Surprise!!

[Ellie42699]

Sooooo exciting!! I can't wait to find out their reactions when you tell them! Great Job keeping this a secret!

 

[SignMeUp]

I have 2 boys, 6 and almost 8. We took them to WDW for the first time last April and told them then that it wasn't the kind of trip we could do every year and we probably wouldn't be back until just before our oldest son turned 10 (he turned 7 just before last year's vacation). While trying to decide where we wanted to go for our family vacation this year, dh surprised me by saying "let's go back to Disney!" He was right... where else had we had SO much fun?! And the kids are at the perfect ages to really enjoy it more than any other place.

We decided not to tell the kids. Our plan is to tell them that we are going to their grandparents house for a few days... that way they won't be suspicious of me packing our things and taking our dog to be boarded. We also have to wake up at 4am to go to the airport and they'll sleep much easier if they think they're just going to grandma's house. I don't think they slept much at all last year the night before our flight to WDW! We'll wake them at 4am saying, "get up, let's go back to Disneyworld!" That should get them to pop right out of bed .

The next surprise will be when we get to our connecting flight... grandparents, aunt, uncle and cousins will all be there to fly to Orlando with us! It will be awesome if we can pull it off, but there are obstacles. The least of which is the rest of our family planning their WDW vacations too and not spilling the beans to my boys. The other is that we're doing the GAD. I've told the boys that we're just volunteering, nothing about getting the Disney voucher. We leave for our trip on May 29th, so hopefully we can keep it quiet until then.

 

[YodaGirl]

My parents surprised my brother and me with a trip when I was 7 (he was 9).

We used to take drives on the weekends just to get out of the house. We'd drive a little ways south, then come back (always talking about how nice it would be to just keep going and end up in WDW). That year, we started passing the usual exits we would take until my brother was finally like "Umm...what's going on?".

We were so excited. It was great!

 

[sharadoc]

I'm glad this thread came up again! I'm following up on our surprise for our DD on our Feb. trip.

So, we kept it quiet totally until the morning we left. We packed when she wasn't home, etc. Her teachers, grandparents, everyone did a wonderful job keeping the secret.

So, that morning we decided to wake her with some Disney Park music, and tell her. DH and I walked into her room with music playing and said something like, Wake Up - time to get dressed and go to Disney World. She kind of rolled over and said something like "stop messing around." We told her we weren't and she said "you're just saying that to make me get out of bed" we told her no, we were really going, leaving at 9:00. She STILL didn't believe, so I had to show her a suitcase. Then she finally believed but didn't over-react. She smiled and got out of bed, but no jumping, screaming, or anything.

The drive was terrible, she didn't have enough time to pack everything she wanted to take in the car, and she was grumpy.

Bottom line - never again. The surprise wasn't as great, and it was very stressful for us. We had much higher expectations of excitement than we got, and she didn't have time to mentally or physically prepare for the trip.

She finally got into it after we were there a day or two. We've already told her about our next trips so she's totally ready!!

No regrets, just a lesson learned for us!!

 

[Calle&Jakesmom]

I'm glad this thread came up again! I'm following up on our surprise for our DD on our Feb. trip.

So, we kept it quiet totally until the morning we left. We packed when she wasn't home, etc. Her teachers, grandparents, everyone did a wonderful job keeping the secret.

So, that morning we decided to wake her with some Disney Park music, and tell her. DH and I walked into her room with music playing and said something like, Wake Up - time to get dressed and go to Disney World. She kind of rolled over and said something like "stop messing around." We told her we weren't and she said "you're just saying that to make me get out of bed" we told her no, we were really going, leaving at 9:00. She STILL didn't believe, so I had to show her a suitcase. Then she finally believed but didn't over-react. She smiled and got out of bed, but no jumping, screaming, or anything.

The drive was terrible, she didn't have enough time to pack everything she wanted to take in the car, and she was grumpy.

Bottom line - never again. The surprise wasn't as great, and it was very stressful for us. We had much higher expectations of excitement than we got, and she didn't have time to mentally or physically prepare for the trip.

She finally got into it after we were there a day or two. We've already told her about our next trips so she's totally ready!!

No regrets, just a lesson learned for us!!

Huh...
I have worried a little about this trip not feeling as big to our kids because of the surprise. Usually we involve them in all of the planning and talk about the trip for months before we go. Sometimes I feel like all of this anticipation makes the trip so much better. I have wondered if not having the "planning phase" will make this trip feel different to them.
Also- the packing stuff part that you mention. We want our kids to have the opportunity to pack things they want to have in the car, so we are telling them we are going on a trip to grandma's house (3 hours). Hopefully they will pack up enough of their stuff so that we don't run into the same trouble you did.
I don't know if we'll ever do a surprise again. It's been so hard to keep this a secret. And i really do feel like I have missed out on the anticipation part of the trip. It's in 1 week, but it really doesn't feel like it because of the charade we are putting on for the kids! My husband & I are taking the day off on Tuesday to pack & get everything ready & get shopping done. I think after that day I will feel like it's all real, but right now... I'm not sure.

 

[Order66]

I'm glad this thread came up again! I'm following up on our surprise for our DD on our Feb. trip.

So, we kept it quiet totally until the morning we left. We packed when she wasn't home, etc. Her teachers, grandparents, everyone did a wonderful job keeping the secret.

So, that morning we decided to wake her with some Disney Park music, and tell her. DH and I walked into her room with music playing and said something like, Wake Up - time to get dressed and go to Disney World. She kind of rolled over and said something like "stop messing around." We told her we weren't and she said "you're just saying that to make me get out of bed" we told her no, we were really going, leaving at 9:00. She STILL didn't believe, so I had to show her a suitcase. Then she finally believed but didn't over-react. She smiled and got out of bed, but no jumping, screaming, or anything.

The drive was terrible, she didn't have enough time to pack everything she wanted to take in the car, and she was grumpy.

Bottom line - never again. The surprise wasn't as great, and it was very stressful for us. We had much higher expectations of excitement than we got, and she didn't have time to mentally or physically prepare for the trip.

She finally got into it after we were there a day or two. We've already told her about our next trips so she's totally ready!!

No regrets, just a lesson learned for us!!

Don't worry, some parents had worse reactions than you did. My son (then 9) screamed and cried hysterically at the airport when we surprised him and his brother with a trip to Disneyland. Told us (very loudly) we were the WORST PARENTS EVER because we lied to him. The kids thought we were only dropping Daddy off at the airport then going to the doctor and out to lunch with Grandma, who also came on the trip with us. I did manage to calm him down and assure him his teacher also knew about the trip and no he wasn't going to be in trouble. Looking back now almost a year later...he laughs about it. But I've still promised him no more big surprises like that. He has ADHD and he just can't handle that kind of shock without a meltdown.

His brother (also 9 at the time) took the entire day to "get it". We finally land in CA and drive to our motel.....across the street from Disneyland. He gets out and says he wished he could go! LOL Now that might have qualified me for WORST PARENTS EVER....stay right acrosss from Disneyland and not take them.

I was happy I tried it once, but I know it doesn't work for our family either. FWIW...everyone had a great time despite the rough start. We went to WDW a few months later. They knew about everything.

regards

 

[curemyreed]

We are a family who enjoys the months of planning & talking about all the things we love about Disney & the anticipation, etc. However, we did something similar and had the van packed and a "Come on, let's load up. We're going to go spend the weekend with Grandma & Grandpa." Apparently, our three kids are way LESS observant than we give them credit for because many long hours past when we would have arrived one of them finally said, "Uhhmmm. Shouldn't we be there by now?" To which DH deadpans, "I dunno. Ya think?" DS says, "Yeah, sorta." and looks at his brother and drops the subject. After a time DH and I are giving each other looks because we are both thinking, "Uh, HELLO BACK THERE!!! Is anybody paying attention?" Then, WAY AFTER THAT, other DS says, "Mom? Dad? Where ARE we? Are you lost? This isn't Texas, this is Louisiana!!!" Before we could say anything other son yells, "Oh, my gosh!! We're going to Disneyworld, aren't we?!!!" Oh....my, my....wish you could have seen the celebrating and shrieks of joy from the back of the van!!!followed by much parent worship/adulation.
We are SO GLAD we surprised them! It turned out great for us! Lots of fun.

 

[0hLovely]

I love surprises but it's def hard to keep! My husband & I have been keeping a planned Disney trip for our DD since October! Which i know isn't that long... but in my track record.. It's amazing I've lasted this long!! especially when it comes to Disney!

Here's our plan.... We're not telling her till we are actually in Orlando airport and we're going to "rent a car on the lower level ( Magical Express Area) and then I'll give her a gift of some sort .. new t-shirt of lanyard set of pins or what not and tell her!

We did actually tell her we are going to Florida this morning, but just to visit my DH's families vacation house, which shes actually excited about. She will never catch on either, since we told her we have to wait a couple years till we can save more money and she's been okay with that. This will be her first visit to DisneyWorld .. She went to Land when she was 3, but it's Sooooo not the same. And her bday will be on day 2, so i have so much planned for her that day!

 

[Calle&Jakesmom]

We are a family who enjoys the months of planning & talking about all the things we love about Disney & the anticipation, etc. However, we did something similar and had the van packed and a "Come on, let's load up. We're going to go spend the weekend with Grandma & Grandpa." Apparently, our three kids are way LESS observant than we give them credit for because many long hours past when we would have arrived one of them finally said, "Uhhmmm. Shouldn't we be there by now?" To which DH deadpans, "I dunno. Ya think?" DS says, "Yeah, sorta." and looks at his brother and drops the subject. After a time DH and I are giving each other looks because we are both thinking, "Uh, HELLO BACK THERE!!! Is anybody paying attention?" Then, WAY AFTER THAT, other DS says, "Mom? Dad? Where ARE we? Are you lost? This isn't Texas, this is Louisiana!!!" Before we could say anything other son yells, "Oh, my gosh!! We're going to Disneyworld, aren't we?!!!" Oh....my, my....wish you could have seen the celebrating and shrieks of joy from the back of the van!!!followed by much parent worship/adulation.
We are SO GLAD we surprised them! It turned out great for us! Lots of fun.

What you guys experienced is what I hope happens next week to us! We are telling the kids we are going to grandma's house (3 hours) and then we're going to see how long it takes them to ask what's going on and why we're not there yet. Part of me wonders if they'll notice before we hit New York City or if they'll even get it then. My big worry is that my husband & I are only going to be able to hide our excitement for so long! If it takes them too long to get it- we will have to just bust out and tell them!!

 

[curemyreed]

What you guys experienced is what I hope happens next week to us! We are telling the kids we are going to grandma's house (3 hours) and then we're going to see how long it takes them to ask what's going on and why we're not there yet. Part of me wonders if they'll notice before we hit New York City or if they'll even get it then. My big worry is that my husband & I are only going to be able to hide our excitement for so long! If it takes them too long to get it- we will have to just bust out and tell them!!

I know just what you mean!!! DH & I were amazed at how L-O-N-G it took our kids. In fact, we were both itching to say something after awhile. He whispered, "What is UP?! When are they going to notice something isn't right?" And I was like, "You KNOW they get that from YOUR side of the family!" HA! Anyway, literally the last reaction I would have expected is some of the upset/grumpy reactions PP's have talked about, but I totally get WHY the kids reacted that way. It's a pretty major thing to have sprung on you, even if it is a cool thing. Glad our decision to handle it this way didn't overwhelm our kids, but I wouldn't have been upset if they weren't back there whooping it up. I hope you get a good reaction from your kiddos!

 

[Calle&Jakesmom]

My kids have been complaining to me on a daily basis now about the fact that we are not going to Disney this year. They keep telling me that it is a tradition that we go in February and we HAVE to go. I just can't wait to see their reaction when they realize we are going!