KOTS! (Keeper of the Secret) - Anyone???

[JoanieS]

We are going to WDW in October, it will be the boys first trip and it's a surprise!

They know we are going when they are in 3rd and 1st grade, but for some reason, they have in their heads that we are going in March '09. I'll let them think it!

We were originally going to wake them at 3am and say "come on, we are going to the airport" - but I'm afraid they won't quite "get it" being woken up.

So, we are going to tell them the night before we leave with a little "treasure hunt". I will make up some rhyming clues (if anyone has any, please share - mine are sooooo cheesey!) and the end result will be a wrapped box with a note inside (thanks to rumblytumbly) that says "Surprise! We are going to Disney World...and we are leaving tomorrow!" along with various Mickey shirts, glow necklaces, giftcards, etc.

I'm sure they will have trouble sleeping, but they do have to be up at 3 am to leave for the airport, so maybe, just maybe they will catch some zzzzz's on the flight (yeah, right, who am I kidding!)

So, anyone else Keeping the Secret right now? How/when are you going to tell???

Joanie

 

[Tribe0701]

KOTS right now!

My DD 11, does not know we are going to disneyland for her birhtday in July, she also doesn't know her aunt, uncle and cousins are meeting us there!

We have been the keeper of the secret many times, never have we been able to keep the secret until we leave. My sis-in-law told her girls in the car on the way to the airport once. We have wrapped up the airline ticket once, we did a puzzle game once. Not sure how we are going to tell her this time.

 

[chcmama]

We have been keeping the secret for about 10 mths and we are telling them next Saturday. We were originally going to tell them on Easter, but because Easter morning is so busy we decided to do it the day before. It will be a hunt of sorts too. I also have a map of the US that they will have to put together and follow the clues to where we are going.
I can't believe I have kept the secret so long.

 

[graceandemmasmom]

We are going in June with DD6 and DD5 . WE are NOT going to tell them until we get there. None of us have gone so it will all be a suprise. We are hoping to just tell them we are going on a plane ride but not tell them were. Doubt if we can keep it a secret since I have been planning since October for it.

 

[JoanieS]

It's so hard, isn't it!!

We booked our trip LAST October! So, we will have to be the KOTS for a whole year!

It's a little easier with the kids knowing we are going....eventually....so, we can talk about it, just not very specifically!

 

[Temair]

If we can scrounge up the money betweeen now and september we will suprise our DD for her 9th birthday. We were going to wait till 2009 but DH decieded he needed a holiday and it was not going to be to visit family. So here's to hoping for good bonuses this year at his work.

 

[my2princessgirls]

Add me to the list! We just decided this week to take a trip in December (the 6th - 14th).

We are going in May, and again next May after a Disney Cruise and they know about both of those. We figured that we should squeak every penny out of Annual Passes that we are getting (one of those Disney math things, LOL)! So we are going to surprise them with a trip to see all of the Christmas decorations and go to MVMCP!

The girls will be 6 and 4 by then and our oldest will be in Kindergarten (half day mornings). I know that we will have to leave town to stay over night at the airport on the 5th. I think that we will probably make a video for them to watch in the mini-van when we pick them up from school/pre-school that day!

 

[skw444]

Include me! We're going in September and we booked the bounceback last September. My girls don't know yet and I'm going to surprise my DD with the trip on her 6th birthday (August 29) and we leave the next morning.

 

[PeabodyJen]

DH and I decided in January that we would take DS8 to WDW in mid-May, and we're totally keeping it a secret. The other part of the surprise that will make it extra special is that DSs best friend is going with us! I've been planning up a storm, which he has noticed, but he thinks I'm planning for a friend and her family (which I've done a couple of times because I'm a totaly Disney nerd...and proud of it!) I haven't decided how we're going to tell him, but I think we are going to wait until the day of the trip, after we pick him up from school, and then just head to the airport without any explanation. I thought it might be fun to have his best friend meet us at the airport, which he totally wouldn't expect, and then surprise him by telling him where we're going. I get giddy just thinking about it!

Don't you all just LOVE surprises?!

 

[29apr00]

This is all so exciting!! We are KOTS for DD (4) but i was so excited about the trip i had to tell someone! So i told DS (2). Figured he wouldn't blab! DD has seen me do lots of planning, ie making shirts and autograph books, getting our travel guides ready, stuff like that. but she's so young she hasn't put it all together yet, or if she has. now she's KOTS!!

We also will have to get up about 3am to leave for the airport, which i assure you, she will NOT enjoy! We hope she will fall asleep again in the car, and won't wake up until we are close to the airport, at which it we will give her this letter, thanks to DONATALIE from the DISign board.

Hopefully that will get her going!

jennifer

 

[bubba]

Me too ! We're planning on telling DS9 and DS5 at the airport 56 days from today and it's just killing me ! This'll be the absolute BIGGEST secret I've ever kept. I think I'm driving the people at work nuts because it's the only place I have to talk abut it, Oh, and here on the DISboards of course !

 

[ThruTheEyesOfMyChild]

Last year I planned our trip to WDW in Jan and was KOTS until 2 weeks prior to getting on the plane...I felt like I was going to burst...I couldn't keep in inside andymore!!! I felt like such a failure for blurting it out to DD, but then we starting packing!!!! I might try KOTS again this year!!!

 

[kloei423]

Count me in! DH and I went in January, which at the time I was convinced that it would be 5 years before we took the kids.... well after our trip I decided I could not wait 5 years and started shopping around... thanks to pin code and 129 round trip airfare from Dulles, we are headed to the world December 10th-15th, it will be me, DH, DS12, DD4 and DS2, and my 2 sisters and future BIL... I am already so excited, I am not sure how I will make it until December, although I already have a plan devised. My DD4 and DS2 won't know enough to ask many questions so I will probably just make up a destination for why we are getting on the plan such as a far away uncle or something but for DS12, we plan to pick him up from school, head to the airport and allude as many questions as we can... once he guesses he will have to keep it a secret until we head to the MK on our first morning... we will arrive at 7pm, so we hope to head to the hotel and everyone will be off to sleep... then hit EMH at MK the first day... I the expression on DD4 face will be priceless. DS12 got to go before DD was born, and thinks we won't go for 5 years so he too should be surprised... I am sure my plan will become more elaborate as the closer we get

 

[Kimberly Hill]

KOTS here too! We're going next month and DD (5) has been before but doesn't think she's going again until she's 7. The plan is to wake her up at 5am for the drive and surprise her but it's KILLING ME to keep this a secret! I'll never snap at the kids for spilling secrets again, LOL!

 

[Manda]

Surprising DS with a trip for his 5th birthday. His birthday is August 11th and we leave on the 9th. Still trying to figure out how we're going to handle the surprise. We're definitely waiting until the morning we leave though!

 

[TexasBee]

KOTS since October 2007, we're going in Nov 2008. Right now I'm planning we'll tell them we're going on an airplane trip but not where (maybe I'll let them think we're going to see Nana & Granddad, which we are - just at Mickey's house) and then give them backpacks full of Disney stuff on the plane.

 

[Fabinva]

It's so hard to keep it a secret!!!
I booked last Aug and have only two more weeks!
Our kids, DS7 and DD5 think the only way to get there is by plane and we are driving for first time there, plan to tell them we are going to grandpa's house, once we get close I think my son will figure out where he is heading to, can't wait!!
They just watched the new vacation planning Disney DVD we got in the mail and their faces were incledible, they were dreaming, mom was whipping her tears just looking at them

 

[ChristaDeVil]

This will be my 7 y.o's first trip, and I think we're going to tell him on the way down there (we're driving!).

 

[mddisneyfamily]

We're taking the family to Disney at the end of April but are keeping it a secret. Unfortunately we have to get "permission" from school at least 2 weeks ahead of time, so there's no way to avoid telling the kids we're going somewhere. We're going to tell them we're going to drive 8 hours to a family reunion and make it sound as boring as possible. On Disney morning we'll instead drive to the airport and when the first kid notices we'll put on the disney travel video, and hand the kids personalized Disney shirts. Can't wait to see their faces when they find out that instead of visiting some long lost realitives, we're going to Disney! At least that's the plan for now, unless someone has a more creative idea we can steal

Lori
DS 10, DD 7, DS 6, DD 2, DH 37

 

[mickey&minniealways]

I know it is great fun and all keeping a secret like this but please keep their personalities in mind. Friends of our did just this thing to thier kids when they were 6and 8. Even when they landed in Orlando the kids did not know where they were going. When they got to the hotel is when the_____ hit the fan. The kids were more then mad. They wouldn't talk to thier mother for three days. Fast forward 2008. Mom wants to go again this year. Kids are 14 and 16. They are still referring to this as thier worst vacation ever. They tend to be very detail oriented. These people tend to be great planners. Someone of this type needs to plan out thier whole trip. They like structure. I myself enjoy this kind of surprise. But some people need to prepair to be in the right frame of mind. Depending on what they are like you might want to tell them at least a week or two in advance. Good luck with your decision.