Surprise the kids the day before or at the airport?

[firsttimer4]

With the assistance of our flight crew, we surprised our children at the airport. It's a moment I will never forget.

http://youtu.be/PSPjoOy_qCY

That is awesome!! I can't wait to surprise our kids

 

[MagicPrincess]

We are surprising our kids (11 and 7) about a day 1/2 before we leave. Gives them some time to call their friends, pack their favorite stuff- and allow me to pack without suspicion! LOL
I am still trying to decide how to do it- was thinking of making a video of our past trip, and at the end include something at the end like "pack your bags, we're going to Disney"
A scavenger hunt would be fun, too!

 

[PurpleTurtle]

With the assistance of our flight crew, we surprised our children at the airport. It's a moment I will never forget.

http://youtu.be/PSPjoOy_qCY

Oh, goodness, Jackie. That's the sweetest thing I've seen in a long time. DH and I are both tearing up!

 

[Disneyfam4life]

We actually leave in the morning...driving from Va My DS 4 likes to write the princesses letters so when she kept asking when are we going I said well maybe write and see when there will be the hotel room you like available( royal room at POR). So she did so about a week ago and checks each day for a response! We decided to get a cute disney suitcase and balloons and filled the case with fun car activities, new disney DVD's and a few small toys. We wrote a response letter from cinderella inviting her to disney (stamp and all so it looks legitimate lol) and she still "believes" so it's a bit more magical this way! While we eating breakfast our neighbor is going to set the case by the door and ring the doorbell like the postman just dropped it off! Then they can throw a few "special" things in and off we go!

But like others have said....YOU know your kiddos so either way it's going to be an awesome surprise!

Very cool!!

 

[amyj1024]

We will be surprising our kids, 6 & 10, in 55 days. They have been begging me to go for the past year, but I tell them that their Dad would rather go other place, which is true--but He is out voted living with 3 disney freaks. We are telling the kids we are driving to Atlanta for my husband to do a half marathon, which is also true and we have driven to several long weekends for his running so this is not an odd occurrence, then we are telling them that we are heading home on Sunday, but we will actually be heading to WDW. We plan on breaking the news once we hit the Florida border and they realize we are not heading the wrong way if we are suppose to be going back to Chicago.
It is really hard keeping it to myself! I'm so excited I could burst!

 

[skatalite]

2. (this one was better) He was 10 and although he begged, told him we couldn't afford Disney, but we could go to Chicago. Got up to go to the airport, he, mom and I dressed in our Disney shirts (just for fun). Got to the airport (he still didn't know) and the skycap said "oh, going to DISNEYWORLD??" He had a sad look and said "no, not this time. Going to Chicago." The skycap looked confused until I winked at him. Got to the gate. Other kids there in Disney clothes. STILL didn't get it. At 7am (plane left at 8am), "Mickey Mouse" called DS to tell him he was going to DisneyWorld. He actually cried--but in a good way.

That's hilarious and touching. Good for you guys. Your son will never forget it.

To the OP: The day before. I'd only be concerned if they didn't sleep a wink before you all depart. It could make for cranky kiddos on a plane.

 

[Poohrulz]

We are surprising my 8 year old son and 12 year old nephew in less than 2 weeks. Pretending we are taking my husband to the airport for another business trip (my nephew thinks he is coming to stay with me to "help out" while his uncle is gone) and we will tell them when we get there. Not sure how we are going to do it yet. But sooooo excited!

 

[Kat016]

With the assistance of our flight crew, we surprised our children at the airport. It's a moment I will never forget.

http://youtu.be/PSPjoOy_qCY

That was so cute! I love your daughters reaction. She brought tears to my eyes. But I had to laugh because its nice to know my husbands not the only one who gets left out of thank you's lol

 

[luvmy2babies]

With the assistance of our flight crew, we surprised our children at the airport. It's a moment I will never forget.


http://youtu.be/PSPjoOy_qCY

I'm a complete mess now. Awesome.

 

[Spacepest]

I think I've decided how I'm going to pull off the surprise.

1. A few days before the trip, make the kids' favorite stuffed animals disappear. Hide them in the luggage somewhere.

2. Make fake ransom notes from Mickey regarding the welfare of the "kidnapped" stuffed animals.

3. Act like the notes came through the mail and read the ransom demands to the children.

4. After reading the ransom letter, order the kids to get dressed, because "We are leaving now to get your stuffed animals back from that bad Mickey Mouse!" Also make the kids empty their piggy banks so they can pay Mickey's "ransom demands" (this would actually end up being their souvenir money).

5. Hope the confused kids get it when we actually get to Disneyworld. I also plan on leaving the stuffed animals in our room the next day with an apology letter from Mickey. He kidnapped the wrong plushies! But, we're here anyways....

I'm still debating if I should take pictures and videos throughout this whole affair.

 

[dawnmichele]

Last year my daughter took her two boys (12 & 10) on a surprise trip & didn't tell them until the day before so they could tell their classmates where they were going. I was to watch their dog.

She confided in me with the plans including al the details, reservation number, flights, etc. I used that info and booked an identical stay and arranged for adjoining rooms at POR. As soon as they left, I took the dog to a pre-arranged kennel and caught a later flight.

I arrived around 5:30PM while I knew they were having dinner at Fultons. When they got back she called me on my cell. I was waiting for them at the pool. A double surprise.

I LOVE that story!

 

[joshsmom]

That's hilarious and touching. Good for you guys. Your son will never forget it.

He STILL talks about it--and he's 17 now. He truly was surprised and SO HAPPY. But he can't BELIEVE he didn't figure it out!!!

 

[nym4588]

No no no, you've got it all backwards.

If Homer Simpson taught me anything, it's that you tell the kids you're going to Disney World and then surprise them with a trip to the dentist.

It's funny because it's true.

 

[d3boyz]

We are DVC members and had recently purchased more points many years ago ... which left us with some odd points to use fairly quickly. One of our sons was in middle school and wanted to 'play hookey' from school. Of course, this is not allowed in our family ... or is it?

I made some arrangements and, as it was near the Christmas break AND we had snow, we did something a little different. We picked the boys up early from school (hence playing hookey), and drove south. I reminded them that I'm not a fan of cold weather OR snow, and said I needed to drive south until the snow was gone. They slept through the night, and awoke on Daytona Beach for breakfast.

We then drove to WDW and would have gotten away with it if my oldest hadn't pointed out to his brothers that all of the signs have MOUSE EARS on them! That secret busted, we drove to the Wilderness Lodge to see if, just by chance, there was room for us to stay. Resersvation good, we stayed there for a night. We decided to 'try again' and see if the magic was still good for us to stay somewhere else and who would believe it? ... we stayed at the Polynesian for a night! Could it hold for yet another? Why YES! All things are possible with Disney magic! We stayed at the Contemporary for a night!

This way, we were able to 'sample' the other venues at Disney without booking a whole week, and the magic was amazing for our sons. We drove home on Christmas Eve, and the boys awoke to Santa finding them in their own home as if no amazing adventure had even taken place!

It's been about 10 years since that happened. The boys STILL talk about it from time to time! Wonder if they ever figured it out ... ?

d3boyz