Need ideas to announce the trip to my daughter

[vhamilton]

I'm taking my daughter to DW last week of January for her birthday. She'll be 8, and this is both our first time at DW. Needing ideas on how to announce it to her. Thought about a scavenger hunt. Or tell her we're visiting a friend in FL then surprise her when shuttle picks us up at airport. Anyone else make a surprise announcement? Would love to hear how everyone else broke the happy news!

 

[KimBean]

Surprises are awesome. We have been planning this trip since March and I finally get to tell my girls in 2 hours. I made a Windows Movie that in the beginning looks like an anniversary collage (we are celebrating our 20th) then mickey interrupts and tells them they are going to WDW and we have 1 day to pack (thankfully my BIL does a perfect Mickey.) I have the magic bands wrapped and a shirt for each of them and some trading pins for each they get to open. Then it is OFF to the races for packing and getting out of here...

This is our first surprise and with a 14 yo we figured our last chance. We homeschool so she doesn't have to worry about getting behind, etc. But, by the time we go next time she will be 16-17 and that probably wouldn't work with friends and maybe even part time working... My oldest has been 4 times before and my youngest twice.

I would suggest, this being your 8 year old's first time, that you do a "pre" surprise. Surprise her at Christmas or after new years, etc. But, give her time to anticipate, learn about the rides, etc. That is just my opinion.

 

[lllGurulll]

I would love to hear ideas on this as well. We are going in June for the 4th time but the first for our 6 yo son. My wife wants to do a Christmas surprise announcement. Personally, I would love to just not say a thing until they get off the plane and see the bus. But it appears the wife will win.

Would really like to see the ideas for doing a Christmas announcement for a summer trip.

 

[vhamilton]

Surprises are awesome. We have been planning this trip since March and I finally get to tell my girls in 2 hours. I made a Windows Movie that in the beginning looks like an anniversary collage (we are celebrating our 20th) then mickey interrupts and tells them they are going to WDW and we have 1 day to pack (thankfully my BIL does a perfect Mickey.) I have the magic bands wrapped and a shirt for each of them and some trading pins for each they get to open. Then it is OFF to the races for packing and getting out of here...

This is our first surprise and with a 14 yo we figured our last chance. We homeschool so she doesn't have to worry about getting behind, etc. But, by the time we go next time she will be 16-17 and that probably wouldn't work with friends and maybe even part time working... My oldest has been 4 times before and my youngest twice.

I would suggest, this being your 8 year old's first time, that you do a "pre" surprise. Surprise her at Christmas or after new years, etc. But, give her time to anticipate, learn about the rides, etc. That is just my opinion.

How did it go?!?! I'm excited for you all reading this. Would love to hear details!

 

[vhamilton]

I would love to hear ideas on this as well. We are going in June for the 4th time but the first for our 6 yo son. My wife wants to do a Christmas surprise announcement. Personally, I would love to just not say a thing until they get off the plane and see the bus. But it appears the wife will win.

Would really like to see the ideas for doing a Christmas announcement for a summer trip.

That's what I wanted to do was let her know once she saw the bus, but I thought my husband (who isn't going) would want to see her reaction. He didn't care either way.

 

[PoohBearAndMe]

Hi!

I'll be following this thread for ideas too, since my DH and I are surprising our 7 year old daughter with a Disney trip in early February. It will be her first trip, although DH and I have been several times before she was born. (We honeymooned at Disney 20 years ago!)

At the moment, we are planning on telling her the morning that we leave with some type of surprise. Our plane doesn't leave until 12:30 pm, so we will have plenty of time to do a surprise. I will have all bags packed (which I think I can do using our spare bedroom and working on it after she is in bed at night).
One suggestion I have been thinking about is having a puzzle made with a message about "Going to Disney World....TODAY" or something similar, and having her put it together until she figures out what it says. Another one was having a female friend of mine call and ask to talk to her, pretending to be one of the princesses, and invite her to come spend some time with them at Disney World.

I have already bought her a Frozen backpack on wheels to take as her carry-on for the airplane, and I will have her stuff already packed in that too.

So much fun to plan....... I can't wait to read more suggestions!

 

[MadTownKatz]

Well, with our first trip to WDW, we didn’t tell our two daughters anything…we just waited until they put 2+2 together and figured it out….which was a great deal of fun. For the record, they didn’t figure it out until we drove past the entrance gates of WDW…. Following trips to WDW consisted of telling them through gifts and “surprises.” We even did the “golden ticket wrapped in a chocolate bar” surprise during Halloween trick-or-treat. We purchased one of the large chocolate bars, gently steamed the wrapper off, inserted “the golden ticket” that we had made that details “the winning prize,” then resealed the wrapper. Said candy bar was then given to our next-door neighbor, and when the girls went trick-or-treating at the neighbor’s house, the neighbor gave the candy bar, along with an identical bar to the other girl. Needless to say, they were quite surprised…

However, I think our trip planned for 2015 will be the pinnacle of our “surprise!’ trips as both girls are getting a bit older. We will be sending them on a Quest, complete with a backstory about “hidden treasure.” The girls loved the movie, “National Treasure,” so their Quest will "borrow" several elements from the movie. The Quest should take them several months to complete, as it draws upon several of their interests including Myth, hiking, cryptography, geo-caching, mysteries, and problem-solving.

 

[kmorey303]

My husband and I told our girls (6 & 18) by buying an inconspicuous looking Disney autograph book and placing Mickey cut outs on each page breaking up the message. It read: Hi girls! It's me Mickey! Guess what?! You're going to.... Have a new brother! Just Kidding! You're going to Disney World!!
The girls loved it and had the book for autographs! This year we're putting together a compilation video of photo and video from last year and at the end it will tell them we're going back. Santa will deliver it to be followed by a box of disney goodies like pins to trade, another autograph book and magic band decor.
Really any way you do it you can't go wrong!