How in the world am I going to keep this to myself?! PTR May '20 turn Feb '21! -Final update 2/7!

[acciobrain]

I've debated for a while on creating a PTR but I'm just going to take the plunge and go for it! I've followed the boards for years but haven't been an active participant but I think that's about to change. Here we go, one PTR coming up!

I'm apprehensive about posting photos of my family so I'll try to make up for that with other photos as the planning goes on. And I also don't want to post specific names in case of anyone reading this over my shoulder or finding this by accident.

Why?

Because this trip will (hopefully? maybe?) be the BIGGEST SURPRISE I have ever pulled off!

Who are we and what's this surprise about? This trip will be me (your host, acciobrain!), my husband, and our son. My husband and I are in our 30s and my son will be turning 5....on this trip! I visited WDW probably 3 or 4 times as a kid. My husband and I visited twice while dating. Then we had a Disneymoon on DCL and at WDW. We also visited one more time before DS showed up. We've gone as a family twice now but had decided that the toddler years just weren't a time that we wanted to deal with the stress of Disney. DH and I had both agreed that around the age of 5 or 6 would be a good time to go back. The magic is still there but hopefully the random meltdowns will be more under control. So back in January 2018, I decided we would go back in May 2020.

Except I haven't told DH. And I don't plan to. Until the day before.





Can I pull this off?! I've kept it a secret for over a year already. Only 454 more days to keep it to myself! I just neeeeed to share this planning with someone else who can appreciate the excitement! I hope it's you! I plan to update with alllllll the details! I think I've had this thing mentally planned out for months on months, including the big reveal which hopefully won't be a flop. If I wind up having to tell DH in advance, it's not going to damper anything but I would love to make this an epic surprise. I'm just so excited!

 

[reyasmommy]

Disney surprises are the best surprises! I've been able to pull off a couple, but it's harder now that the kids are getting older.

Best of luck!

 

[acciobrain]

Alright so I figure I'll start this PTR in chronological order of how the trip will actually happen. So I guess in order to be able to go to WDW, I need to spill the beans!

Keeping this a secret and The Reveal!

Keeping this a secret from DS will be easy peasy. He has seen our Magic Bands from prior trips and know they have something to do with Disney World. I plan to try to make an offhanded remark at some point on how Mickey sends those special bands when he's inviting you to come visit him and that you have to have new ones to be allowed to go. Or something along those lines. Disney on Ice tends to come into town in January so as long as the show has some characters that interest him, I will probably take him to that and try to lead the conversation about how we're not going to Mickey but at least he's coming to us but maybe some day Mickey will send us some bands.

DH will be the tricky one. I've already kept this a secret for almost 14 months and it is sooo hard! I have an "in" with his employer and his boss so I think I will see if I can get into contact with his boss when the 2020 schedule requests are made. I'm hoping that I can kind of convince DH to take some of his vacation time around DS's birthday on the pretense that it's the last bday before he goes to school and so I'd like us to do some things as a family for a few days. Based on DH's work schedule, I *think* I can convince him to take almost all the time we need for this trip. There's a day in there that will be a real challenge to convince him on though, which is why I might need that "in" with his boss. And that's assuming/hoping that the boss will even go along with this.

The only people in my life that know about this currently are the TA we plan to use, my coworkers who have no contact with my family and who also know this is a secret, and 1 friend. That friend unfortunately has to listen to me work out the logistics of all this. She'll also be the one to make sure my kitties are well taken care of while we're gone.


I'm currently debating with myself over 2 options for the reveal:
1. I tell both DH and DS the night before we leave. I'll work from home that day so that I can do laundry and pre-pack. I'll wrap the Magic Band box and hand it to DS to open as an early birthday gift. "Surprise! We leave tomorrow! Yes, DH, I worked all the details out already!"
2. I tell DH a few days ahead. "Surprise! Guess what I did?" I still work from home the day before but don't hand DS the box until the morning we leave. I've read that sometimes littles have a hard time with waiting and that telling them immediately before it happens makes for a better experience for them since they have difficulty with the concept of time.

DH could ruin some of this surprise if he winds up getting a promotion in the next year that has been hinted to him. In that case, I'll still surprise DS and it will still be plenty exciting! And I'm fully prepared for this reveal to be totally underwhelming to DS but I'll just laugh about that later. 447 days until the reveal!

 

[reyasmommy]

I think I have surprised my kids with Disney about 6 or 7 times. Our latest surprise was in July. We told the kids for months that we were going to Omaha, that way they didn't question why I was packing bags and why we were going to the airport on the day we left. It wasn't until we sat down at our departing gate that we pulled out the magic bands and told them where we were going. Can you possibly tell your DS that you're going somewhere boring and then surprise him like we did?

One year we told our DD that we were going to pick her up early from school to go to the dentist. She was freaking out when we picked her up ((She hates the dentist)) and once she got in the car we told her we were leaving for Disney. That one was the hardest to pull off.

This year they know we're going to Disney, that way I can talk about it as much as I want and they won't be suspicious when I'm packing a couple weeks ahead of time or buying Disney related items. However, they think we're leaving two weeks later than we actually are. I even have a countdown on my daughters phone saying that.

We'll tell them about an hour before we're ready to pack up the car and leave. I haven't figured out exactly how I'm going to tell them yet.

Good luck!

 

[acciobrain]

One year we told our DD that we were going to pick her up early from school to go to the dentist. She was freaking out when we picked her up ((She hates the dentist)) and once she got in the car we told her we were leaving for Disney. That one was the hardest to pull off.

This is funny to me because DS LOVES the dentist. DS is pretty good about surprises so I think we could probably put the bags in the car and start driving to the airport without him figuring it out. Flights out of our airport to Orlando tend to be pretty early and based on our distance from the airport and the recommended arrival time, I think we will probably be leaving the house around 4 or 5am. We could even put the bags in the car before waking DS up so he wouldn't even know!

 

[crazylady]

Sounds fun! No way I could keep a secret from DH that long. I did surprise him with a trip one time to Las Vegas but I planned the trip only about a month before we left so that made it easier. For that surprise I made a puzzle that was a collage of different Las Vegas stuff and I staggered which puzzle pieces I have him I didn't give him any spoiler alerts to early in my game.

We surprised the kids with a trip to Disney one year for Christmas. The 5 yo had never been before and his response was "No thanks, I want to stay home". Oops!

 

[acciobrain]

I'm hoping to update once a week because it gives me something small to look forward to each week and then I can organize my thoughts on how to do this thing! Here comes another update!

Add-on Surprises!

I've toyed with the idea of adding on a couple additional surprises for during the trip.

First, I had considered getting DS a birthday cake for his actual birthday dinner. I think I might pass on this though because I'll mark the ADR for his birthday. I assume we'll be eating so much dessert on this trip that we won't really miss having a birthday cake. We'll probably sing to him in the room when we wake up. Maybe I'll set up a video conference call with our family so that he can have everyone sing to him.

I had also considered ordering something special to be left in the room for him from the Disney Florist. However, this might not have a lot of value for DS. I think it might be better to let him pick out his own Mickey balloon as we're leaving a park and keeping that in the room. I'm open to all suggestions here. Just being in WDW will probably be more than special enough.

The last add-on surprise is something that I will need to give some long thought to. I have a verrrrry small family. 2 family members traditionally travel to Florida on the day of DS's birthday or the following day as they own a timeshare and therefore need to travel on specific dates. They usually make it a point to stop at WDW for a night or two before driving to their timeshare. I'm considering letting 1 of them in on the secret and having them join us for dinner on our first night. It would be a surprise for everyone involved but me and that 1 family member. I have a few misgivings though. First, that means that there is 1 member of my family that will be completely left out of this as they won't be in FL at the same time. I think this could understandably cause some huge jealousy issues. So then we would have to make this essentially a secret dinner. Second, it might be really hard for me to get ADRs for 5 instead of 3 because my plan is Ohana. Third, I might want the whole trip to be just our little 3-person family. Good thing I've got plenty of time to think about it!

Tune in next week for flight and length of trip plans! 441 days until we leave!

 

[acciobrain]

We surprised the kids with a trip to Disney one year for Christmas. The 5 yo had never been before and his response was "No thanks, I want to stay home". Oops!

Aww bummer! This is why I'm going to try to plant little seeds in his mind ahead of time. I figure we'll go to Disney on Ice a few months beforehand. I think I might take him to the Disney Store for his birthday this year. It's about an hour away and not a trip I would ever normally take, but it's all a part of the master plan hahaha. I might also have us watch some parade or attraction videos ahead of time. I've been known to do that in the past so it wouldn't raise any flags in my house.

 

[crazylady]

Aww bummer! This is why I'm going to try to plant little seeds in his mind ahead of time. I figure we'll go to Disney on Ice a few months beforehand. I think I might take him to the Disney Store for his birthday this year. It's about an hour away and not a trip I would ever normally take, but it's all a part of the master plan hahaha. I might also have us watch some parade or attraction videos ahead of time. I've been known to do that in the past so it wouldn't raise any flags in my house.

I thought I'd done that but apparently I didn't do it well enough! He really was fine. We actually had been reading a kid focused Disney guide of all the rides and he was obsessed with it. I think his reaction was more about not wanting to leave all his new Christmas toys. I'm sure your little ones will be excited.

 

[acciobrain]

Flight and length of trip plans

I'm pretty set on our dates I think. We'll be travelling on a Tuesday (the day before DS's birthday) and then returning home the following Monday. This will be our longest family vacation. We tend to do short trips so that we can do more throughout the year. I hope I don't regret such a long trip. Disney vacations are a magical blast but can be exhausting! Here's the plan:

Tuesday: fly out. We'll have several airlines available to us so I'll likely take whoever can get us to MCO before noon.
Wednesday: DS's birthday. MK this day
Thursday: Park TBD
Friday: Park TBD
Saturday: Park TBD
Sunday: Park TBD
Monday: Travel day. We'll likely hang out at the resort until DME takes us back to MCO. I'll choose an afternoon flight if I can get my hands on one. I refuse a connecting flight though so it'll depend on what nonstops are available.

With these plans, we'll be able to visit at least one park twice. We'll pass on water parks and mini-golf.

I'll be using crowd calendars and EMH to review which parks are best set for which dates. We're not rope droppers so I usually try to avoid parks with EMH but it might also depend on which ADR's I can scoop up. Galaxy's Edge might also cause some unexpected shifts so I'll probably wait to set things in stone until right before ADR's open up.

434 days until we travel and only about 4 months before packages open up and I officially book!

 

[aidansmommy]

Dropping in to say hello! We surprised the kids at Christmas a couple of years ago and it was great! As you see in my ticker, we have another little surprise coming up-for my son's 13th birthday! We haven't figured out how to tell them yet but we can't wait! I know for a fact I'd never be able to surprise my husband though-I can't wait to hear more about your trip and how it all plays out!

 

[acciobrain]

Not a trip planning update per se, but something to add about pulling this off!

My SIL was over the other day and told us that she's hoping to plan a first timers trip to WDW for her family for this summer or fall. I'm so happy for them because they've wanted to do this for a while. She said she's probably going to come to me for planning advice which of course I would love to do! We briefly talked about it and then I had to leave the room.

Well DH told me later that they also discussed going on a larger family trip to WDW with them next year. We've toyed with the idea of a larger trip like that for a few years. He said he thinks it would be a good plan because DS will be 5 then and that we've discussed waiting until then because we think it will be a good age. All I could say was "hmm, yeah, we'll see."

Stop trying to sabotage your own surprise, DH!

 

[acciobrain]

Where will we stay

While DH and I agree that AKL feels like "home" to us, we have both agreed over and over since having DS that Art of Animation is the best resort for our family at this age. We like that DS can sleep on the pull-out couch while we have our own room so that we're not also forced to go to bed at 8pm or so. I know that so many families figure it out when everyone is in the same room, but I always book vacations for convenience and would rather push out travel dates to get those conveniences rather than go before I can afford them. More power to those families though; you do what you gotta do to get to Disney and get there fast! With this trip, as I've been planning more than 2 years in advance, AoA is the winner for us, hands down.

While I think that DS might like the theming of the Cars rooms more, I think I will opt for a Nemo Suite. I know that the walk to the Big Blue pool isn't far from the Cars rooms, but I think I'd rather be closer to that and to the main building with food and bus stops. This also means that it will be harder to snag a discount on the room. I'm budgeting based on full rack rate but my hope is that I'll be able to pick something up to help out a little bit. As I'm concerned about availability of rooms with Galaxy's Edge opening this fall, I plan to book once packages become available in the spring. I'll try to rebook if any discounts are released but I don't want to count on it since GE might mean that Disney has no reason to incentivize people to come. Fingers crossed for a discount!

I had hoped to upload a few photos of the lobby and buildings at AoA but I'm not board savvy enough for that, so you'll just have to "think of a wonderful thought."

427 days until we travel! Pushing closer to the 300's!

 

[mdsouth]

I am following along. Like you, I do not go very often. The last trip was in 2014. I expect I will be back in Dec 2019/Jan 2020 since my daughter's high school band will be going to Florida then. They plan to spend a few days at Universal or WDW so I am planning a trip to WDW at the same time.

Anyway, I surprised my kids with a trip when they were younger. We told them about one month ahead of time. I made a scavengar hunt around our home and with each clue there was a little gift (sunglasses, Mickey toys, etc.) The kids had fun running from room to room. I made the clues fairly easy to figure out. Perhaps you could do the same for you DH and son.

I think the hardest thing to keeping the secret from your DH would be the money trail - reserving the room with a credit card, paying for plane tickets, paying it off unless you have separate accounts.

And now your DH might be thinking it would be a good idea to plan an extended family trip with his sister's family, so that might pose a problem for you. But you could still keep it a surprise from your DS.

 

[acciobrain]

I think the hardest thing to keeping the secret from your DH would be the money trail - reserving the room with a credit card, paying for plane tickets, paying it off unless you have separate accounts.

And now your DH might be thinking it would be a good idea to plan an extended family trip with his sister's family, so that might pose a problem for you. But you could still keep it a surprise from your DS.

Hello and welcome! Have fun planning your overdue trip!

Yep, we have separate accounts. Not only that, but I'm stashing everything into an account that I hardly ever use. I've been squirreling it away. Not mention a bonus here, not mention loose cash there. I think that will probably be the easiest part about all of this.

I'm really kind of hoping that my DH and his sister just forget about that part of the conversation. That's not to say I wouldn't love a large family trip. I think it would be loads of fun. This secret trip hinges on so much so I might have to spill the beans to DH early but no matter what, I would really like to make a big reveal for DS right before we go.

 

[acciobrain]

Just a micro update this week!

I'm thrilled that Galaxy's Edge is opening in August! The more time that can pass between its opening and our trip, the better! I'm also hoping that Fast Passes will be active by the time we go so that we can have a fighting chance to try one of the new attractions. We won't wait in any lines over an hour with DS because we know he can't handle it, so without Fast Passes, it's just not going to happen this trip. Fingers crossed!

The other new update is that I've officially stashed away enough to cover the room at rack rate (which will likely increase a little when packages are released) and our park tickets. This puts me in great standing as I've got over a year to set aside for Memory Maker (more to come on that later!), dining plan, and airfare. And then to get back to normal life savings, LOL.

420 days until our trip!

 

[mdsouth]

Just a micro update this week!

The other new update is that I've officially stashed away enough to cover the room at rack rate (which will likely increase a little when packages are released) and our park tickets. This puts me in great standing as I've got over a year to set aside for Memory Maker (more to come on that later!), dining plan, and airfare. And then to get back to normal life savings, LOL.

420 days until our trip!

WOW! Impressed! Good for you! I agree with you in that I will not even try to do the new Star Wars rides if I cannot get a FP for it when I go.

 

[acciobrain]

Another small update today. They can't all be big because I still have so much time left to go.

I realized this past week that we'll be in Disney over Mother's Day! It's not a day that's important to me at all. In fact, I'm kind of jaded towards it. I honestly wouldn't be upset if my husband or son didn't do anything more than tell me a simple "thank you" that day. So I'll skip on the Mother's Day brunches that take place and will probably also stay out of MK that day, too, but maybe I'll look into doing something a little extra special for myself. Maybe some Minnie Ears with the pill box hat. But Mother's Day is extremely important to my own mother, so I will need to make sure that I set a reminder to myself ahead of time to arrange for a flower delivery on the day itself. Something tells me that being in Disney will not be a reasonable excuse for being late to wishing her a good day.

Also this past week, a coworker booked her own Disney Cruise which will take place about 2 weeks before my trip! We're going to excitedly plan together and we've decided to get back on the fitness wagon together! Cheers to not being too physically tired (hopefully) while eating and drinking around the World!

413 days to go and inching closer and closer to being under the 400 day mark!

 

[acciobrain]

Super small one today!

I chatted with a couple TAs this past weekend. I've been in contact with another via email for about the past year or so. I just wanted to keep my options open since I haven't paid anything into this yet. The ones I spoke with said that they never offered any additional discounts beyond what Disney offers to the general public. They also didn't seem very enthusiastic about getting my business so I think I will likely stick with who I've been emailing as she's been extremely prompt in replying to me. So that's a little peace of mind I think.

I'll be due for a big update soon, I think. Want to chat about park tickets next time?

406 days to go!

 

[Eeyore daily]

So exciting! I applaud your efforts in keeping it quiet from your DH. I know I wouldn't be able to do that with mine, I'd want to involve him in everything! Plus I can't really keep a secret.