DD disappointed in not winning trip to WDW from McDonald's. Little does she know....

[i like stitch]

she's going anyway!

DD9 came home with her favorite disney character minnie from the new promotional McDonald's happy meal. I thought she'd be excited because she didn't even know of this promotion until she was at the restaurant. Well, she was bummed because she didn't get the free trip.

What she doesn't know is that we leave next week on a surprise trip! I was rolling inside!

 

[Honeybehr1]

How funny. Now that will be a Kodak moment when she finds out

 

[huskies90]

I have no idea how you keep a trip like that a surprise. The anticipation of the trip is half the fun for the kids. Oh, who I am kidding, for the adults too!!

I almost think it is cruel to not involve the kids in the fun of planning and then springing the trip on them. Yes, that "kodak moment" is awesome, but don't they miss out on so much more?? I am sure I am in the minority here...

 

[i like stitch]

I have no idea how you keep a trip like that a surprise. The anticipation of the trip is half the fun for the kids. Oh, who I am kidding, for the adults too!!

I almost think it is cruel to not involve the kids in the fun of planning and then springing the trip on them. Yes, that "kodak moment" is awesome, but don't they miss out on so much more?? I am sure I am in the minority here...

I bet there are others that feel the same way you do!

I've had to be a bit sneaky in involving her in the planning because I needed her opinion on a couple of things. Once she figures out we're going, she'll be included in park and day-to-day decisions.

Last year when we were preparing to go, she actually told me to stop talking about it because the excitement was too much for her and the days were taking too long before our trip. And then to top it off, we had to cancel at the last moment due to hurricanes and then reschedule it for a month later!

It HAS been very, very hard not talking about it with her.

 

[kaabost]

A trip to WDW is GREAT anyway you cut it. My parents took us when we were kids but not as a surprise. We were very excited. But if they had picked us up from school one day and took us to the airport with mouse ears on, I would have jumped out of my skin!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! One thing I remember from my earlier days (as a kid) is that time goes much slower than it does as an adult. A month or two feels like a lifetime...................and we all know how long it takes those darn Disney trips to finally arrive.......even as adults. Look at my timeline. 15 months and 3 weeks. Oh geez, we're never going to get there!!!!!

 

[huskies90]

Well, at least you plan on telling her before you leave. Some people don't tell their kids 'til they arrive at the airport.

 

[kaabost]

OH OH actually, I leave in 15 months and TWO weeks now. Perhaps I am going to have to eat my own words.

 

[Frantasmic]

But if they had picked us up from school one day and took us to the airport with mouse ears on, I would have jumped out of my skin!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

this is EXACTLY what DW and I are planning for our two kids. It is difficult, but since we have planned this since January, I know that would be an eternity for the kids.

We are going to pick them up on 11-18 (my son's 5th birthday!) and whisk them to the hotel at the airport. We are telling them where we are going though.

They do miss out on the anticipation, but I think they will forgive us!

 

[Jennygt]

I think plannng is fun but everyone loves a HUGE surprise at least once! Have a wonderful time!

 

[Honeybehr1]

I almost think it is cruel to not involve the kids in the fun of planning and then springing the trip on them. Yes, that "kodak moment" is awesome, but don't they miss out on so much more?? I am sure I am in the minority here...

I wish I could include DS in the planning process but he hates to fly. He would only focus on the fact that he needs to fly and work himself up to being sick. We are telling him the night before, that way he has some time to think about it but not too much to become obsessive.

 

[Camping Griswalds]

We have done the trips in multiple variations
1--kids involved in planning from day 1
2--total surprise, just told them we were going camping and they did not believe it when we pulled into Welcome To Disney World
3--Just picked them up from school one day and told them then

Both boys liked the total surprise trip the best. My husband and I still can't believe that they fell for it. We live in MD and had an 18 hour drive over 2 days. We got a lot of "how much farther" and "where are we camping" but they never guessed Disney. it was pretty awesome.

 

[Laura22]

Wow that is so awesome. I would have died if my parents ever surprised me that way!! They always tried to keep our big vacations a surprise but I'd nag them till they told me what was up LOL.

 

[laurabelle]

she's going anyway!

DD9 came home with her favorite disney character minnie from the new promotional McDonald's happy meal. I thought she'd be excited because she didn't even know of this promotion until she was at the restaurant. Well, she was bummed because she didn't get the free trip.

What she doesn't know is that we leave next week on a surprise trip! I was rolling inside!

I love it! You need to come here! http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=894087&highlight=surprise

 

[ButterflyJen]

Oh, I love it! She will be so thrilled!

 

[bedgraynexl]

My DS5 is determined to win that trip from McDs. Everytime we drive past one he is "Daddy, can we get a happy meal so we can go back to Magic Kingdon?" Now he has my DD3 doing it to. Kids are so funny. He also knew when I was entering for the HP or Insider sweeps. Kids and adults can get so fixated. At this point our next paid trip will be either Spring or Christmas 06, unless I get lucky and win one before that.

 

[Priorityonecb]

We've done "Surprise! We are leaving tomorrow!" type of a trip and one of our dd's did not handle it very well. She really enjoyed the trip, and still talks about it to this day...but she just needs time to absorb! We are surprising our girls with a land/sea vacation for Christmas...but they will have nine months to anticipate/plan etc before we leave. We typically plan our trips a year or so in advance, so they are used to this and don't mind the wait. We've been to DL many times, this is their first trip to WDW and their first cruise.

 

[Belle2667]

We surprised our 2 younger sons with a Nov WDW trip.

Since we usually drive to Florida, we like to leave at 3:30 AM. We just woke them up at 3:00 and gave them new Mickey shirts and told them to get dressed. The looks were priceless. Packing for them wasn't too hard since it was cold here in PA and I packed mostly shorts. I felt a little guilty keeping it from them, but at the same time, I didn't have anyone bugging me with "how much longer?" and "will it ever get here?" type questions.

To this day, they say that was the best vacation, and I think part of them keeps hoping it'll happen again. You never know.....

 

[huskies90]

I felt a little guilty keeping it from them, but at the same time, I didn't have anyone bugging me with "how much longer?" and "will it ever get here?" type questions.

The flip side is getting the kids to help out and be good is so much easier when they know there is a trip planned.

 

[huskies90]

My husband and I still can't believe that they fell for it.

Every time I see these I can't help thinking of this "Deep Thought" by Jack Handey. It always cracks me up:

One thing kids like is to be tricked. For instance, I was going to take my little nephew to DisneyLand, but instead I drove him to an old burned-out warehouse. "Oh, no," I said, "DisneyLand burned down." He cried and cried, but I think that deep down he thought it was a pretty good joke. I started to drive over to the real DisneyLand, but it was getting pretty late.

 

[cindy21494]

I just have to share this picture of DD when we surprised her last year for her birthday:

She had just gotten home from school, and we gave her a stuffed Stitch holding an envelope with disney dollars and a Disney For Kids book. At first she was a little confused, but then she realized what it meant, and that is when I took this picture. I have to say that it was the best vacation we had taken so far. I hope to plan another surprise in the future. Maybe a Christmas trip to WDW.