How to tell parents about Christmas surprise?

[BrerMom]

We are hoping to take my parents with us to WDW next Christmas. I say hoping because the last time we tried to take them several years ago, they declined.

So far, the ideas we have are:
Watch the WDW Christmas Travel Channel special that DH taped. (Gotta love Samantha Brown!)
We have park-hoppers purchased and wrapped this time.
We wrapped a guide to WDW with lots of pictures.
We have the dates picked out. Since most of the fun of going, for me at least, is the planning, we haven't planned much at all.
We'll be paying for lodging for next year's Christmas present and may throw in a few character meals as birthday presents, etc.

Any ideas on how to get these stay-at-home, been to Disney once when it was just MK and Epcot, cautious people to say yes? Another hurdle is how to get them down there. I really don't want them driving and meeting us in Florida. We'd like to drive to their house and then we all go to the airport together, but they've never been on a commercial flight.

 

[Jenn Lynn]

Play up the trip of a lifetime with the Grandkids angle. How great the memories will be for the kids when they are older. All the video to watch and remember the Grandparents, etc.

 

[FOJMO]

I don't know the particulars about why they declined before, but I'd say it sounds like you're taking a BIG chance with this surprise. I hope, for your sake, they're OK about it. Especially if they're up there in years and, as you said, they've never flown a commercial airline before. A trip like that can be very overwhelming.

I would hate to be put in their position of having to say yes because of all the planning you've already done and they possibly don't really want to go.

But you know them best, so I'm hoping for the best for you. Good luck...

 

[BrerMom]

I think they declined before because:
A) It's a lot of money
B) I made the mistake of only giving them six weeks to think about it.
C) I assumed that it wasn't a fear of flying, it was a fear of going through unknown procedures and not knowing where to be been. Now I'm not so sure, so there's the option of driving even though that wouldn't be my first choice. If we do fly, we're planning on all of us riding together to the airport, etc.
D) They think they'd be tired if they went with us. If we stay on-site, they can go back anytime they want. I want to schedule at least a couple of days out of the week where it's just them by themselves.

They're in their sixties, so young enough to really enjoy something like this. They wouldn't have any trouble walking the parks. Aside from a bus tour they took, they just don't splurge on themselves. They've never even considered staying on-site. On the flip side, they sacrificed so much so they could save and send me to college. I really want to give something back. DH has been so supportive of the idea.

We started plotting this idea several months ago. Since then, MANY of our friends have lost their parents. It's scary. It's only made me more sure that this is a good idea.

It's a calculated big chance. We only bought park hoppers - and as we all know, they don't expire. So worst case scenario, they turn us down again, we'll trade the park hoppers for a normal-priced (much, much, much smaller) present.

 

[disykat]

I would invite them and maybe give them the guide book but not the hoppers. I would give them the opportunity to decline, but let them know how much you want them to go. IMO, if your push too hard, they'll decline. It's sounds like they are hesitant so if they want to go at all, they'll need time to warm up to the idea.

There is a point where, if they don't want to go, it isn't a present for them but for you. Kind of like dh giving me a Nascar trip for my birthday (not that he's ever done that but you get the point!)