Help for keeping the secret

[Fainfamily5]

Please let me know how you kept the secret for so long. We are surprising our kids with a Thanksgiving trip in 07. My sister has convinced me that it would be great fun surprising the kids, so I am really trying but tonight we were watching POTC Deadman's chest and the kids were saying when can we go back. Half the fun is planning but it is hard when I have to constantly keep minimizing when the kids walk by. Help I need your support. We are going to tell them around three weeks out so they will have some time to plan and get excited!!!!

 

[mama03]

I think it is wonderful that you will be going to Disney during Thanksgiving. The holiday decorations will be up and hopefully it will not be too crowded early in the week. Not to be a downer, but I dont keep surprises anymore since a very close friend of mine passed away this year. He was supposed to be going on a surprise trip that his wife planned and well he never knew. So let your family be excited all year, not just 3 weeks out! Have a wonderful time

 

[Fainfamily5]

I know what you mean because most of the fun is in the planning!! Thanks for the suggestion.

 

[3princesses+aprince]

We are going the last week of June, we just changed the date because dh can't get our first week of may off for the trip, now I got 2 MORE months to wait. We are also surprising the kids, the last week of June is also 2 of my dd's birthdays, so it will be an extra special surprise. I would like to keep the secret til the very end, but don't think I will do that. I love planning and waiting and counting down with the kids. I was thinking about getting the surprise out on my birthday(it will be a great gift for me, i'll finally be able to talk about it) which is 1 month before our trip. But still not decided, don't know how long i can actually wait. My kids got the Magic Kingdom board game for christmas, it's very nice, but while we're playing it, I just want to scream out that we are going to DISNEY. I actually think when we tell them we will be playing that game. Well good luck keeping the secret, I know I'm having a hard time too.

 

[JulianneCP]

I need help too but our trip is in Feb. My husband just earned a trip with work (he has to work the whole time so we are just tagging along) He does not want to tell them until the morning we leave But I like there help planning etc... Plus they have a lot of Christmas money I know they would love to spend in WDW It kills me everytime they buy something I keep saying you should save for a rainy day!!!! I'm also debating weather to do the Princess and Pirate party My son would never dress up but my daughter might like too... GRRR I really do want to see there shocked faces! I have to do this for a month more I could never do it for a year!

 

[LaraK]

First, you join the KOTS (Keeper of the Secret) club here. We all give each other support when we feel ourselves waivering. Second....spend some of your planning time figuring out the perfect reveal. There have been several pictures posted here of the looks on kids' faces as they pull through the arch and realize that they are in Disney.

 

[Fainfamily5]

We just need to keep supporting each other. We surprised the kids a few months ago with a weekend away to Gatlinburg. WE did not tell them until we were picking them up from school. They went nuts and talked about the surprise for weeks after so I know it will be worth it. How do you join KOTS??? It is fun when the kids ask for the millionth time "when can we go back?" you never know!!!!

 

[Doc CW]

My parents did something similar to me w/ X-mas and it was the coolest surprise I've ever gotten. My advice hold out until a week or even the night before the trip before you tell them b/c it just makes it all the more special.

 

[tinker-belle]

I hear you It is SOOOO hard to keep a secret... but in the end so worth it--- it takes just a few seconds to 'blow the secret'... but if you can keep it, your kids will never forget it. We have taken several trips & last year we went in January. I had planned that trip TEN MONTHS in advance & sometimes felt like I had to bite through my tongue or it would 'spill out'. But oh my gosh, was it worth it. That trip is going to leave such a big impression on them & they LOVED being surprised. I asked ds9 how he liked it better- when he knew beforehand, or not until last minute & he said definitley being surprised.
REmember, it's hard for kids to 'wait' when they know disney is coming up. This year we are surprising them again. As it gets closer & closer it's getting harder to keep the secret (15 days to go), but me & dh just keep sneaking looks at each other & I busy myself with touring plans & packing lists & ordering more things for the surprise (pins & lanyard for trading, name badge for the boys)....
It's hard, but very worth it. Good luck!

 

[Bibbidi]

One suggestion is to maybe not keep the trip itself a secret, but keep something about the trip a surprise. For instance, my two dds are 5 and 3 and we are scheduled to go at the end of May. Because they will miss their last day of preschool, I will have to tell them something is up--my 5 yo is too darn clever. Anyway, I made reservations for them at Bibbibi Bobbidi Boutique and that I will keep a surprise--for one, they don't even know it exists, and for two, I don't think I could ever keep the whole vacation a surprise.

 

[Fainfamily5]

I hear you It is SOOOO hard to keep a secret... but in the end so worth it--- it takes just a few seconds to 'blow the secret'... but if you can keep it, your kids will never forget it. We have taken several trips & last year we went in January. I had planned that trip TEN MONTHS in advance & sometimes felt like I had to bite through my tongue or it would 'spill out'. But oh my gosh, was it worth it. That trip is going to leave such a big impression on them & they LOVED being surprised. I asked ds9 how he liked it better- when he knew beforehand, or not until last minute & he said definitley being surprised.
REmember, it's hard for kids to 'wait' when they know disney is coming up. This year we are surprising them again. As it gets closer & closer it's getting harder to keep the secret (15 days to go), but me & dh just keep sneaking looks at each other & I busy myself with touring plans & packing lists & ordering more things for the surprise (pins & lanyard for trading, name badge for the boys)....
It's hard, but very worth it. Good luck!

I do agree with you. IT makes it more fun knowing that they are going to be so surprised. And my 5 year old has no concept of time so if he did know we were going he would think it was tomorrow instead of 10 months away. I am going to keep the secret. My only help is the support of my fellow dis-ers!!! I just want someone to share my excitement with, DH likes going to but doesn't get into the planning like I do. So staying on the boards is definitely helping me. Thanks for the advice!!!

 

[mouseketeer_mom]

First, you join the KOTS (Keeper of the Secret) club here. We all give each other support when we feel ourselves waivering. Second....spend some of your planning time figuring out the perfect reveal. There have been several pictures posted here of the looks on kids' faces as they pull through the arch and realize that they are in Disney.

Ditto this adivce! I promise to share how it goes!

 

[Haworthfamily]

I KNOW WHAT YOU MEAN lol

I blurted it out to my sister who we were visiting for the holidays yesterday and totally forgot my DD was in the room! DOH!
Luckily my DH glared at me quickly and I changed the subject, luckily she didn't hear!
THANK THE LORD!
I'm so excited I can't stop thinking about the trip, especially now as it's 2007 and that means we are going this year.
yeah
Sarah X

 

[Frincy]

We are keeping the trip a secret from our DD4. She knows we are going "some day" but has no idea we are going Jan 31st!
OH MAN has it been hard to keep the secret. Expecially when she was watching the Disney parade on Christmas Day and BEGGING us to take her there.
But I think it will be worth it when we pull up to the airport and say, "We are going to Disneyworld....RIGHT NOW!!"

I have kept myself busy by buying our girls (DD4 and DD1) presents that they will get when we get there. I have a different something to give them every day. (Dolls, tiaras, dress up dresses etc) I have found some unbelievable bargains on toys that would surely cost me a pretty penny at Disney, and so doing that has kept me busy and entertained.

 

[sleepinbootie]

We surprised the kids for Star Wars Weekend last June. It really helped us that we told them they were going to a Star Wars Convention. This way we could talk about it but not really and if we slipped we just said they must have misheard. We drove into the city and they didn't get it. We parked at the airport and they still didn't get it. We said we had to fly there and they still didn't get it. It wasn't until we got to the gate and they saw Orlando that they finally suspected and then finally got it.

Don't know if we will every be able to pull it off again but we got them that time!
Good luck keeping it a secret!!

 

[DreaminDisney]

It is hard! We're surprising our kids with a Dec. '07 trip (we switched it from Thanksgiving week). They will be 10 & 7 when we go. I don't know if I'll be able to keep the secret but I'm going to try and good luck to you too!

 

[ksloane]

Ooh. I need to join this support group. I've already book and will be surprising my DD(then7) with a trip at Christmas. I've already made arrangements and Santa is coming the last day of school with a gift (her tickets wrapped and I'll throw in a few other things). I'll have the trunk packed and we'll leave after school!!!! It seems soooooooooo far away though and it's so hard. We've been watching all the Disney stuff and I had to covertly get her help on picking a hotel...well she looked at me 2 days after Christmas with those endearing puppy eyes and said, "Mommy we didn't go to Disney for Christmas." I almost melted down and told her.

 

[Fainfamily5]

Ditto this adivce! I promise to share how it goes!

Please do, I am getting stronger just by reading these few post. Would love to become a member of this secret club!!!