Looking for Ideas to surprise kids with Disney trip

[Earningmywings]

We always surprise our kids (2-boys) with our trips. We have done a scavenger hunt, each clue was printed then placed a Mickey patterned paper used to as a mat for the clue. Each clue had a Disney related “prize” at it. Some was stuff they already had (stuffies) and most everything else was something little from the Dollar Store or Target (bandaids, those little battery powered lollipops, coloring kit, magic towels, etc) The final clue sent them to a large box that we made into one of those exploding surprise boxes. When they took the lid off the box opened up and balloons came out and the packed suitcases were in it with the Magic bands on top.
We also told them one we were going to dinner far away so they could have electronics. The tablets distracted them for about 3 hours as we drove toward Disney (7-8 hour drive). When they questioned dinner we took the next exit and stopped at a random place. When we got back in the car we told them we were lost and needed to have them help us look at a map, GPS isn’t working. We handed each of them a park map. That one took longer than I anticipated for them to figure out. They were like this is just a Disney map
Did the Christmas present once that was not as fun. I like to plan.
Surprise airport trip, I don’t remember where we told them we were going that time.

They still love scavenger hunts so I usually make one for them to do each trip while in the parks.

 

[SheilaHeartsDisney]

Don't. Part of a vacation is the anticipation. When you surprise {which I did once}, you steal the anticipation and chance to prepare for a trip. Surprise them, at minimum, a couple of weeks in advance so that they can mentally prepare,

That I agree with. I am telling them with like a week notice. My daughters favorite part is to pack for our Disney trips so I don't want to take that away from her.

 

[SheilaHeartsDisney]

Thanks for all the great tips everyone. My sister works for Disney so we were thinking to have her call them up to ask if they want to hang out with her for the week or something like that. We have a white board calendar and every month the family gets together to write what we are doing during the month. Might casually just add the Disney trip to it and see if they figure it out.

 

[blackpearl77]

We did a scavenger hunt and at the end was a box with balloons and a note that said we're going to disney! My son loved the scavenger hunt so much that the next time we went to disney we told him when we booked so he could help plan and he was mad - he asked if I could make up a scavenger hunt again! I said but you already know about it - he didn't care he liked the hunt!

 

[unrequited23]

We have a white board calendar and every month the family gets together to write what we are doing during the month. Might casually just add the Disney trip to it and see if they figure it out.

This made me chuckle because only one of my family members (DS8) would even notice it on the calendar.

My kids do not enjoy surprises, they enjoy anticipation. Their big Christmas present last year was a Disney cruise at the end of January. We did the helium balloons in a box, a note and the beloved countdown chain.

 

[OkanaganAmanda]

This gives me so much food for thought. We are going in November and our kids don't know. I have always wanted to do the "we are going to Disney TODAY!" surprise......but I am a planner, and I can see my kids also wanting to get in on the anticipation, watching YouTube videos etc. I wonder if we were to tell them in a fun way (scavenger hunt?) a few weeks before that we were going, but to give them a later date to "count down" to. Maybe say that we are going for Spring Break? Then they'd have time to plan, read, etc. Then we could still have the 'day of' surprise. We have to stay at a hotel close to the airport the night before we fly out as we live a couple hours from the airport and our flight is super early in the morning.

 

[Princesca]

We tried to surprise my niece, who was almost three (I think?) and we have a great video of us going "Lily, look where we are, who is on that sign?!" and pointing at the Disney entrance sign above, and her being completely unfazed. LOL.

 

[Ss77]

We always surprise my son. He loves it! The best had to be when we all drove to the airport and parked, my son thought we were dropping my husband off for a business trip. The min I opened the trunk he saw his Star Wars suitcase and he knew. We were screaming and cheering in the parking lot. It was the best! Last spring I surprised him with a letter from “Mickey” explaining it was time to come back to his favorite place after to long! My son cried and was so happy! He’s 8 now and hiding the suitcases is exhausting! He’s missing his last day of camp so I definitely need to surprise him 2 days before so he can say goodbye to everyone., now the how

 

[eaz06001]

This is a great thread, definitely following! I was planning on surprising my daughter (6) for her first Disney trip in 2023 by picking her up at school and driving to the airport, but now I'm wondering if she might like a little bit of the anticipation of going. Then again, she would ask me "how many minutes until we leave for Disney", about every minute, so I'll have to set a countdown on our Google or Alexa so she can ask them instead! Love all the ideas everyone has!

 

[kimmylaj]

We've done a few surprises,
1st time Hershey park with another friend and her kids 2of 4 kids ended up crying and being nervous about the unknown.
2nd time Florida...they knew we were driving to see family in Georgia. I had made state line goody bags since we were coming from NY. Each time we crossed a state line they unwrapped a trinket from the dollar store. The last one had tickets to Sea world and Disney. When we crossed from Georgia to Florida my 7 year old at the time said ummm I think you made a mistake we are in Florida. I said oh well at least I have an extra state line gift and they unwrapped the tickets. He said "oh my that was unexpected" and my 4 year old needed an explanation but was quite excited after realizing what was going on. We still tease my son that he responded like a little old man
3rd time Indoor water park resort with friends. Scavenger hunt that ended with a puzzle made on Shutterfly that they needed to work together to assemble to figure out where we were going.

 

[DisneyAuntie12]

An oldie but a goodie… I’m a fan of a letter or a package arriving in the mail from Mickey or Tinkerbell. (The kids in my family wouldn’t know about checking for postmarks but if yours do that might make it more complicated.)

I’ve also seen some cute countdown calendars on Etsy (although most are DIY so might take some work to make). That’s something that could just appear on the wall one morning and then they could have fun moving a day on the calendar every day.

 

[Kristine3204]

Following this! I was thinking of surprising my daughter by picking her up from school and heading straight to the airport.. but I love trying outfits on her first