How did you tell your kids you were going to Disney?

[Momof3princess]

Hi All,
We are headed to Disney in about 2 weeks ans my little ones 4 and 7 have no idea... Dont ask me how i have kept it a secret this long but I want to tell them prob this weekend so we can do a count down calender and do little things leading up to the big day. I would like to tell them in a magical way and figured these boards would have something great, so pleas help me out to tell them in a way that they will truely remember.

Thanks a bunch
Julie

 

[DisTwix]

Hi All,
We are headed to Disney in about 2 weeks ans my little ones 4 and 7 have no idea... Dont ask me how i have kept it a secret this long but I want to tell them prob this weekend so we can do a count down calender and do little things leading up to the big day. I would like to tell them in a magical way and figured these boards would have something great, so pleas help me out to tell them in a way that they will truely remember.

Thanks a bunch
Julie

Hey there! Well, I have a fun "springing" story... my girlfriend and I planned a spur of the moment trip (one of these things where we landed on $52 round trip airfare and just decided to go - three weeks later) and she took her two youngest (I believe they were 4 & 7 at the time). She decided she wasn't going to tell them until we were at the airport, and it worked brilliantly.

Our flight was really early in the morning, in Cinci (we're in Columbus), and we got on the road down there at about 4am - she told the kids that she was just driving me to the airport - she had packed their bags that night, put them in the car, and covered them with a blanket - I think she even kept the blanket in the car for a while so it wouldn't be such a big deal to suddenly see it there.

They slept in the car on the way down and we were COMPLETELY giddy with telling them (and anxious because we were running late!). We parked in long term, got them all out... hauled out my suitcase, and my pal pulled of the blanket with a flourish and the kids were like - why is all our stuff in the car... and she told them, well - would you like to go to Disney? And they were like RIGHT NOW????? And she said, yeah... right now... wanna? And they FREAKED.

We basically had to skip their celebration and RUN to the shuttle, RUN to the counter, RUN thru security and RUN to the gate (which was literally as far away from the counter as physically possible - at Cinci, we are talking a MILE)... and got the kids on the PACKED plane of angry people that were waiting on US. We had a BLAST at the parks...

So - that's one way it's been done!!!

 

[TiggerD]

We are going next month, 24days away, and our DS and his wife and two DGS are coming along 2 days later. My DDIL is having a card sent to the house for our oldest grandson and it will state that Mickey would like to invite him and his baby brother who is 2 to come along to visit him because Mickey misses him and to hurry and hop on a plane. The mail will arrive the day before they go. My husband and I are going down 2 days earlier and once the grandkids are told they are going, they will also tell them that they are surprising Mimi and Papa and when they arrive, they will come to our room and knock on the door and we have to act surprised to see them.

Have a wonderful trip..

 

[dkbnyc]

my kids have no idea and i dont plan on telling them.
Oldest is currently 4.5yo. They will be 5 and 2 when we go in December. I am doing my best to not tell them until we get to the airport. 5yo will freak out- she has been asking to WDW for her 5th bday which will be 2 weeks later.
I have always told her we cant go- but the more i thought about it- i figured 'why cant we go?'
I am very excited for our first trip

 

[mechteach]

We are surprising our kids with a trip to WDW over Columbus Day weekend. DD's (5.5) birthday is a few days after we get back, so this will be a birthday present for her. I considered waiting until the airport to tell DD and DS (3), but DH can't come on the trip, and he wants to share in the excitement as well.

So, we plan on doing a treasure hunt! DD is very much into following clues and maps right now, so the night before we leave, we are working up a hunt around the house. I haven't decided what the "prize" at the end will be just yet, but it will include a note telling the kids that they are going to WDW. It should be fun.

(I'm still keeping one surprise in my pocket - my mom will be joining us there, and I don't plan on telling the kids until she arrives....)

 

[Sandysbuddy]

We took our kids for the first time this past May and I wrote a book to read to them. It started with the same line as most fairytales: "Once upon a time . . ."

I wrote about a family going on a special trip and the steps of packing, loading, the van, driving, etc. till the family arrived. I included clip art and photos on each page that matched the story line, pictures of Disney and then ended the book with a picture of our family.

Our kids are 7,4, and 3 and watching the looks on their faces when they realized we were the family was priceless. We started our vacation video by taping the "story time" and their reactions. It will be a great keepsake!

Hope you come up with a fun way to share the exciting news!

 

[dkbnyc]

Sandy- thats cute

 

[indiesgirl4ever]

Sorry if this idea stinks, just came up with it. If they have say like a bath time or when they take a bath put a note telling them they're going to disney in a bottle, close it up and attach the soap to it so it will sink do before u run the water put it in and then when its all ready they will have to try to find the soap and then they can find the bottle? I'm sorry if it doesnt make any sense, just thought i would put it out there.. or send an email to yourself writeing a note, pretending its from mickey, inviteing them to disney and have them come over with you to open it? I'm sorry im probably no help what so ver xD

 

[tessiesevin]

DD has no idea we are leaving in 2 weeks!! It's her birthday.
She always wanted attend MNSSHP. I always remind her that Sep 4th is the first MNSSHP of the year. That is the day we leave. I hired a Lemo to drive us to the airport. We will pick her up from school and I will let the Lemo driver hand her the tickets for the evening MNSSHP party!!!

 

[spare+a_pair]

Our boys have no idea that we are going after thanksgiving - and we don't plan on telling them until we pass through the gates!

It will be thier first trip and they think we are going to a wedding I can't wait to see thier faces when they realize where we are!

 

[tnkr mom]

I was SOOOO excited it was very hard to keep it a secret, kids (1 princess, 2 princes) though Dad was going on a work trip. DH had the car packed for the airport after they went to sleep the night before. I set the table with Mickey & characters party plates, cups, light up twir-lly things for the centerpiece (wish I took a picture). Woke kids up at 6am it was still dark here in PA,(they were very confused). They came down and saw the table set, still no clue... so video camera rolling; we announced that we were ALL going Disney for the MVMCP... lets just say not the reaction I was expecting youngest DS worried about our dog and "who is going to water our Christmas tree".... after much convincing I assurred them all would be taken care of. Gave them backpacks to get dressed with Christmas sweatshirts and stuff to occupy them on the plane. They were sooo excited when they all came down and it had finally sunk in (and they were missing some school, which I notified ahead of time) and could not believe I was able to keep it a secret but asked me to never do that again! We had a great time.

Since then we make a paper chain (black, red & yellow, of course) and count down each day - they each pick something/somewhere new every trip- and we still haven't seen it all many trips later!

Let us know what you decide!!)

 

[PixiePoppins]

I LOVE these ideas! Please keep more coming.

We are surprising our kids (DS7, DD10 and DD12) with a Christmas Dec 15-20 trip. We are all Disney nuts and the kids are so anxious to get back. We have told them no trip this year, but that doesn't stop us from talking about what we want to do on our next trip at dinnertime EVERY day. DH and I just decided two weeks ago that the stars had aligned (low airfares and resort deals), and we really should go. I part of me feels guilty not letting them enjoy the anticipation and do the countdown, but I think the surprise will be priceless. The surprise will be from us and Santa. We will be picking the kids up a little early from school and heading straight to the airport. We will tell them somewhere along the way. I'd thought of having a present for each of them in the car with some sort of clue or Mickey hats or pixie dust or something. I'd love any ideas! I really like Sandy's book idea too. And video of the moment is a must!

Thanks for any help!

 

[jrcjr65]

We surprised our children on Easter. My wife bought a Minnie and Mickey balloon and I made cards that said they were going to Disney World. She also purchased shirts and other Disney items that we gave them for our trip.

 

[DisneyStiles]

Our story is actually for DL back a few years ago. As we were leaving Jan 5th - so we decided to make DL the big Christmas gift. DD (then 11) had been waiting to go for so long to go that she had convinced herself that we would never go. So what we did was wrapped up several gifts in a specific order to give them clues as to what was going on (toy car, plane, suitcase, maps etc and finally a Cinderella Castle (AAA gift)). What was hillarious for us was that our DD was so convinced it could not be true she would not guess DL. DS (then 7) was all over it and was jumping up and down and she kept telling him "no that's not it". We had to convince her (tickets etc) - when we did she was so excited.

The only thing I'll say is to know your kids (yours are still young). DD told us never to do that again because she is a planner (like dad) and needs lots of time to get ready. She is now 17 and we are off for our first family trip to WDW next month and they have known for months.

Whatever you decide have a blast with your family.

 

[Schmoodle]

I surprised my kids with a Christmas trip once, I think they were 5 and 6YO at the time. On Christmas morning they had a big stuffed Minnie and Mickey waiting for them with a note asking them to please come to see them at WDW. Gifts were mostly things for the trip (Disney $, t-shirts, etc), and we left on the trip the next day (BTW there is a reason they tell you this is one of the worst weeks to go!).

 

[Missytara]

My DB and DSIL went a few years ago; they drove from NC and didn't tell the kids where they were going. They figured it out when they got to the FL state line. The kids went nuts!!!!

My DSIL said it was the longest part of the ride once the kids figured it out; they were so jittery and jumpy and asking every five minutes if they were there yet.

But it was all worth it!

My DSIL had never been and as soon as they got under the Walt Disney World sign, she burst into tears and couldn't stop crying until they got to the gate at MK....the kids were really upset, but she explained it was uncontrollable "happy" tears.

 

[CindeBella]

Typically, we tell them except for our Christmas trip in 2007. We managed to keep it a secret for almost a year. I have no idea how we did it!
We woke them very early and asked if they wanted to go to Disney. First we woke our daughter, then 4 yrs, she brushed her hair from her eyes and said "yes, yes!!" and ran through the house to wake her brothers, then 9 and 7.
We let them open their gifts before we left. It was 4am and our flight left at 6:30am! We were having lunch on the Board Walk at noon.
My FIL came over to put out the gifts from Santa before we came home but Santa also visited them in Disney. I shipped a 4.5' tree along with ornaments to match the Disney ornaments from the Disney Florist. I ordered them in September and they were delivered the day we arrived ~ beautifully packaged and delivered in our room. I shipped our stockings as well. The room was beautifully decorated.

I reserved Cinderella's Royal Table for breakfast on Christmas morning. I purchased a Deluxe Cinderella dress from the Disney Store (IMO prettier than the ones in the park) and a white cloche since it was chilly in the morning. It was under the tree on Christmas morning from from Cinderella They all had gifts under the tree from their favourite characters. She visited the Bippity Boppity Boutique on Christmas Eve and her hair was still lovely. It was such a wonderful trip! Our kids still talk about it today and tell us how much they enjoyed it It was truly the best vacation we ever had!!

 

[Pixieflip]

Keeping our Disney Cruise trip plans from the kids was the hardest thing ever! We planned for over a year and on Christmas morning they opened their stocking stuff and then a box that was for all of the kids. It was a Mickey with a note inviting them to join him in 13 days for a cruise. They freaked! It's the best video of all! Screaming, hugging, rereading the note, the works. The rest of their gifts were related to the trip. It was awesome.

I am a planner, too, and we all enjoy the countdown chain and the monthly Disney nights to count down the months, too. I just asked my kids this very question today and they all agreed that both ways are fun because any trip to Disney is awesome. What a great answer, huh?!

 

[gn2wdw]

We surprised our girls with a trip over Christmas break a few years ago. They were going to miss the last day of school before Christmas break, so I told them months in advance that I had scheduled a dentist appointment for them that day. I told them since it was a day that they don't do anything at school anyway, we would just take the whole day off school, go to the dentist, then go shopping or something. I wanted them to know they would miss that day so if someone at school said something to them about missing, it would not be a shock to them.

My parents left a few days before us. They were driving. I was able to pack most of our stuff ahead and send with them. They also took our small tree, ornaments and presents with them. They told the girls they were going someplace historical. They "borrowed" our van to go on their "historical" trip in case my mom found a piece of antique furniture she wanted to bring home. My kids are not too interested in going to historical places or antiques, so we knew they would not ask any questions.

The day before we were to leave, DH came home from work and "announced" that he had to go on a trip for work the next day and would need a ride to the airport. This happens a lot, so they did not question him suddenly needing to leave. We knew we would have a little last minute packing that would need to be done and if they came across us packing, they would just thinking it was for dad's trip.

The day of the trip came and we woke early to drop dad off at the airport on our way to "the dentist". I had scheduled one of those Mickey phone calls from the Disney website to call my cell phone when I thought we would almost be at the airport. When the phone rang, I turned on the video camera and told the kids the call was for them. They listened to Mickey tell them that they were going on a trip today. They were confused so we said "We are going on a trip today. Were going to Disney World!" They were in shock and did not believe us. The phone rang again and it was my parents to tell the girls that they were in WDW waiting for them. We reached the airport about 5 minutes later and when they saw their things in the trunk, it started to sink in. I don't think they could totally grasp what had happened until we were at the gate ready to board the plane.

It was so hard to keep the secret for over a year, but it was so worth it! It was so great to see them put all the pieces together. You could see their faces thinking it over, then one of them would say, "That's why Mama and Papa are gone. That's why they took the van. That's why we aren't at school." I would do it again in a heartbeat but they are older now and I'm not sure I could pull it over on them again.

 

[2kids1dog]

Well our kids are a little older but we're surprising our kids for our trip in September. We've kept this secret for 5 months and it's killing me! We're not going to tell them until we wake them up at 4:00 a.m. to go to the airport. We're going to wake them up and have them open a box. If it works properly, they'll open it, and Mickey balloons will float out. There will be presents in there for both of them. Water/misting fans (we've only gone in December and haven't experienced the really hot Florida weather), Disney dollars, pins for trading, t-shirts, and the Hidden Mickey book for DS and a Cinderella pumpkin carriage pearl cage for DD. Somehow I have to manage to pack everything up without them knowing.

I can't wait!