Shhhh. It's a surprise!

[Pacific Northwest]

We are surprising our 3 kids (DD16, DS14, DD6) with a trip to DL July 26-30. We found a cheap deal (compared to current pricing) for the new Courtyard across the street. On the 25th we are going to tell them to pack for 5 days, but not telling them where we are going until we are on our way to the airport the next morning. They are convinced we are not doing anything major this summer. It's still 2+ months away, and I'm soooooo excited!

We surprised them years ago (before the youngest was part of the mix) for a Halloween trip. That was pretty awesome.

Doing the happy dance!

 

[Merrb]

That is awesome! I was too excited to surprise them, we have 5.5 months to go, and they both know! I'm the most excited/obsessed, lol!

 

[sharksfinatic17]

We did that one year, but for Spring Break. We drove and the whole time they were trying to figure it out. We stopped first at Universal Studios, and both girls thought Universal Studios was fun, but nothing compared to Disneyland. Little did they know that we were headed there next. So fun!

 

[Pacific Northwest]

Our drive is a short one (about 15 min to the airport), so the suspense will not last for long. Not sure when we will actually have to tell them where we are going. I'm going to be so excited, I'm not sure how long I'll be able to keep the secret!

 

[tarheelalum]

Go on www.youtube.com and watch the surprise the kids videos at Disneyland. they will bring a smile to you.

 

[McNs]

Love it! For us it's a bit tricky to create a surprise like that, 12 hour flights and all. Plus there is FAR too much leverage to be had!

 

[julluvsdisney]

We are surprising our kids in August! I'm not sure how to do it though! They are 15 and 8. My two ideas were tell them we are going to disney world (we go there multiple times a year so no big surprise there lol) and see how long it takes them to figure out where we really are! Or surprise them on the littlest ones bday 4 days before !

 

[Disney Lvr of Old]

Love it! For us it's a bit tricky to create a surprise like that, 12 hour flights and all. Plus there is FAR too much leverage to be had!

Oh my yes: best behavior mod since the invention of the iPad.

 

[justgrace]

Our drive is a short one (about 15 min to the airport), so the suspense will not last for long. Not sure when we will actually have to tell them where we are going. I'm going to be so excited, I'm not sure how long I'll be able to keep the secret!

How fun! It would be cool if they didn't figure it out until you landed in California, but I'm sure they would figure it out at the airport by reading the boarding passes/gate location.

I actually forgot that they were building Courtyard over there! We saw the construction when we were last there, but forgot to look up what was actually being put in there.

Hope you guys have tons of fun!

 

[hlbtimes2]

I love surprise trips! We did a couple surprises when our kids were young. The first one we told them we were going to CA for a business trip with dad. We flew in to Long Beach, they knew dads company was in LB, but had NO idea how close that was to DL. We got in at night, and managed to hide all Disney references in the room. I was so happy they fell asleep in the car and didn't see the backside of CA screamin' when we drove past. They had no idea where we were and what we were doing until we were getting ready to walk out the door to head to the park.

The other trip we did a morning scavenger hunt. There were clues and prizes (Disney themed fruit gummy snacks for the plane, blow up pool toys, coloring books to use on the plane, etc) for the trip along they way. It ended with one of the recorded calls from Mickey, and the Disney planning dvd in the portable dvd player. It was SOOO much fun! After that they thought we should do a scavenger hunt before every trip. LOL!

 

[JinxedSydney]

Looking forward to surprising my own kids. Since it'll be before Christmas, and they know my love of Christmas AND Disney, I'll have them decorate the tree this year and talk about the ornaments as we put them up. They always fight about our Mickey ears for the years we went. The plan for this year is to add a 2016 ornament in the big box before they open it and spring it then.

 

[Pacific Northwest]

For our most recent trip, we wrapped (by we I mean my wife) up the letters that spelled "Disneyland March" as Christmas presents. One letter per box. Those were the only presents under the tree until Christmas Eve. Drove them nuts because the boxes were so light and didn't make noise when shook. It was pretty fun to watch them tear into the boxes and figure out the message!

For the surprise Halloween trip, the oldest were in elementary school. We sent them to school, packed, and picked them up at about 10:00 to go to the airport. My son didn't believe us and thought we were joking. I had to walk him back to his classroom to get his things. His teacher came over to him with a huge smile on her face and told him to have fun and tell her all about it when we returned (we notified their teachers about 2 weeks ahead). After that, he was convinced the trip was real. All he needed was confirmation from his teacher!

 

[Pacific Northwest]

Go on www.youtube.com and watch the surprise the kids videos at Disneyland. they will bring a smile to you.

I've watched a few of those over the years. My favorite is one when the kids start crying because they thought they were going to their uncle's (or something like that). Apparently their uncle's house is cooler than DW!

 

[JayLaLa]

How fun!! We surprised our kids a couple years ago. It was SO hard for me to keep the secret.

 

[Jenn1116]

I love surprise trips! I'm surprising dd this trip. I'm leaving the house like I'm going to work on her last day of school, then sneaking back after the bus picks her up to pack and get the dog to the kennel. She'll come home to a note on the door that says pack your bag - the car leaves in 5 minutes!

Waiting for vacation is making me crazy, though, and I only have 16 days left!

 

[my*gracie*girl]

We surprised dd during Spring Break. It was sooooo hard to keep ti secret and it was a last minute trip, so only had to be careful for about a month! HA!! We told her we were driving through the Redwoods because my dh always wants to do that for a vacation....she hates road trips....after the Redwoods we kept going south and she freaked out when we finally told her. Best surprise EVER! Have so much fun!