How should we tell her the surprise??

[disneydreamer1970]

I am looking for any and all suggestions here. I am taking DD(6) on a surprise Mommy/Daughter trip next month for MVMCP. We will be at Disney for 5 days, and she has no idea!! We are not going to tell her until we get to the airport to watch the planes take off and land which is something that we like to do frequently. I am going to let DH tell her and he thought that he might ask her if she would like to ride on a plane or ask her if she wants to go to the Disney Store and when she says yes, ask her if she wants to go to the store at WDW. I would love to hear any creative ways of telling her!! Get those creative juices flowing and let me know what you think!!

I can't wait to see the expression on her face when she realized what is going on!!!

Trish

 

[Marilynbn]

I did a similar thing for my sons 7th birthday, He turns 25 this Saturday (11/11). We sat him down after picking him up from school and told casually that we were flying down to Disneyland for his birthday. His response was "No way!!". He was sooo excited, first vacation, first trip to DL, first plane ride and first hotel stay.

I had thought of not saying anything and just going to the airport etc. but I wanted him to have the opportunity to bring the things he wanted..,special sleeping things, you know. I didn't want him to be upset because we didn't pack something that he would want to have with him. So just make sure you pack her favorite things and that you know what they are. It is so fun to see their little faces react to this news! Have a great time and fun in planning the surprise. Marilyn

 

[sandybobandy]

I did a similar thing for my sons 7th birthday, He turns 25 this Saturday (11/11). We sat him down after picking him up from school and told casually that we were flying down to Disneyland for his birthday. His response was "No way!!". He was sooo excited, first vacation, first trip to DL, first plane ride and first hotel stay.

I had thought of not saying anything and just going to the airport etc. but I wanted him to have the opportunity to bring the things he wanted..,special sleeping things, you know. I didn't want him to be upset because we didn't pack something that he would want to have with him. So just make sure you pack her favorite things and that you know what they are. It is so fun to see their little faces react to this news! Have a great time and fun in planning the surprise. Marilyn

A 25 year old in 7th grade??? Hope you guys had fun!

 

[a*lil*bit*goofy]

A 25 year old in 7th grade??? Hope you guys had fun!

his 7th birthday, not grade obviously something done 18 years ago.

 

[TheRustyScupper]

1) I have always been of the mind to tell the kids early.
2) Usually 1-2 months early can hold their interest.
3) They can think of the trip and plan their fun for weeks.
4) Sometimes anticipation is far better than a last minute surprise! *

* After all, Heinz Ketchup has made a fortune on the pleasure of Anticipation.

 

[Cheshire Figment]

You should buy the tickets for MVMCP and have them sent to you instead of using will-call. Then get a general purpose Mickey card and mail it to her, marking the envelope "Do Not Open Until (and insert date before you are leaving)". Have someone whose handwriting she would not recognize address the envelope.

Inside the card have written: Dear (name). I hope you and your mommy will come to visit me at my party and signed by Mickey.

The ticket will say on it "Mickeys Very Merry Christmas" and the second line will be "Valid Only December ??, 2006" If she is bright enough, or maybe with some help, she will realize that it is TOMORROW.

Do you think that would be a good surprise?

 

[supersuperwendy]

I saw the cutest video on youtube.com

These parents simply told their sons that they were all going to visit friends of the family. The boys were busing doodling as the parents headed toward the Magic Kingdom. The parents said.....Hey guys...we're at our friends place! The boys looked up and their faces lit up! It was sooooo cute! They oldest one kept saying...oh thank you mommy and daddy! The middle one asked..I thought we were going to a friends house? Dad said...well, isn't Mickey Mouse everyone's friend????

IT WAS SO DARN CUTE!

 

[MissKris721]

A parent when I was working summer camp told me that she took her two DDs out to dinner the night before they were scheduled to leave and presented them with matching princess duffle bags and then told them they were going to WDW. She said the girls got so excited! I thought that was so cute.

 

[disneydreamer1970]

Cheshire, I love that idea, and we have had the tickets shipped here, they should actually arrive any day now!!

Thank you everyone for the suggestions...Let's hear some more!!!

Trish

 

[Cheshire Figment]

I have a 7yo grandniece to whom I have mailed that card already, and she does not yet know of the upcoming trip. I discussed it with her parents and they say it is a great idea. Especially since I bought the tickets and the envelope is postmarked from Orlando.

 

[Teresa Pitman]

We are going in less than four weeks (hurray) and plan to tell the grandchildren (ages 4 and nearly 2) that morning. We decided to do it this way because the 4-year-old gets over-excited about things and would probably not sleep, get sick to his stomach, etc. My daughter-in-law bought some items at the Disney store, and the plan is that morning she'll serve them breakfast on Mickey Mouse plates and then tell them we are going to see Mickey Mouse. (We went last year and the kids loved it, and the 4-year-old has talked endlessly about how much he wants to go back so I know they will be thrilled.)

Teresa

 

[Frantasmic]

Here's a link to my daughter's reaction last year. We had shirts made and gave them to her and her brother at school during lunch, telling them we were going to DisneyWorld after we picked them up from school that day.

http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2003-4/164203/IMG_0013.jpg

 

[a*lil*bit*goofy]

what a GREAT thread! i love all the ideas!

when we leave the kids will know a week before. my son like a previous poster would get all worked up if he knew when in advance. I have been prepping him however, and know that he will be excited hwen he finds out! can't wait to tell them officially! exactly two weeks from this evening they will find out. :O)

 

[tinkersmama]

I like the idea of having an invitation sent to him from his fave disney character. Like a birthday invitation, only one for MVMCP. OR, if your airport has any advertisments about Disney, walk over to it and ask your son how nice it would be to go there. Have him start talking about it, and just go, OK then, let's go right now!

 

[Lizzybee]

I surprised my kids summer 2005. They were ages 11 and 7. I woke them up at 4:30 in the morning because I had told them I was taking time off work and we were going to Chicago early in the morning (all factual, although it made them think we were going to the aquarium and Sears Tower or something). When they woke up, I had a game for them to play. The first clue was a picture of a cow with the words "question word that rhymes with...". It spelled out "How would you like to go to the Happiest Place on Earth?" and then I had a sign that said TODAY with a Mickey sticker. They were so shocked. They couldn't believe I planned the whole trip, even packed for them, right under their noses and they had no clue. It was alot of fun but I got so excited and keyed up about going to Disney and I couldn't say anything. I physically gagged trying not to sing It's a Small World.

 

[MomofCKJ]

Our December trip is a suprise too, first time for our kids and they have no idea. We are letting them open one gift on 12/14. We'll say it is an early Christmas gift that they will get more use out of if they open it early. Inside each will have their badges that I ordered from Gifts of a Lifetime with their names engraved. I think the oldest (9) will figure it out first. We leave the next day on 12/15.

We decided to wait and do the last minute suprise because:

1. It is their Christmas gift and I didn't want to tell them about it back in Feb.
2. What cooler thing for a kid than to be told you are going to DisneyWorld for the very first time the next morning?
3.My 4y old would have driven me nuts if we told him so far in advance (we booked in Feb).

Allyson

 

[luvmy2sams]

We surprised DD on her 7th birthday last January. She thought we were spending the weekend in DFW for her celebration, and we had promised her a birthday dinner at Rainforest Cafe and a trip to Build A Bear. After our evening celebration, with new stuffed friends in tow, we returned to the hotel to open gifts from family. Her final present was a Build A Bear tee for her new pony. It was embroidered with "Disney World January 7th-17th, 2006". Her reaction was priceless and something that I'll treasure forever.

 

[momtimesone]

my seven yr old loved disney so much but knew mommy doesnt have the money for a return trip so when we where leaving i video taped him pleading with his grandparents to bring him back we showed them the video they thought it was cute. This oct they approch me and say heres the deposit money and please we are treating you two to another round of disney world 8 days 7 nights worth they cant go as moms diasbled and doc says no travel and dad wont leave her. Well i have not told him yet because they bought a talking card and want me to give it to him when we are there he will be 8 yrs old and thinks this summer we are going to winsconsin dells and we need to fly there he has no clue lol im gonna tape his response when he opens that talking card and it will say welcome to disney world your grandparents love you. They have it all planned out and me im just thanking my lucky stars i have great parents who want to send me and my boy back to the greatest park on earth wish me luck in holding out our trip is july 22 2007

 

[spacecat]

Great ideas all around. I am surprising my two boys this December as a xmas gift. We leave the 10th. When they get home from school on the 8th I am going to hand them a big box wrapped in xmas paper. I plan on tell them it is perishable...like milk and and they have to open it now or it will spoil. Inside will be another wrapped box (so they each get to unwrap one box) it will be filled with Disney goodies (DVDs, stuffed animals, pamphets) and games, notepads, ect. for the trip...along with my laptop. I threw together a power point slide show of pics of our resort, the parks and our cruise ship and destinations and some pics from our last trip. The last slide reads..GET READY FOR THE MAGIC...WE LEAVE IN 36 HRS!!!

 

[disneyfand]

My latest idea to suprise our two girls ( 15,12) is to say " since you will be at your dad's this year for xmas we thoght we would do something together as a family. Here are three envelopes, each with a differant suprise. Some ideas were, but may or may not be one of these: a ski trip to Tahoe, A shopping spree at the mall, a really fancy diner out." But in all of the envelopes is a poem I got off the boards that tells them they are going some place "Magical" and tells all about princess and mountains and such. And after they figure it out we'll hand them the sweat shirts I had made for them.
Sound good??
See ya'll there in 21 days!!