How to surprise 2 12 year old boys??

[Bugdozer]

Hi Everyone,
Looks like we have a new trip planned for the end of May
It will be 2 moms and 2 boys-best friends
Question is what is a unique way to surprise them? They have no idea. We are going in Oct. and my son keeps telling me he wishes we could go this spring. They are huge Disney FANATICS- Rooms have disney maps all over the walls, shelves filled with all Disney stuff, corkboard filled with pins, postcards all over his room and he has even started a scrapbook.
We are wondering if we should not tell them then pick them up from school on the day we leave and go straight to the airport? I don't know if I can keep it in that long-I'll burst
Let me know some great ideas!
Cheryl

 

[HeatherPage]

Hi maybe you could tell him you're looking into a trip for NEXT Spring at least that way if he finds out something (like say the 407 number on your phone bill - not that many 12 year olds are checking out the phone bills) but anyway something along those lines you could play it off like it is for a 2006 trip and then come October you could still pick them up at school as a surprise. Good luck and have fun. I hope I will be able to pull of some surprise trips when my son is older. Right now I have a big mouth but luckily he's only 3 and doesn't quite realize when I say October when exactly that will be.

 

[roxwithears]

If it were my trip, I don't know whether I could keep it a secret. Sometimes the lead up to the vacation is just as exciting.

Maybe you could let them know just a week before but let them figure it out themselves. You could hold a scavenger hunt with hints and let them solve the puzzle.

 

[dddad]

GOOD LUCK! I have planned to keep it a secret every trip BUT I just have to tell. I think my kids have enjoyed the anticipation almost as much as the trip! Well, maybe not that much...

 

[zdad]

Tell them that you are all going to visit a sick friend in Orlando. You need them for support, and your friend has kids their age and they acan keep him occupied. Then when you arrive in Orlando, take the towncar to your WDW hotel, step out and say "Just kidding. Welcome to a few days of funs at the Mouse !!!"

Just a thought. Enjoy the surprise.

 

[ReggieB]

If you can keep the secret up it will be well worth the pay off. My DS4 thinks we aren't going until October, but we are incredibly lucky to be going (hopefully) twice this year. We haven't told him, I have some Disney postcards that I am sending him every week, the last one says see you soon..the plan is to then tell him that Mickey wants him there by tomorrow!

Perhaps you can send them a Mickey card along those lines..obviously they are a bit older, but something like " I know how much you wanted to go, so get your bags packed we're leaving tomorrow" and watch their faces as they read the card. You could probably pick up a blank Mickey note card, or attach a note to one of those Mickey shaped helium balloons, both our local grocery stores have those.

 

[Poohlovr]

I did a surprise trip for my grandsons 3 yrs ago (they were 6 and 9, at the time).
I never told them a thing. They had always wanted to ride in a limo, so for our trip to the airport, I hired a limo.
Then I told them I had a surprise for them that day. Had them get ready and when the limo showed up, I told them that was their surprise. They were thrilled just by that. (Their mom had put our luggage in her trunk to take to the airport before they awoke, so that was not an issue).
We all piled into the limo and headed off "just to ride around". When we ended up at the airport and they questioned that, I told them we were going to watch the planes for awhile and then go home.
When their mom showed up, with luggage, I told them there was more to the surprise--that we were going to a neighboring state to an amusement park there for a long week-end, so needed the luggage. I explained we could fly a lot faster than drive and have more time to spend there. They got more excited.

But, then---then----when we checked our luggae, they heard the attendant say "I've got you booked through to Orlando." I was crushed. All those months of planning.....Didn't matter though--they started bouncing and jumping and grabbed each other, screaming "We're going to Orlando--we're going to Disney World".

All the way down, the nine yr old was smiling and said "This is the best surprise I've ever had".

To this day, he talks about "the surprise trip" (yep-that's what he calls it) and asks when we are going to do that, again. Even tho' we go once or twice a year, he still wants a surprise trip. Go figure.

I highly recommend the surprise trip.

 

[bigmerle1966]

I think the idea of picking them up from school and going straight to the airport is a great idea. The problem is keeping it a surprise until you go.

My DS, her two DD's, 5yrs and 20mths, a friend and her three DS's, 4, 9 and 11, and I are going to WDW in June and the trip is a surprise for the kids. This will be the first trip for the three boys and their mother. They think we are going to Cape Cod. We are telling them two days before we leave at my DN's 5th birthday party. We have to be very careful with what we say around my friends sons because they have never been and their mother keeps telling them she can't afford it. At times my friend and I have been talking about it in a kind of roundabout way and will look at each other in horror wondering if we were actually saying anything incriminating.

You could always tell them that you are going somewhere else. Somewhere you could fly and tell them you got a really great deal on plane tickets and hotels and thought it would be fun to go there. Maybe New York City or Canada. Play it up by telling them you can't afford to go to Disney twice in one year. Good luck and remember that it will be well worth the wait when you see the looks on their faces when they realize where you are going.