I need ideas on how to surprise kids with a WDW trip

[SamanthaL]

My girlfriend is planning a surprise trip for herself and her 2 girls. They are leaving 12/28 and it will be their x-mas present. She won't give them the gift until x-mas morning. Any ideas on how to break the news? She needs some creative suggestions. thanks

 

[WDW LifeLong Fan]

We surprised our 2DD two years ago with a trip to the WL for six nights...starting on the 26th of December. Their last present was a huge box with several smaller boxes inside individually wraped with each present getting smaller.

In each box was a travel related present.. travel bag, toiletries, books, cd's, dvds, etc, in each box. Each present also contained a word...

1. We
2. Are
3. Going
4. To
5. Disney World
6. Tomorrow!


We go frequently and alternate our Disney Resort choices between the four of us...this one was not planned ...but it turned out to be a fantastic surprise for them!

Good Luck!

 

[MinnieGi]

How about buying each girl their own Princess luggage case and filling it items for the trip including Disney shirts, autograph book, camera and of course their tickets and see if the girls can guess what going on!

What a great surprise Christmas gift!

 

[jdads2]

Sounds like a lot of fun. I have always been awful at keeping the WDW trips from my kids. What I have been able to do is tell them we're going later than the actual date. This accomplishes a couple of things. First it allows them to get sleep before the big travel day, we're up between 4:30 & 5:00 am. Second I get to wake them with a surprise. For our first trip we woke them up saying "We're going to WDW...now!". Before our second trip we woke them with the theme from the Lion King blaring from the stereo. We'll have to figure something out for this trip. Probably a "Mickey wake up call", like you get at the resorts, coming over the speakers.

 

[Kapp]

are going to tell our girls Friday night and are going to be taking their picture for some reason (use up film, etc.) and than tell them when we snap the photo! We will also give them each the kid's version of the Birnaums guide book and a stuffed animal. We are about to bust with excitement so moved up the "telling". Good luck!

Kapp

 

[horner5]

We're doing a similar thing for our trip in January. We bought a Cinderella doll at Sam's Club (it was with the Christmas gifts) and my husband thought that we should attempt to get a priority seating at the Castle (hoping for breakfast, but will take any) and we're going to make an invitation that says "Dear Kelsey, please come to my Castle on Jan xx at xx:xx am/pm", or something like that. I'll probably get more creative closer to Christmas. I would definitely do a little bag that has an autograph book, pen, disposable camera, disney snacks, perhaps a pin lanyard, etc.

 

[Rhonda]

We surprised our son (which would be way different than a daughter) by waking him up early and telling him we were going to take him to a place to watch the Vikings/Green Bay game! He figured we were going to a restaurant that had TV's, but couldn't figure out how come we were going so early!! The game wasn't until noon!

We got to the airport, and he asked which restaurant we were going to, and we said "The ESPN Club"! He looked really confused for a second, then it dawned on him! LOL!

 

[princessmommy]

We are suprising our kids with a Christmas trip this year. We will arrive December 24th. Santa will send a letter telling them all about their big suprise the day before we leave. I can't wait to see the expressions on their faces....then I'll have to do some fast packing LOL!

 

[Rock'n Robin]

We are going to NC on Dec. 27th and 28th to see SIL's family. I'm already telling DD#1 (11) "it's warm in NC, we have to pack like it's Disney World!" Then we plan on leaving early on the 29th and turning south--they won't even figure it out for a while because we've never driven. I told DD#1 today we would do some touristy things down south after we see SIL.
I don't know honestly if I can do it. I may break down and do the Christmas day thing. But as of now I've booked hotel(Dolphin teacher rate 12/29, Contemp. on DVC points 12/30-1/2) and they have no clue!
Robin M.

 

[bigsis1970]

How much fun this is !!

the first time was for their birthdays in 2001 ( they are about 7 weeks between each birthday ) we did a "together" birthday and all the people coming to the party knew and it was a scavenger hunt at the end of presents - which was mostly disney dollars and cash . I sent them each on a hunt with 3 boxes - the first one was pictures of airplanes and said something like how would you like to fly on a plane .. then box two had pictures of the hotels we would be staying at( HIFS and CB altho it said nothing about Disney ) and said how would you like to stay at these hotels then box 3 was filled with all kinds of Mickey and Minnie ( I have a DD and DS they were turning 8 and 5 ) and said Happy Birthday I love you Lets go to Disney !
It took a few minutes but they got it ( we went for 2 weeks leaving after Turkey day they had to wait about a month )

(we did go in 2002 as well but not a surprise we all planned together )

The second time was just this past June 2003 - we had a wedding to attend in KY so I made arrangements to fly into MCO and Drive to KY then after the wedding drive back to Disney for vacation ( the drive was something but another story ) so they were all excited to go to the wedding - when we checked in to MHT the curbside check in guy said we will make sure all your luggage and car seat get to Orlando safely .. well my DD now 9.5 was like hey Mom why did he say Orlando I thought we were going to the wedding in Ky and she said this about 3 times then I said well maybe after the wedding we are going on vacation !!! and then she was jumping up and down and my DS was like Yea! ( boys are different he was 6.5 )

I am sure you will get lots of fun Idea's -- we did a count down chain before too..

Have fun.. Michelle

 

[caribbeanme]

Rhonda-

Your surprise sounds a lot like the one my parents used on me when I was six years old! I was supposed to be seeing my grandparents off for THEIR trip, only to find out I was going to Disney when I was on the plane. Don't ask me how I thought that I could get on the plane to "see it" and then be able to get back off again. Then again, it worked with my sister when she was six....must be genetic.

 

[skiwinnie]

I would suggest that on Christmas Morning she give them items to pack a suitcase with to go to Disney, including a suitcase if necessary. Depending on their ages hide things throughout their home which would be a kind of scavenger hunt to figure out the answer.
I recently read somewhere about two parents who packed in hiding and didn't tell their children until the morning they were leaving by waking them up and yelling "Your going to Disney World - Wake up and let's go!" What a way to wake up!
You could also play one of the Disney games out there on the market, or give it as a gift to them (like the trivia for kids or Music trivia game). In envelopes put Disney World on a pieces of paper and the winner and runner up of the game open the envelope to read where they are going!

I hope they have a blast!

 

[FloridaCat]

Mail them a Christmas card from "Mickey" inviting them to come down and see him.

 

[jjarman]

I have been trying to think of an idea to surprise my 13 son for our trip next June. I love these ideas and wish I had read them sooner. He already knows we are going in June but he is not sure of the date. I think I will tell him we are going the last week in June when we are really going June 18. Then when I get home that day say, Hey, lets just go on to Disney World now. I wanted to surprise him with an upgrade to a moderate resort (we are at AS Sports for now) but if I don't get a good code that won't be happening.

 

[Erica]

I am here reading these with happy tears in my eyes. Thank you all for sharing!

I too was a surprised child when I was 7 and my brother was 4. I was in school and my teacher came to me in class to say, "Get your things Erica, your parents are coming to get you!" She knew where I was going, but my brother and I didn't find out until we were at the Gate of the Airport!

Mom told me we ended up staying at the 'expensive hotel', the Poly. It was 89$ a night! My parents were always good a surprised, whether it was trips or special presents. Those surprises make up my fondest memories of my childhood. Every visit to WDW I walk through that hotel and recall back to the magic of the first trip. (Even my terror that the Florida sun was melting the head of my Mickey doll that was left in the car....ended up that he just got a bit soft )

I am surprising a much older Kid this time around, but I am enjoying it all just the same! It will be my boyfriend's first visit to WDW. ATM he thinks that we are doing a driving trip in California from San Fran-LA with a few nights at DL.

I have been carefully doctoring Airline and hotel email confirmations. SO many brochures for LA area attractions have been delivered that I feel like a TA now. Deleting cookies and history on this computer is a never ending task! Needless to say, I hope he does not expect a thing. I plan on the ticketing agent at the airport to be the one to break the news to him when they confirm that we are traveling to Florida!

-Erica

 

[BCVNovember]

We are going Nov. 15-22 and my girls, ages 7, 5 and 2, haven't a clue. I'm pretty good at keeping a secret as I've been planning this since February. I thought about waiting until the morning we're leaving but I think it might freak the 7 year old out too much, and I'm also thinking it'll rob the 7 and 5 year olds of the anticipation of the whole thing.

So here is what I'm contemplating doing. My 7yo has a magnetic calendar in her room. It has magnets for all sorts of events, including one that says something like "First day of Vacation". I'm thinking that when I change her calendar on Nov. 1, I'll put the vacation magnet up and see what happens... It might take a day or so for her to notice it is there. Then I have 3 of the Disney Princess cameras from Target. When she finally notices, I'm going to get the girls together and hand each one of them a camera, wrapped of course. After they open them I'll ask them where they think we should go! I'm pretty sure they'll tell me WDW as they've been asking to go at least once a week for the last year and a half! By the way, I wouldn't normally give a 2 yo a camera, but she will be sorely disappointed if she is left out and I figured for $6.99 it was worth it.

I can hardly wait!!

 

[#1EeyoreFan]

I've been away from these boards for a few days and I saw this thread and said "Wow!" We're planning our first ever trip to WDW this Jan. and we're making it DD's Christmas presnt. I was beginning to wonder how I was gonna pull this off, but there are some really great ideas here!

Here's what we did a few years ago for a trip to Hawaii:

My Mom has a timeshare in Hawaii, and invited us to go along. We didn't tell DD. We got to the airport (that was back when non travellers were allowed inside) and sat and waited with Grandma and Grandpa. Her backpack was just full of stuff to pass the time while we waited. Time to board, we all get up, she begins to wonder, we tell her we have "goodbye" tickets, so we can get on the plane to say goodbye. It finally dawned on her when we told her to buckle up. She was so excited!

 

[MaryAunt]

to tell my DNiece and 2 DNephews the evening before we leave by playing hangman....These kids love to play games like this with adults, and my DD came up with this idea....Also have a Disney Monopoly game that they can play afterwards...without me...I think Monopoly is boring...Disney edition or not! MaryAunt

 

[ljfkgf]

In 1999, I gave my son and daughter a Disney trip for Christmas. We were going for 5 days in January. I pre-purchased their park tickets and put them in their stockings. They always open the stocking gifts last, so it was a huge surprise. Hope you all have a great time! Linda

 

[SamanthaL]

Thanks guys. I told my friend I could count on you. I am passing all the ideas on to her.