Christmas morning surprise

[tygerlilly27]

We are planning on taking our kiddos(15&8) to wdw for spring break 2020 and giving it to them as their Christmas present this year. My 15DS kinda knows but my DD8 doesn't have a clue.

1. What are some great ways that me and the hubby can surprise them Christmas morning?

 

[NYCgrrl]

Wrap a box and place under the tree. Within the box under oodles of tissue paper place a card that says "We're going to Disney!" with the date of the trip. If you have one of those WDW blank cards they leave in your room from a past trip it would be put to good use here. If not I'm sure you'll find a blank card that will fit the bill.

Have fun.

 

[KayaWildfire]

My parents wrapped up Disney t shirts and a new luggage tag for each of us and had us unwrap at the same time. Include a card that says you're going to Disney world! I mention this because my parents forgot that step so we were quite confused as to why they were so excited and videotaped the "reaction ". Or in our case, lack thereof.

 

[tygerlilly27]

My parents wrapped up Disney t shirts and a new luggage tag for each of us and had us unwrap at the same time. Include a card that says you're going to Disney world! I mention this because my parents forgot that step so we were quite confused as to why they were so excited and videotaped the "reaction ". Or in our case, lack thereof.

Lol...i bet yall were confused.
When did yall actually get to go on the trip? There will be a 4month wait period till our trip starts. I know my oldest will be ok with the wait(this past Christmas, he received concert tickets and it was a 3 month wait). I'm just trying to figure out if my 8 year old will be ok with the wait. I think she will since she's been wanting to go back and dropping hints...lol

 

[KayaWildfire]

We went about a month later, at the end of January. I was about the same age as your oldest and a month was not enough warning. I would have much preferred the 3 months. Your youngest should be fine, you can use the time to make a countdown and have her participate in some fastpass planning a little. That was the part I missed with the suprise, the anticipation of the trip.

 

[tygerlilly27]

Wrap a box and place under the tree. Within the box under oodles of tissue paper place a card that says "We're going to Disney!" with the date of the trip. If you have one of those WDW blank cards they leave in your room from a past trip it would be put to good use here. If not I'm sure you'll find a blank card that will fit the bill.

Have fun.

Thank you
I will definitely have a big box or several small boxes with hints and gifts

 

[tygerlilly27]

We went about a month later, at the end of January. I was about the same age as your oldest and a month was not enough warning. I would have much preferred the 3 months. Your youngest should be fine, you can use the time to make a countdown and have her participate in some fastpass planning a little. That was the part I missed with the suprise, the anticipation of the trip.

Making a countdown will be right up her ally for sure. Thank you

 

[DisDude0521]

On Christmas eve every year my grandparents would always come over and my grandma and my mom would cook dinner for the next day while my grandfather, my brother and I would watch Christmas movies all day. My parents would usually let us open one gift on Christmas eve. This year when we all sat down on the sofa my mom picked out the presents we could open, one for me and one for my brother. When we opened them, there were t-shirts inside that had "I'm going to Disney World" printed on them!!! It took a minute to process everything but we finally realized, WE WERE GOING BACK TO DISNEY WORLD!! As we realized what had just happened, my grandparents both stood up and took off their sweaters and they also had on the same shirts! This was the absolute coolest Christmas present we would have ever received because we had never been to Disney World with our grandparents, and it was an amazing trip full of memories to hold onto for a life time!

 

[tygerlilly27]

On Christmas eve every year my grandparents would always come over and my grandma and my mom would cook dinner for the next day while my grandfather, my brother and I would watch Christmas movies all day. My parents would usually let us open one gift on Christmas eve. This year when we all sat down on the sofa my mom picked out the presents we could open, one for me and one for my brother. When we opened them, there were t-shirts inside that had "I'm going to Disney World" printed on them!!! It took a minute to process everything but we finally realized, WE WERE GOING BACK TO DISNEY WORLD!! As we realized what had just happened, my grandparents both stood up and took off their sweaters and they also had on the same shirts! This was the absolute coolest Christmas present we would have ever received because we had never been to Disney World with our grandparents, and it was an amazing trip full of memories to hold onto for a life time!

Thats so amazing! I loved doing wdw with my grandmother a few years ago. I wish she would go with on this trip but she doesnt want too. She will be 90 soon and she feels like she would slow us down.
I am going to add shirts the box. I also found a stitch autograph book for my daughter...she is a HUGE stitch fan and loves the characters.
Thank you for sharing a great idea and such a special memory with me

 

[sweetpeama]

Build something on what your kids like in general for example my youngest likes doing puzzles and my older one likes to figure out word plays. Add in that my older one has complained that she has not gotten one of the go searching for your gift (because it is too big to wrap) hunts.
With mine I would make up a good size puzzle and then divide it into pieces. Next I would write out clues to different spots for them to go with the instruction to come back after they get each one. I might put in a puzzle piece or two with each envelope or box. Once they got to the last clue they would get all the rest of the puzzle pieces and could put it together. How many clues would depend on the weather because if it is -40 no way am I sending them all over a huge property.

 

[bananaschmitt]

We are also taking the kids in April. This will be DS's 1st flight on a plane and DD's 2nd. Because we'll all need luggage my thought is that we may gift them luggage and contained within it will be something Disney apparel related. I may even push for us to wear coordinating Hanna jammies since they often coordinate with Disney for a variety of holiday pattern options. Then we'll tell them that in April we are off!

 

[tygerlilly27]

We are also taking the kids in April. This will be DS's 1st flight on a plane and DD's 2nd. Because we'll all need luggage my thought is that we may gift them luggage and contained within it will be something Disney apparel related. I may even push for us to wear coordinating Hanna jammies since they often coordinate with Disney for a variety of holiday pattern options. Then we'll tell them that in April we are off!

I love the luggage idea❤
Hope yall have a safe flight and a great trip

 

[apartment j]

OP- There are some really nice ideas being suggested here, however, I think that for your 8 year old (probably for the 15 year old too, just to keep it even) you need to have some additional Christmas gift to give. I'm sure the trip will be amazing and the best gift of all, but an 8 year old needs at least a little immediate gratification on Christmas morning

 

[tylerandalexsmom]

In 2011 we went on a DCL cruise over Fall Break and spent a couple of days at WDW when we got back. I decided those couple of days weren't enough, and that we needed more WDW time for that year, and planned a last minute trip back to WDW for Christmas. I decided to make it a Christmas present surprise for my kids (then 7 and 13). We had I'm going to the Walt Disney World Resort tshirts from out October trip, so I snuck the shirts out of their drawers and rewrapped them and the matching shirts (I did those back in those days) from our October trip and wrapped them in boxes for each of them.. I also wrapped some trip stuff (Santa hat Mickey/Princess ears, luggage tags, road trip stuff to keep them entertained for thr 12 hour drive, etc) in a box for each. Also, the DVD for A Dolphin Tale had just come out that month, and I had made a reservation to see Winter at the aquarium as a side trip on our way down to WDW. It was the kids' last day of school before Christmas Break (it ran late that year for some reason - I think Christmas was mid-week that year), and I was already off work that day for vacation. so I packed everything and put it in the car while they were at school. They always wanted to open "just one" present when they got home thr last day of school to start their break. So I "let" them each open a present - the one with their shirts in them. Now, I'm videotaping this (which I never do, and I was sure would give it away!), and expecting one of those big reactions like on the commercials. Boy was I wrong! My 13 yo son looked at the shirt and thought I was telling them I'd spent all our money on the cruise in October and there would be no present ls this year (even though there were lots of presents under the tree). My 7 yo daughter looked like "I don't know what's going on, but I'm going to smile anyway." I told them to read the shirts - no reaction. I told them to read them out loud - no reaction. I'm saying yes, we're going! No reaction. I told them to open the boxes that had the trip stuff. Smiles, but no reaction. Finally I told them to open the box with A Dolphin Tale DVD, and said I thought they might like to watch it on the way down, since they were going to get to meet Winter. Finally, some grins start- Really, they say, When? I said tomorrow! They say, we're really going tomorrow?! I said YES, that's what I've been trying to tell you! Wow! When are we going they start asking. I said as soon as you get in the car! Finally I got the reaction I was expecting! They were so confused, they just couldn't believe we were going twice that year! The moral of that story is to make sure you do it in a way that they dont get confused

 

[apartment j]

In 2011 we went on a DCL cruise over Fall Break and spent a couple of days at WDW when we got back. I decided those couple of days weren't enough, and that we needed more WDW time for that year, and planned a last minute trip back to WDW for Christmas. I decided to make it a Christmas present surprise for my kids (then 7 and 13). We had I'm going to the Walt Disney World Resort tshirts from out October trip, so I snuck the shirts out of their drawers and rewrapped them and the matching shirts (I did those back in those days) from our October trip and wrapped them in boxes for each of them.. I also wrapped some trip stuff (Santa hat Mickey/Princess ears, luggage tags, road trip stuff to keep them entertained for thr 12 hour drive, etc) in a box for each. Also, the DVD for A Dolphin Tale had just come out that month, and I had made a reservation to see Winter at the aquarium as a side trip on our way down to WDW. It was the kids' last day of school before Christmas Break (it ran late that year for some reason - I think Christmas was mid-week that year), and I was already off work that day for vacation. so I packed everything and put it in the car while they were at school. They always wanted to open "just one" present when they got home thr last day of school to start their break. So I "let" them each open a present - the one with their shirts in them. Now, I'm videotaping this (which I never do, and I was sure would give it away!), and expecting one of those big reactions like on the commercials. Boy was I wrong! My 13 yo son looked at the shirt and thought I was telling them I'd spent all our money on the cruise in October and there would be no present ls this year (even though there were lots of presents under the tree). My 7 yo daughter looked like "I don't know what's going on, but I'm going to smile anyway." I told them to read the shirts - no reaction. I told them to read them out loud - no reaction. I'm saying yes, we're going! No reaction. I told them to open the boxes that had the trip stuff. Smiles, but no reaction. Finally I told them to open the box with A Dolphin Tale DVD, and said I thought they might like to watch it on the way down, since they were going to get to meet Winter. Finally, some grins start- Really, they say, When? I said tomorrow! They say, we're really going tomorrow?! I said YES, that's what I've been trying to tell you! Wow! When are we going they start asking. I said as soon as you get in the car! Finally I got the reaction I was expecting! They were so confused, they just couldn't believe we were going twice that year! The moral of that story is to make sure you do it in a way that they dont get confused

YES! The thing is, Kids have really high expectations at Christmas. It's not their fault. It just is. Presentation is everything!

 

[tylerandalexsmom]

They had a great time, in fact they now prefer presents for DOING things (vacations) to more STUFF (although they still get boring stuff like clothes, lol!). But I greatly confused them! So much for that great reaction video (I did get it, just much later in the video than I had anticipated!) The next year I did the same thing with DLR. They were wise to it then - before I let them open the reveal present, they kept teasing saying "are you taking us to Disney World again?" And I would say "Nope. not going to Disney WORLD this year" (I wasn't lieing ) When they opened the presents that year, they "got it" right way, and I had a much more satisfying reaction video!

 

[tygerlilly27]

OP- There are some really nice ideas being suggested here, however, I think that for your 8 year old (probably for the 15 year old too, just to keep it even) you need to have some additional Christmas gift to give. I'm sure the trip will be amazing and the best gift of all, but an 8 year old needs at least a little immediate gratification on Christmas morning

I so totally agree...and they will have some other smaller things under the tree. They just get so much stuff from my grandmother, my in laws and us...we just decided that we would rather do a bulk of their Christmas from us experience/memories vs material things.

 

[tygerlilly27]

YES! The thing is, Kids have really high expectations at Christmas. It's not their fault. It just is. Presentation is everything!

Thats so awesome

 

[tygerlilly27]

They had a great time, in fact they now prefer presents for DOING things (vacations) to more STUFF (although they still get boring stuff like clothes, lol!). But I greatly confused them! So much for that great reaction video (I did get it, just much later in the video than I had anticipated!) The next year I did the same thing with DLR. They were wise to it then - before I let them open the reveal present, they kept teasing saying "are you taking us to Disney World again?" And I would say "Nope. not going to Disney WORLD this year" (I wasn't lieing ) When they opened the presents that year, they "got it" right way, and I had a much more satisfying reaction video!

Awesome

 

[tygerlilly27]

Last year i surprised or son with concert tickets....It was his 1st concert...to see P!nk. I kept it from him for 8 months but it was so worth it. He had ro wait another 3 months but it gave him something to look forward to. It was an out of town trip just him and i...we had a great time. So his concert/trip was the inspiration for this year's Christmas surprise trip reveal