Surprise!!

[joshua4]

Floridascgirl --- how do you get the old fortune out and the new fortune in? I heard you can microwave the cookie to do that but I have never tried it. Can't wait to hear how the surprise goes over -- don't forget to post. We are surprising our kids with a trip at the end of Feb. Well, actually, just surprising my DD8 and my nephews 8 and 10. My DS13 knows all about it and he is loving having such a huge secret from his little sister and helping with the planning.

I just love reading about how others are going to share the surprise -- we are still working out the details of our big reveal.

Lauren

 

[nmmom95]

We are surprising DS11 & DS6 with a trip on Saturday. We had planned to go last May, but had to cancel because I had health issues. We rescheduled for November, but I was afraid I would have to disappoint them again, so we didn't tell them. Now, we are just going to have fun with it and tell them Saturday morning before we leave!

 

[mdinme]

DW and I want to take them every year so we decided to make WDW trips a Christmas present. After lunch on Xmas day last year they got envelops which led them on a treasure hunt that ended with Lat/Long coordinates that they found were Orlando ("We're going to Cuba?")... It took a bit to sink in and they didn't believe it at first (I fool around with them a lot) but they got it and were thrilled.

This year, we booked in June and we've kept the secret ever since. I think they'll get the same treasure hunt but it'll end up with a ski trip result instead of WDW just to throw them off (we all love to ski and do a lot of it) so we're still not exactly sure how to spring it on them but it'll essentially be our XMas gift to them (and to each other more importantly!).

 

[jtopp]

My favorite is the element of surprise, once with DW and twice with the whole family. With DW, we were planning a getaway, so packing was easy, and she didn't know it until we got to the airport. With the family, the first time we told them on the way to the airport. The second time we had a gift bag under the chrismas tree that was recordaable, and the message was" you're going to disney, how fast can you pack?". Each time, the facs were priceless.

 

[snookiedoodles]

I tried to surprise my boys last year. I booked around November for a Feb trip....I think I lasted three days before I burst!!!

Yes I told them early!!!

We had a ball!!!!

 

[snookiedoodles]

By telling my boys (8&9) this year, they helped out with Ressies!!! And where they wanted to stay!!

 

[Poohlove]

I am also planning a surprise trip for my DS 11 and DD9 for March and we are staying at CSR for the first time. (Their birthdays are in February) This will be our second trip to Disney. My original plan was to take them to school and pick them up early unexpectedly and go to the airport but due to the time of our flight we have to be at the airport by 9am so now I am kicking around a few ideas but I would love some suggestions. Packing and getting the bags into the car will not be an issue and I really want to wait until the last possible second to reveal the secret.

Does anyone have any suggestions?

 

[Calle&Jakesmom]

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".

We told our son we were going on a long weekend road trip. 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.

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"

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.

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? 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!

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 love these ideas! We're leaving right after school on a Friday. I'm thinking of trying to keep it a secret until then. We can have the car packed and some kind of clue for them when they get off the bus- maybe the box of balloons on the front porch. The other thing we could do is tell them we are driving to Grandma's house (3 hours away) or maybe somewhere even father and then see how long we can keep it a secret during the drive. I know they will figure it out at some point and my husband and I will be ready to burst- so if they don't get it we will have to say something by then!!

I tried to surprise my boys last year. I booked around November for a Feb trip....I think I lasted three days before I burst!!!
Yes I told them early!!!
We had a ball!!!!

I'm afraid this will be me!! It's so hard not to tell them. We usually do lots of talking about our trips and planning where we want to eat and what parks to go to on what days. I think I'll miss this part of the fun- but in the end the surprise they get will be worth it!

 

[momma2kiddos]

I'm planning for Dec 2010 and got all kinds of tricks up my sleeve! LOL DD will be 13 and DS will only be 2 so it will be fun. She is already a little sad because I keep saying our spring/summer trip may be cancelled and we may not be able to do Disney till 2011. She even said she'd "sacrifice" and stay in a value if we could just go! LOL So this will be so special for her (and my blooming disney fanatic son. He's still in training but lovin Mickey Mouse Clubhouse!)

 

[rob2004fx4]

When we took our 2 DD's in Aug 08 we never told them. We drove down from MD. We planned our trip in Feb 08 and never told them. i told them we were going to a beach on the west coast of Fl so if they looked it up they would know that we would drive by Disney World. It was the hardest secret ever! My DW and I even had flyers mailed in from the beach we picked out to throw them off. We were staying at POR. When we got to Daytona our DD8 was throwing a fit!! I want to go to Disney! You are mean parents! Since she had never been she was mad! When we got to Orlando we told her we would check out some resorts and get ideas to go next year. Bought them both some gifts at one of the strip malls (Disney related). When we got to the guard gate neither DD noticed that we were on the "list". So when i parked in a space reserved for check in my DD12 scolded me that I could not park there. I just told her I don't care, like they would notice. So thats when DD8 broke down, we had to tell them both right there that we were really going to stay there and Disney was our vacation. At that point we had to show our paperwork to them both to get them to belive! it was by far our best vacation ever!

 

[3floridarays]

We are planning a surprise weekend trip for DS birthday in February. He will be going to school on Friday like normal. I will be taking the day off and just telling him that I didn't have to go to work that day. We are not going to pack anything until he is at school, then we will pack up and put everything in the back of the SUV with a blanket over it. We will pick him up from school and just start driving. We've been wondering how long it will take him to figure out we aren't headed home. That's when we'll spring it on him.

 

[Calle&Jakesmom]

The more I'm thinking about it the more I'm leaning toward getting the kids in the car for a "trip to Grandma's house." The trip is usually about 3 hours and they usually watch a movie on the DVD player on the way there. The trip to Grandma's will also explain all of the bags etc in the back of the car and the reason we will rush them into the car to get out of here!

Here's my idea: I think we'll have them watch a movie and act like we're on the way to grandma's house. When that movie ends, we'll tell them they can pick another one to start watching because we're not there yet. Instead of putting that movie in I will put in a secret DVD that my husband and i will record before we leave. It will be a DVD of me & my husband telling them about the surprise and saying we're not going to Grandma's- we're going to Disney World!

I like this idea because we'll get 3 hours or so of driving out of the way before they know where we're going (that will make the trip seem shorter to them) and then for the rest of the drive the idea will be so new and exciting the long trip won't feel as long. It will be fun to talk about the trip and all we're going to do.

Now I just have to figure out how to make the DVD! I'd love to add some clips from Disney trips in the past and things they like to see, but I don't know if I can do all that.

 

[disneycruising]

I love the idea!

I can't wait to hear how it goes.

 

[jtopp]

The more I'm thinking about it the more I'm leaning toward getting the kids in the car for a "trip to Grandma's house." The trip is usually about 3 hours and they usually watch a movie on the DVD player on the way there. The trip to Grandma's will also explain all of the bags etc in the back of the car and the reason we will rush them into the car to get out of here!

Here's my idea: I think we'll have them watch a movie and act like we're on the way to grandma's house. When that movie ends, we'll tell them they can pick another one to start watching because we're not there yet. Instead of putting that movie in I will put in a secret DVD that my husband and i will record before we leave. It will be a DVD of me & my husband telling them about the surprise and saying we're not going to Grandma's- we're going to Disney World!

I like this idea because we'll get 3 hours or so of driving out of the way before they know where we're going (that will make the trip seem shorter to them) and then for the rest of the drive the idea will be so new and exciting the long trip won't feel as long. It will be fun to talk about the trip and all we're going to do.

Now I just have to figure out how to make the DVD! I'd love to add some clips from Disney trips in the past and things they like to see, but I don't know if I can do all that.

Thats a fabulous idea!! You still get the thrill of telling them, even after you are on the way. How clever! And, as you stated, the long trip just got a lot more tolerable because, as i'm sure they love grandma, they sure would enjoy going to WDW more. I hope this is the scenario you use, and don't forget to record it. The best part of the trip is the look of shock and realization on their faces when they figure it out.

 

[JennSaint]

The more I'm thinking about it the more I'm leaning toward getting the kids in the car for a "trip to Grandma's house." The trip is usually about 3 hours and they usually watch a movie on the DVD player on the way there. The trip to Grandma's will also explain all of the bags etc in the back of the car and the reason we will rush them into the car to get out of here!

Here's my idea: I think we'll have them watch a movie and act like we're on the way to grandma's house. When that movie ends, we'll tell them they can pick another one to start watching because we're not there yet. Instead of putting that movie in I will put in a secret DVD that my husband and i will record before we leave. It will be a DVD of me & my husband telling them about the surprise and saying we're not going to Grandma's- we're going to Disney World!

I like this idea because we'll get 3 hours or so of driving out of the way before they know where we're going (that will make the trip seem shorter to them) and then for the rest of the drive the idea will be so new and exciting the long trip won't feel as long. It will be fun to talk about the trip and all we're going to do.

Now I just have to figure out how to make the DVD! I'd love to add some clips from Disney trips in the past and things they like to see, but I don't know if I can do all that.

Love your idea!! Make sure you video them watching your video!! Do you have the Disney planning DVD? I would bring this too so it will give them something to watch on the way down. We always love watching the new DVD every year. I just ordered mine a few weeks ago.
I have movie maker on my computer maybe you do too? You could make a DVD slideshow with pics from past trips and put it to Disney music. It does take some time but is alot of fun to make!

 

[goofy's friends]

We just did this and it was sooo much fun! We sent the kids to school like a regular day. I did all the laundry the night before and put it into piles--just didn't "send it to their rooms" so it was piled in the laundry room. As soon as they were at school, I packed it all into suit cases. When they got home, one of them said so-n-so is going to Disney World next week. I sympathized with her wanting to go (secretly giggling)! So, we called each one in one-by one (we have 3) and sent them on a scavenger hunt around the house. They ended in the car where it said we're leaving for DW RIGHT NOW (We did give them 30 min. to pack a car bag of things to do) and we were on our way! It was sooo funny to see their reactions--all so different--one was brought to tears and thanking us profusely (the one who was sad her friends got to go), one jumped up and down and was sooo excited , and one was incredibly matter of fact--like he'd known all along. Hillarious! It was an awesome surprise and they will never forget it!

Have fun!!

 

[Calle&Jakesmom]

I hope this is the scenario you use, and don't forget to record it. The best part of the trip is the look of shock and realization on their faces when they figure it out.

Love your idea!! Make sure you video them watching your video!! Do you have the Disney planning DVD? I would bring this too so it will give them something to watch on the way down. We always love watching the new DVD every year. I just ordered mine a few weeks ago.
I have movie maker on my computer maybe you do too? You could make a DVD slideshow with pics from past trips and put it to Disney music. It does take some time but is alot of fun to make!

I didn't think of recording it. Good idea, thanks!

I get the Disney planning DVD too. We watch it about once every couple of months! I haven't gotten a new one in a year or so. I'll have to check if we have the latest version. It's a good idea to bring it so the kids can watch that on the way down.

I like the slideshow idea- I may need to go that route if I can't figure out how to transfer video from our camera to a DVD we can play in the car.

 

[Calle&Jakesmom]

I had another idea to go along with the surprise- we're going to Disney World!. The Disney "Scene it" game has a Disney trivia DVD. I'll plan to bring that along for the kids to play on the drive after we reveal our destination! That should keep them entertained for awhile on the drive there.

 

[kymshadey]

My sister and I are taking our children during April vacation. This is also a surprise for our children They are ages 14, 12, 10,10,and 3. What we are doing is having a "Disney Surprise Party ' the night before we go. We are going to decorate the house with all Disney stuff and a Disney cake to. Then we are going to tell them all. Here we are going to present them with there "Goodie BAgs" that will contain things that will come in handy at the park.

 

[Poohlove]

I think that is such a great idea! I am torn on how to pull off our surprise. I am taking my kids (9 and 11) from March 10th-17th and I am kicking around a few ideas about how to do it. Have a great time!!!