How to suprise kids with trip to Disney

[marycat]

Is there a board or thread somewhere with ideas on how to let your kids know you're going to Disney?

 

[BuzzinDownToDisney]

Subscribing. Trying to get cool ideas myself.

 

[limpy]

We are going in February and we will make it a Christmas surprise. We will do some Disney themed gifts and make the big reveal. It is a cute idea but mainly kills two birds with one stone.

 

[Crl1817]

I once saw a big long old thread on here about surprising the the kids titled something like keeper of the secret. I can't remember which sub forum it was in though.

We are hoping to surprise our kids. This trip will be everyone's Christmas present. So I'm thinking I will wrap some disney related stuff (autograph books, hidden Mickey book, princess dress for dd, tshirt for ds) and have the kids open the packages the night before the trip, saying they are just some early presents. We have neighbors going about a month before us so the kids will almost certainly know what magic bands are so I'm thinking those in a wrapped box will tip them off. I have also seen "this kid is going to disney" shirts on etsy so if you have a kid who can read, that might be a fun way to announce it.

 

[stefplus3]

We're leaving in 22 days and our 9yr old dd still has no idea!!!

 

[wergoin2camouse]

We just did a trip to universal in May... We had three CLUES .1. Dad mowed in lawn "Harry potter". They figured out what it said , but thought maybe a another movie was coming! 2. We had one of those puzzle boxes with a note inside that was a "riddle"... Which was third clue. It said " you never saw all stood yo's". ... They still never figured it out... They are 10 and 12!! We picked them up from school for "dentist" appt.. And oldest son said.."why is dad coming to dentist" . LOL... We stopped
by house to get other car.... all filled with luggage ... Secrets out !

Good luck with your surprise!

Gonna try to figure out pic postings ... Stay tuned!

 

[hivemama]

We are going in feb and don't plan on telling them at all! We will be in Alabama visiting the inlaws for a week and then plan to drive to orlando. Cant wait to see their faces when they see the WDW sign and realize we haven't been driving toward home lol! I expect lots of happy screaming!

 

[disneygrl704]

We're leaving in 22 days and our 9yr old dd still has no idea!!!

We are leaving in 42 days and out 7 yr old dd has no idea either!!

 

[augusta1]

We had the custom park maps made up with all our favorite rides and gave it to them for Valentines Day and that's how they found out.
This year I'm thinking a scavenger hunt every day for a couple days with them finding something something disney related like a t shirt that can be taken on the trip etc and then end with ordering pizza and having it all cut into mickey shape and write in the box we are going to disney!

 

[Windyseddon]

We had mickey and minne come to our house to suprise our two it was amazing they gave them a huge box full of presents, balloons and a note telling them they were going to florida. . Counting the days til we go

 

[liztee123]

Ask them if they could go anywhere in the world, where they could go? Then when they said disney world just say ok, let's go! And go!

 

[cjpred]

Following. We are going for out first ever trip with DD(turning 3 on trip) and DS 4 in September. They have no idea. We are planning to tell them before we leave for the airport. Still trying to come up with some cool ideas. Thanks to the Disney Channels summer advertising they have seen some footage of WDW and declared they want to go there.

 

[hannouz4]

We leave in 33 days and 7 year old DD has no idea!!! My ILs are coming to visit and going with us. They get here a week before we leave and planning on giving her a goodie bag of Disney stuff including Olaf shirt she can wear to meet A&E when they get here. Keeping this a secret is killing me lol

 

[Mrs Lapo]

We are surprising our kids too. And of course our families want to be there when we tell them. My son is turning 2 in October so we have decided to tell them at his bday party. Which will be about 30 days prior to our trip. We wanted to have time to really get them pumped, watch some classic Disney movies, make t shirts & just share the excitement of counting down with them. So here's how I'm telling them:

I am getting a large box. Putting in there some Disney trinkets, ears, & tshirts that I am making. The shirts have the big mickey hands pointing at the person wearing it & says "This girl/boy is going to Disney for the 1st time ever!". Then I found on google instructions how to have confetti pop out of a box upon opening. My son's birthday is Mickey Mouse Clubhouse themed so this box will be wrapped & I will tell them that he needs help opening it & that it's really a gift for all 3 of them. So when they open the box the confetti will pop out, a few Mickey balloons will float out, then there will be a sign that says "surprise your all going to Disney" with everything else previously mentioned underneath it. I absolutely cannot wait!!! Only 56 more days till his party!

 

[brandyshea]

We are surprising our kids this weekend for our trip in September. We're having a scavenger hunt around the house. Every one they find has a word to unscramble. The last clue says to go to the den where I'll have a posterboard where they can unscramble the letters to spell out "WE ARE GOING TO DISNEY!"

I've color-coded the words and have spaces on the poster set out so they will know what order to put them in. They just have to figure out what each word is. I can't wait to see their reaction.

 

[I-4Bound]

I definitely don't want to be a buzzkill to anyone, but please don't be heartbroken if your kids don't react the way you expect them to for a big Disney surprise. We did a surprise trip for our kids, and the first words out of their mouths was, "You mean we have to be in the car for SIX HOURS?"

Of course, they had a terrific time, but I didn't get the reaction I was hoping for! I had unrealistic expectations about their reactions, I guess.

 

[Momloveshockey]

First time we went, Santa brought the tickets. Second time, I made a video of pics from our first trip. At the end there was a slide that said, "well guess what....Do you want to go back?" I videoed his response as he watched the video...priceless to watch his mouth drop open and scream "seriously? we are going?" This trip is going to be a complete surprise. We often go shopping in the US, so for March Break we are going to the States. We will just stay the night in Portland Maine and act like we are taking a shuttle to....Cabella's LOL When we get to the airport, I'm going to say that we changed our mind and will be flying to NY. (which we are....to change planes and go to Orlando.) not sure how long we will get into this charade before he figures it out. He is 9 and pretty smart. Stay tuned....

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[kangamangus]

We told the kids one week before our February vacation. We had Mickey pancakes and on the wall I put up a countdown to disney poster with only 7 days to go....we took video secretly and I still watch it when I want to see pure excitement! The videos on YouTube of kids having epic fail reactions are pretty funny to watch.

 

[mamabellefortwo]

I definitely don't want to be a buzzkill to anyone, but please don't be heartbroken if your kids don't react the way you expect them to for a big Disney surprise. We did a surprise trip for our kids, and the first words out of their mouths was, "You mean we have to be in the car for SIX HOURS?" Of course, they had a terrific time, but I didn't get the reaction I was hoping for! I had unrealistic expectations about their reactions, I guess.

THIS! Last time I went through a lot of trouble- scavenger hunt leading through the house to a magical countdown calendar. Perfectly executed on my part . But you know... Kids are kids... What started fun ended...well... Not at all how I imagined it would (little stinkers!). Fast forward 2 years and we are going back to WDW. This time our mantra in how we tell the kids is "keep it simple". Filling their suitcases with disney themed clothes/magic bands/maps. They'll open them and figure it out pretty quickly. There are a million magical ways to tell them, as seen on YouTube of all these beautiful delighted grateful children. But they get emotional with all the information and can behave abnormally. It's a lot for them to process. Go for it- just don't be disappointed if it's not the reaction you wanted . My all time fave video is of the little girl opening her backpack on her birthday and learning she's going to DL that day- she starts crying histerically and can't stop. It's pretty awesome if you haven't seen it. GOOD LUCK!

 

[msquoted]

We surprised our kids earlier this month and I loved that we did it that way. We have never done a huge vacation like this before and the kids have never been to WDW. About 5 months ago we asked them what they thought about doing a longer vacation and going somewhere warm and by a beach. They were very excited about this - we told them that to get to anywhere close to the beach would require a two-day car trip and they were cool with that. of course DH and I had been planning a WDW vacation for some time but we wanted them mentally prepared for a long trip in the car. Anyway, we made it seem like we hadn't really made up our mind on exactly where we would be going and that we would decide once we left. My oldest son was joking around that maybe we could just throw a dart at a map to decide where to go. I used that as the inspiration on how to surprise them. Using pages from the vacation planning book that Disney sent to us, I made a poster letting them know where we were going. On the other side, I had a map. DH and I told them that we were going to blindfold them and have them put stickers on the map (kind of like pin the tail on the donkey) to help us decide where we would go. Once they took the blindfolds off the surprise was revealed. We still spent a day at the beach (St. Pete) Here is the video in case anyone is interested in watching https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i7Vh7yKendk