Well, the planning was a little harder for this trip because I knew I couldnt come to the DIS to ask anything. I knew DD would see it so I had to be careful. I had thought about creating a new account just to ask questions, but was so afraid of it being out there and her putting it together since she is a member here. She has always said she wants me just wake her up some day and say lets hop a plane to Disney, so that is what I planned to do.
The original plan was a Mother/Daughter trip, but DH
surprised me the day he went to get the tickets and came home with 3 instead of 2! He had some airline vouchers that needed to be used and was able to purchase the ones for DD and I for only $12.60 total!!!
Now that DH was coming along I needed a story to cover taking the dog to the kennel before we left. I came up with a perfect plan in February, a co-worker of DH was getting married in Omaha the 22nd of May. I told DD we should go the day before and spend the day at the Omaha zoo and do some shopping. One of DHs real co-workers who DD babysits for even asked her to babysit after the wedding during the reception to help make it look real.
I asked DHs SIL to make us a fake wedding invitation and every bit of it was a Disney reference, right down to the time of the wedding, 3 pm. Every name used in the invitation was a relative of Walt Disneys, the address of the church was the address where Walt was born. The name of the reception hall was the name of his backyard railroad. Afterwards DD couldnt believe she didnt see it!
So, the stage was all set and we were good to go
On Sunday, just 5 days before we were to leave, she figured us out. I told her to stay home from church that day because I was afraid someone (2 people there knew because they were filling in for us while we were gone) might accidentally slip and say something in front of her. When we came back home she was watching a movie and I knew she knew right then and there, my heart just sank.
She was watching an old VHS movie (why I will never know!!!!) and as soon as I saw the box for it I knew. A few days before I had bought a few t-shirts and planned to make some for the trip, I hid them in a closet she never goes into anymore, it only holds some old paperwork and our old VHS tapes that no one ever watches anymore. Why would she ever look in there?
She didnt say anything, but I knew she knew and I told DH she was on to us. He told me seeing a bunch of blank t-shirts wouldnt make her think she was going to DisneyWorld, but I knew better. You see, DD and I both have a severe case of Disneyitis and I knew what she thought the moment she laid her eyes on them, I had no doubt she knew.
Later that day she told me about a girl here on the DIS that was surprised with a trip by her parents, I knew she was just feeling me out so I went along with it and said how cool that would be and how I wished I could pull something like that off, but that I would never be able to.
Then a few hours later she said something about the t-shirts and how much fun they are to make for a trip, then she asked me about some images I had saved on the computer. I told her the t-shirts were from our girls trip last year, I had planned to make some, but no one else seemed interested so I put them away and forgot about them. I told her the images were for a couple at church who are going soon and they were surprising the kids.
She kept dropping hints and asking questions, and I kept explaining things away, but I was just heartsick that I had made such a big mistake so close to us going. DH and oldest DD kept telling me she didnt know, but I knew better
and I also knew it was my own fault.
The next morning (Monday) as I was driving her to school I decided I should just go for it and try to fix this mess. I asked her straight out if she thought we were planning a surprise trip for her, that I had wanted to read about this girl on the DIS getting surprised and couldnt find the thread anywhere so it had made me think DD made it up to feel us out. She admitted she made the girl up because the t-shirts and images made her think we were surprising her and she thought I would react if I heard her talk about a surprise trip. I told her I felt so bad that she thought we were surprising her (true, because I did feel horrible!) and that we did not have a surprise trip planned for her (again, not a lie because she now knew). She was really bummed and I felt bad sending her off to school like that, but I knew in 4 days she would forgive me!
She texted me later and said I should take her to Mickey Ds to make up for not taking her to Disney!
So, the next few days went off OK. Once in awhile DH and I would rib her a little about thinking we were taking her to Disney, and she got Mickey Ds twice that week for my guilt at making her think we were.
On Thursday I dropped Dash at the kennel while she was in school, couldnt let her see how much food I was taking for a weekend trip. That afternoon I helped her pack for the wedding. We got out her dress shoes, a dress and nylons and everything else she would need. That night DH told her they needed to go get me a birthday present, so
she made up an excuse so her and dad could leave the house
That was the plan all along, we just made her think it was her idea! While they were gone I went into full packing mode and got everything packed, then I hid the wedding clothes, we werent going to need them in Disney!
I always change the sheets before we travel so we can come home to clean sheets, so I had her help me change her sheets and then told her she should just sleep in the Disney room downstairs. I wanted her down there because it is the lowest level of the house and was hoping she wouldnt be able to hear any last minute packing or us getting up extra early to get ready to go.
Friday morning I was up at 4 and got ready, then DH and I went to wake her up. We videotaped it! I told her it was time to get up and get moving, the lights were still off but I could see her with the nightvision on the camera, her eyes never opened. Then I said instead of the Omaha zoo, maybe we should hop a plane to Disney instead. Her eyes still didnt open, she just said thats not funny. After the last few days, Im sure she thought it was another joke. I told her it wasnt funny, but true and did she want to see the plane tickets? She said yeah, Id like proof
still with her eyes closed.
I had DH grab the shirt I made her that said WDW or bust and he turned on the lights to show it to her. She finally got it and asked if we were legit, her disbelief finally turned to shock and surprise!
The whole time I was planning the trip I kept a journal for her, everything I planned went in there and every time we had a Disney moment I wrote it down. I kept a list of who knew and when things happened. I gave her the journal to read on the ride to Omaha and it was fun to watch her get things. Suddenly the puzzle pieces of everything that had happened, clues we had dropped and things that had occurred began to make sense and she could see the whole picture of everything that went into this. It was hilarious to listen to her exclaim thats why? I never knew that! and etc
So, even though we had a close call and she almost figured us out, we managed to pull off this surprise and it was worth every minute of it to see her face when it finally sank in!
The last full day of our trip was my birthday and it was a perfect way to end our trip, it was indeed a magical time!
