Post your idea on how to surprise my kids at Xmas

[MomofCKJ]

LOL TomBxyz! Yes it has been a challenge, believe me! And so many days I want to just cave in and tell but I know, I just know, the suprise that night will be something they remember when they are old and grey!

Allyson

 

[KimandBrian]

Could you maybe buy a can of fake snow and write a message on a picture window? Maybe Santa could write "Have fun at WDW" on the window with plane tickets/Disney Map or something related could be taped under the message? Or, Santa could leave special WDW cookies on his plate, and the tickets could be under his empty milk glass.

Have fun and good luck!

 

[KimandBrian]

Another idea I just tought of, DD has a Minnie mouse suitcase we use for our WDW trips. Maybe you could get the kids Disney suitcases?

 

[mom2dzb]

Thanks to the OP. This is just the thread I was looking for.

We surprised our two boys with a trip to Disney World a few Christmases ago. I had purchased a Disney themed calendar and wrote the days of our trip on the appropriate dates. They weren't too excited to be getting a calendar, but I had them look through the calendar to see if they could find their birthdays or other events until they finally found the days that said "Vacation in Walt Disney World". That was much more exciting.

Those boys are now 10 and 8. They've got a baby sister, now, who will be 2.5 by Christmas. I'm looking for another way to "wrap" the vacation for them. Thanks to all those who have posted. We might do a scavenger hunt or the puzzle but am open to other suggestions, as well.

 

[tchrrx]

I like the idea of suitcases for each kid. You could maybe even include a Disney t-shirt, autograph book, and other Disney trinkets. And, make sure there's a calendar in there that lets them know when they are going.


Or, how about a HUGE box that has a Disney balloon (or plush animal or something) inside. Instead of string, the balloon could have a paper chain attached to it. Each morning they pull off a chain. When the last piece of paper comes off, it's time to leave!

 

[yellownovawife]

We are surprising our kids as well. It is driving me crazy!!!! I ordered Pal Mickeys from the outlet store. We are going to wrap up pal Mickey with a laminated itinerary. It has lots of nice pix and details on it. When they open it they will know they are going to WDW for 4 days. Then they will open a few more gifts - autograph books, costumes to wear at the princess bereakfast, activity books for the car ride, new Disney themed luggage... then, another laminated itinerary showing the 4 night cruise - this will be icing on the cake -the dolphin swim is listed on it and it will be a highlight of the gift. Finally - they will open up a photoshop picture of all 4 of us standing on the deck of the Disney Wonder with their aunt, uncle and cousins. Once they realize they are doing all of this with their cousins they will be even more excited. Once there, they will find out about the Hoop dee do and the Pirate and Princess Party and the Illuminations Cruise. I have really been going on alot about how money is tight this year and not to expect much from us for Christmas. They are going to be soo surprised!!!

 

[wvdislover]

How about wrapping up a Disney Planning Video? This sounds like a lot of fun--I'd love to surprise my girls (5 and 9) next time we go, but as someone else said, the anticipation is part of the fun, too! I don't think I could wait.

 

[maddi]

Hi all! Been reading the boards for a few weeks and finally registered today. My wife and I are planning a trip to WDW in mid Feb. My 2 sons, 9 & 13 don't know about it yet. It will be thier "big" Christmas gift this year. We're trying to decide how to "wrap" it! I would like to hear any suggestions anyone has. I was thinking along the lines of literally wrapping up a big box with tickets or something in it. But we won't have any real tickets at that point and even the plane tickets are just an e-ticket printout. Any suggestions on what to put in the box to get the point across? Or any other ideas on how to surprise them with this trip?

Just wanted to say HI and welcome to DIS.

 

[Disneymom2AA]

I've gotten a great set of clues for the scavenger hunt THANKS TO THE DIS!

I've also thought about waiting until the actual day to surprise them, but have realized that anticipation really is part of the fun. So, DH and I decided we will surprise them on December 1. We will be leaving for a 20 hour drive on December 15 so that will give is a 2 week period of sharing the excitement of the upcoming trip.

I've purchased lots of Disney stuff from the Target Dollar Bins and from Dollar Tree for goodie bags in the car and then purchased shirts to wear and hopefully I will have some shirts made for my DS who will be celebrating his 5th birthday while at WDW.

I have been wanting to tell them for awhile now but I know they will love it when we surprise them. They think we aren't going until another 2 years, it's going to be great!

 

[PapaDwarf]

I'm surprising my wife and kids. I have ordered the personalized maps off of the disney website. I'm going to wrap each map individually and give it to them. That way everybody will have something to open up.

 

[twinmum]

We did a Pirates of the Caribbean themed treasure hunt 3 weeks before our departure date for our first family trip to WDW. I wanted some time to educate our DS8 twins and build the excitement. The boys had to solve riddles to identify objects and "win" the treasure chest". There were layers to the treasure - gold coins, POC figures, disney stickers (they got suspicious when they saw the Disney princess stickers!), then the WDW planning DVD, and finally, some created just for them cards from Jack Sparrow and a copy of our itinerary from the IPO!

If anyone wants clue ideas, let me know!

 

[nettii]

We are also giving Disney for X-mas to our 2 sons 5 and 11. Not 100% on all the details but I think I am going to get a huge box fill it with packing peanuts. Yes I have a ton from a practical joke that was played on us. In the peanuts will be an invatation I will make from the computer and nice scrap book paper.(the scrapbook stores have soooo much Disney stuff! also type in disney clip art on your pc and you can down load for free!!!!!!!)
They are each getting a piece of luggage and in it will be some fun stuff bathing suits, a new towel, lil trinkets autograph books pens ect. Every thing gets wraped too.

Oh yeah lots of confettii in the invatation!
Have agreat trip!!!!!!!

 

[pigletforever]

When DS17 was little Aladin was the big movie. I made a poster of the Genie coming out of his lamp and had a poem about his Christmas wish being granted. I put this in a box and wrapped it under the tree.

 

[jj1403]

Once upon a time my parents surprised my sister and I with a disney christmas trip. On christmas eve we were allowed to open a present. It started out with the biggest box, with smaller ones inside each other until we got to the last box. The last box contained pamplets on Disney. I still remember that feeling of not quite catching on at first...

 

[fabshelly]

I was gonna say "Jump out of a closet with a chainsaw," but I don't think that's the kind of surprise you're looking for.

 

[TomBxyz]

Well, since so many people replied to my OP, I thought I'd update everyone on how our Xmas suprise went. We decided to go with the puzzle idea and made up a graphic that had some pictures on it like fireworks, plane, etc, and then we wrote "We're going to Disney World" on it, but spread the words around, used differnt fonts and colors even in the same word so it would be hard to decipher until it was all together. We also purposely didn't use any Disney characters or logos because we didn't want them to be able to figure it with only a few key pieces put together. We then uploaded it to Walgreens website and ordered a 8x10 puzzle. We were pushing it a little on the timing, but thought we'd get it before Xmas. Well, of course we didn't! So Xmas Eve, we're trying to figure out what to do. Then I recalled seeing websites where you can upload a pic and instantly make an online puzzle that you put together on the screen. We found a site and did that, then brought it up after the kids opened all thier other gifts and told them they had to do the puzzle to get thier last present. It took them about 5-10 mins and had to look at it for a min when it was done to figure it out. They were surprised, but nothing over the top (no jumping up and down, screaming, etc), but I think it just took some time to sink in. Since then, I think they have been getting more excited about it as we've been talking about it, planning meals, etc.

Oh, and even though I was pretty PO'd that we didn't get the real puzzle in time, it probably turned out for the best. When we did finally get on the 27th, it took my wife and younger son about 45 mins to put it together! If the 2 boys were doing it themselves Xmas morning, it probably would have taken an hour or so and they would have been annoyed with the whole thing!

I only have a few posts here, so I can insert a link to the online puzzle. After I make a few more posts, I'll put the link here if anyone wants to see it.