Leaving today...the Big Reveal

[LCoulter]

Something similar happened when we surprised DD. She came home from school on a Thursday afternoon and we had the car packed so when she got off the bus, we were ready to leave. We said to her, let's go to Disney, NOW....she started jumping up and down screaming with excitement. DH went out to garage but by the time he came back in, she was crying because she realized she would be missing her Valentine's party at school the next day. We felt so bad and since we were driving, we considered holding off until after her party the next day. Glad we didn't hold off because it ended up being a snow day anyway, so no party....lol

She was fine once it sank in again that we were going to Disney and she realized that would be more fun than the party.

Have a great trip!

 

[cleopenn]

Lolllllll!! Too funny about your husband cleopenn!!!

DS was super excited about the matching t-shirts, which further added to my DH's dismay. He, however, will wear the shirt and ears to make our son happy.

I struggle with this. I would have thought a surprise Disney trip was the best thing in the world at pretty much any time in my life... but my kids aren't me. Neither one copes well with surprises or plan changes and what would be a delight for me is a burden for them.

I am sorry your surprise didn't turn out like you imagined it would. That's disappointing, I know. I hope she shakes it off and your trip will be marvelous.

This reminds me of my wedding and baby showers. I told my mother, maid of honor and the bridesmaids straight out, if anyone springs a surprise shower on me, I will turn around and walk out. I made sure they knew I was serious. Maid of honor was 100% on my side and she REALLY butted heads with one of the bridesmaids who insisted on a surprise. When she got married, same thing. She wanted to know ahead of time. She wanted to buy a new dress and to look forward to it. I told her the date and 25 years later, I still think one of our friends holds a grudge about it.

 

[BebopBaloo]

It'll be alright. Just keep your upbeat excitement and eventually it will rub off, as others have mentioned. I'm sure that's tough, but it'll be better tomorrow, I bet. Any chance her friend that the play date was with could talk on the phone with your daughter while riding on the way there? Maybe that would help too..depending on the friend?

 

[Lumiere Lover]

Have a great trip they will appreciate it in the end

 

[mi*vida*loca]

I surprised my kids the morning of when they were 11 and 5. They were so excited.

Now that they are a bit older and have social lives and sports I told them about 3 months before. They were thrilled. It also allowed us to talk about the trip, change some ADR's, go over the resort, talk about our FP+ selections.

 

[Canuck16]

Once you get there it will be totally different.

Once she gets here first glimpse of WDW she will light up!!

Have a great trip!!

 

[Ellen]

So this trip is a surprise for our DD. We set out all kinds of Disney stuff on our island, had Mickey pancakes for breakfast, Magic Bands, autograph book, pins, the whole 9 yards. So we are all excited for her to wake up and the big reveal. She comes shuffling out and we hear her rummaging around and she walks into our room all teary and says "Does this mean my play date with Emily is canceled?" Too MUCH! You can't make this stuff up. Think I am done with surprises for awhile! DH is kind of dreading the trip too b/c he's not a huge Disney fan (what the what?) and it's a super busy time for him at work. I can't win. Where is the love??? I need some Pixie Dust. Sigh.

When my kids were little we always went in April during school break which was also the same time as my sons birthday. We were in Disney and he started to complain that he never gets a birthday party because "we always have to go to Disney"
We are leaving on Sat with 2 adults sons now and husband. My husband is still looking for excuses not to go. Have a good trip and hopefully all our not such fans of Disney families have a good time.
I am so excited staying at Poly, Food and Wine, Christmas Party, Osborn lights, and now I hear filming of Christmas parade
Maybe we should start a Disney traveling group of adults who have families that just don't get it

Ellen

 

[leebee]

I know how you feel. One of our trips, we picked the kids up from school and surprised them. Our daughter started crying because she didn't get to say goodbye to our cats. Other times the surprise went really well. You never know. Have a great trip!

This is EXACTLY why we decided against surprising our daughter when she was 8 or 9 (can't remember which anymore!). DH wanted to tell her we were going to the grocery store but instead we'd drive to the airport, but I knew better. I KNEW she'd be upset if she didn't say goodbye to our cats. Sure enough, we told her at lunch time that we'd be leaving in a couple of hours, and her first question was, "But what about my kitties?"

DD22 and I arrive Saturday evening (and she's not so worried about the kitties this time)! F&W, Osborne Lights, MVMCP!! Maybe we'll see you in DISNEY WORLD!!

 

[TB'sWidow]

Awww sorry boy have I been there! Our first trip back in 1996 we surprised our 2 who were 12 an 7 at the time, we told them we were doing a beach vacation an stopped to eat breakfast an surprised them at the restaurant Dd 12 was so happy she cried Ds 7 says " this sucks I wanna go to the beach" my Dh an I were floored by his response. Fast forward to now the same Dd who is now 32 an I will be surprising my two grandchildren in two weeks with a trip to Disney for younger grandsons birthday an we are hoping for a better outcome.

 

[Dominion]

Aw, my sympathies! My kids never handled surprises well, either. I still remember my son's third birthday, when he woke up, stumbled out of his room, saw all his presents piled up on the couch with balloons and streamers and us saying, "It's your birthday!"

He kind of shuddered, then burst into tears and shouted angrily at us, "Don't DO that!". Then he ran into his room and got back into bed. It was an hour before he calmed down enough to grumpily open his presents and eat his birthday breakfast.

This is why I generally recommend against surprising kids with Disney trips (or birthdays, or anything really). You never know if it's going to go over well.

Some kids like surprises - I know, because Youtube is full of surprise Disney vacations that go off awesomely. But it seems there's just as many videos of kids bursting into tears!

The visual I have of this scenario with your son is so funny. Perfect example of why a sense of humor is necessary to surviving (and enjoying) parenthood!

 

[bumbershoot]

I would never do a surprise trip for anyone. Too much of the fun is the build up and excitement of going. Planning can be a lot of fun too. I get the family involved with all that so we are doing some things they want to do, not just what I want and think is fun.

Yeppers.

Closest we've come to surprising DS was a cruise at the end of a trip. We were already on the trip, already packed, nothing going on at home, etc etc.

I figure that a surprise can happen any time. The surprise can be at home, months before the trip! It's a surprise whenever it's told to people. Doesn't have to be the day of.


My mom and stepdad surprised us with a trip, and I'm still not really sure why they did it. I wonder if it was because they didn't know if they were doing it, either b/c of $ or because of other stuff? No one's around to find out. We were already on a trip; we'd driven from the Bay Area to the Grand Canyon. Spent time there, then we were driving back home by way of Southern CA. And that's when they sprang it on us, when we could SEE the (old) big huge sign for Disneyland.

That's all well and great. BUT they had to deal with me and my brother the ENTIRE drive begging and begging to go to Disneyland. How they didn't just leave us by the side of the road I do not know. It doesn't sound like fun to me! I'd rather deal with 6 months of countdown calendars and showing DS the timeframe and talking about it ad nauseum, rather than have about a full 24 hours in the car of kids pleading with me to go to Disneyland...

 

[Aurora0427]

Awww, OP, I'm sorry! But your daughter will be thrilled once you arrive!

We've surprised our DD twice, and I've been lucky- both surprises were a success. This past trip she knew we were going, but didn't know when. The day we left I asked her what she wanted to do that day. She wanted to go to the natural science museum. We went to get my husband and I told her we couldn't go to the museum that day. She got upset asking why and we said "We can't go to the science museum because we're leaving for Disney World instead!" She was speechless and then proceeded to say "let's go!" 50 times.

 

[Oswin]

My parents used to surprise me and my sisters when we were little. My older sister would always be the one that got so excited she cried or ran around jumping up and down screaming. My youngest sister never really got the surprises or just didn't react to the because she's super chill. Me? I was the middle kid who, despite knowing the times of year we generally would go to Disney, would cry because I didn't want to miss something at school or because I thought our dogs would be lonely at home alone for Christmas. I would also be the child who cried when we got to the resort and Tink left surprises in the room because I thought she would be able to come in and watch us sleep. And when my parents told us on the last day we were going to fly back home that day, I would cry because "I thought we were gonna stay here foreverrrrrrrr". I was a really emotional little kid, my parents still love telling me about all the times I'd cry because we were going and then cry because I didn't want to come back home.

 

[theskyisawake]

We planned a trip last spring and decided to surprise our 5 year old (my 9 year old figured it out before hand of course). We told the youngest that we were going to a much smaller park close to home. We left in the middle of the night and woke her up as we were pulling under the arch. She started bawling because we weren't going where we said we were! Worst idea ever! She got so excited when we pulled into AOA and ended up having a great trip!

 

[Micca]

Too late to ditch DH & take Emily instead?

 

[mickeyfanachey1999]

When my kids were little we always went in April during school break which was also the same time as my sons birthday. We were in Disney and he started to complain that he never gets a birthday party because "we always have to go to Disney"
We are leaving on Sat with 2 adults sons now and husband. My husband is still looking for excuses not to go. Have a good trip and hopefully all our not such fans of Disney families have a good time.
I am so excited staying at Poly, Food and Wine, Christmas Party, Osborn lights, and now I hear filming of Christmas parade
Maybe we should start a Disney traveling group of adults who have families that just don't get it

Ellen

I'm in!

 

[LBlovesM&WDW]

We have surprised my niece on a few trips. The first surprise was a scavenger hunt on Christmas morning. That went very well and she cried happy tears. The second time she came to visit and we told her we were leaving for Disney that day--she was thrilled. Now the first two happened when she was 7-9 yrs old. The third surprise happened during her 16th birthday trip. She knew we were going, but assumed we were staying at Pop since we always did. This time, we decided to stay in the Royal Room at POR. We thought she would have been so happy, but instead she said how much she missed Pop for the nostalgia--can't win. Have a wonderful time and enjoy all the special moments--they grow so fast!

 

[travelbuffnj]

Lol Micca!! I like the way you think!

Update. We are here now and having a great time. Flight arrived early, got an upgrade to a balcony room w Illuminations view at the Swan, DD loved her her first ride on Test Track. Of course I missed it b/c I was upgrading to an AP at the IG but I sent them on ahead to take advantage of EMH. Walked on to Soarin (FP) and LWTL. Very light lines at F&W, lots of tastings, pick a pearl, saw the movies at Canada and France and some pool time. Quick rest and off to dinner at Spice Road. I'm running my family ragged but I've gotten lots of hugs and appreciation so I'm feeling much better. Thanks for all of the stories, encouragement and words of wisdom. You all are the best!!

 

[Lori74]

Lol Micca!! I like the way you think!

Update. We are here now and having a great time. Flight arrived early, got an upgrade to a balcony room w Illuminations view at the Swan, DD loved her her first ride on Test Track. Of course I missed it b/c I was upgrading to an AP at the IG but I sent them on ahead to take advantage of EMH. Walked on to Soarin (FP) and LWTL. Very light lines at F&W, lots of tastings, pick a pearl, saw the movies at Canada and France and some pool time. Quick rest and off to dinner at Spice Road. I'm running my family ragged but I've gotten lots of hugs and appreciation so I'm feeling much better. Thanks for all of the stories, encouragement and words of wisdom. You all are the best!!

glad it all worked out! have a great time!!