Kids still have no clue....

[la79al]

We leave on Friday for Disney World. The plan was to tell the kids about the trip in the middle of May. Things were going on though so we postponed til the next week. Then the next week came and it didn't feel right so it kept getting pushed off and pushed off. Now we are thinking about just picking the kids up, getting in the car and driving to Disney without telling them where we are going.
It's been hilarious around here lately though. We counted the vacation jar money and have just over $100. I told them with that much money we could only afford to camp in the backyard. DSS doesn't quite believe that is what we are going to do but hasn't said too much about it. DSD on the other hand told her mother we are camping in the backyard for vacation (her mom then asked DH to make sure we were actually going out of town). We have picked out our spots for where we are putting our tents. DH has been wanting one of those fire pits for the backyard so DSD and I went and got one today. All I had to say was we have marshmallows at home and she instantly decided the fire pit was for when we vacation in the backyard. We have flashlights in the kitchen because they just didn't get put back in the garage. DSD is positive those are for the camping. Today I even had to secretly unpack her suitcase I packed last week because she really wanted to help pack and just coming in the house to get dressed everyday would be cheating. We went today and picked up pens for autographs and 7 packs of the cheap ponchos from the dollar store. Who knows what she thinks those are for..... I can't wait til next week when we end up at Disney instead of the backyard. Just not sure how we are going to explain the 15 hour car ride to the back yard .......

Oh yeah, I even went so far as when DSD asked if we were really camping in the backyard, I said "no we're really going to Disney World, I was just lying to you" in a really sarcastic voice. In a week, she'll know I really was......

 

[squirrel]

Wow, can't believe you've kept it a surprise! Maybe you could tell them you found a great place to camp but it's far away. It will be fun to see their faces when they figure it out.

 

[NeedaVacation03]

That is awesome. I can not wait to hear how it works out!!
Please come back and tell us how it all worked out when they finally found out! Have a great trip.

 

[HelenePA]

That is awesome! Ours found out from my brother who came to house/dog sit.. he came the night before.. and said "OMG your going to disney tomorrow" I wasn't even the one to tell them! They knew we were going.. but didn't know how "soon" soon way needless to say I was a little let down and the kids were too excited to sleep which made for a horrible flight... I can't wait to hear your story! I hope no one calls your bluff and lets the secret out first!! Tell everyone who knows you'll shoot them if they tell before you do!

 

[buckler]

Apologize to the kids and tell them that you will have to postpone their back yard camping trip. Tell them something suddenly came up and you need to visit an old friend of the family. Afterall, Mickey Mouse is pretty old (he was "born" in Nov. 1928 so he is 78 years old!).

 

[sumrmist]

maybe you could come up with some type of game to play in the car when you head out so they can figure it out on their own...keep the video camera handy..that always makes a graet memory.

 

[TBGOES2DISNEY]

Would you mind sharing why you kept it a secret from your kids and how you kept the planning exciting still? I'm asking b/c when we went, I included the kids in the planning and it was half the fun. The next time we go, we think we will have to keep it a secret to keep the in-laws from inviting themselves along again. I'm disappointed that I won't be able to plan with my kids, but maybe you could tell me ways to keep it fun! Thanks!

 

[TBGOES2DISNEY]

bump

 

[tchrrx]

Would you mind sharing why you kept it a secret from your kids and how you kept the planning exciting still? I'm asking b/c when we went, I included the kids in the planning and it was half the fun. The next time we go, we think we will have to keep it a secret to keep the in-laws from inviting themselves along again. I'm disappointed that I won't be able to plan with my kids, but maybe you could tell me ways to keep it fun! Thanks!

We told DD7 that we were going to WDW, we just didn't tell her when. So, she didn't think it was odd to have suitcases out & packed or anything. (I started packing about a month early.) Then, we went into her room about 3:30 one morning, played "Leaving on a Jet Plane" on her CD player & told her to get up & going. She didn't believe us for a few minutes. But, once the Mickey Mouse Club March started playing on the CD, she was up & dressed in no time. So, she enjoyed the thrill of making plans, but also the thrill of a surprise.

 

[la79al]

Okay, well we kept it secret for mainly one reason. Starting in October we were in the middle of a custody battle. We weren't sure what the custody arrangement was going to end up being for the summer and we weren't sure if we would be able to afford the trip after paying the lawyers. I am a firm believer in not telling the kids that something is going to happen if there is a chance that it won't.
How did I keep the planning exciting? Well let me forewarn you that DSS and DSD have only made one trip to Disney, in 05. We stayed off property, did not do the water parks and ate dinner offsite except for one trip to Chef Mickeys. As a result, the kids do not know a whole lot of options available at Disney. They do however watch every Disney show on TV (food network, travel channel, etc...), have watched several years of planning videos, and read the Birnbaums guide for kids. They account this all to my obsession with Disney (which DSD is picking up ). I listen to all of their "when we go to Disney again we're doing that" and take it into account when planning. We (mostly DSD and I, when DSS is around) also are constantly planning "the next time we go to Disney World". We talk about what rides we will ride while we are riding in the car. We talk about what we will pack when we're shopping. Mostly we just spend a lot of time talking about Disney World in general. I'm hoping that when we get to Disney and they get to do so many of the things they have seen or read about, it will make the trip extra magical for them. Oh, we also have a vacation jar where we put change and we're constantly pointing out that if we get enough money in there, we will be able to do Disney again. It makes the kids want to do extra chores to get money to put in the jar as well as constantly hoping that we'll be heading back to Disney.

 

[TBGOES2DISNEY]

We told DD7 that we were going to WDW, we just didn't tell her when. So, she didn't think it was odd to have suitcases out & packed or anything. (I started packing about a month early.) Then, we went into her room about 3:30 one morning, played "Leaving on a Jet Plane" on her CD player & told her to get up & going. She didn't believe us for a few minutes. But, once the Mickey Mouse Club March started playing on the CD, she was up & dressed in no time. So, she enjoyed the thrill of making plans, but also the thrill of a surprise.

That's so cute. I bet she was so excited!

 

[TBGOES2DISNEY]

Okay, well we kept it secret for mainly one reason. Starting in October we were in the middle of a custody battle. We weren't sure what the custody arrangement was going to end up being for the summer and we weren't sure if we would be able to afford the trip after paying the lawyers. I am a firm believer in not telling the kids that something is going to happen if there is a chance that it won't.
How did I keep the planning exciting? Well let me forewarn you that DSS and DSD have only made one trip to Disney, in 05. We stayed off property, did not do the water parks and ate dinner offsite except for one trip to Chef Mickeys. As a result, the kids do not know a whole lot of options available at Disney. They do however watch every Disney show on TV (food network, travel channel, etc...), have watched several years of planning videos, and read the Birnbaums guide for kids. They account this all to my obsession with Disney (which DSD is picking up ). I listen to all of their "when we go to Disney again we're doing that" and take it into account when planning. We (mostly DSD and I, when DSS is around) also are constantly planning "the next time we go to Disney World". We talk about what rides we will ride while we are riding in the car. We talk about what we will pack when we're shopping. Mostly we just spend a lot of time talking about Disney World in general. I'm hoping that when we get to Disney and they get to do so many of the things they have seen or read about, it will make the trip extra magical for them. Oh, we also have a vacation jar where we put change and we're constantly pointing out that if we get enough money in there, we will be able to do Disney again. It makes the kids want to do extra chores to get money to put in the jar as well as constantly hoping that we'll be heading back to Disney.

Thanks for sharing! I think I can get creative about this too. It's still more than a year away, but my dds and I like to talk about DW a lot too, so I think I could keep it a secret and still include them. It might even be more fun this way!

 

[JohnsonsRUs]

We went in February and didn't tell DD9 until we were at the airport checking our bags. She thought we were going to see Grandma and Grandpa and that their friend, who is a pilot was going to fly us up to see them as a surprise (they live about 2 1/2 hours away). I think she was in shock, well, it was also really early in the morning. It didn't actually even hit her until we got back to our hotel that night after spending the day at Epcot. She was bouncing on the beds saying "I'm at DisneyWorld, I'm at DisneyWorld!!"

We had a really hard time keeping it a secret, but it was soooo worth it!! Have a great time!

 

[ThunderMTexpert]

good luck keeping it secret the whole way there!! "are we there yet?" is gonna come up about.. a million times.. and if you're keeping it a secret til the very last second, make sure to distract when it comes to the billboards that are posted, as you're getting closer!!

 

[pixiewings71]

How fun!! We did something similar last year. We decided to take our girls (6 & 9 at the time) on a surprise trip. We made all the plans and did all the packing and then got up one morning (on a Friday) and started driving to DL. We drove past the sitters' house and they asked why we didn't stop, we told them we decided to take a drive.....a few hours later they asked where we were going, we didn't tell them. We drove right down Harbor past the main gates and they didn't even notice! LOL After we checked into the hotel and they looked out the window and could see the parks they started asking if we could go! LOL

Enjoy your surprise, I know they will love it!

 

[MommySiobhan]

How awesome! That's so much fun!

We are planning an August trip and I am not telling the kiddies either. We are having a couple bumps in the road at this point in time so as long as it all works out, I will be telling them morning of. They are going to be Soo excited.

They've been asking since last summer when will we ever get to go back.