Help please...how to surprise the kids? (sorry, it's long)

[Princesses3_bythesea]

Would love some ideas on how to surprise the kids with "We're going to Disneyland!"...we're leaving on June 3rd at 11:30am to head to the airport (have a hired suburban coming to give us a ride).

It's going to be me, bf, my dd10, my dd7, bfdd15, bfdd13, and bfdd10 -- all the kids know each other the 10 year olds are best buddies.

So, the eldest 2 kids live out of state, they are flying in on the early morning of June 3rd for their couple month long summer visit w/ bf. He and his youngest are going to pick them up, then come to my house, and we'll have about 45 minutes before our ride shows up...none of the kids know about the trip...his two eldest have never been to Disneyland and his youngest only a couple hours one day about 2 years ago.

Warning here...we are seriously spoiling them on this trip as it's our first combined vacation...even though we've travelled to their state to see them, etc...we've never all gone on a vacation together. We did make up carry on bags for them to take...cool Dickies star backpacks w/ Mickey Mouse dog tags w/ their first name on them. The bags contain, crocs w/ Disney jibbitz, disposable camera, smashed penny collector books, couple DS games (Seaworld and Disney Friends) for the younger three, DSs for the elder two who don't have them, little personal fan that lights up in a pattern, and these cool card holders w/ a lanyard strap -- card holders have their 5-day hoppers, $100 Disneyland GC, $25 SeaWorld GC, $30 Build A Bear GC, $35 Libby Lu GC for younger 3, and $40 Sephora GC for elder 2.

I also got tiaras for them all...they are the same as the basic ones they sell in the park that aren't princess-specific. Plastic, one color, sparkly. I do have a Disney Character call scheduled, but don't necessarily need to use that (it was a freebie) for the surprise. We thought about sitting them down and giving them a speech about summer rules with us and then giving them the little card holders full of goodies and saying it's a carry along reminder of what we expect them to do this summer. lol OR we could just hand out the tiaras and surprise them when the ride shows up...what do you guys think? We'll have the younger kids all packed and ready to go and bf is just going to tell the elder 2 their luggage is lost since it's transfering to our flight to John Wayne.

Any ideas tho? Have you surprised your kids with a trip? How did you tell them?

 

[Avery's mom]

We surprised our daughter, then 3, for her 1st trip to WDW. She didn't know until we were about to touch down in Orlando! We just told her that we were going on a trip, but didn't tell her where. She was wearing a t-shirt that I'd made with her pic on the front making a "Shhhhh" face with her fingers to her lips. Then on the back of the shirt, it said, "I'm going to Disney World today, but don't tell me yet, because it's a SURPRISE!" She got all kinds of laughs at the airport when people read her shirt. She couldn't read at the time, so she had no clue!

When we were about to touch down in MCO, I got out my binder which had all our arrangements. On the cover (I slid in a flyer into the clear cover) I made a cover that had a huge picture of the castle and underneath it read, "The Danielsen Family's 1st Visit to Walt Disney World." My DD asked, "Mommy, why does that have a picture of Disneyland on it?" I told her that it was actually Walt Disney World and we were going to be there in about an hour! Coming from California, through a flight change in Houston and an all day adventure, she had no clue! She was jumping up and down in her seat on the plane. I was crying because she was just soooooo excited. Then she started in with questions like, where the hotel was, how long we were staying, where were we going first, etc....and I had the binder with ALL that info and more. (I even had color coded flash cards with ADRs and tips from TGM). It was a perfect way to surprise her!

Now, I know that this won't work for your kids that can read, but I would still recommend that you wait as long as possible to tell them. it will make all the difference. Perhaps you could ask a flight attendant to make an announcement on the plane, then when they know, give them their backpacks. Or wait until you even get on the ground and have your driver make an announcement.

I'm sure people on here will have lots of other helpful suggestions.

Good luck!

 

[davidsprincess]

Would love some ideas on how to surprise the kids with "We're going to Disneyland!"...we're leaving on June 3rd at 11:30am to head to the airport (have a hired suburban coming to give us a ride).

It's going to be me, bf, my dd10, my dd7, bfdd15, bfdd13, and bfdd10 -- all the kids know each other the 10 year olds are best buddies.

So, the eldest 2 kids live out of state, they are flying in on the early morning of June 3rd for their couple month long summer visit w/ bf. He and his youngest are going to pick them up, then come to my house, and we'll have about 45 minutes before our ride shows up...none of the kids know about the trip...his two eldest have never been to Disneyland and his youngest only a couple hours one day about 2 years ago.

Warning here...we are seriously spoiling them on this trip as it's our first combined vacation...even though we've travelled to their state to see them, etc...we've never all gone on a vacation together. We did make up carry on bags for them to take...cool Dickies star backpacks w/ Mickey Mouse dog tags w/ their first name on them. The bags contain, crocs w/ Disney jibbitz, disposable camera, smashed penny collector books, couple DS games (Seaworld and Disney Friends) for the younger three, DSs for the elder two who don't have them, little personal fan that lights up in a pattern, and these cool card holders w/ a lanyard strap -- card holders have their 5-day hoppers, $100 Disneyland GC, $25 SeaWorld GC, $30 Build A Bear GC, $35 Libby Lu GC for younger 3, and $40 Sephora GC for elder 2.

I also got tiaras for them all...they are the same as the basic ones they sell in the park that aren't princess-specific. Plastic, one color, sparkly. I do have a Disney Character call scheduled, but don't necessarily need to use that (it was a freebie) for the surprise. We thought about sitting them down and giving them a speech about summer rules with us and then giving them the little card holders full of goodies and saying it's a carry along reminder of what we expect them to do this summer. lol OR we could just hand out the tiaras and surprise them when the ride shows up...what do you guys think? We'll have the younger kids all packed and ready to go and bf is just going to tell the elder 2 their luggage is lost since it's transfering to our flight to John Wayne.

Any ideas tho? Have you surprised your kids with a trip? How did you tell them?

You brought tears to my eyes! You and DBF are such awsome parents to not just your own biological kids, but to each others as well! Have a fun trip!
I personally would just give them their tiaras and say ,"Here, you will need this for where we are going." and then not say anything till you get on the plane and give them their bags. Let them look in the bags and figure out for themselves where they are going. I am so excited for you! Have fun!

 

[avalon451]

Wow, you've got some great treats planned! How fabulous! You are going to have SUCH a good time!

There was a thread about this very thing a month or so ago. Lots of great stories! Here it is: http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1782847

Have fun and let us know how you did it!

 

[Grumpy'sWife4Ever]

I love your story!! All the time, prep, and detail you have put into it will make it a VERY magical vacation for all of you!!

I am a smart alleck, so I would probably casually ask where they all want to eat for dinner, that kind of thing. Then, after they have kicked around a few ideas, I would say "Oh, I have an idea. Here, put these on." and give them the tiaras. This would hopefully be about the same time the Suburban pulled up so I could say "Oh, look. I think our dinner problems are over. Let's go!" LOL!