Fun ways to tell kids about the trip?

[doughertypks]

Hi everyone -

This is my first post. We'll be staying at the Art of Animation in February 2018. At the time, the kids will be 8 & 5.

What fun ways have you revealed the trip to your kids? Knowing my kids, surprising them on the morning of may not actually go over well. Plus, I want them to get excited/involved in the planning.

We have been keeping loose change in a big jug called 'The Disney Fund', that I thought could be fun to bring to the grocery store/bank to see if we 'saved enough money'.

But wondering what other things you guys have done?

Thanks

 

[buzznina]

First;

For our DDs, we have did a scavenger hunt. Put a box on the porch and pretended it was delivered and when they opened it it had helium balloons that rose up and had a note attached. On Christmas we have put a WDW GC in the bottom of their stockings with a note that said "This is to be used on your trip to WDW on MM/DD/YY". We have did a puzzle by taking a picture (castle, resort, ride etc.) cut it up and had them put it together.

 

[CrankyDad]

My are college age, so now we just tell them...

Guess when you get to drive Mom and Dad to the airport cause we going to Disney!!!

then wave goodbye to them

 

[BigGoof81]

First;

For our DDs, we have did a scavenger hunt. Put a box on the porch and pretended it was delivered and when they opened it it had helium balloons that rose up and had a note attached. On Christmas we have put a WDW GC in the bottom of their stockings with a note that said "This is to be used on your trip to WDW on MM/DD/YY". We have did a puzzle by taking a picture (castle, resort, ride etc.) cut it up and had them put it together.

We are planning on doing something similar with the box and balloons.
My plan was to do it night before we leave, as our DD (4) could get cranky some mornings haha.
I want to have the box ready to go right before bed time.
Just when we put her down upstairs, and she's still awake, leave her door open so she can hear downstairs.
I'm going to find a soundclip of Mickey saying "See ya real soon"
When we're ready, we'll have the box setup inside the front door, ring the bell, pretend to be talking to someone, just so she can hear.
Then blast the sound clip of Mickey saying "see ya real soon" over our Bluetooth speaker.
We'll yell "BYEE MICKEYY!!"
We'll run upstairs and be all excited saying "Mickey was just here!! He left you a present!!"
Inside the box will be Disney balloons, her Little Mermaid suitcase already packed, with a note that says
"Dear 'daughter's name',
We were wondering if you would like to join us tomorrow for a magical adventure in Disneyworld.
If it's ok with Mommy and Daddy, get on a plane tomorrow morning and meet us at Cinderella's Castle!!
See ya real soon!!
Your Pals,
Donald, Daisy, Goofy, Pluto, Minnie & Mickey"

Cheesy I guess...but she'll get no sleep haha

The second surprise will be that we are going with our good friends and our DD adores their kids.
They are her two "bestest friends"
We are taking separate flights, so we're going to surprise her when we get to the hotel with them being a part of our trip.

 

[buzznina]

We are planning on doing something similar with the box and balloons.
My plan was to do it night before we leave, as our DD (4) could get cranky some mornings haha.
I want to have the box ready to go right before bed time.
Just when we put her down upstairs, and she's still awake, leave her door open so she can hear downstairs.
I'm going to find a soundclip of Mickey saying "See ya real soon"
When we're ready, we'll have the box setup inside the front door, ring the bell, pretend to be talking to someone, just so she can hear.
Then blast the sound clip of Mickey saying "see ya real soon" over our Bluetooth speaker.
We'll yell "BYEE MICKEYY!!"
We'll run upstairs and be all excited saying "Mickey was just here!! He left you a present!!"
Inside the box will be Disney balloons, her Little Mermaid suitcase already packed, with a note that says
"Dear 'daughter's name',
We were wondering if you would like to join us tomorrow for a magical adventure in Disneyworld.
If it's ok with Mommy and Daddy, get on a plane tomorrow morning and meet us at Cinderella's Castle!!
See ya real soon!!
Your Pals,
Donald, Daisy, Goofy, Pluto, Minnie & Mickey"

Cheesy I guess...but she'll get no sleep haha

Our DDs probably would have gotten mad at us for not letting them see Mickey

 

[BigGoof81]

Our DDs probably would have gotten mad at us for not letting them see Mickey

We did think of that haha
Figured we'd tell her Mickey had to get back to Disneyworld to see all the other kids in the morning.

 

[minniegirl19]

I would tell them Christmas morning as a Christmas present from mom and dad not Santa that still gives them enough time to be excited and help with planning but not have to wait to long

 

[lindsayjs]

We're doing the big box of balloons as well and some giftbags for them in the box. I'm going to have waiting for them when they get out of school.
Dear kid1, kid2, and kid3,
You've been working so hard at school;
getting good grades and following every rule.
You're growing up so much before our eyes, we wanted to give you a special surprise!
We've waited so long to tell you the news.
So here's a gift with some things that
you're going to use.
*gift bags with trip shirts, snacks and travel activities*
In the morning you'll leaving the house
not to go to school, but to visit a mouse!
By now you've probably guessed but in case you still don't know,
We're flying to Walt Disney World tomorrow!

 

[DisneyFansInNYC]

Our kids are older now and have surprised them many times - scavenger hunts, a letter from Mickey that came in the mail, but the time they loved the best is when we played the game Clue. They love the game Clue so much - so one time I fixed the answer with sheets of paper taped to each category card. So the person was Goofy, the room was the Castle and the weapon was leash. (I know for little kids it sounds gruesome) but our 4 kids were 8 to tweens. My DH and I made it so we never guessed the answer and when one of our DDs guessed - she opened the envelope to reveal the cards - she was confused at first and then there was another sheet at the end that said, "We are going to Disney World!". They screamed for hours. After that we could never say to play Clue again unless we were prepared to go to Disney. Which actually we did use Clue a few times after that.

However you tell them will be great memories - it really is so much fun.

 

[Apopper74]

My older DS11 knows about the trip because it was his decision if we cancelled a cruise which conflicted with his hockey tournament or do Disney. As you can see he was raised Disney right. However, we have managed to keep it a secret from DS5. We have been telling him we are not going back until he is 44 inches and we can do EE together. We go in 2 months and he had me sweating it out there for a bit, but he went through a growth spurt and is there. He still doesn't know he hit the magic number. My plan is to measure him that morning, have his brother slap DS5's Mickey ears on him and hand him his packed suitcase right before we leave for the airport. Hopefully we get the result we want.

 

[mastermind307]

I'm surprising my daughter on Christmas with a t-shirt I made. I'm not sure she'll get it until she looks at the back and sees the date 2018. We were planning to go in 2018, but had some unexpected expenses come up, but we've build our account back up so we'll able to go. I'm just not telling her because I've always wanted to surprise her.

 

[RangerPooh]

In October 2013 we presented our DD with a birthday surprise trip to DLR. She opened a box that had Disney balloons inside as well as a smaller box that had pins for trading. There was also a large invitation that I made for her. I found the wording on line, but made the 'fastpass' myself. Her reaction as well as her siblings was perfect. Good luck with the reveal.

 

[TheRustyScupper]

1) You folks are too cute . . . and too kind.
2) Part of being a parent is the ability to occasionally torture your kids.
3) On our first visit, while the girls were still young:
. . . at a Sunday dinner, the wife and I "casually" mentioned the possibility of a Walt Disney World vacation.
. . . of course the kids' ears perked-up
. . . we said that if everyone behaved and did their chores, MAYBE the family could go
. . . naturally, for about 2-weeks, beds were made and rooms were kept clean
. . . when the enthusiam waned, we brought up the topic, again, at a family dinner
. . . the kids left the table BEFORE desert and cleaned their rooms
. . . after one week, we relented and said we can go
. . . naturally, prior to the trip, if chores were not done, we simply mentioned a possible trip cancellation
4) Ah, the pleasures of being a parent.