Need Help Lying to my Children!! :)

[McGreezy]

Wow...I'm surprised at the lack of magic in this thread! I guess "the point" of surprising my children is that we have never been able to do anything but dream of this, and like most of you have said, I know my own children far better than anyone. So rest assured, if I thought in any way this would cause them anything but happiness I wouldn't plan it this way. They LOVE surprises, and this would be the mother of all of them. They don't take time to adjust, they go with the flow, are very grateful, sweet, and good kids so they would't "flip out" because they got surprised with the trip of a lifetime (or else they wouldn't get one, geeze.), and I'll make sure all school issues and packing are done as they should be. I'm a pretty good mom And much like most of us do at Christmas with Santa, etc, I don't consider this "lying" to them. That is just silly. It's creating magical moments in their childhood.

I guess I'm less inclined to feel like they need to help since we've been talking and basically planning about this for so many years now I know what they would want, because they've told me. And believe me, I've planned accordingly.

Disney is supposed to be magical, I'm stunned so many people are so taken aback that I want to add even more of it to the start of the first and only trip we will probably get to take. I asked for help in planning the surprise, not for reasons why I'm wrong for choosing to do it this way. What I can say is that I do think I should let my son in on the surprise a few days early in case he does have any loose ends to tie up. That is a good point. For those of you who have offered good suggestions I do thank you very much!

 

[McGreezy]

Will they be missing school to go or do they have some kind of break that covers the entire trip or are they homeschooled? I think that and the departure time are the biggest things in my mind that might call for telling them sooner.

I’ve surprised my two although my oldest was just 11 the last time I did it. They loved it and my daughter has said she prefers being surprised (because it means less waiting). She really didn’t care what was in her suitcase; but she had to be the one to pack her carryon bag for the plane. I’ve seen plenty of videos of teens surprised at the airport and most were great. As I said before you know them best. I just wouldn’t want school concerns or something like "did you pack my..." to put a damper on such an exciting time. I hope you enjoy your vacation.

Yes I can completely agree with this I'm thrilled your kids loved it! I feel like my kids will be the same, they won't care what I packed, just that we were going!! I did plan on getting them up in time to pack their own carry ons as well, that just makes good sense I think letting my 14 year old in on it a few days early might be smart...but I'm still up in the air on it. I'll have to speak with the school to see what I can find out on the sly

 

[McGreezy]

Once when I needed to get my kids up early for a surprise trip, we set all the clocks ahead - including the car - and hid their phones/iPods/anything showing time until we were well underway. At a rest stop it was still very dark and they couldn't figure out why no one was around!

THIS IS BRILLIANT!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[McGreezy]

Do you have any relatives that live out of town? If so, you could say that your flying out of town to a family reunion. Then they can pick out and pack their own clothes and whatever else they feel they'd need. Plus this will get them mentally prepared for an early flight and plane travel ahead of time. Just a thought.

Actually my grandparents live in Naples Florida and they WILL be meeting us at the resort one day during the week and spending a park day with us. So this is good, and they will really get to see them Thank you!

 

[McGreezy]

Oh lord, there's never a surprise thread without the "I don't lie to my kids" comment. Must suck on Christmas morning when they know what's in the packages already (or birthdays, or any other time of the year that we lie to our children in order to surprise them). OP, if you think your kids are good with surprises, DO IT! Our first trip was a surprise. I ordered custom scratch-off cards and a giant fortune cookie, and we came home the night before to dinner "magically" already on the table with the cookie and card. It revealed we were going to Disney tomorrow. We went a different route, as we pretended to be surprised too, and they still haven't caught on that it was really mom & dad who planned the trip. It was our magical treat!
For our trip next month, I decided to try and follow everyone's advice about how much kids enjoy planning and anticipation. Not so much. My son IS a planner, but he couldn't care less about FastPass times. I bought books, we've watched YouTube videos of rides, but they really don't care to participate. I wish we had chosen to surprise them again, so we decided we are picking them up early on the last day of school and telling them we're leaving right then instead of the next morning like they think. I can't WAIT to embarrass the heck out of them when mom and dad show up to school in Mickey ears!
Please ignore the unsolicited advice about missing school and things you didn't ask for and surprise your kids. It's your money and your choice.

Oh boy. Do I love this. Thank you!!! Ugh, I was like, OMG. This is DISNEY!!! Inject some magic into your veins!! Haha.

I just read this to the girls I work with and they thought your surprise idea was AWESOME. I do too. I love surprises, and so do they. Thank you so much for this, the scratch off ideas are amazing. Where did you get those??

 

[Anesthesia Fine]

My friend cut out a bunch of Mickey heads from construction paper and left a trail from her boys' rooms to their suitcases, and then from their suitcases to the car. It was really cute.

 

[McGreezy]

My friend cut out a bunch of Mickey heads from construction paper and left a trail from her boys' rooms to their suitcases, and then from their suitcases to the car. It was really cute.

Awwww I love this!!! That is adorable!!!

 

[SEA333]

I don't know, I really believe both kids would be unbelievably excited and wouldn't get hung up on what I packed for them and just be grateful we were going They're really amazing kids. They have never been anywhere, we haven't ever been financially in a position to do anything even close to this, and we always dream together about Disney and what it will be like when we "finally get there". I want to make it a big surprise they'll always remember. They are dying to take a plane ride and They LOVE surprises. Maybe telling them the day before does make more sense, and then they can pack with me but I'm not sure yet

I LOVE the idea of playing When You Wish Upon a Star to get them up!! I'm going to do that no matter what! Thank you!

My (then) 13 year old 8th grader loved being surprised and wouldn't have cared one little bit if I would have packed him a suitcase full of underwear when we surprised him.

Do the surprise! And do it as close to the time you leave as possible. Our flight/airport arrival times coincided perfectly with our normal morning routine, so we were able to literally wait until the kids were ready to walk out the door for school when we sat them down and pulled out the goody bags that included their magic bands and boarding passes. 15 minutes later the limo we hired to take us to the airport pulled up. The kids had time to grab one item of their choosing and everything else was packed. So what if you didn't pack everything...it's not like you will be gone forever! They can live without something for a week!

I love the "Wish Upon a Star" as the wakeup....even at that hour, at 14 and 8, they will love it once they "get" what is going on!

And we never lied to our kids at all...as a matter of fact we pretty much told them over and over again in hints and cryptic clues and they ever caught on! It was part of the fun to say something like "I know it's cold today, but just imagine what it would be like if you woke up next week and you were laying by the side of a warn, sunny pool", or "Look at the plane...I wish I was on a plane going somewhere right now! Oh, well, maybe someday soon!" And, the morning of...."Oh, I haven't left for work yet because my boss told me I could change my schedule this week" It was even MORE fun the whole week we were there because the kids kept asking about their teachers, friends, babysitter, grandparents, etc....they were ALL in on the surprise and it was so funny watching the kids as it started dawning on them how many people knew and they didn't! My 8 year old was especially tickled to hear that his beloved teacher asked if she could go with us! I am pretty diligent about details, so I worked through every potential issue and talked to all the teachers...we did wait until after football/cheer season was over so it was in a "downtime" period for my kids' sports just because we are big believers in not pulling our kids from team sports during the season.

My 8th grader was totally fine with missing school. As he said "Mom, there isn't anything that is THAT important that I cannot make it up. I would do double homework for a month to be able to go on a trip!"

The only downside is that now our kids are totally ruined. Every time they think I am hinting at something, they think I'm about to make a huge announcement LOL I have to start a lot of conversations with "This is not a trip to Disney, but...." Haha

Sometimes people post here about surprises like they are surprising their kids with a trip to the hospital for brain surgery. Other than a few minutes where a surprise might not go exactly as planned, I can't imagine, (special needs aside) any kid being so tightly wound that they need to "wrap their head" around a surprise so much that they flip out like the world is ending...geesh. Go with the flow and enjoy Disneyworld, for goodness sake!

If you want the details of what we did, search my posts - I think I just posted about this about a week or two ago. Or just ask! My kids were 13, 10, and 8 when we surprised them, and all three have begged for the past 2 years now for us to do it again!

 

[McGreezy]

Sometimes people post here about surprises like they are surprising their kids with a trip to the hospital for brain surgery. Other than a few minutes where a surprise might not go exactly as planned, I can't imagine, (special needs aside) any kid being so tightly wound that they need to "wrap their head" around a surprise so much that they flip out like the world is ending...geesh. Go with the flow and enjoy Disneyworld, for goodness sake!

I agree. Aside from kids on the spectrum or something (which ironically my 14 year old son IS, but he still never would react like that to a surprise), I would be HORRIFIED if my child freaked out in a negative way about a surprise Disney World trip. How awful. I understand kids around that age have a lot going on, but I remember me at 14 and no way in heck would I have been even tempted to be upset about a surprise vacation! It just seems a bit spoiled and ungrateful to me, especially coming out of a child over the age of 5. That's too bad. But I feel like surprising them is going to just be wonderful! If I catch wind that he's planning something or I think towards the end it may conflict with something on his social calendar in any way then I will make a necessary adjustment.

I will definately search your posts!! Thank you!!

 

[Flynnismine]

Don't let a couple negative posts cause you to second guess your decision to surprise your kiddos with this trip You're obviously a great mom so you know what works for your family. It definitely sounds like your kids will be VERY excited with asurprise, once in a lifetime Disney vacation. Seriously, what kid could be upset about going on their first trip to Disney?
Hope you have a fabulous memory making trip

 

[McGreezy]

Don't let a couple negative posts cause you to second guess your decision to surprise your kiddos with this trip You're obviously a great mom so you know what works for your family. It definitely sounds like your kids will be VERY excited with asurprise, once in a lifetime Disney vacation. Seriously, what kid could be upset about going on their first trip to Disney? Hope you have a fabulous memory making trip

Thank you so much!! I really can't wait. Now it's about seeing if I can hold it in to be able to surprise them!

 

[monica9]

I don't know, I really believe both kids would be unbelievably excited and wouldn't get hung up on what I packed for them and just be grateful we were going They're really amazing kids. They have never been anywhere, we haven't ever been financially in a position to do anything even close to this, and we always dream together about Disney and what it will be like when we "finally get there". I want to make it a big surprise they'll always remember. They are dying to take a plane ride and They LOVE surprises. Maybe telling them the day before does make more sense, and then they can pack with me but I'm not sure yet

I LOVE the idea of playing When You Wish Upon a Star to get them up!! I'm going to do that no matter what! Thank you!

This is wonderful! Especially their ages and that they sound like good kids and also not ever being on a family vacation. I think no matter what you do it's going to be wonderful. I think you should stick with your gut and suprise them that day. You are right, if you tell them the night before then they might not sleep from the excitement. I think what a pp said, wake them up in the morning to the "when you wish upon a star" song and maybe even a half hour earlier that way they can pack any additional items you might have missed. You will have a lot of fun talking and anticiapting on the car ride there!!!

 

[McGreezy]

This is wonderful! Especially their ages and that they sound like good kids and also not ever being on a family vacation. I think no matter what you do it's going to be wonderful. I think you should stick with your gut and suprise them that day. You are right, if you tell them the night before then they might not sleep from the excitement. I think what a pp said, wake them up in the morning to the "when you wish upon a star" song and maybe even a half hour earlier that way they can pack any additional items you might have missed. You will have a lot of fun talking and anticiapting on the car ride there!!!

YES! That's what I was thinking. and like a pp said, take their alarm clocks out of their rooms or set them forward and confiscate all cell phones/ipods for the night so they don't realize I'm getting them up so early. It will be amazing. And, if not, and they are too tired to be excited yet...WE ARE STILL GOING TO DISNEY!!! WOOOOHOOOO!!!

 

[monica9]

so, on to the good stuff, when are you going and did you decide on a resort/adrs?

 

[karatemomky]

we took our first trip last year and I surprised my two kids (ages 10 and 4) the day before. I had went to a local pizza place earlier and arranged for them to deliver a pizza for dinner. The pepperonis were shaped like mickey heads (they had gigantic ones and regular size so the proportions were right) and they had placed a sign in the box (taped to the inside of the lid) that said "Don't keep calm we're going to Disney". Once I picked them up from school I complained of how tired I was and how much I just wanted a break and didn't feel like cooking, that we were just ordering pizza. A couple of hours later we got the pizza and I got the greatest reactions when they opened the box to get their dinner. They got the surprise of the year instead!

 

[mjkacmom]

I surprised my 5 kids, ages 4 - 11. I told them that they were missing a day of school because their great aunt (that didn't exist) was having a birthday lunch three hours away at her nursing home, and we had to go. I told the school in advance. Since we went in the beginning of November, it was very easy to pack up their summer clothes, since I usually go through them anyway. I just kept them in bags in my bedroom - they thought they were goodwill bags. We told them when we woke them at 6 am, and they were very exited!

The only issue was dd11 - aparently, that fall, she had gone through a growth spurt, which I didn't realize. Needless to say, her shorts were shorter than what I would have liked, those that still fit! Fortunately, we were staying at a DVC villa, so I just did laundry every day.

 

[Lemurone]

Lying about a relative--now THAT'S a new low
I got the scratch off cards on Etsy. I don't recall the seller's name, but they were golden tickets with a big scratch of area. They were gorgeous, and still make appearances once in a while (trip was 2.5 years ago).

 

[McGreezy]

so, on to the good stuff, when are you going and did you decide on a resort/adrs?

OMG YES! We are staying at POR 10/25 - 10/31 and we are doing BOG for dinner (hopefully!), O'Hana for breakfast, Boma, 50's PTD, Boatwrights, Coral Reef. My kids aren't super into characters (video game kids) but I at least want to get them to one major dining experience!

 

[McGreezy]

we took our first trip last year and I surprised my two kids (ages 10 and 4) the day before. I had went to a local pizza place earlier and arranged for them to deliver a pizza for dinner. The pepperonis were shaped like mickey heads (they had gigantic ones and regular size so the proportions were right) and they had placed a sign in the box (taped to the inside of the lid) that said "Don't keep calm we're going to Disney". Once I picked them up from school I complained of how tired I was and how much I just wanted a break and didn't feel like cooking, that we were just ordering pizza. A couple of hours later we got the pizza and I got the greatest reactions when they opened the box to get their dinner. They got the surprise of the year instead!

OMG I love this!!! So many cute ideas!!! I want to do them all!! Maybe the day before is best, just because of the time we'd all have to get up and out (2:30 am wake-up call is SO intense!)

 

[McGreezy]

I surprised my 5 kids, ages 4 - 11. I told them that they were missing a day of school because their great aunt (that didn't exist) was having a birthday lunch three hours away at her nursing home, and we had to go. I told the school in advance. Since we went in the beginning of November, it was very easy to pack up their summer clothes, since I usually go through them anyway. I just kept them in bags in my bedroom - they thought they were goodwill bags. We told them when we woke them at 6 am, and they were very exited!

The only issue was dd11 - aparently, that fall, she had gone through a growth spurt, which I didn't realize. Needless to say, her shorts were shorter than what I would have liked, those that still fit! Fortunately, we were staying at a DVC villa, so I just did laundry every day.

Thats too funny! Yah, since we are going in October I don't anticipate they will notice much when some of their outfits have gone missing for a few days. They wouldn't notice anyways because they're not super into their appearance at this stage of life anyways haha.