Surprising the kids with a trip next week!

[Robo-Daddy 3000]

We've got a surprise trip to OKW next week. We haven't said a word it about to my son13 and daughter10. My wife and I are getting excited about going buts its weird keeping this secret from the kids. I'm getting a little worried that they are going to be upset that we kept it from them after we reveal that we are going. We are leaving on Monday morning and our tentative plan is to tell them the day before that we have an early morning flight for a trip to Philly to see the Liberty Bell and other historical stuff and then drive to DC to see the Smithsonian. Then wait and see how long before they realize that we are waiting to board a flight to Orlando instead of Philly.

Anybody ever spring a surprise trip on their kids and have their reactions be less than super-positive?

 

[Disneypubgal]

Never surprised any one with a trip before... but keep posting I am curious to see how it all turns out... we are at BCV next week... I hope we have good weather!!

 

[figmentfan0724]

thats awesome!

 

[cvjw]

We surprised our boys one year - they were 11 and 7 at the time. They had no idea we were going to DW until we woke them up at 4:00 am to start our drive. They were soooo excited. We go to DW very regularly, so we were nervous that they wouldn't be excited about another trip, so we decided to surprise them. It was a great decision, and turned out to be one of our best trips ever. The whole drive to Orlando, they wanted to know all of the details - where we were staying, what restaurants we were eating at, etc. We wish we could surprise them again, but they would be onto us.

 

[Robo-Daddy 3000]

Never surprised any one with a trip before... but keep posting I am curious to see how it all turns out... we are at BCV next week... I hope we have good weather!!

I'll let you know how it all turns out for sure. I'll be packing some rain ponchos for next week but I hope we don't have a repeat of our trip last August when TS Fay came for a visit and didn't leave for 3 or 4 days.

 

[Robo-Daddy 3000]

We surprised our boys one year - they were 11 and 7 at the time. They had no idea we were going to DW until we woke them up at 4:00 am to start our drive. They were soooo excited. We go to DW very regularly, so we were nervous that they wouldn't be excited about another trip, so we decided to surprise them. It was a great decision, and turned out to be one of our best trips ever. The whole drive to Orlando, they wanted to know all of the details - where we were staying, what restaurants we were eating at, etc. We wish we could surprise them again, but they would be onto us.

Thanks for sharing the story. I hope we get the saem reaction from our kids. I thought about just waking them in the morning and telling them like you did but once we start packing clothes, there is no way we are going to be able to hide the fact that we are going somewhere the next day, thus the phony story about the trip to Philly/DC.

 

[Disneypirate85]

Yup we did! WAS GREAT....hid it for 7 months, however they knew we always go to Disney for 4th of July so made up a dummy itenary for a week long trip to Key West with all kinds of "Trip details" Pictures of a Key West resort jet ski rental price's and 1 day boat trip ticket info. "ACCIDENTALLY" left it on the counter and DW and I went for walk. When we returned hour later they had went thru the fake stuff thought we were heading to the Keys. Didn't suspect a thing till they saw "Magic Kingdom next right" sign. Was GREAT....Shawn

 

[ccigliano]

I think as a kid I'd be a little upset that I didn't get to anticipate the vacation because now that I'm older - anticipation is part of the vacation. Just thinking about going to Disney in December excites me now. If it were me and I was 13 - I'd be upset that you didn't tell me sooner. But that just me. Hope it turns out the way you planned.

 

[BLTtinkerbell]

I am much older than my youngest sister, so when she was a little girl, my husband & I told her we were taking her to Virginia. We had a flight that stopped on the way down to Orlando, so we told her we were getting off at the first stop. She noticed that the flight was also going on to Orlando & said it would be so cool if we could go to WDW. You should have seen her face when the plane landed & we said we were staying on & really going to WDW! She was so happy!

A few years back, my husband & I booked a trip to WDW about a year in advance for a July trip. We didn't tell the kids until the last day of school in June. They were so excited!

I hope your kids love the surprise! Have a great vacation!

 

[katmittens]

We have never surprised the kids with a trip. They have always known that we were going to disney. Before we owned DVCO we did surprise them by telling them we were staying at Port Orleans, when we arrived we drove to Boardwalk, it had just opened and we told them we were going to see it before we went to our hotel. Boy were they surprised and thrilled to be staying at Boardwalk. They were surprised when the guard had our name down and then they realized Boardwalk was going to be our place to stay for the week.
They are older now and still go with us and love the planning, but for younger kids I think it is great. Have a great trip.

 

[buzz5985]

I have a surprise trip for my DS planned this November. He is turning 13 and will be in MK on that day. Plus we are bringing his best friend with us, and the friend has never been to WDW, and his parents don't plan on letting him in on the little secret. The plan is to pick them up from school early, and head to the airport. LOL I am so excited.

Janis

 

[kim_d]

I surprised my 4yo DD in November- she had turned 4 2 weeks prior and I was taking her WDW for a long weekend (flying out Friday morning and home Monday night). DH stayed home with DS who was in K at the time.

So I woke her up the morning we are leaving and tell her to get ready we are going to WDW. She started crying- she isn't a morning person to begin with- that she didn't want to leave her brother and dad. Finally, once dressed she was so/so and by the plane ride was fine and super excited.

We had a great trip (despite a fever and trip to Urgent Care) and would do a surprise trip again.

 

[akghutton]

We surprised our kids two years ago. They were 7 and 4 at the time. They LOVED the surprise. I made them t-shirts with Mickey, Donald and Goofy in spy gear that said, "Your Mission, if you choose to accept it, is to have a Magical Vacation. Surprise! You're going to Disney World!!!"

We packed the kids luggage in our van's stow n' go compartments. My parents, who were joining us on the trip, drove down, and the ruse was that we had to take them to the airport, as they were going to visit family in the Carolinas. When we arrived at the airport, I handed them the t-shirts. It took a minute for it to sink in as my 7-year-old son read the shirt. Then the screaming and jumping up and down started. It was such a cool moment and worth the months of planning in secret.

To keep the "SECRET" vacation theme up. I made the kids picture itineraries, which were blank. Each morning, I'd give them a sticker, which contained our plans for that day only. The kids loved it and are a bit disappointed that they know about our trip this September. They've asked if next time, we can surpise them again.

Have a great trip! The kids will have a blast!

 

[lmb]

My mom and I went on a surprise trip last year with my DS2 and my DD4 to see the Christmas decorations. I was planning on just taking the kids out of bed and driving to the airport and seeing how long it would take for them to figure it out but in the morning when we woke them up early my DD asked what we were doing and my husband blew the surprise and said, "Your going to Disney World". Oh well! We're doing the same this this year so maybe we'll have better luck.

 

[moredisneyplease]

i surprised my son (4) in April. When it was time for him and his little brother to go to bed I asked him "do you want to go somewhere instead of going to bed?" of course he said Yes, so I pulled out his pirate Mickey ears and said "how about Disney World?" 3 hours later we were on a red eye heading from LAX to MCA leaving behind Daddy and baby brother. He was sooo excited and still asks me often when I'm going to surprise him again with another trip to WDW!

 

[Grumpygrandpa]

Sometimes surprises are positive and sometimes they are not. I surprised my grandkids once and it worked out really well. We told them we were taking a trip to spend some time with some of Grandma's family. Unbeknown to them this family is the same one we always do Disney with. I described the family members, who would be visiting with, using their middle names. We drove down and they were asleep as we passed DLR and turned left on Katella to spend one night offsite. The next morning we woke up and headed out to meet Grandma's family. The video of them sitting in the back seat watching a dvd and not even noticing where they were until I pulled up to the GCH is my very favorite video clip of them ever. I wish I knew how to share it with everybody (not too tech savvy). It is too cool to watch the realization slowly come to their faces and then the explosion of happiness that follows.

Another time, when my DGS was only 3, I took him and my 8 year nephew to DLR. My DGS knew where we were going and talked about Disneyland several times on the drive down. I told my nephew we were going to visit two friends of mine named Don and Mick. My nephew never caught on as he was used to my DGS talking about DL all the time anyway. He questioned me about Don and Mick and at one point said he was pretty sure he remembered meeting Don once. Needless to say he was stoked when we drove up to the park and discovered that my friends were Donald Duck and Mickey Mouse.

Now for the flipside. Last spring we invited friends of ours whose twin 10 year olds had never been to DLR to vacation with us. They decided to tell the twins they were going to go to a farm and surprise them with the DL trip. One of the twins was actually crying when she found out they were not going to a farm but were going to DL instead. I have read similar posts about "surprises" backfiring and I think it is when the kids get attached to whatever "false" destination is offered. I don't know if one or both of your kids might get attached to the idea of the D.C. trip or not....but good luck. I hope it works out well, cuz it is fun when it does.

 

[alamode]

I'm free next week if anyone on here wants to surprise me!! Please?

 

[cj9200]

Surprised DD once when she was about five. We were in Gainesville visiting my parents and watching a football game. On the way back I made a turn on I-4 telling her that we were lost. She said that it looked like we were near Disney. I told her it could not be and we are just of course. When we pulled under the arch, her eyes lit up. DD, “We are going to Disney?” Me, “Yes.” It was only for a few hours since we needed to make it home that night. The best part was as we were walking down Main Street she asked me to pinch her because she must be dreaming.

 

[pilferk]

We've surprised our kids twice. Once back in 2006...when I had to go to WDW for a conference at the contemporary. We surprised our oldest daughter and our son.....and our youngest daughter "surprised" us by tagging along home as a little Disney Souvenir.



We surprised them AGAIN back in Jan of 2008. They had no clue. We had bought DVC in 2007, when AKV went on sale to the public. Kept that a secret, too. Planned the trip, packed the car, got the younger kids into it, went and picked up oldest daughter from school and sprung the surprise.

Been a blast BOTH times.

 

[Pixieflip]

We surprised our 4 kids on Christmas day with the revealation that we'd be taking a Disney Cruise 13 days later. That video is PRICELESS!! We planned it for over a year, shopped for special things to wear, all behind the scenes from them. It was the greatest surprise ever.

We have been to WDW over a dozen times with our kids and so far that was the only surprise. Most of the time we do enjoy the planning and saving and garage saling to make it work, etc. But once in a while...it is super fun to surprise.

I would also be careful about the set up story. You have to really know if your kids could take the switch or not. I have one who might not roll with it quite so much, so telling her a different story and then switching it up at the airport would probably go over like a lead balloon. But, with nothing planned, just a surprise announcement? That was our ticket.

BTW, I just booked a surprise trip for my daughter's 13th birthday this week and I canNOT wait to tell her! Her February birthday will be more than memorable in our OKW Studio.

Whatever you do, be sure your video and regular cameras are charged and ready...you will NOT want to miss it!