How did you surprise your kids? Share your story please!

[sweetpea2008]

I would love to get some ideas on how you broke the news of a surprise trip to Disney with your kids. Three weeks from today we'll be telling our twins after they get home from school. They have *no* idea about this trip. They understand that the next Disney trip was to be in three years to WDW with Grandma. We don't want to wait until just before we leave (6 am flight) because Daddy, who isn't going but is sending us with Grandma for Mother's Day, wants to bask in their adoration for a few hours, at least.

Please feel free to share your stories. I have watched some videos on Youtube and it makes me so excited!

 

[disneycrazzzy]

This was Christmas 2005. My sons were 11 and 8. I planned to have one of their teachers sit them down and tell them they were being given a trip to Disneyworld for their good school work. I had created a script of sorts for the teacher and created some certificates. Unfortunately that teacher ended up in the hospital and another teacher had to step in without being coached. It still worked out okay, but wasn't as good a surprise.

In the end though, my 8 year old thought the school had given him the trip for his good school work instead of his parents. He figured if his teacher was telling him it must be from the school. It took us a good week to explain what really happened.

They still laugh because they didn't clue in what having suitcases strewn from one end of my bedroom to the other meant. They truly had no clue what we had planned.

I'm considering another surprise trip to DL in October for Halloween (school has a four day weekend).

 

[pixiewings71]

We surprised the girls twice. First time I packed their bags and we just got in the van and drove to DL. Got to the hotel and checked in and they still had no clue. When we got to our room we finally told them and they were very excited.
Second time I did a treasure hunt, had clues that they followed to the treasure which was our package. That trip we surprised them again at the end when we got AP's. That was the BEST surprise!

 

[NostalgicDad]

Last December we surprised our kids with a DL Christmas time trip and it was so cool to see their reactions. My wife and I had all the luggage loaded when they got home from school. Although we packed all their necessities, we told them to gather some things for being away from home for a while that evening and that we were going out for dinner. As we headed towards the airport (45 minute drive), they actually all fell asleep. They woke up as we were parking at the airport and had the funniest looks on their faces when they saw all the luggage in the back. They saw LAX on their boarding passes but still didn't figure out we were going to DL and we still didn't tell them. At LAX, we had a greeter at baggage with our name on a sign for our stretch limo. That was a HUGE hit but they still hadn't figured it out. Not until my DS14 saw that we were turning onto Disney Way did they figure out where we were headed. Lots of excitement at that point and they were ecstatic!

Before the day arrived I was really having a hard time keeping all this from them. But, after all was said and done, it was really cool and I would definitely do it again. It was such a happy time that none of us will ever forget!

 

[SlayerCommaThe]

We bought out trip through the WDTC so we got a free "Character Call", so we scheduled it during our daughter's 7th birthday party. In the middle of opening presents, the phone rang and we gave it to her and Mickey and Co. told her that they'd be seeing her soon since she was going to Disneyland. It was cool because we had so many friends and family members around, I think it will be pretty unforgettable for her.

 

[Mommy2PrincessAbby]

This thread was started a week or so ago, and has lots of answers...

happy reading!

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1782847