How to surprise a 13yo?

[ChisJo]

For the first time ever, we will be getting my step son this summer for 3 weeks - normally, we only get him for 1 or 2 days. He's 13 and lives a fair distance from us. Although finances are a little tighter than normal, we've decided to take him to Universal for about 4 days (gone 5 days total with flights and travel). It was supposed to be a surprise for both my fiance and his son, but because of the financial obligation, I had to tell my fiance.

On a side note, my fiance and I are getting married at the end of the month, and although we have booked a honeymoon for October, this trip will kind of be like a mini honeymoon, but with our step son, which is another reason why we kind of wanted to get away, and since we'll have him, we figured he was the perfect age to appreciate Universal, and hey, we LOVE USO.

Anyways, we want to surprise my step son with this trip. We don't want him to have ANY incling at all about where we are going, what we are doing, etc. I was hoping to play a guessing game of sorts, or give him clues on the way there. Any ideas on how we can do this?

 

[macraven]

well, i have some ideas about the guessing game.


but what if he thinks it is the motherland you are going to instead of the darkside.......



on the serious side, are you going to tell him you are taking a flight to a surprise destination or start the surprise adventure once you land in orlando?

 

[mjohnson96]

One of my friends surprised her 3 kids with a small gift bag where they had to guess where they were going based on the clues in the bag.

Another one did a clue hunt, where she put small clues they found as they were on their way....so the first was a clue that lead to the airport, and then one that was lead to the flight number, etc. I don't know if she did something that lead to the right store in the Orlando Airport or not but since there is a UO , Disney, and Seaworld Store then that would give you some other starts for another clue.

Have lots of fun!

 

[ChisJo]

but what if he thinks it is the motherland you are going to instead of the darkside.......
on the serious side, are you going to tell him you are taking a flight to a surprise destination or start the surprise adventure once you land in orlando?

uhm....we told him that there was no way in h-e-double hockey sticks were we going to the "motherland" in summer - it would be the equivalent to me wanting to have a heart attack, so I hope he wouldn't guess the "motherland".

We are waking him at 2am to go to the airport 2 hours away and hoping he sleeps all the way there. Once at the airport, we have to go through customs, which can take awhile (coming from Canada), so he'll know we are going to the States somewhere. I think even if we said we were going to Orlando, he wouldn't know where we were going based on city alone. I was hoping to give him some clues, but truly, I don't want him to know where we are going until literally the Tiffany town car drives up to the hotel (if this is at all possible). However, I do want to give him some clues...I was thinking something to do with all the characters??? I don't know what to do - I don't have any other kids and since we haven't had him a whole bunch, I want to make this a special trip for him. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated!

 

[donaldduck352]

And A good evening all..

 

[Mikes:)Mom]

I asked my DS14, he said No clues. He said it would to awesome to just drive up and see it. I say...does he have a PSP or DS? You could buy him a spiderman game. or if he has a PSP or a portable dvd player you can get him some universal movies i.e Men in black or spiderman or Hulk to watch on the way. They are clues but he might not even know it. Good luck!

 

[ChisJo]

I asked my DS14, he said No clues. He said it would to awesome to just drive up and see it. I say...does he have a PSP or DS? You could buy him a spiderman game. or if he has a PSP or a portable dvd player you can get him some universal movies i.e Men in black or spiderman or Hulk to watch on the way. They are clues but he might not even know it. Good luck!

Awesome idea! I wouldn't have even thought about that! I think he has a PSP, but we have a portable DVD player that we can bring too. Thanks! I think I'll do this...he would have no idea even with this, but I think playing the Hulk right before riding the Hulk would be awesome!

 

[bopper]

Granted, I have girls, but we have done things like:

Written "We are going to <wherever> for spring break" on one of those small blank puzzles (you can get them at craft stores) and put the different pieces in easter eggs...but you could give clues to find them around the house or something.

If you can, stay at an On-site hotel because nothing is cooler for that age than to be able to go to FOTL!

 

[Metro West]

Awesome idea! I wouldn't have even thought about that! I think he has a PSP, but we have a portable DVD player that we can bring too. Thanks! I think I'll do this...he would have no idea even with this, but I think playing the Hulk right before riding the Hulk would be awesome!

It sounds like it's going to be a lot of fun to surprise him like that.