Surprise!!

[Calle&Jakesmom]

I want this trip to Disney to be a surprise for our kids. They've already heard over and over that we're not going to Disney this year, so now how do I spring it on them? Our trip is during our February school vacation and we're driving (we drove last Feb and the kids actually enjoyed it).
Should I wait until we get them in the car (that could be a challenge) or wrap something up and give it to them at Christmas or tell then the week before we leave? Any ideas?

 

[KimK2006]

How old are your kids?

 

[sharadoc]

My plan is what I have in my countdown - No school today, we're going to Disney World!

I plan to wake them up normal school day time, then let them know we're going, which will give them some time to grab last minute car stuff. DH and I are taking the day before to pack the car, so we'll be all ready to go when we tell them.

 

[2Tiggies]

My plan is similar to the previous poster. My "family" is just DD7 and me and like you both - to be a total surprise.


I am going to wait until the day we leave. We will need to leave the house around 9 am for the airport and I plan to have the bags packed and sitting downstairs in the hallway with her minnie ears and lanyard on top. I am going to wake her up for breakfast and scoot her big easel style magnetic white board in front of her bed and use the alphabet letters to spell out something along the lines of "get dressed, Disney is waiting". I am also prowling around for a CD with any music played on Splash Mountain to put on when I wake her (it's her FAVORITE RIDE).

The crucial part of my plan is NOT TELLING ANYONE (except those on the DIS) as people talk to each other (like last time ....!!!!) and someone says something to someone, it eventually gets to a child at school via parents and bang goes the surprise! That's just my 2 cents worth as an aside - I learnt the hard way with that with our April trip!

I am however, also open to anyone who has a better idea!

 

[mickeystoontown]

We told our son we were going on a long weekend road trip. (He was 11 at the time.) We had gone to see our daughter graduate missionary college just a month before we were set to leave for Disney so I conveniently was "too lazy" to put the luggage back in the attic. Little by little, I packed our Disney stuff into the luggage that was stuck in the corner of our bedroom.

I really didn't know if we would be able to pull off the surprise because our drive is 15 hours!

When it came time to leave, we loaded up the car and told him we were off "to see where the road would take us". We packed him a backpack which had his PSP and the portable DVD player in it. He alternated between playing his games, watching movies and napping.

We stopped in a hotel around midnight and he had fallen asleep in the car. The next morning, he realized we were in Florida. He asked if we could go to Disney World and we told him we didn't have enough time to travel all the way to Disney. He called his grandmother to tell her we were getting back on the road and we were in Florida but we weren't going to Disney.

When we got to the first mileage sign that said Disney World 30 miles, we had the video camera out and had him read the sign to us. That's when we sprung it on him that we were really going to Disney World. He told us we were the best parents in the whole wide world!

It was so hard to keep the secret but so worth it!

 

[Calle&Jakesmom]

How old are your kids?

7 & 10- both have been to Disney at least once a year, every year of their whole lives.

 

[mickeystoontown]

7 & 10- both have been to Disney at least once a year, every year of their whole lives.

That was one of our problems too.....we go to Disney every year but had to cancel the vacation because I changed jobs. We rescheduled but didn't tell him. We just knew our son was going to catch on when he started seeing familiar sights.

 

[KimK2006]

7 & 10- both have been to Disney at least once a year, every year of their whole lives.

Our kids have been at least once a year since they were each 2. I have always wanted to do this, but just never have. I would love to surprise my DS10 and have everything packed and ready to go. He would love it. But, my DD14, would like the surprise, but with at least a few days notice. She would want to pack for herself.

At 7 and 10, I think it would be great to wake up and say were are going to WDW. Or, you could even do as some of the previous posters have done and start driving and see how long it takes them to figure it out.

 

[TrustedTraveler]

I love these stories: they really make my day!

 

[miranda1979]

one christmas my parents had bought a stone on the walkway to the contemporary ( it said vacation fix 96 and then our names) and they took the picture and made it into a puzzle and we had to get all the pieces and put it together! it was awesome when we figured out what it said! Now you can't buy the stones anymore, but you could make a puzzle and each day give them a piece to it, or you could make t-shirts with the vacation dates on it too. have fun with it no matter what

 

[kmk1180]

We're going to try that for our kids.
We're going next April for their birthdays.
We plan on holding a family birthday party saturday.
Then have a family member take them out to dinner or something.
During that time we'll pack and load the car, then make sure the garage is closed so they can't see.
Put them to bed as normal, then next morning wake them up and
tell them to get up we have things to do today then
ask them if they "Want to go to Disneyworld today"
My wife will wake them and tell them while record it.

since it will at like 4:30am when we tell them, I kind half expect them to say no and be cranky at first, then when they realize be super excited about it.

the other plan is to pack the car and wake them but not tell them just let them figure it out.
They are 3 and 5 so this will take a little bit of time for them.
The downside is we won't be able to record their reaction

 

[rosiep]

I think it's wonderful you're surprising your kids...but what if that year comes when you truly can't take them?

 

[Geoffmakes3]

OMG -- so lovin' these ideas! We had to cancel our Sept trip due to DH's work schedule (no rockin' the boat in these times!) .... but planed a trip when the new promotion came out .... like a lot of others, we have been every year for the past 5 years and consider ourselves extremely blessed for this -- but also cursed! You can't NOT GO once you've gone every year!!

Since we're going right before the holidays, we're having our "Elf" (Benny) sitting on the living room floor when our DD's come home from school, (we're driving, so they'll go to school as planned on a Friday, DH is off, so we'll pack all day) "Benny" will be surrounded by all the Disney stuffed animals we've purchased over the years (only about 30 :-0 ) with a note saying, Santa thought they were extra good this year, and because they have so many clothes, toys, and other things, he thought they would enjoy a family trip to Disney instead! My DD 10 still believes in Santa and our elf ... so the gift HAS to come from the Elf in order to "explain" Santa not leaving the normal (unheard of) amount of gifts that fill our tree --- and hopefully our DD13 will catch on at what a great gift this really is ... of course they'll still be some presents under the tree (just don't tell my DH !!)

Also leaving a surprise note for my DH that we're going to the MVMCP too !! He loves those darn wooden soliders!!

It's sooo hard not telling!! I just want so much input from them! I figure we need to be flexible due to having a 2.5 year old too .... so we'll just rearrange the schedule a bit on the ride down if we need to !! It'll give them something to do instead of watching movies in the car

 

[wendy1974]

We told our son we were going on a long weekend road trip. (He was 11 at the time.) We had gone to see our daughter graduate missionary college just a month before we were set to leave for Disney so I conveniently was "too lazy" to put the luggage back in the attic. Little by little, I packed our Disney stuff into the luggage that was stuck in the corner of our bedroom.

I really didn't know if we would be able to pull off the surprise because our drive is 15 hours!

When it came time to leave, we loaded up the car and told him we were off "to see where the road would take us". We packed him a backpack which had his PSP and the portable DVD player in it. He alternated between playing his games, watching movies and napping.

We stopped in a hotel around midnight and he had fallen asleep in the car. The next morning, he realized we were in Florida. He asked if we could go to Disney World and we told him we didn't have enough time to travel all the way to Disney. He called his grandmother to tell her we were getting back on the road and we were in Florida but we weren't going to Disney.

When we got to the first mileage sign that said Disney World 30 miles, we had the video camera out and had him read the sign to us. That's when we sprung it on him that we were really going to Disney World. He told us we were the best parents in the whole wide world!

It was so hard to keep the secret but so worth it!

Wow, it takes you 15 hours? What part of La. are ou in? It only takes us 10 from right outside of New orleans.

 

[taymaesmom]

We too are surprising our girls-10 and 15. We have been going every other year but we went last AND we went this year too. Dh told them that we wouldnt be going again for at least 2 years when we came home in May. But some how I managed to convince him that it would be fun to surprise them with a short Christmas trip. We leave the day after Christmas for 4 days. Anyway I plan to wrap their disney pin lanyards and pin a note to them that says Surprise We are going to Disney World TOMORROW!

 

[Calle&Jakesmom]

I think it's wonderful you're surprising your kids...but what if that year comes when you truly can't take them?

Don't need to worry about that- we're going this year and I'm looking forward to a great trip!

 

[rosiep]

Don't need to worry about that- we're going this year and I'm looking forward to a great trip!

I hope you have a great time!
I wasn't trying to be a wise guy...my kids are grown now, but I always struggled with that.

 

[JennSaint]

I want this trip to Disney to be a surprise for our kids. They've already heard over and over that we're not going to Disney this year, so now how do I spring it on them? Our trip is during our February school vacation and we're driving (we drove last Feb and the kids actually enjoyed it).
Should I wait until we get them in the car (that could be a challenge) or wrap something up and give it to them at Christmas or tell then the week before we leave? Any ideas?

We did this a few years ago! We kept telling them we were not going. We alway go during Feb break too. Then for Christmas I bought wooden letters that spelt "Walt Disneyworld". Put a note inside the box with the letters telling them to unscramble the letter to figure out what the present was. Once they finally put the letters together and figured it out I had another present with hidden mickey book and another letter stating the resorts we were staying at and dates etc. It was alot of fun watching them try to put the letters together. Took them a while but they finally figured it out.
Not sure if your boys are a little young for the letter unscramble but another thing you could do is take one of your favorite WDW photos and make it into a puzzle. I know someone who just did this for their niece and nephew. And once they finally put it together they realized they were going to WDW.
Have fun whatever you decide! We'll be there Feb 10-20!

 

[disneycruising]

When my kids were little (8,6,4 & 2) we surprised them with a trip to disney.

I had everything packed in the car the night before...hidden under a blanket. I told the kids we were going to go and have lunch with dad. We then drove over to Dad's office... when he got in the car he asked, the kids where we should go to lunch? They did know something was up at this momonet because mom had out thed camcorder. The kids listed off all the place we could go...Dad said he wanted to eat a restraunant in WDW. After a couple of; we can't go there Dad from the kids. We told them that we were taking them to WDW...right know! My DD (8) annouced that we didn't have any clothes...I told her to look in the back.

At the time we were living in CT and drove to FL. So, the kids spent the rest of the night planning! It was great.


We have also done it for a Thankgiving Cruise, when the kids were 5,7,9 & 11.

I had everything packed the night before. I made shirts for the kids that had a big picture of the ship and under the picture it said: been there, done that, going back. We planned on waking up the kids, giving them their shirts and telling them to hurry up... before the car serviced arrived to take us to the airport.

So, that morning my DH & I get all ready and carry all of the luggage downstairs by the front door. We are making as much noise as we can to wake up the kids...who normally jump right up in the morning. They wouldn't get up. We finally had to tell them to come to the living room as fast as possible. My DH was even commenting: Mom was dress...why is Mom dress? After they gathered in the living room...we gave then their shirts. Dad was asking the older 2 what does it say? We told them that in little while a car service was going to be here to take us to the airport, that our luggage was by the door. They need to put on the outfits mom had out for them...with their new shirts, brush their teeth & hair...ASAP. The car service showed up while they were finishing up.

I think they were in shock until we got to the airport. Once we boarded out flight...there was all kinds of questions.

 

[floridascgirl]

We are FINALLY going to reveal our plans to oue DS11 this weekend!!!! It has been a secret for the past 8 months. I have planned and planned this and I just can't wait. This is what's going to happen....

Sunday night we are doing our monthly "Disney Family Movie Night". We go all out with a printed menu, themed meal, etc... Sunday's movie is going to be Kung Fu Panda and we are ordering take-out Chinese and making home-made eggrolls. I have made my own fortunes to replace the fortunes that come in the cookies (I'm actually doing that tonight). They say...
1. A magical journey is in your future.
2. A dream is a wish your heart makes.
3. What will you celebrate?
4. When you wish upon a star your dreams come true.
* The lucky #'s on the back are our travel dates...12 03 09

He's going to wonder what is going on, but we aren't revealing anything else that night.

The next day, when he gets home from school, a box is going to be waiting on the front porch for him. When he opens it, a helium Mickey balloon is going to float out with our reservation tied to the bottom. I also have an awesome countdown calendar that is going to be in there ready to count down the 2 weeks until our trip!

I've never kept a secret like this before and I'm literally about to bust. He's going to be so shocked because we have told him several times that Disney just wasn't in our budget because we need a new roof (we really do but Disney won out again).

If someone can explain to me how to post photos, I'll try to post them for you after the big reveal. We are going to try to video it too, but we don't want to make him suspicious.