Need help with Surprise

[Racemom17]

Not sure this is the right forum or not...but we are surprising the kids on Christmas Eve with the news of the trip to Disney leaving Christmas Day...I need a creative way to present it...and I want to make sure to include credit to my parents who are paying for the whole thing....so although I have thought about the a invite from a character...its not going to give credit...so I was trying to come up with a little poem to put in a card...in addition to that I am making them up Disney themed bags...so far I am putting autograph books and disposable cameras in them...any other things any of you can think of that would be a good idea...I will probably so some Disney dollars also.

 

[momandseandodisney]

Ohhhhh, let me think of this one and get back to you! Great base idea though!

 

[momandseandodisney]

How old are your kids?

 

[hdecker]

Several years ago we did this and spent quite some time trying to figure out how to spring it on them. We decided to do the twelve days of Christmas. Starting on the 13th of Dec each child got a small gift each morning - new socks, pencils, bubble bath etc. On the last morning of school before Christmas, each one had a gift bag and we told them they had to open them one at a time oldest first. Inside the first was a note that said "All I want", the 2nd one said "for Christmas is" and the third was a mickey head ornament that said "a trip to Disneyworld" Our van was already packed and out the door we went. We still try to surprise them with something everytime we take a trip and I'm sure that is something they will be doing with their own kids in a few years.

 

[BeckWhy]

Hmm.. well why not wrap certain things and give em to them on christmas eve.. like a camera (or film if they already have cameras), stuffed characters.. and make up a "WDW passport" or something like that. Like make sure they open the camera first.. then the character.. then the passport.

 

[DeeDeeDis]

I gave my boys and dh a week at disney in December a few years ago for christmas.

I gave each a gift/award certificate which I created myself on my computer(kind of a word puzzle certificate- instead of words I inserted a picture). I purchased some nice heavy weight paper, I rolled them up and tied them with ribbon. I actually had forgotten about this until the other day when i was going thru my old computer files and came across the file on my computer.

But my boys are all in their teens. If you kids are old enuf to understand something like that it may work for you. You could always close the certificate with something like "This trip made possible by the generous contribution from Nana & Nonno" (Grandma/Grandpa) whatever you may call them...

 

[daisyduck123]

Do you have any friends going to Disney before your trip?

It seems I always have friends who are going & I always ask them to pick up some trading pins for me to give DD11 & DS8 before we go on our next trip. This past winter a friend got me some pins that I put in the kids Easter baskets...I always do a Disney themed basket because we go to Disney every May.

I also give each kid a disposable water camera to use in the waterparks & hotel pool. They love these!

 

[Racemom17]

How old are your kids?

They will be 10, 6 and 4 at the time of travel...all boys...

 

[dianemb]

Why not give each of them a lanyard with acouple pins on it as a gift. If the lanyard has a clip on the end you could put a note on it about trading it in for a ticket when you get there. Or better yet put a copy of an airline ticket on it if your flying. We're surprising our son this year too. We're going to leave on Dec 3.

Enjoy your trip

 

[FOV]

My friend did this last year. She wrapped a few "hint" gifts and the final gift was the WDW dvd - but she covered the front and had something like "Play Me" over the WDW logo. The kids put it into the DVD player and were watching the video when the parents revealed the surprise.

I think this works well for young kids, such as the 4 y/o, who may not be as familiar with WDW as older kids.

I have also heard of families getting t-shirts made up (I think the Disney store online does this) and having a special message put on the t-shirts.

 

[BamaFan121s]

Find a Christmas ornament...the castle or Mickey...and hang it on the tree. Tell them there is a new ornament that is a clue to what their present is and they have to find it and guess what they are getting.

 

[disney4ever26]

A good idea is......Get a picture of each boys favorite character. Then put it in a card that says, "See You Soon" on the card in some kind of a bubble from the character. Then put from nana and grandpa. Make up little gift bags of stuff you would need in disney.....hat,camera,autograph book,big pen etc.

 

[Mariaºoº]

Several years ago we did this and spent quite some time trying to figure out how to spring it on them. We decided to do the twelve days of Christmas. Starting on the 13th of Dec each child got a small gift each morning - new socks, pencils, bubble bath etc. On the last morning of school before Christmas, each one had a gift bag and we told them they had to open them one at a time oldest first. Inside the first was a note that said "All I want", the 2nd one said "for Christmas is" and the third was a mickey head ornament that said "a trip to Disneyworld" Our van was already packed and out the door we went. We still try to surprise them with something everytime we take a trip and I'm sure that is something they will be doing with their own kids in a few years.

This is a fantastic idea! I love it!

 

[UP Disney]

You definitely need to add some of those light bracelets & necklaces you can get from the Dollar Store. Kids love them. We passed a couple out to kids on one of our trips. I've heard of others doing the same thing. They are neat to wear at the spectromagic parade, during fantasmic & wishes.

 

[jodistar]

Several years ago we did this and spent quite some time trying to figure out how to spring it on them. We decided to do the twelve days of Christmas. Starting on the 13th of Dec each child got a small gift each morning - new socks, pencils, bubble bath etc. On the last morning of school before Christmas, each one had a gift bag and we told them they had to open them one at a time oldest first. Inside the first was a note that said "All I want", the 2nd one said "for Christmas is" and the third was a mickey head ornament that said "a trip to Disneyworld" Our van was already packed and out the door we went. We still try to surprise them with something everytime we take a trip and I'm sure that is something they will be doing with their own kids in a few years.

What a wonderful suprise

 

[ScrappinGran]

but my DH and I are going to surprise the 2 oldest grandkids (preemie brother can't go...next time!)in September. I am going to have a scavenger hunt. The clues will be written notes stuck into safety modified mousetraps...spring type.(Probably will take spring off and glue on wooden clothespin). At a few of the clue stations there will be items like a disposable camera, water mister fans, the glow bracelets and necklaces some else has mentioned...etc. There will not be items at EVERY clue spot. I am debating the idea of at the second to last clue spot-having a candle for each of them...with instructions to (after my DH lights the candle for them) close their eyes and wish...then blow out the candle and go to the next spot...where their t-shirts will be..on top on Disney beach bags that will be their carry-ons. I had the t-shirts made@ the Disney online store. They say- "I'm going to Walt Disney World ! with September 2006 underneath. We are going to tell them on Friday Sept.15 after school. We leave that Sunday. This is their first trip, they are 8 and 5...and we want Mom and Dad to have time to share in their excitement. How generous of my daughter and son-in-law to let us have her 2 eldest kids for the 8 days and get to see WDW through their eyes.
I don't know who will have more fun...the kids or us! POFQ here we come!

 

[gigi1313]

for this past Christmas we gave the kids a trip to wdw (but we went in january) and on Christmas morning they had a scavenger hunt and at the end was a new piece of luggage filled w/homemade disney tee shirts (thanks to the great designers on the Creative DISigners Board... main board menu, scroll allll the way to the bottom)... but the funnest piece of the puzzle was when we got to church later that day and they were telling their best friends the looks on the kids faces were priceless 'cause as my kids described one thing, their friends countered with another which was identical to what was in my kids' suitcase... 'cause both families were travelling together...

the one thing i did not put in there were there "Destination Disney World" sweat shirts and we never told them the exact date of travel (just "the end of january") so on 1/12 i told the kids i was going to pick them up to take them out to lunch and when they came to the school office, i handed them their shirts and they nearly fell to the floor! they were soooo excited! and off we went!

i love the "multi clued" ideas, esp the Christmas tree ornaments and the certificates and the reading "all i" "want for Christmas" "is a trip to wdw"

for our next trip we're planning it to be a total surprise simply driving right past school and to the airport, letting the kids scratch their heads and wonder if mom and dad have lost it! LOL!