Suprising kids w/ 1st trip...suggestions?

[krcit]

Hi. We are going on our first family trip to WDW in Nov. My kids are dd-9, dd-almost6, and ds-3. We are going with another family we are great friends with. We haven't told the kids yet and are throwing around a few ideas. The first is to gather them together and tell them that although we always go to Hersheypark together every summer, this year we aren't going...dramatic pause while they all moan and groan and then say...because we're going to DISNEYWORLD!!!!!! The other option is to send them on some sort of a treasure hunt in the backyard and have them find different clues..ex, a toy airplane...umm, I guess I need some suggestions, lol!!! I am sooooooo excited to tell them. We have had this trip planned since January so I'm about ready to burst!!!

 

[alecam]

Take me!! Won't that be a surprise!

 

[SuzieQMomof3]

We're telling our 3 older children exactly one week from today on the baby's 1st birthday. If I have to keep the secret any longer, I'm going to burst. We watched the foodtv Unwrapped today and my 9 year old and 4 year old were talking about all the fun they had on their last trip. My husband and I were just looking at each other.....

The suspense is killing me!!!

To answer your question, we're telling the kids by giving the baby a set of Mickey ears, an autograph book, and a note from Mickey inviting us to visit. I just ordered the cake today and it has Mickey and Minnie on it and above it says: Happy 1st Birthday Jill. Underneath the picture it says: You're going to Disney World!

To tell a group of older kids, I would definitely do a scavenger hunt. You can have each clue be a puzzle piece and the puzzle could spell out "Pack your bags-You're going to the Mouse House!" or something like that.

Or, you could get matching t-shirts and have them open them together.

I love surprises, can you tell?

Let us know how it turns out!

 

[poohkinandpiglet]

I did a scavenger hunt with my kids. I gave them little clues to go to different places in the house and yard where they found little surprises that they would need for the trip and a few fun items too.
At the end of the hunt, they found Mickey and Minnie beanies holding a letter for each of them. The letter was an invitation to come visit "Mickey's house" (what DD calls DisneyWorld). Our trip is in November, so every few weeks I send the kids a letter (that comes in the mail) from Mickey to keep the excitement and anticipation alive.

I also plan to have gift baskets from Mickey at the hotel for them when we arrive. I'm ordering the one from Gifts of a Lifetime that has a hat, autograph book, pen, passport for Epcot, etc...

I'm so excited and can't wait to see their faces!

 

[montblanc]

I thought about this for a minute, here is my concept....


Take the kids to the room where you have the TV. Tell them about Hershey Park then say but someone would like to tell you something.

Dim the lights and have an adult come in wearing a Mickey Sorcerer costume: http://store.costumecity.com/sorcerer.html (if you want to prevew it). Then the person can say "Hi Kids! Hershey Park? Nah... How about going here this year?!!" When the word "here" is uttered the sorcerer points his/her wand at the tv which magically comes on with a video/dvd of Disney World (find a dramatic part).

Have the person in the costume hand out Disney Dollars or a gift for the younger ones...then...raise the lights, bring in the balloons and celebrate!

lol....I tried to suprise my daughter once by not saying where we were going until we arrived "close your eyes" but she was too smart and figured it out beforehand.....

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1970 - Disneyland
1999 - All-Star Music
2003 - Port Orleans Riverside
2004 – Contemporary
*2005* – Coronado Springs Resort/Polynesian

 

[ladydancer]

When I took my granddaughter to WDW I didn't tell her until the night before we left. I bought a cake with minnie and mickey and an airplane on the cake. It read "WALT DISNEY WORLD HERE WE COME". She was soooo excited. I had also wrapped some games, books and things that would keep her occupied on the plane ride. So she had presents to open too. It was just like a birthday party. We had cake and ice cream. She has never forgotten.

 

[krcit]

Thanks for all the replies. I appreciate it. I went on Disneystore.com and found matching t-shirts for all 6 kids. I think that we will have a treasure hunt leading to the t-shirts attached to some Mickey balloons. I can't wait!! Thanks again for all the great suggestions.