in the gift shop... is it realistic to dodge these questions or will she find me out?

After Kennedy and the beach we plan to tell them we are going home but instead head to the wilderness lodge.....

think it will work or should I do something at home before we go?

Any to suggestions on how to keep them "in the dark" while at the space coast? if I give them their ipads in the car form the hotel on the coast to Disney they probably wont even look up... I hope

 

[Pesky]

Hmmmm, that's an awfully long time to expect no one around them to say "so, you kids going to WDW?" or "seen Mickey yet?" If you are okay with the surprise happening that way, ride it for as long as you can. If you would rather be the one who lets them into the surprise, maybe plan on surprising them once you get to the space center and the beach. I don't think you'll be able to shield them from Florida stuff popping up around them. You can also keep her out of the giftshop by saying you're saving your final shopping for later.

 

[auralia]

I may just have to acknowledge we are in Florida but tell her dad doesn't have the time off or something like that... Perhaps that would work better? Hum

 

[TraceyPoppins]

My kids have been to Disney since they were babies ever 1-2.5 years. My daughter will be 9 and my son is 5 when we go this april. We decided a few months ago to borrow a week worth of DVC points and do one last vacation before I am suck in college full time for 18 months for an accelerated program. Anyway... for the first time the kids don't know!

I told my daughter Disney was not in the cards this year because of school etc. We told them we are going to a museum for the weekend for spring break.... we will be going to Kennedy space center and the beach april 2,3, and 4. I have some how convinced my daughter that Kennedy space center is in north Carolina.... she wont notice while we are driving she pays no attention to what is outside the window.

I know lots of things will probably say flordia on them in the gift shop... is it realistic to dodge these questions or will she find me out?

After Kennedy and the beach we plan to tell them we are going home but instead head to the wilderness lodge.....

think it will work or should I do something at home before we go?

Any to suggestions on how to keep them "in the dark" while at the space coast? if I give them their ipads in the car form the hotel on the coast to Disney they probably wont even look up... I hope

I feel your anxiety. I think you can convince her that NC is so close to Fl that they sell Fl mercy as well. Why would a kid question that?! We decided to surprise our girls (16 & 13) with the trip we are taking to Spring Training and WDW over spring break. It was painful to keep it secret for 8 mos. I didn't even post on the Dis Boards because DD 16 has an account! It was completely worth it though. We did a Valentine themed scavenger hunt with sunblock, Spring Taining baseball tix and finally nylon string backpacks with Micky heads and their initials (Etsy!). Magic bands inside the bags. Their reaction was worth the agony. I think they love WDW more as they get older, if that's possible. So many wonderful family memories. Whatever you decide, your kids will be thrilled! Enjoy every second...one day you'll plan trips for teenagers!

 

[smd8z]

If it were my 9 year old, she'd figure it out! we are surprising our kids before we leave for that reason. Last time we went, we surprised them with a scavenger hunt. This year we made this cool promo with iMovie about them finding out where we are going.

 

[Poohbr98]

We are taking our girls (7 and 1) for the first time the first week in June we are driving down doing the most of the driving overnight and planning on not telling our 7 year old till we get there, trying to think of some creative things to say where we are going as she always wants to know where we are going and how long it will take. Hoping he sleeps most of the way

 

[smd8z]

Whatever you do, don't say "We are going to visit soandso" (insert friend or family members name). Our friends did that last year and their daughter had the worst reaction when she found out she wasn't going to see her cousins after all! Our neighbors did a fun thing and told their kids, when you wake up, we will start giving you hints. The last hint was handing them a gift which was a stuffed Mickey as they pulled up to the resort.

 

[jtopp]

Strange as it sounds, bite the bullet and tell her on the way down. 9 year olds know and see all, and telling her the truth will be a great surprise for her, and you won't have to make up some story about Kennedy Space Center being 3 states away. Trust me, we told our kids one trip that we were going only after we passed by their school. They thought it was just another day, not the first day of vacation. They quickly embraced the idea. And have fun!!!!

 

[HeyKoolaid]

We did this one time when we took the kids for the weekend to the Great Wolfe Lodge (waterpark/hotel), which is a 3 hour drive for us. We woke up and said we were going swimming. We got in the car and drove for about 45 minutes before one of us asked why it was taking so long. We told them we were headed to the GWL. They REALLY enjoyed the surprise and talk about it years later.

 

[AshleeH]

We were able to surprise our kids with three different Disney trips. The one to Disney World was a minor miracle - we planned it two months in advance, they were playing their DS's or we distracted them on the drive down and missed all the Disney billboards. We got a great video when we got close to the Disney sign over the road and called their attention to it.

We surprised them with Disneyland and we had to keep that a secret for nearly a year. They knew we were going to California and we actually stumbled twice, but always caught ourselves when we'd reference Disney. We told them when we pulled up to the Grand Californian why we were in California.

Last year we surprised them with a Disney Cruise - a secret we kept for over a year (so worth it!!). They knew we were going to Alaska, but they thought we were driving. It was almost ruined when we got to the port (we took a wrong turn and drove by the boat) but pointed out something through the opposite window. Parked in the parking garage and got out to walk around - took the elevator to sea level and got the best video ever of us walking out the doors, seeing the Disney Wonder and informing them that we would be getting to Alaska on that.

It's hard to keep a secret, but so much fun! I told them I don't think we could top Alaska, so no more surprise trips for them . My daughter might get a few in the future.

 

[trackie]

When I was younger, my parents surprised us with a trip for Christmas. On Christmas Eve, we were driving to my grandparents house and while in the car my parents handed us big box. Inside the box were Disney themed coloring books, stuffed animals, and our park tickets. They told us we were leaving the day after Christmas. So maybe you could do something like that while driving to the beach or Kennedy center? But I agree, I think a 9 year old would be able to catch on, they are very attentive at that age!