Suggestions needed for surprise trip...

[BuzzLiteyear]

We will be at WDW from 12/22 - 12/28. So far, we have not told the kids about the trip. We will most likely drive (from WNY) and leave on the 12/21.

I'm looking for suggestions on how to spring the surprise. My current thought is to wait until 5 minutes before we get in the van to leave, but i'd like to possibly wait until after we've left.

Any suggestions?

 

[kohlby]

How old are the kids?

We surprised our kids last year. They were 8, 5, and 2.5 years old and had been before, so at least the two older ones understood the surprise. The morning of, we told them we had a surprise for them. We knew the older two would compete with who knew first so it was important to not make it hard to figure out, like no scavenger hunts or our middle child would be mad if she didn't find everything first. We handed them envelopes with the words "how," "when," and "where" on them. The youngest opened his first, which was how, and it was a picture of our minivan. The middle opened hers next, which was when, and it was a page from a calendar with that day circled. The oldest, opened his last, and it was a printout of a map with the 4 Disney parks circled.

We decided to tell right before because the middle child couldn't handle a long car ride if she didnt' know where we were going. Also, we didn't want to lie at all.

 

[HFred]

I'm in a similar "boat". We are flying on the 21st of Nov. (staying offsite for 1 night before check-in on the 22nd) and meeting my parents who are driving down. They are stopping at my house on their way down to take our luggage, so my kids know we are flying to visit Grammy and Grandpa this trip (a very long drive that they are familiar with taking) but they do not know that we are not going to their house in ME. I wanted to tell my kids on Halloween to give a little prep time (our first trip) but my husband wants to wait. I'm thinking of 2 options (which might work for you as well). 1. We are picking my 2 oldest up from school early to go the airport. While I take my 3 year old in with me to get them, my husband will place their specialty ears (purchased on Ebay (Tinkerbell for my daughter and R2D2 for my boys)) on their seats for when they get to the car. 2. We see how far we can get before they realize...(will my oldest realize the plane is heading for Orlando instead of Portland, ME, will they catch on at MCO when it becomes obvious, or can we push it all the way to check-in on Thanksgiving Day...) Not sure which way we're doing it yet, but those are our thoughts! Good luck with the surprise!

 

[Magpie]

Depends on your kids... watch some "surprise" videos online. Especially the ones that have gone wrong!

Some kids react very badly to being lied to and told they're going somewhere else. ("But I WANTED to go to Grandma's house!")

Some kids just don't like surprises at all.

Some kids may already have plans with friends that week.

I distinctly remember the morning of my son's third birthday. We didn't mean to surprise him, we just didn't realize that he didn't know it was his birthday or what to expect. When he walked out into the livingroom, he saw all his presents piled on the couch and everyone chorused, "Happy Birthday!"

His face crumpled and he burst into inconsolable tears. It took us forever to calm him down. All he kept saying was, "Don't do 'dat!"

It's funny in retrospect, but after that we were careful never to surprise him.

 

[dprincessmom]

We surprised our daughter with a birthday trip last year. We didn't have to lie about her party because we usually do it a week or so early - she's a week before Christmas so it's just easier to celebrate early with friends.

Hubby picked her up at school and she knew something was up because there was "travel stuff" (dvd player, pillow, special animals and she checked the back of the van and discovered the suitcases. She asked questions for 20 minutes until they picked me up.

I would have liked to let her find out by us driving to the gates, but she was too anxious. After we go hung up in a traffic jam, I told her if she would rest for an hour then I would give her a surprise. She fell asleep (which was great because we were going to EMH @ Epcot) and we made it to Ocala.

When she woke up we gave her a gift bag. In the bag were a new autograph book, a new lanyard and a set of ears that I made with a birthday hat attached. It took a little bit, but you could see when the lightbulb went off and she realized where we were going.

It was hard not letting her know we were going but she still talks about the great surprise.

 

[Hoosier37]

My kids will be 13 and 10 (nearly 11) when we go next summer. It is going to be a surprise for them. We are driving, and we have a phony, and fairly boring, road trip planned to take us through southwestern Georgia, plus a quick trip into Florida to see the town DH lived in for two years as a kid.

Actually, we are driving to Valdosta on day #1, and then to WDW the next morning. We think we might be able to actually enter the property itself before they catch on.

 

[disney-akj]

Depending on the ages of your kids, maybe wait until you have been in the car for a while. You don't even have to lie to them. Just tell them to get in the car because you are going on a drive.. It will make time go by faster for them with the suspense of wondering where they are headed? I agree with the pp, watch videos on youtube to see some ideas.

 

[BuzzLiteyear]

Thanks for the ideas. Our kids are 7, 9, and 15. I'll take a look at the YouTube videos. Maybe I'll take a new route to Florida to throw them off the trail.

 

[party-of-five]

We are surprising the kids this year too. We are flying on 12/10. We are planning to put gifts under the Xmas tree the day before. In their "gift box" are magazines, activity books, snacks, and some little Disney trinkets. This way they are surprised, have only one day to wait, but I have a chance to pack!

 

[MermaidMommy]

I like the idea of coming up with a fake trip, so that your kids already know you're going somewhere. With your older kids, especially, it might be helpful for them to be able to pack their own stuff. Plus, you'd be able to get farther before springing the surprise. I love the boring Georgia/dad's old home trip -- how happy are those kids going to be when they find out they're going to Disney?!?

 

[stindall]

I suggest reading through this thread: http://disboards.com/showthread.php?t=3013718