Creative and fun ways to tell family - ideas?

[cats7494]

Looking for a fun way to tell my 10 year old DD that we are going to Disney....any cool ideas??

 

[Nanu57v]

Maybe mail her a letter from Mickey in the mail telling her about the trip and he looks forward to seeing her at the parks?

 

[cats7494]

I was thinking of that too... that is a fun idea... I have some stickers and some cool Disney clip art I can do...
I was thinking about doing a scavenger hunt for her to find the "invitation" from Mickey...

 

[HopperFan]

On a surprise trip I did cards to them where you put a photo on the front. DD was her in soccer uniform......read on front......"now that you had a winning soccer season, what are you going to do?".....inside it said YOU ARE GOING TO DISNEY WORLD and had a gift card attached for spending money. DS were another photo with same basic concept.

They loved it once it really sunk in that I was serious !

 

[cats7494]

That is a cute idea! I found a bday card today that had a really cute picture of Minnie Mouse... so I cut her out and will write on it and send to my DD.... not completely sure what I will say... but something like...Guess where we are going in September.....

Still thinking on that..... any suggestions

thanks!

 

[cokegal19]

This is from another post, but it's a really cute idea! This is from lasmickey, not me:.....

We Couldn't Wait Another Second.... We Told Them!!
We had planned on surprising our two DD's on Father's Day by telling them we're going to WDW in September, but yesterday afternoon I decided I couldn't wait another second!

While they were resting in their rooms, DH and I set up a treasure hunt for them. We then sat them on the couch in the living room, and explained that Mommy & Daddy had been working on a game for them. We told them that we were going to do a treasure hunt, and they would get a surprise at the end! We knew DD-4 would have a little bit of difficulty with this, so we told DD-7 that she could read each clue out loud, then they could figure out the clues together, and when they reached each destination, DD-4 could retrieve the next clue. There were 10 clues in all, with the last clue taking them outside onto the porch. There they found 2 gifts bags (one for each) and a scroll tied up with red ribbon. We told them they had to read the scroll before they opened their gifts. This is what the Scroll Said....

Now that Summer is Almost Here,
It's Time to Start Thinking About Taking a Vacation This Year,

I've Talked to Your Mom & Dad, and They Both Agree,
That on September 29th, You'll Be Coming To See ME!

I Can't Wait for You to Join Me in the Florida Sun,
You'll Get to Meet Me and My Friends and We'll Have Loads of Fun!!

Love, MICKEY MOUSE

Well, needless to say they were VERY EXCITED!!!!! We video taped the whole thing! It was just great!!

They then got to open their gifts, which were small back-packs filled with stuff they can take on their trip. (Autograph Book, Fat Pen, GOH Badges, Disposable Disney Princess Cameas, Enough Pennies & Quarters for 25 Pressed Pennies Each, Disney Dollars, Etc.) It was a hit! Needless to say, this turned out to be a day we'll all remember forever! We're all so psyched now that we could hardly sleep last night!! (This could be a problem considering we don't go for another 113 days! )

OK, Sorry I rambled so long..... I just had to share our story with someone, and I knew that all you DIS'ers would understand!

WOO HOO!!!!! WE'RE GOING TO DISNEY WORLD!!!!

 

[scakul]

I don't have any good ideas on how to let your kids know but I witnesssed the most adorable "revelation" last year.

We took the auto train and were waiting in the station with everyone else on their way to Florida.

There was a family sitting near us with 2 boys, about 4-6 years old.

The parents had not told the boys where they were going, just "on a train ride".

An elderly woman came up to the boys and said "Are you going to see Mickey Mouse, too?!"

When it dawned on them that they were going to Disney World, you should have seen the absolute joy on their faces. They started jumping up and down and clapping.

It was so heartwarming to see how excited these kids were with their surprise.

 

[Dznypal]

A few years ago for our family summer vacation we planned on going to Canada, Cooperstown NY to the baseball hall of fame(my DS loved baseball at the time) Baltimore for a game at Camden yards and then to Virginai Beach for some beach time and then home.

Well what I didn't know was that he was planning a surprise trip to WDW for my B-d!!!!

He arranged everything through my parents address and phone#

even when he went to AAA to have it maped out he told them what he was doing so they did 2 trip tics one to Virgina beach and the other to wdw!!!!

as were driving to Virginia beach (WDW!!!!!) he said to DD to put a new tape in. What the new tape was, was my DH, DS, DD saying all things connected to WDW and then sang the "we're going to disney world song!!!!


I had tears it was just so sweet


need I add I still have that tape!!! and this trip was 1994!!!!


good luck and having fun surprising your family the memoried will
be priceless!!

 

[ABCMom]

Not an idea so much, but a story.....
I was subbing in a Kindergarten class this year and after school was standing outside with the other Kind. teacher as the kids were being picked up after school. One of the mother's walked up to get her daughter and the other teacher said " Katie tells me her Dad has a surprise for her tonight and she will tell me all about it tomorrow" the mother says "yeah, he might have a surprise for her, if she was good at school today." and teacher says "Oh yeah, she was pretty good." The mother says "ok, we'll see what happens and let you know - bye" and they walk off to the car. The other teacher then turns to me and says "What Katie doesn't know is that in about an hour they are leaving for WDW."

Always thought it would be great fun to surprise the kids like that - say hey we have to go to such and such to do whatever (something totally boaring to the kids) and then end up at the airport and say "Oh, did I forget to mention we are going to Florida?!"............ but I have never been able to keep it a secret

 

[hhender102]

All very good ideas. What we did was...I ordered a personalized pooh bear from disney.com. On his t-shirt it said, "Surprise, we're going to Mickey's House" ($20, very cute, and bigger than I thought!). I also bought Disney t-shirts for everyone. On the morning we were to leave, my DS and DD (15, 9, 4) came downstairs to get ready for school and daycare. On the table were the "presents" wrapped up. I had the videocamera running on my kitchen counter. My 9yo opened up pooh first and she read it and kind of tossed it aside and reached for the next thing with her name on it...well, it took about 30 seconds for it to click what she had just read. She freaked out and my poor 4yo did not know why. Finally, it was all explained. I popped in the Disney vacation DVD, and we left a half hour later.

We had packed the night before and hid the suitcases. Unfortunately, the kids were going to be missing some school time. I had sent all of the teachers a letter asking them to be co-conspirators with me. Since this was our first family vacation (yes, my oldest is 15), they were all more than willing to help. A couple of days before we left, I picked up all of their homework from the teachers afterschool so the kids wouldn't see me there. It was just great. Watching the video is so fun...the look on the kids' faces...priceless...I started crying. I think the kids were still in shock when we arrived in Orlando three hours later.

 

[Cindie-rella]

This is what I'm planning on doing for my surprise WDW vacation. Just thought I'd share my story with you....
I am in the process of planning a WDW vacation for my dh and I. This will be a complete surprise for him. I've been begging to go to WDW for a few years now but he keeps saying its not the right time yet b/c we are in the middle of lots of renovations and projects with our home and business. Well, next year we will be celebrating our 25th anniversary and I decided that we're going no matter what. I've been saving money on the side and have finally booked our stay! I just hope he doesn't catch on! I am planning on paying the entire trip off before Dec. We are going next April 24th thru May 4th. So I am going to make this my dh's Christmas gift. I will be buying a new piece of luggage and packing it with Disney t-shirts, airline tickets, WDW park passes hotel accomadations etc all paid in full. I can't wait to give him this gift! It will be a Christmas/Anniversary gift all in one. I will also be planning little surprises for him once we get to WDW. Such as the "re-hitching" ceremony etc. I just cannot wait. I think I'm just as excited about surprising him with all this as I am about going there! Have a great trip!!!!

 

[disneygoof]

We bought a stuffed Pooh photo album at the Disney Store and I took a photo from a previous trip of my son "Happy" (then 2) posing with Pooh. I created cartoon like text balloons coming from Happy's mouth and Pooh's Mouth and then typed inside Happy's "Nana, want to come to Disney with me?" and inside Pooh's "and Papa too?". We wrapped it and gave it to her on Christmas for a trip in February.

She thought she was getting a framed photo until she put her glasses on.

For Papa, we wrapped up the vacation planning video with the e-tickets from the airline, a brochure from the hotel, and a Disney trip planning book.

 

[tiggerfan58]

My neice sent her daughter cards in the mail with little hints about the upcoming trip. But before she sent the last one she broke down and told her because my daughter and I decided to go with them too!! So it was too much to hold back any longer.

 

[jjarman]

Okay, you all have me so excited. Unfortunately, DS13 already knows about our trip next March. He knows we are leaving on a Saturday but I am seriously thinking of leaving the Friday before and spending the night somewhere on the way to cut down on the drive time (about 11 hours). I think I may check him out of school early and have the car all packed and just take off. Also, I have us booked at AS Sports right now which is fine for both of us but if I can swing it I am going to move up to a moderate. I told him if I did this I would let it be a surprise but now don't know how to surprise him with that. Any suggestions?

 

[CHIPSTER]

This year we are taking 5 great nieces and nephews - 3 of whom have never been to WDW ages 11-15 (we decided it was about time). Anyway, for Christmas they usually get several small gives and 1 big family gift - TV, computer, etc. Well, this year I made up T-shirts with a character on the front and on the back "My First Trip To Disneyworld, November 26-December 4". That was their family gift. When they opened their gifts they thanked us for the Disney T-shirts until I said read the back and it finally sunk in. Actually, it is the 15 year old that is the most excited. I am concerned about the 11 year old because one of her friends recently told her that she won't like WDW because she didn't when she was down recently. Where is that kid from?????? Now for the next surprise, they think we are driving down but 3 weeks ago I bought airplane tickets for everyone and this will be their first time on an airplane. Don't know how we are going to break the news to them on flying yet as we leave at noon and they know if we drive we'd be leaving between 5-6 a.m. and drive 2 days.

 

[DisneyDiver]

Well, here's a story of how I was surprised by my parents when I was about 12...

I'd been feeling under the weather with a bad cold, and had been off school for a week... I felt terrible. My dad had dropped a hint that he had a present to make me feel a lot better, but refused to even hint at what it might be - I assumed it was Lego or something...

One morning, I woke up to the lights in my room being on, and the curtains being open and it still being dark outside - no idea what the heck was going on, and felt even more confused when I noticed the bedside clock said 3am!

Mum and dad were both standing in my room, and my dad told me to look under my pillow for my big surprise - I find a single Disney Dollar. Woo hoo. One dollar. What a surprise I can't even spend it in the UK thinks I... Then I twig.

Suitcase in the corner of my room
Absurdly early rise
Mouse based currency under pillow

"Get up, and get dressed, we're going to Disney World" says my dad, as he drops an American Airlines ticket on my bed... and I go nuts

Best method of surprising your child, bar none, in my opinion.

 

[SyracuseWolvrine]

(reposted, verbatim, from my post in another (similar) thread)

When I was younger, so much younger, so much younger than today, I never needed any body's help in any way. But, I digress. I also got a surprise trip to Disney World (along with my younger brother and younger sister) courtesy of my parents.

This was back in the days before you had to show a boarding pass to get through security at the airports. You could just walk through security with no hassles. This was also in the day when there was still a Cinnabon at Detroit Metro Airport, and none in the local mall.

My mom's brother had been visiting us, and my mom told us that he had never had a Cinnabon, so we were all going to go to the airport to get Cinnamon Rolls. We got there, and she said that we kids and her would go get food, my dad and uncle would "park the car" and meet us inside. After we had finished our breakfast (yummy!), my mom suggested that we go watch planes take off for a while. So we went and sat down in the gate area to watch the planes.

A little while later, they announced boarding for a flight to Orlando, and my mom suggested we get on. 11-yr old me protested that we couldn't do that, we didn't have any tickets. My dad then pulled the tickets out of his pocket, and said that yes, we did have tickets. I also protested at having not packed any clothes, but my parents had managed to pack suitcases for all of us, and they had been checked in as part of "parking the car".

(Epilogue: We enjoyed the trip to WDW, it was probably the best trick my parents have ever played on me. And I still think of this story every time I eat a cinnamon roll. Or read a thread like this one

 

[Sammy]

Ok, this is a little long, but here's what I did:

I decided in Jan 2000 that I wanted to take our very first "big" family vacation ever. It so happened that it was the Millennium celebration at WDW, so I thought, "why not?!!" Disney helped me along a little by constantly running promo commercials and I made little comments to "guide" the kids (5, 8, 10) into wanting to go. I told them that Disney was verrrrry expensive and if they wanted to go, they would have to help out with saving coins in the newly created "Disney Vacation Jar", and not asking for too many extra items or eating out lots of times. Over the next few months of obsessive planning, I put together gift boxes with items each of them could use on the trip. They still didn't know that the trip had already been booked. I have to say, they did a great job of building up the Vacation Jar....and they were very vigilent about over spending on "stuff".

Two weeks before we were supposed to leave, we gathered them together and sat them each next to their Disney-wrapped boxes....video camera rolling. They opened their boxes and started looking at the stuff, but they really didn't really get it until my oldest opened her Park Hopper and started jumping up and down yelling, "Are we really going?????" Then all heck broke loose! We have it all on the beginning of the tape we then used to film at Disney two weeks later. It was so wonderful!

Of course, it didn't matter how much (or how little) change they had saved, we were going anyway....but I wanted them to realize how much $$ a trip like this cost and that they had some conscious decisions to make if they wanted to go (ie: yet another stuffed animal vs. putting the $ towards the trip). Plus...they all felt a great sense of accomplishment that they had contributed to the ability of the family to take such a big vacation.

We've since been back twice, but I've never been able to surprise them again. They know I am a fanatic and they've learned to read the "signs" of an upcoming trip!!

Good luck planning...the suprise is just as great as the trip itself and it really makes for a wonderful memory!

Sammy