So while I sit here on hold, help me with ideas for surprising my daughter. :) ****Updated****

[CassieScraps]

Our upcoming October trip is a surprise for my soon to be 5 year old. Her dad and I decided that instead of a huge crazy birthday party like last year, we'd take her DL. Her birthday is in Sept, so this trip is a few weeks after.

Anyway, I want this trip to be a surprise. She's 5 so she can't read road signs yet. And she loves staying in hotels, and we often do so for sports, so she shouldn't suspect anything out of the ordinary. We are staying about 7-8 miles away from the park, so I'm hoping for no obvious clues as to where we are. Now, if we manage to get her to the hotel without her figuring it out, I need ideas to get her from the hotel to the parking structure for the surprise. She has these sleep masks she loves to wear, so I was thinking I would make a game of it, and have her put it on when we get to the freeway off ramp for the parking structure.

Alternatively, I thought maybe I'd wake her up and ask her to grab something out of the hotel closet and have a big Mickey holding the park tickets waiting inside.

I'm open to ideas. I want to make this a special trip with just Mommy & Daddy and the birthday Princess.

Thanks!


*****UPDATED*****

I'm down to two ideas. 1) I have a package "delivered" to the door the night before we leave with all the tickets, new costume(s) and invitation to DL and a special party "just for her" (I'm just having one of the big kids do a ding dong ditch, hahaha)

2) We don't tell her anything except we are going to a hotel. Then surprise her in the morning by arriving at DL, letting her have her 3 days, telling her it's over. THEN going to one last Mickey breakfast, (hopefully) having a character deliver a package with her invitation and costume for the MHP. Then we'll take her to Anna & Elsa's Boutique for a makeover and kill enough time to go in at 3.

I have A&E reservations at 1:00pm and I tried to get PCH Grill reservations for 10:30am, but the could not make them yet. Anyway, that all hinders on can I park all day with the MHP ticket or only at around 2? I need to find that out.

That is the last piece. I have MHP tix, DL park hoppers, costumes, and hotel all set. Decisions, decisions.

 

[JenB1104]

My DD's birthday is 2 and a half weeks before our November trip this fall. She just went to WDW this summer and has been asking to go to Disneyland now that she knows it exists also. I plan to have a few of her presents tied to Disneyland that she'll open and then find out we are going. I ordered the 60th anniversary Dumbo shirts for us on the Disneystore website today - they are only available until Thursday I think. That is one thing I will give her for her birthday to clue her in. You could have a few small gifts that might be things she could wear or use for your time in the parks (shirt, light up toy for parade etc.) Have fun planning and surprising! I am hoping I can keep this a secret for DD 6 that long!

 

[offwithyourhead]

If you stay off the main road (Harbor) you'll have few clues to where you are. I can't speak for billboards on the highways and such, but the roads aside from Harbor that are not in the 'resort bubble' don't really remind you that you're anywhere near Disneyland. The big 'tell' is the buses with Disneyland theming on the outside that are all over the place.

It might be hard to keep it under wraps until you get into the parking lot if you have a gaggle of teenage girls with you. I'd expect they might want to Disneybound or in some way all be dressed in disney-ish clothing, or they might let something slip by accident, I would plan for a hotel surprise that can be stretched out if all goes well. If it were me, I would:

-Cordially invite her with a paper invitation to an unbirthday party and request she not be late! Fail to mention just who is the unbirthday guest of honor.
-Place a gift on her bed containing some kind of outfit that she'd wear - whether it's a disney dress or a disney-themed outfit. If she already likes Disney stuff or has a favorite princess/character this may not absolutely clue her in. Include a note that says it's for the unbirthday ball.
-Leave her another note in the car that says that the location of the unbirthday is top secret so she must wear her mask until her chariot has arrived.
-When you get there and she realizes what's going on, you can say "happy unbirthday!" to her so she figures out that it's HER unbirthday party.

I don't have a child that age so perhaps she'd be able to figure that all out fairly easily, but that's what I'd love to do for a surprise birthday-ish trip! If you told her ahead of time you were going to go to a birthday party for someone mommy and daddy know while on your trip she may not question any of the above.

 

[CassieScraps]

My DD's birthday is 2 and a half weeks before our November trip this fall. She just went to WDW this summer and has been asking to go to Disneyland now that she knows it exists also. I plan to have a few of her presents tied to Disneyland that she'll open and then find out we are going. I ordered the 60th anniversary Dumbo shirts for us on the Disneystore website today - they are only available until Thursday I think. That is one thing I will give her for her birthday to clue her in. You could have a few small gifts that might be things she could wear or use for your time in the parks (shirt, light up toy for parade etc.) Have fun planning and surprising! I am hoping I can keep this a secret for DD 6 that long!

I think maybe a couple of small hints would be fun.

If you stay off the main road (Harbor) you'll have few clues to where you are. I can't speak for billboards on the highways and such, but the roads aside from Harbor that are not in the 'resort bubble' don't really remind you that you're anywhere near Disneyland. The big 'tell' is the buses with Disneyland theming on the outside that are all over the place.

It might be hard to keep it under wraps until you get into the parking lot if you have a gaggle of teenage girls with you. I'd expect they might want to Disneybound or in some way all be dressed in disney-ish clothing, or they might let something slip by accident, I would plan for a hotel surprise that can be stretched out if all goes well. If it were me, I would:

-Cordially invite her with a paper invitation to an unbirthday party and request she not be late! Fail to mention just who is the unbirthday guest of honor.
-Place a gift on her bed containing some kind of outfit that she'd wear - whether it's a disney dress or a disney-themed outfit. If she already likes Disney stuff or has a favorite princess/character this may not absolutely clue her in. Include a note that says it's for the unbirthday ball.
-Leave her another note in the car that says that the location of the unbirthday is top secret so she must wear her mask until her chariot has arrived.
-When you get there and she realizes what's going on, you can say "happy unbirthday!" to her so she figures out that it's HER unbirthday party.

I don't have a child that age so perhaps she'd be able to figure that all out fairly easily, but that's what I'd love to do for a surprise birthday-ish trip! If you told her ahead of time you were going to go to a birthday party for someone mommy and daddy know while on your trip she may not question any of the above.

Luckily, this trip is just the 3 of us, Mom, Dad, & her. Now, as long as my older kids don't spill the beans before we leave, we'll be doing good.

I like the ideas of an unBirthday party. I'm thinking about a party dress, she'd like that.

Thanks a lot!!

 

[lorijohnhill]

When my daughter turned four, we surprised her with a trip. We put her in the car very early in the morning (6.5 hour drive). When we stopped for lunch, we had her open a package with at shirt I had made for her. We made her sound the words out to read the shirt. It said "I'm going to Disneyland!" Her response? " We get to stay in a hotel?!" It was quite funny. She still wasn't really clear on what Disneyland was at the time. Lol

For the surprise trip for her eighth birthday, we had told her we were going to San Diego. We stopped at Marri's, near Disneyland, and had the waiter deliver her a letter from Elsa and Minnie Mouse telling her that she'd be celebrating her birthday with them.

 

[CassieScraps]

Updated.

 

[bumbershoot]

Our upcoming October trip is a surprise for my soon to be 5 year old. Her dad and I decided that instead of a huge crazy birthday party like last year, we'd take her DL. Her birthday is in Sept, so this trip is a few weeks after.

If the trip is after her birthday, what is she going to think when there's no party?

And as a head's up, when we did DL instead of a party when DS was 5 (his 4th and 5th b'days were over Mem Day weekend, and even family was hard to pin down over that weekend so we gave up for those years, plus both years were Year of a Million Dreams), when we got home he still wanted a party.

She's 5 so she can't read road signs yet.

But so much of reading is the look of the letters. Little kids are ninjas when it comes to figuring out "Disney". The letters are more like art than letters, and the art of the Disney font stands out.

 

[lorijohnhill]

If the trip is after her birthday, what is she going to think when there's no party?

And as a head's up, when we did DL instead of a party when DS was 5 (his 4th and 5th b'days were over Mem Day weekend, and even family was hard to pin down over that weekend so we gave up for those years, plus both years were Year of a Million Dreams), when we got home he still wanted a party.

LOL... I thought I had solved that problem by suggesting a Mommy/Lexi "spa day" to get our nails done together instead of having a party. She thought it was a great idea. I was so proud of myself. Ha! I even figured that since she was having a make-over at A&E Boutique I would get away with it. No such luck. When we got back, she informed me that we still needed to have our spa day.

 

[CassieScraps]

If the trip is after her birthday, what is she going to think when there's no party?

And as a head's up, when we did DL instead of a party when DS was 5 (his 4th and 5th b'days were over Mem Day weekend, and even family was hard to pin down over that weekend so we gave up for those years, plus both years were Year of a Million Dreams), when we got home he still wanted a party.



But so much of reading is the look of the letters. Little kids are ninjas when it comes to figuring out "Disney". The letters are more like art than letters, and the art of the Disney font stands out.

LOL... I thought I had solved that problem by suggesting a Mommy/Lexi "spa day" to get our nails done together instead of having a party. She thought it was a great idea. I was so proud of myself. Ha! I even figured that since she was having a make-over at A&E Boutique I would get away with it. No such luck. When we got back, she informed me that we still needed to have our spa day.

She's still getting a party, just not a HUGE, whole house is decorated, Characters show up, 3 tiered cake kinda party. We are planning on going to the local pizza parlor and having pizza and cake with her new school friends. Low key. Heck, we may give her the trip as a b-day gift, though I doubt I would survive a month of her asking me if it was time to go yet, lol.

 

[kailuagirl]

Has she ever been to Disneyland?

We have surprised my dd every year the last 4 years and she always says if we get to go back, she wants to be surprised. We've even gotten to the area and she doesn't notice. I have her playing on my phone or something. Just watch your GPS and it will say "Disneyland Drive" or whatever it is, it's kinda funny. We forget about it every time lol

I'd totally surprise her when you get there. Has she ever been to a Disney Store dress up event? You could pretend you are going to one of those if you want her to wear a princess dress.

She's gonna figure it out once you are at Downtown Disney I think. I think how you might pass it off as saying that morning, we are going to a halloween dress up party tonight. First we are going to go have a special breakfast, and shop a bit and then go to the party. She will be excited to go to the party. You'll probably be able to park without her figuring it out if you distract her. Then surprise her when you are getting on the parking shuttle or after you park. I' don't know. So fun!!

We are going to surprise our dd again next month, she knows we are going to California to visit family. I'm sure she knows we are going to DL, she's 8, but still gonna surprise her. We always leave our family's house when she is sleeping and she wakes up in Disneyland.

Have fun!!!