How have you told your kids?

[mom2mjm]

Hi, we've waited ten months to tell our kids about our WDW trip. I was wondering if anyone had any fun ways that they have told their kids about their trips. We would love to just get them on a plane and then tell them, but that won't work for us. Please, if you have any fun, creative ways to tell the kids, let me know! I want the whole trip to be perfect, beginning with how they find out. Thanks!

 

[ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!]

oh this sounds like fun! whatever you do Im sure theyre going to love it! please let us know what happens

 

[jeminni]

When we took our first disney vacation I sent my kids an invitation. They opened it up and it said " You're Invited" on the front ( bright orange with palm trees and beachballs on it iirc). Inside it said to go on a disney vacation with me from ( date to date) And of course at the end it said Love, Mom.

My son cried when he saw it ...I think he was 9 at the time.
However you tell them they will love it.

 

[jbhaupt]

We have planned a surprise trip for next weekend (4 night short trip) for the kids..I have been telling my DD's that Dad is taking a business trip on that Friday... My plan is to wake them early tell them Dad's car won't start so we have to drive him to the airport...when we get there I was going to put on my Minnie ears and ask them if they want to go to Disney and say we'll we are going...Happy Birthday. I was going to do the limo but thought it would be more exciting this way. Good luck with your plans.

Bonnie

 

[Disney_Kitty]

Well, we have been going to disney for a long time, but recently on our last trip, my mom woke me up (it was my b-day) and I was like, why are you in your p-js? I have to get ready for school..they gave me a card with mickey on the front and inside said, "Get up! We're going to Disney!" I thought she was joking! But I had an awesome time!

*Edit* Sorry I'm just a kid! I just wanted to tell you what my mom did!

 

[Eeyore2003]

Well, I'm really excited about this and did mention it in another thread, but we are surprising my niece and nephew with trips. My 12 y/o nephew to Estes Park Colorado in August with my 20 y/o son. (Son has agree to let his little cousin "tag" along) This will be a total "guys" week in the mountains, poker, whitewater rafting, staying in a mountain cabin etc.

In November we are taking my 8 y/o niece to DisneyWorld. Neither know it yet and their parents and us can hardly wait to tell them. We're going out to dinner with them next week Friday and I'm making invitations for them and just hand them to them. I thought of "You're Invited" on the front and then on the inside for my nephew, "Ultimate Guy Vacation" and for my niece, "Perfectly Princess Vacation". I hope they don't turn me down!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[MrToad]

Hi,

Well, we are doing the same thing kinda...Our kids are a bit younger (DS9, DS7, and DD4) so it's probably easier to hide it. Here is the plan so far...

My wife and I have been referring to this whole trip as a "family reunion". That way we can talk about it in front of the kids without arousing suspicion. Of course, when we first said "family reunion" they were like "What's that?". I told them it was a place where all the family members get together and they get kissed by all their great aunts who haven't seen them in ages. LOL.

Needless to say, they would rather not discuss it now and pretty much ignore us when we talk about it. I've also told them that we are having this reunion on a farm and there will be lots of fun farm chores for them. They are hardly excited.

So anyway....the day we leave my wife and I are going to go wake them up very early, take them downstairs, and we will have an envelope sitting on each of their suitcases. We will have them open the envelopes and will have a Disney luggage tag inside each one. It may dawn on them rather quickly (we are hoping anyway!).

I'm trying to figure out what else we could put in the envelope, but maybe this will be sufficient! We will have the car packed and ready to go to the airport.

The only downside is this will probably spoil Christmas for the rest of their lives.

 

[ccgegg]

I have a fun way to tell our kids......
"You be good and listen to me or we're not taking you to Disneyworld!!!"
It's a real hoot.

Seriously though, whatever you do will be exciting. Our kids are too young to grasp the whole surprise thing.

 

[prncess674]

While I don't think you should put kids through the agony of waiting months for a trip, I do think you should give kids a little advance warning. All family members shoud be involved in the planning. Watching the planning video is always exciting. What if your kids are apprehensive about flying? Have they flown before? What about letting them pack special things for the trip?

 

[darlene9947]

I love surprises!! We leave in 9 days with my 2 grandsons, 3 & 4 years old. Both have received postcards from DISers that have recently been to the World, but neither one has been told that they are going to DisneyWorld. We're going to wake them up early next Friday morning and tell them we're going to take a ride and go get some breakfast!! Of course, we'll stop at the FL welcome center right outside Pensacola so they can see the planes outside and go inside and pick up some Disney brochures and start dropping some hints!!

I can't wait to see their faces when the realize where we're going, especially when we get to MGM. They both love Star Wars. They have the lightsabers and the Darth Vadar masks, which we are taking with us so they can dress up at MGM!!!

My youngest grandson just got back this weekend from visiting Mickey in DisneyLand!! What a lucky little guy!! 2 parks in one month!!

 

[Karmel96]

This trip is dd5's birthday present. On her birthday (end of March), along with a few other gifts, we gave her a large Disney gift bag (this was the last one she opened). Inside were coloring books, mini-activity books, pj's, bathing suit and t-shirt, all with Disney stuff. We asked her if she noticed something about the gifts, and she said "They all have Disney on them". When we asked why she thought we did that, she got this real excited look on her face and said, "Because of Disney World?" We said yes and she just stood there and had the biggest look of surprise on her face and even asked if it was because she was going! It was great!
You could do something similar as a just-because kind of a gift; maybe tie it into a special holiday?
Have fun with it and your trip!

 

[lasmickey]

We surprised our 2 DD's (7 & 4 at the time) last June for the trip we were planning for last September. (We wanted to surprise them, but at the same time wanted them to enjoy some of the fun and anticipation of planning too.)

Anyway, we sent them on a "Treasure Hunt" (videoing the entire process). We started by giving them a "riddle" (not too hard of course). When they figured out the riddle, it led them to the "hiding place" of the next riddle, etc, etc. (There were 10 different ones in all.) Upon figuring out the last clue, it led them to their "treasure", which included a scroll tied with a red ribbon, two gift bags, and a paper chain. They were told to open the scroll first, which was Disney Paper with the following message:

Now that summer is almost here, it's time to start thinking about taking a vacation this year. I've talked to your Mom & Dad, and they both agree that on September 29th, you'll be coming to see ME! I can't wait for you to join me in the Florida sun, to meet me and all my friends and have loads of fun! Love, Mickey Mouse

Needless to say, they were sooooooooo excited! Once they calmed down a bit, they opened their gift bags. Each girl received a small back pack full of stuff like Disney Princess disposable cameras, tickets to MNSSHP, disney dollars, princess sunglasses, autograph books and fat pens, GOH bades, etc.

The final thing was the paper chain. My husband had made it with each link having a Disney Character on it. We explained that each day they could tear off a link, and that however many links remained was the number of days until our vacation. They had a blast counting down with that paper chain, and it certainly cut down on all of the "how much longer till we go?" questions.

Sorry this was so long, but this is such a great memory for me. Thanks for letting me share!

 

[rob'n]

My kiddies (DD10, DS8, DS3) had been begging to go to WDW...we kept saying "next year when the littlest is older." Last October, I picked them up from school for a "dentist appointment" and we stopped at my inlaws on the way...to get a little lunch...my husband showed up and said, "Let's play hookie today and do something fun! I will give you three choices and you get to choose." One choice was the Science Center (which they love) another was movies and putt putt and the final one was going to WDW for 9 days. I videoed the whole thing and still can see their little faces filled with excitement and joy. My 8 year old jumped up and down for 10 minutes straight! After we assured them that this was ok with their teachers(we were heading into a fall break) we loaded into the van and went off to the airport...it was the best vacation ever! They had been so clueless that they didn't see the suitcases I had in the back that were covered by a blanket!

This year they are in on the planning so we are getting to experience it both ways.

Good luck!

 

[TammiMcMan]

We did the treasure hunt for our Disney cruise. The kids had to answer a riddle or solve a puzzle before being directed to the next clue. We have 3 kids and their final clue led them each to a different letter. When they put them all together correctly, it spelled DVD. The cruise planning CD was in the player, so when they switched it on, they were shocked.

More recently, I was able to plan the most amazing surprise. First, you need a little background. We live in Boston and my DD19 goes to school in Pennsylvania. A few times a week, we actually drive by the airport. On this particular day in December, my husband snuck all the suitcases into the car while the kids were at school. When they came home, we told them that before skating (a daily event), we had to stop by Dad's work so that he could check on a few things. We make the drive in, but instead of going left to his work, we turn right into Logan airport. It takes a few minutes before the kids realize where we are, but I still don't come clean. I tell them that we are picking up their sister for winter break. Now they become all excited because they think she is waiting at the airport. We pull up to curbside check-in and the kids are looking all around for their sister. Again, it takes them a few minutes to realize that dad is pulling luggage out of the back of the minivan. I'm still not coming clean and I tell them that we're going to Philadelphia to get their sister and spend a few days sightseeing. The power of suggestion is an amazing thing, because my son is 15 and other DD is 8. You cannot imagine how surprised I was that we got onto the plane and in our seats with my two kids still thinking that they were going to Philadelphia. It wasn't until the stewardess announced that "tonights flight to Orlando would be 3 hours" that my DD8 looked at me in total shock and exclaimed that we were on the wrong plane. This one wasn't going to Philadelphia, it was going to Orlando. DS15 couldn't figure out why his little sister was so upset and I honestly had tears in my eyes that I could have pulled off this much of a surprise. It did get better though, as I had a limo waiting for us at the airport and the biggest surprise was that the following day, their older sister, who even DH thought was still taking finals at school, showed up at the resort.

Normally my family is very involved in planning our Disney trips, but this time around I really wanted to do something special for them. It was definitely worth keeping it a secret for 6 months.

Tammi

 

[pirateofthecarolinas]

My mother and I picked my daughter up from school early last May. Once we were in the car I told her that "We're going to Disney World!" She didn't believe me until I told her to look for her suitcase in the back of the van. I took her picture as I told her and when she saw her suitcase. Those 2 pictures are priceless.

Lori

 

[Mady/Sophiemom]

We are planning on suprising our Kids in December. We just got back, so this is def. a luxury for our family. We had talked about going back, and they said they wanted to go in Nov/Dec, but we told them we couldn't do it this year.

My children have always been involved in the planning as well. They have helped plan our Dec. trip- They just don't know it. We have questioned them up, and down, re: Fav. rest, resort, things they didn't get to do, that they wish they had, etc. We told them we were finishing our passporter pages, so they did not get suspicious. We are going to have to stop talking about it though, or they will.

We haven't decided on our flight info, so not sure how we will pull it off. I like the Dad's car won't start for his business trip idea though. That way the drive to the airport won't be a suprise.

I'm just hoping I can keep a secret.

 

[tmq2766]

OK I can't believe that I totally pulled this off.... This past march I surprised my DD10...... I had my sister take her out in the afternoon for a couple hours so I could pack. When she got home I sent her on a scavenger hunt. I had her start at one spot where she found a mickey sucker and that told her to go to another spot that maybe had a little stuffed Stitch that said "You WILL love me" that continued to send her differend spots with little Disney goodies till she finally got to the last spot where she found an invitation I made that said something like you are invited to accompany me on a magical journey to Walt Disney World" I included where we would stay, the dates, any PS I reserved and of course the fact that I needed and RSVP right away
Let me just say that I video taped the whole thing and it was the best surprise I could have ever pulled off!!!!!! It went exactly the way I planned. I really think that was something that she will NEVER forget!!!!!!!

 

[mom2mjm]

Anyway, we sent them on a "Treasure Hunt" (videoing the entire process). We started by giving them a "riddle" (not too hard of course). When they figured out the riddle, it led them to the "hiding place" of the next riddle, etc, etc. (There were 10 different ones in all.)


lasmickey, Can you remember any of the riddles that you used for this, it sounds wonderful.

 

[PMart]

I love hearing about how everyone has surprised there kiddies. We are leaving June 5th and I haven't told my girls yet (It has been super hard and DH almost slipped the other day LOL) Anyway the day we leave is also my youngest DD's end of the year show, so we will go to that and then after just drive to WDW

PMart

 

[lasmickey]

lasmickey, Can you remember any of the riddles that you used for this, it sounds wonderful.

mom2mjm,
Since my DD's were only 7 & 4 at the time, I tried to keep it pretty easy (especially so the youngest could truely join in). I just did easy little riddles like "Look in the kitchen, it's really quite cold, the light comes on in here when the door is opened I'm told." or "Next head to Abby's room & onto her bed, look under the place where she rests her head." or "On to Holly's room we go, to the place where she keeps all her movies to show."

I know these are probably pretty lame, but the girls had a blast, and we didn't have to stand around all day while they figured out hard clues.