***Official Surprise Trips Thread and Planning Tips!***

[Blackbeltdisneygirl]

Hi guys! I need some advice from all you surprise trippers! I've never done a surprise trip before b/c I am always so excited. My kids know about our upcoming trip, but I have been watching tons of "surprise we're going to Disney!" videos, and I totally wish I had surprised them! My kids love being part of the process, so I thought up a way that I think might work for giving them a surprise this trip while letting them stay involved in the process. I'd love some advice!

We are super excited b/c my mom got a 30% off pin today, and we are going to use it to book for October 2012. When free dining comes out we will switch over to that, but this way we at last can start scheduling our ADR's when our 180 days is here. My kids know we are going roughly around October 16th if we drive, or the 17th if we fly. However, what I was thinking was that I would tell them we changed dates b/c the pin code was only good for dates in November. I may get around the fact that we will probably make MNSSHP shirts by saying we will leave on the 31st of October, and go to MNSSHP. I was thinking it would work b/c I could get some countdown calendars made for the later dates, and they could begin the countdown now. Then when our dates actually arrive earlier than they suspect, we will surprise them in some crazy way. This way, since they already know about it, they can participate in all the projects we do like making shirts and such. What do you think?

 

[MouseEarsForAll]

Bump so you can get some tips!

 

[Blackbeltdisneygirl]

Bump so you can get some tips!

Thanx!!! I wonder where everyone went!!!

 

[Emmer]

We are suprising my oldest son for his 9th B-day. His B-day is actually a week before we arrive but since we have to plan around his days off we will be going during Mardi Gras. Our plan is to have him open his normal birthday presents but the last one will be the luggage tags that Disney sends out. He has been asking for a good party but my wife and I keep telling him that we will discuss his party on the night of his birthday, 14 Feb. What is going to make this trip even more special is that we were upgraded to the Poly due to the Royal Rooms in POR not being ready. I can't believe that we kept this trip a secret for over 6 months. Hopefully I can update this thread with a happy reaction and not a bummed out one since we are not going to have a traditional party with his friends. The mind of a 9 year old is a strange thing sometimes.

 

[melser13]

Our kids still don't know, but I'm starting to wonder if they think something is up...but then we act like normal. If normal is planning for a Valentine's Day party that they are going to miss?

Yesterday I dropped my kids off at school and as we pull in my daughter said - I wish we could go to Disney World. My son proceeded to tell me about a girl in his class that is going to Disney for her birthday - which is 2 days after my son's. I found out from his teacher that we are going to be there the EXACT same time as she is!

Anyhow, we still haven't figured out HOW was are going to pull this off. All they know is they are getting picked up early next Tuesday because of a doctor's appointment (that doesn't exist)...then we are headed straight to the airport.

My prediction is that my daughter will cry - first over excitement, then because she's missing her Vday party. But really, she's just at that crying stage.

 

[MouseEarsForAll]

How's that, blackbeltdisneygirl?

 

[salann]

we are still working on the surprise. We are going at the end of may (right after school gets out) my kids (DD 7 DS 5) have been begging for years to go to Disney and I finally talked my husband into it!

I already have goodie bags started, inside are Letters from The Princesses and Buzz& Woody, A coupon for a set of Mickey Ears, autograph books, stickers and puzzles (for the plane ride) and pressed penny cases. The wonderful DISigners have really helped me make this magical!

I am going to do a scavenger hunt the day before we leave, each hint will have a puzzle piece, they will collect all the pieces and then put the puzzle together which will read "Surprise We Are Going To Walt Disney World"

Still working on the hints though

My 7 year old is very observant, so I have to really do a lot of things at night after she's gone to bed. My 5 year old told his sister that if they want to go to Disney they have to not have a bad day at school for the rest of the year...where he got that is beyond me.

May can NOT come soon enough!!

 

[kt_mom]

I already posted that I'm taking DD8 on a surprise trip for her birthday in March. We are actually flying out on her birthday.

But first, the day before, we have to drive to my DSIL house (3 hours) to drop of DS. What an awesome DSIL to keep my little monster for the week. DH works late and just can't do it and my family is going to be out of town.

So after dropping of DS we have to drive 3 hours to Norfolk and spend the night before catching our flight the next morning. (cheapest flights I could find)

Anyway, I haven't told DD anything yet. We were talking about her birthday a couple nights ago and DH kept asking her what she wanted to do for her birthday and making weird faces, I thought for sure she was going to know something was up, but she missed it I guess.

The plan is to tell DD that I have a business trip in Orlando and she gets to come with me. Then when we get to the airport we'll just head toward DME and see when she figures it out. But now I'm wondering if it wouldn't be more exciting to do something different. But I'm not sure what.

DH will be out of town when we leave town so he won't be around to see the surprise either way. I thought maybe someone here would have some ideas. I saw a cute design on the creative board that says "stay calm and go to Disney" I thought it would be neat if I could integrate that in somehow.

I'm just about the least creative person ever so I'm open to ideas. Thanks!

 

[martyshoney]

We surprised our kids (DD 9 and DS 6) this past October and OMG, it was the most fabulous thing ever! We were supposed to go in Oct. '10 but but I was diagnosed with a brain disease that Aug. and found out I needed to have brain surgery so we had to cancel, our kids were devastated. We were going to go in May but my body was not yet ready for such a strenuous trip. After having to cancel 2 trips we decided to not tell them about this trip just in case. They thought they were going to the dentist when we picked them up from school and we told them my parents were with us b/c my dad had to go pick up his car from getting fixed. (They did not notice the luggage in the back so we didn't have to explain that, lol!!) Anyway, 2 days before we were to leave my husband had emergency kidney stone surgery so they of course truly had no idea anything like that was coming up! When we got in eye view of the airport we pulled over and told them, their reactions were priceless, when anyone sees my video they cry with my DD, it was awesome!!! It was a very rough trip with DH just having surgery and my body was a mess the whole time, but just having the memory of telling them where they were going was AWESOME!!! We told them that is the only big surprise they will get like that for a LONG time, lol!!! I did not think I would be able to stick to not telling them but I am so glad my DH made me stick to it!!

 

[MouseEarsForAll]

I already posted that I'm taking DD8 on a surprise trip for her birthday in March. We are actually flying out on her birthday.

But first, the day before, we have to drive to my DSIL house (3 hours) to drop of DS. What an awesome DSIL to keep my little monster for the week. DH works late and just can't do it and my family is going to be out of town.

So after dropping of DS we have to drive 3 hours to Norfolk and spend the night before catching our flight the next morning. (cheapest flights I could find)

Anyway, I haven't told DD anything yet. We were talking about her birthday a couple nights ago and DH kept asking her what she wanted to do for her birthday and making weird faces, I thought for sure she was going to know something was up, but she missed it I guess.

The plan is to tell DD that I have a business trip in Orlando and she gets to come with me. Then when we get to the airport we'll just head toward DME and see when she figures it out. But now I'm wondering if it wouldn't be more exciting to do something different. But I'm not sure what.

DH will be out of town when we leave town so he won't be around to see the surprise either way. I thought maybe someone here would have some ideas. I saw a cute design on the creative board that says "stay calm and go to Disney" I thought it would be neat if I could integrate that in somehow.

I'm just about the least creative person ever so I'm open to ideas. Thanks!

Do you think maybe you can have your camera on her, and 'fool around' with it while you casually tell her where you are going?

 

[kt_mom]

Do you think maybe you can have your camera on her, and 'fool around' with it while you casually tell her where you are going?

I'm thinking I'll act like I'm fooling around with my phone but I'll really be recording to get her response. Hopefully.

I'm just not sure when/how to tell her.

I'm hoping I can slip the DME tags on at the airport without her noticing them. So when we get to the airport she'll think we're heading to get our luggage but really we'll be heading towards the DME lines. I don't know whether to just walk up to them and let her realize it that way. Or I saw that cute note on the Design board that says "be calm, and get to Disney" or something like that. I could somehow slip her an envelope as we're walking and she would open it and see that.

Or I thought about getting her a T-shirt I saw on Etsy that I could have made to say "DD's Birthday Trip to Disney World" I thought I could "accidentally" get something on her shirt on the plane and tell her she needs to change and at the airport I could get it out and give it to her and she would read it and then know. But I don't want a video in a bathroom either.

Or I could go back to my original plan and just casually walk to DME and let her just figure it out on her own.

I'm so indecisive. Maybe I'm over thinking this.

I thought

 

[PolyndianPrincessJes]

I'm a semi-newbie at the surprise trip aspect. I tried to surprise the kids with their first trip, but I got too excited and they got it as a Valentine present (we went in May). Then I tried again a couple trips later, but I was really excited about the way I planned to tell them that I let the cat out of the bag a couple of months early (I used this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=86lhqnibMK4).

Well, this year I'm going to hold out until the day of the trip!! We get out of school (I teach, so we're on the same schedule) on the last Friday of May. The next morning we're on a plane to WDW!! I have no idea how I'm revealing, though. Some friends suggested a scavenger hunt. My gparents always drive down a few days before we fly, and they take our luggage, so I can absolutely sneak that out without the kids noticing. As long as we're light on carryons (or have them packed in advance), I could maybe lead them to the airport, but I think they'll catch on by the time we get there. Just not sure what to do yet...

So fun thinking of ideas!!

 

[Blackbeltdisneygirl]

How's that, blackbeltdisneygirl?

Good job!!! Still, no one is giving me tips yet, but I will figure it out! I told my mom and husband, so hopefully all will go well as they are on board.

What I am thinking is going to happen is this: I made the countdown calendars for the wrong date. I showed them to the kids and told them we are going to arrive in Disney the day before Halloween. That covered the MNSSHP issue. That way we can still go. That was seriously the first thing they asked me about since Halloween said EPCOT on the calendar. I thought fast and said we would probably arrive on the 30th b/c we may drive, and then go to MNSSHP with Halloween being our first full park day. Whew. I am lucky I think fast.

Anyway, I also made an October calendar with the correct leaving for Disney date on it. I am going to put the calendars up in probably the laundry room b/c there are so many. They can put stickers on them every day to count down. The day before our actual date I will have them stay at my mom's so my hubby and I can get everything packed into the car. I always have the suitcases out and being assembled about 1 1/2 months in advance anyway b/c of packing so many people, so they won't suspect. When they come home to put that day's sticker on the calendar, we will be rolling tape as they realize that the calendar has been switched up and the correct date we are leaving is marked as that day. (I will put fill the new calendar up till that date so it won't be immediately noticeable)

We will have some kind of present with balloons popping out or something. Maybe I should just put them in the washer and dryer!!! Hahaha!

Cool???

 

[kt_mom]

Good job!!! Still, no one is giving me tips yet, but I will figure it out! I told my mom and husband, so hopefully all will go well as they are on board.

What I am thinking is going to happen is this: I made the countdown calendars for the wrong date. I showed them to the kids and told them we are going to arrive in Disney the day before Halloween. That covered the MNSSHP issue. That way we can still go. That was seriously the first thing they asked me about since Halloween said EPCOT on the calendar. I thought fast and said we would probably arrive on the 30th b/c we may drive, and then go to MNSSHP with Halloween being our first full park day. Whew. I am lucky I think fast.

Anyway, I also made an October calendar with the correct leaving for Disney date on it. I am going to put the calendars up in probably the laundry room b/c there are so many. They can put stickers on them every day to count down. The day before our actual date I will have them stay at my mom's so my hubby and I can get everything packed into the car. I always have the suitcases out and being assembled about 1 1/2 months in advance anyway b/c of packing so many people, so they won't suspect. When they come home to put that day's sticker on the calendar, we will be rolling tape as they realize that the calendar has been switched up and the correct date we are leaving is marked as that day. (I will put fill the new calendar up till that date so it won't be immediately noticeable)

We will have some kind of present with balloons popping out or something. Maybe I should just put them in the washer and dryer!!! Hahaha!

Cool???

I love the calendar switch idea! We usually do a countdown chart for regular trips and I may have steal that idea one year!

 

[Blackbeltdisneygirl]

I love the calendar switch idea! We usually do a countdown chart for regular trips and I may have steal that idea one year!

Feel free! I figure it will be really confusing for them, and then it will dawn on them. I also considered those M & M's you can get with sayings on them. I thought I would get them to say pieces of our message. Something like "Today" "we" "are" "going" "to" "Disney". I figure it will take them a minute to figure it out, especially if we don't say anything about the messages on them. Hmmm....Now I have the ideas flowing!!!

 

[MouseEarsForAll]

Feel free! I figure it will be really confusing for them, and then it will dawn on them. I also considered those M & M's you can get with sayings on them. I thought I would get them to say pieces of our message. Something like "Today" "we" "are" "going" "to" "Disney". I figure it will take them a minute to figure it out, especially if we don't say anything about the messages on them. Hmmm....Now I have the ideas flowing!!!

Sounds good! See, this is more of an IDEAS thread than a tips thread! Every surprise ends up being unique! Glad I could help!!! Have an awesome trip!

 

[aripantaloon]

We are going in May and have not told our kids yet. I started a thread last year before the holidays asking whether "untelling" kids was horrible since there was a teeny tiny chance that we would have to cancel and I wanted to tell them at Christmas with a wrapped balloon. The overwhelming answer was to not tell them until we were sure, so we did not tell them. Now, we are definitely going!

I really, really want to tell them the day we leave. Like "sorry, you aren't going to school today...you're going to Disney!" I mean, we've waited this long (I booked in November, I think.), so waiting until the very end should be a piece of cake. DH isn't on board with this.

So, in the alternative, I was thinking of telling them via notes in an Easter egg hung like We are going to D I S N E Y on M A Y 4! DH's idea is to do the balloon in a box thing with a note one week before we leave as a birthday present to open for our youngest who will turn 2 during our trip. He wants the oldest to read the note. While I like this idea, I know my kids and it will turn into "No fair! L gets a Disney trip for her birthday and all we got was XXXX."

I'm going to have to read through this thread later (I should be cleaning.) and see what other reveals have happened. This is the third trip with the kids, but the first time we didn't tell them right away.

 

[tchrrx]

Just 43 more days until we reveal our trip & leave! I cannot believe that I haven't told anyone. The closer it gets to time, the harder it is to not let it slip. The night before we leave, we are celebrating DD's birthday with our family. It will be tricky to not let it slip then, but we had to find a way to plan her party without everyone getting suspicious as to why we couldn't do it on a different night of spring break. I am so excited!!!!

 

[MouseEarsForAll]

We are going in May and have not told our kids yet. I started a thread last year before the holidays asking whether "untelling" kids was horrible since there was a teeny tiny chance that we would have to cancel and I wanted to tell them at Christmas with a wrapped balloon. The overwhelming answer was to not tell them until we were sure, so we did not tell them. Now, we are definitely going!

I really, really want to tell them the day we leave. Like "sorry, you aren't going to school today...you're going to Disney!" I mean, we've waited this long (I booked in November, I think.), so waiting until the very end should be a piece of cake. DH isn't on board with this.

So, in the alternative, I was thinking of telling them via notes in an Easter egg hung like We are going to D I S N E Y on M A Y 4! DH's idea is to do the balloon in a box thing with a note one week before we leave as a birthday present to open for our youngest who will turn 2 during our trip. He wants the oldest to read the note. While I like this idea, I know my kids and it will turn into "No fair! L gets a Disney trip for her birthday and all we got was XXXX."

I'm going to have to read through this thread later (I should be cleaning.) and see what other reveals have happened. This is the third trip with the kids, but the first time we didn't tell them right away.

The 'Not Fair!' comment is rotfl funny! It's like, "Kids, you're going to Disney too!"

 

[MickeyHereWeCome!]

We surprised the kids two years ago. We told them a week before we left, so they would have a little time to get excited and anticipate the trip. I made shirts for each day and packed secretly. We planned the surprise like a scavenger hunt. The kids found a package that had the first clue inside. The last clue led them to a box in the garage. Here's our video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yev4I6Awbfc


Now we are planning another trip for July. When I started talking about the next trip, the kids told me they didn't want to know..that they wanted to be surprised again. So, I need to come up with an idea for a more unique surprise. So far, they think we're going in a year (and are NOT happy about it, since our last January trip was freezing).