How to surprise someone with a trip to Disney?

[StarWarsMomofGirls!]

Hello Everyone!

We are headed to Disney World in a month. My husband and myself have been planning this trip in secret. Shhhh... If you see my 2 daughters DON'T TELL THEM! After our last trip we asked our oldest daughter if she would want to know about the trip or be surprised. She said surprised. We asked her how much notice she thought she would want and she replied with "The day we leave". So, that is our plan!

Here is our plan as of now. We are booked at Wilderness Lodge from Friday, January 29th through Saturday, February 6th. We fly out around 5:00, so the girls will go to school but we will have to pull them a bit early. But I can't decide how best to reveal the surprise. We have talked about just picking them up and waiting to see how long it takes for them to "figure it out". But I think that will be less dramatic. We talked about telling them once we pick them up, but how? I do want that super excited sequel on video tape but I don't know how to do it. So, I need suggestions and would love to hear everyone's "big reveals" that they may have done. Can't wait to hear them all!

 

[bbjunkie]

We braided three skeins of think yellow yarn, and wove it all through the house for a scavenger hunt game. Along Rapunzel's braid, we clipped small Disney items. At the end of the braid, there was a scrapbook I had made with a poem, the last line of which was, "on our family vacation to Walt Disney World!" It was a great, huge surprise. She had no idea, and we left the next morning. I'll try to post a few pictures...

 

[bbjunkie]

 

[bbjunkie]

Yeah....totally worth it!!

 

[bbjunkie]

And this was the poem in the book if you are interested:

You've come to the end of my hair and you've found,
(There was a paper piecing of Rapunzel on this page)
Treasures and clues....we're vacation-bound.
Your bags are all packed and we're ready to go,
Off to discover new rides, friends, and shows.
We're off to a place where dreams do come true,
A special vacation planned just for you.
So hurry, let's go! You'll be thrilled, whirled, and twirled...
On our family vacation...
To Walt Disney World!

 

[StarWarsMomofGirls!]

And this was the poem in the book if you are interested:

You've come to the end of my hair and you've found,
(There was a paper piecing of Rapunzel on this page)
Treasures and clues....we're vacation-bound.
Your bags are all packed and we're ready to go,
Off to discover new rides, friends, and shows.
We're off to a place where dreams do come true,
A special vacation planned just for you.
So hurry, let's go! You'll be thrilled, whirled, and twirled...
On our family vacation...
To Walt Disney World!

Your daughter's face is priceless! I love it! Thanks for sharing the pictures!

 

[cmorris303]

We had a note on the front door when got home from picking our kids up from school. It was the first clue to a scavenger hunt which eventually led to the last clue which had magic bands and a note saying we were leaving for Disney in the morning. My kids loved the scavenger hunt and were totally shocked to find a Disney vacation at the end. My daughter cried. After all the excitement, they both said they figured there would be some kind of surprise or toy at the end, but never expected it to be Disney in the morning.

 

[rainboots]

I would lie at school to them & say you forgot they had a dentist appt or just say you are pulling them early to play hooky and do something special as a family. (My girls would question me to death if I didn't have a story at pickup! ) I would want dh ready out at the car with the camera & maybe disney balloons/window paint that says Disney world here we come! Or go to a park & have a picnic, then reveal it then. We just did our reveal at Christmas & each girl opened a giant gift bag with a mylar Disney balloon tied to magic bands and autograph books with a tag on the balloon that said 'in 36 days'

@bbjunkie that is adorable!!!

 

[rymahoney]

We are telling our kids as we are going to visit my grandparents. They don't know what city Orlando is so when we land they won't know the difference. We are just going to see how Long it takes for them to figure out. Possibly the line for magical express.

 

[ruthies12]

If you are going to be picking them up from school and telling them in the car, you could do a stuffed animal/doll Disney character on their seats holding a note telling them where they are going.

 

[StarWarsMomofGirls!]

I would lie at school to them & say you forgot they had a dentist appt or just say you are pulling them early to play hooky and do something special as a family. (My girls would question me to death if I didn't have a story at pickup! ) I would want dh ready out at the car with the camera & maybe disney balloons/window paint that says Disney world here we come! Or go to a park & have a picnic, then reveal it then. We just did our reveal at Christmas & each girl opened a giant gift bag with a mylar Disney balloon tied to magic bands and autograph books with a tag on the balloon that said 'in 36 days'

I think this is more on the lines of what I was thinking. A friend of mine (not a crazy Disney fan like us) suggested a bunch of balloons in the car. My sister is going to drop us off at the airport, so I can leave her and my husband at the car to film/photograph as they open the door on the minivan.

We had a note on the front door when got home from picking our kids up from school. It was the first clue to a scavenger hunt which eventually led to the last clue which had magic bands and a note saying we were leaving for Disney in the morning. My kids loved the scavenger hunt and were totally shocked to find a Disney vacation at the end. My daughter cried. After all the excitement, they both said they figured there would be some kind of surprise or toy at the end, but never expected it to be Disney in the morning.

We actually did a scavenger hunt last time, a week before the trip. The girls loved it. We won't have time to do that this year, plus I think they may suspect the end result since we already did that. It was a lot of fun when we did it last time, but it took them awhile to process what the end result was.

 

[StarWarsMomofGirls!]

I was thinking of getting these for the girls with a note like @ruthies12 mentioned. But they aren't Disney themed but I think they are just so cute and useful.

 

[DisneyPiPhi]

If you are going to be picking them up from school and telling them in the car, you could do a stuffed animal/doll Disney character on their seats holding a note telling them where they are going.

I like this idea! When we go in April, we want to surprise our three-year-old. Trouble is, we are leaving at 3:00 AM and don't want to tell her the night before. This means we'll be telling her in the middle of the night when we get in the car. I think I will do something with a stuffed animal. Thanks!

 

[IslandAdventure4]

We just revealed the surprise on Sunday. We have a family trip planned with cousins. My DW took 4 boxes placed a Disney balloon in each one and wrapped them in Christmas paper. Each balloon had a note on the string. 1st box was unwrapped that said "guess where" 2nd balloon "we are" 3rd balloon "Going" 4th Balloon " in 24 days?" It was funny to watch the 4 of them process the notes and balloons as they opened the boxes and the balloons floated to the ceiling. And all at once the mayhem started as they all figured it out and started screaming, and hugging, and jumping up and down "were going to Disney World, were going to Disney World" it was really priceless. We are all traveling together which is going be a blast. Now if we can just get through the new 19 days.....

 

[cmorris303]

A student in the class across from mine went on a surprise trip at the same time as me. His mom picked them up from school and their dad was waiting at the car ready to video. Their van looked completely normal from the outside, but when they slid the door open there was Disney music blasting, Disney balloons, and disney stuffed animals in each of their seats with magic bands on. One of the stuffed animals was holding a sign that said "On our Way to Disney" or something like that. The other teachers and I wanted to follow them out of the school so badly so that we could see their reaction, but that would have been a bit obvious and intrusive!

 

[disnut8]

Our son and daughter-in-law surprised our grandkids at Christmas with their last gift. We were all scheduled to leave for Disney World the next week for a family reunion and the kids didn't know. Their last gift (well, second to last ) was an envelope and my daughter-in-law telling them that we all knew (we were recording this from 800 miles away) that they wanted to be fit (both of them were active in running) so she had signed them up for a marathon (the kids' races at the Disney marathon) and that was their present. Both were excited but then my son said, "look to see where the race is and when it is". They both exploded when they realized what was happening.

So, my suggestion would be to tell the kids you are picking them up early because you want to take them to a special dinner and give them an envelope with the menu of a Disney place. It could be anywhere that you might go that evening. Slow realization and then when it clicks, then give them the stuffed animals and Disney music.

 

[Binxymarie]

We're doing DW as a surprise for my DD's 5th birthday in April. I have been booked since October and it's driving me nuts holding it in lol.

Love the yarn / rapunzel idea!

I bought her a suitcase from TDS and have been filling it will Disney world needed / related items. Saved the giant box from TDS that has the Disney stuff all over it, and plan on filling it with balloons and all her items with a sign that says "You're going to Disney World! " and having her open it at her Birthday party a week before we go...

I haven't been to Disney since 2006, so I am beyond excited!!!

 

[Jfsag123]

We are surprising our kids with a trip this June. They think we will not be returning until June 2017. The first thing DD said when we hit the New Year last night was "now we can start saying we go back to Disney NEXT YEAR!!!" We have planned with them to do a countdown starting in a few months to being one year away from our trip as just a silly sort of way to keep WDW in our lives even when we can't go back for a while. When we get to the last day, which will be the day we leave, we are going to tell the kids we got them small gifts to celebrate officially being one year away. The gifts will actually be the boxes of magic bands for our trip (we have 2 resort reservations, so 2 boxes), and once they open them we will leave immediately.

 

[Maggie'sMom]

I've surprised my DD twice now. The first time was when she was 6. We had to be to the airport relatively early so I woke her up with When You Wish Upon a Star playing and told her to get dressed, we had to get to the airport. The second surprise was just a few weeks ago. This one was closer to your situation. We were going down for a short weekend to see the Osborne lights and go to MVMCP. I picked her up right at the end of school, which was early for her because she usually goes to the after-school program. I had told her that morning that I'd be picking her up early because "we had some Christmas stuff to do." I told her where we were going when we pulled off at the airport exit and she finally demanded to know where we were going.

If I were you, I'd wait until you pick them up from school to tell them. Otherwise, they might be too excited to concentrate at school. Do they have special carry on bags they only use when they fly? You could hand those to them when they get to the car in the school parking lot. Maybe hand them their boarding passes?

 

[Binxymarie]

I wonder if anyone offers a way to have Mickey or another Disney character call and tell them where they are headed??? I know Disney had the enchanted calls, but not sure if that's one of the categories they can call about.

That would be neat too