Surprise, Surprise, Surprise

[FlightlessDuck]

Our trip report from 2006 includes a surprise for the kids.

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1132454

But it requires one of your children graduating Kindergarten.

Oh, and here was my wife's original thread with the photo book she made: http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1090565

 

[Altoqueenkelly]

We're surprising our daughter in September!! I can't wait

 

[Wishing4magic]

My sister and I are surprising our little girls with a trip this summer. My DD4 asks me all the time if we could go back to Disney. Her birthday is this month and she says all I want for my birthday is to know Ariel and the other mermaids are real. She's so cute when she says that.

We haven't decided how to surprise them yet. The scavenger hunt idea does sound like fun. We will probably tell them the week before we leave. So excited to see how the girls react

 

[usagibuffy]

I don't know how you all manage to keep the secret! We spilled the beans immediately. I wonder if there's any way to take it back… I was thinking if I could stop talking about it 10 times a day, they'll probably forget (they're pretty little still).

 

[MistyD]

We surprised our kiddos in December 2012 and it was great! DD was 6 and DS was 3 at the time. We had a super early flight so had to wake them up really really early. DH and I had packed a backpack for each kiddo filled with snacks, coloring books, a plush, autograph book, and wrapped them and placed them under the Christmas tree. We woke each kid by saying "Hey! There's a present under the tree for you!" and they were up like a SHOT and running into the living room. They were both still half asleep but freaking out and hadn't even opened them yet!

They sat down and tore into the wrapping paper. DS didn't know what was going on but as DD started pulling stuff out of her bag I asked her where she would want to take all of this stuff. She said "Disney World?" and we said "YES! We are going as soon as we get our clothes changed!" DS jumped up and starting unzipping his footie pj's as he ran out of the room! The car was loaded and once they were dressed we were out the door.

We had to stop for coffee... it was EARLY... and while DH went in to get it I was in the car with the kids. They were so wide-eyed and excited..it was awesome!

We are going again in October but they don't know and we are going to surprise them again. DD will be at school so we may use the dentist appointment trick. We are also leaving on DH's bday so I thought about, once we were all in the car, saying "DH, where would you like to go for your birthday?" He would say "Disney World" and I would just put the car in gear and say "OK lets go!" I can't wait!!

 

[Altoqueenkelly]

We are going in September and pulling my daughter out of school (i know, bad mommy). We leave on a 7am flight on a Wednesday, my boyfriend is taking the tuesday prior off of work to help me pack and sort things out while DD is in school & take the dog to the kennel. We want to be ready to go and have it all tucked away in our room so that she wont notice anything is different. We plan to wake her around 4am on Wednesday and act like it is time for school (she's seven so not heavily clock dependent and im hoping she wont notice its three hours early for school, lol). Then we have made a video asking her if she remembers with pictures of old trips and a my boyfriend reading her a poem I wrote. Then the video will ask her to open a box on the count of three, we have a Mickey & Minnie balloons that I will have helium filled and ready inside the box with a card inviting her to Disney, along with a shirt to wear on the plane saying "I'm going to Disney" and a plane bag with a Disney barbie (pictures on my pre-trip report).

From there we will tell her to put on the shirt because we are leaving "right now!".... I fully expect her to explode... I'm so excited!!! 70 more days!

 

[ssommerville]

I'm planning a surprise trip for September, but I'm not telling the kids until after we're there and checked into the resort. They know we're going to Florida, but they think it's just for a long weekend to visit my sister and possibly go to Universal for a day or two- they have no idea we're going to WDW for 10 days. I told them that since we are staying close to Disney, I will drop them off to play putt-putt while I take my 2 year old to check in to our room. I have some room decorations (including a banner I made that says SOMMERVILLE DISNEY WORLD VACATION 2014) and welcome bags for them that I'm going to leave in the room. I'll ride the bus back to pick them up and let them think we're just staying at a Disney resort and then reveal the entire surprise once we get back to the room and they see the banner and their goodie bags.

 

[shm_helene]

My girls and I planned a disney world trip for Sept 2014. It was basically almost a year and a half away when we started planning. What they didn't know is that we were planning the trip for this September.

Here is a video of the reveal is anyone is interested. The reaction from my oldest girl is priceless

My only concern is I used some pictures form this site on the powerpoint presentation that I showed my kids. I hope I didn't cross some copyright boundaries.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vfHpGKkIAmc

This one makes me cry everytime Great job

 

[practicallyperfect77]

I'm taking my sis and her family (niece will have just turned 5 and nephews will be a month short of 7) in Oct. The kiddos know we are going at some point in time but don't know when. They have never been but I wanted their input on what they would like to do so I have asked them tons of questions. I keep telling them that some morning we'll just wake them up and head to the airport, but I really would like to think of a fun way to surprise them. I am more excited about this trip than I was my first trip.

 

[Mrs Lapo]

We are surprising our kids with a trip in November. My youngest turns 2 in October. So at his birthday party we are planning to reveal our surprise to the kids (my other two are 5 and 9) that way our families can be there as well. I plan on getting a big box, removing two of the flaps so that it is easier to open. I found a way to make confetti pop out when they open it (thank god for google) and we would also like to put in t a few balloons. So at the party this box will be wrapped. We will tell them we have one more present but that it's for all of them. When they open it the confetti and balloons will come out first and then there will be a sign that says "surprise you are going to Disney World". We are also going to put shirts for them to wear on the plane that I am making that have the mickey hands pointing at themselves & they say "this girl/boy is going to Disney" as well as their mickey ears and autograph books. I CAN NOT WAIT!! it's been so hard keeping it a secret.

Then this will give them about a month to get really into our trip. We can prep for their first plane ride, re watch classic Disney movies, maybe watch some of the ride videos on you tube that I think they may be leary about going on so that way when we get there they have no doubts or fear about riding any of the rides etc.

 

[Peanut Butter]

This one makes me cry everytime Great job

Oh wow. I am not an emotional person AT ALL and it made me tear up too!

 

[ccarter]

I am taking my daughter and 2 granddaughters ( 2.5 and 6.5) to DW right after Christmas. My daughter and I are hoping to keep it a secret as long as we possibly can, we would love to not have the oldest figure it out until at least we get to the Welcome to Disney World sign, but she'll probably figure it out from the ME bus. We have designed shirts for each day and the one for the oldest for the day we fly out is going to say on the back: My sister and I are going to Disney World and we don't know it! We figure it will be fun for everyone in the airport as well!

 

[ssommerville]

We have designed shirts for each day and the one for the oldest for the day we fly out is going to say on the back: My sister and I are going to Disney World and we don't know it! We figure it will be fun for everyone in the airport as well!

Love the t-shirt idea- if mine weren't old enough to read, I would definitely borrow that idea

 

[Altoqueenkelly]

Love the t-shirt idea- if mine weren't old enough to read, I would definitely borrow that idea

Same here Love it!!!!!!

 

[Wfamily4]

I plan on surprising my kids 5 and 7 this week about our upcoming November trip!
The first time we went they were only 3 and 5 and we saved the surprise for the morning we left. We told them right before we left for the airport. Since they were so young and had never been before I don't think that they were as excited as I had hoped as they didn't know what to expect.

This time I bought a recordable card and I am going to record a special alarm clock ring tone that we used last time we were in Disney (it was a fun upbeat music that we only use for Disney) every time someone in our home sings it we all know it as our "Disney song". I am going to get a big box and fill it with confetti paper and put the card in it and tell the kids their is a surprise in the box. I am hoping that when they open the card and hear the song they will know what the surprise is

 

[Meldev]

I plan on surprising my kids 5 and 7 this week about our upcoming November trip! The first time we went they were only 3 and 5 and we saved the surprise for the morning we left. We told them right before we left for the airport. Since they were so young and had never been before I don't think that they were as excited as I had hoped as they didn't know what to expect. This time I bought a recordable card and I am going to record a special alarm clock ring tone that we used last time we were in Disney (it was a fun upbeat music that we only use for Disney) every time someone in our home sings it we all know it as our "Disney song". I am going to get a big box and fill it with confetti paper and put the card in it and tell the kids their is a surprise in the box. I am hoping that when they open the card and hear the song they will know what the surprise is

Have fun! I just told my kids via scavenger hunt last weekend - the had a blast looking for clues and were stunned by end result!

 

[Jkpark]

I'm starting to work on my surprise. I booked a Disney cruise for Dec 26 2015. We will fly out Christmas Day. And likely early. Leaving house around 7am. Our girls will be 10 and 8. I'm worried that if I wake them Christmas morning with the car already packed, they will stress about what clothes and things I packed for them. But it would be so much fun!! My other idea is that we do a lot of family fun Fridays. I am thinking about putting ideas for that in a bucket and getting in the habit of pulling it the Sunday before (so we can be ready for it). Then the Sunday leading up to the cruise switch them all out to say "Go on a Disney Cruise" so it will be a short window but they can help pack. What does everyone think?

 

[gules]

I'm starting to work on my surprise. I booked a Disney cruise for Dec 26 2015. We will fly out Christmas Day. And likely early. Leaving house around 7am. Our girls will be 10 and 8. I'm worried that if I wake them Christmas morning with the car already packed, they will stress about what clothes and things I packed for them. But it would be so much fun!! My other idea is that we do a lot of family fun Fridays. I am thinking about putting ideas for that in a bucket and getting in the habit of pulling it the Sunday before (so we can be ready for it). Then the Sunday leading up to the cruise switch them all out to say "Go on a Disney Cruise" so it will be a short window but they can help pack. What does everyone think?

If you can stick with the family night idea, I think that's fantastic. I know that as a child I would have freaked out. It'll be too obvious if you can't keep it up for at least a month beforehand, though.

If you really want to do the Christmas morning idea, I think that at 10 I would have flipped in the best possible way. My sister was always a perfectionist, though, so she would be the one asking if we had everything. My solution to this would be to take pictures of the things you pack and give them over "for review." That way they can see that you didn't leave super important items behind. I always wanted a book and stuffed animal with me, and my sister was particular about shirts. Photos would solve all that. Alternatively, give them these things the night before so it has time to sink in, and they can double-check the pics for everything they want.

 

[Jkpark]

If you can stick with the family night idea, I think that's fantastic. I know that as a child I would have freaked out. It'll be too obvious if you can't keep it up for at least a month beforehand, though. If you really want to do the Christmas morning idea, I think that at 10 I would have flipped in the best possible way. My sister was always a perfectionist, though, so she would be the one asking if we had everything. My solution to this would be to take pictures of the things you pack and give them over "for review." That way they can see that you didn't leave super important items behind. I always wanted a book and stuffed animal with me, and my sister was particular about shirts. Photos would solve all that. Alternatively, give them these things the night before so it has time to sink in, and they can double-check the pics for everything they want.

My girls are mostly go with the flow but to wake up early and be surprised and rushed to airport - on Christmas Day - it might be too much. They also like bringing books and a stuffed animal - but their favorites change almost daily. Thanks for the feedback.

 

[firegurl]

We are planning on telling our DS on the morning of our trip. Just 3 weeks from today!!!! DH and I have our 10th anniversary coming up so we have talked about taking a trip. DS thinks he is staying with his grandparents while DH and I go to Jamaica. DS asks constantly when we can go back. He knows that we are planning a trip for "someday" so we have gotten lots of input from him. One night I asked him what he would do if I just woke him up and said we are going to WDW. He said he wouldn't believe me so I asked him what would make him believe me. He said that if I woke him up and told him that we are going to go on the Peter Pan ride he would believe me. That's exactly what we plan to do. Our flight leaves early and once we factor in the drive to the airport and checking in at the airport, we have to wake him up around 3:30am. Luckily he is very much morning person, especially if given some warning that he will have to get up early. I may tell him that we have early morning shopping or something but I haven't quite figured that out yet. We recently took him to a baseball playoff game and made the mistake of telling him about it a couple of days before. He was a wild man and couldn't sleep with excitement so we have learned our lesson.