Surprising the kids

[disneylovinmom3]

We are going to WDW with FD 11/25-12/3 for our first trip as a family. DH went a bunch when he lived there and growing up but I've only been once for a day with marching band and the kids have never been. They know we are going at some point but think it's years away. We are flying out on Thanksgiving and staying at POR for a couple days before FD begins and want to surprise them before we leave for the airport. The trouble is their ages are 9, 4 and 3 so only one can read so we don't know about doing a banner or anything like that. What would you do to surprise them?

 

[ChiefM]

Surprise them with the Magic Bands and maybe some ears!! An Ipad with some Disney YouTube videos on it of the parks and fireworks.

 

[Always_Dreaming]

Big Mickey and Minnie Mylar balloons in the car?

 

[kranzaldua]

When my stepdaughters were 10 & 12, we surprised them by doing a scavenger hunt and the last clue led them to their 13 month old brother's Mickey Mouse book where we left a big piece of paper in it announcing the surprise. At that point, no one in the house had ever been to Disney, but they were excited all the same because there's just something so magical about the words "We're going to Disneyworld!!!" (ask any Superbowl winner =P) Since your kids are younger, you could make some of the clues super easy or even like pictures of something familiar to adapt it to their level if you wanted to something like that.

We've never done this, but I saw a cute idea of ordering/making a pizza and then they placed 2 mini pepperonis on each circle to resemble Mickey ears/Mickey silhouette and on the inside of the pizza box they made the Disney announcement. I'm sure Pinterest is full of ideas, too.

 

[rg35]

The one time we surprised our kids I was playing Hangman with them and decided to make the answer to one of the puzzles "WE ARE GOING TO DISNEY". Something like this would work for all of them because they can take turns guessing letters and the oldest one could read it out loud when he figures it out.

 

[keepswimming76]

The first time we surprised them it was the morning of the trip and we wrapped up some WDW maps. Our son was 6 and daughter 2 1/2. He opened the gift but did not connect the dots, lol. We had to finally say, "We're going to the place on the map, We're going to Disney World today!" Once he realized it and got excited, his little sitter started to get excited too although I'm not sure she understood.

Another time we surprised them a month ahead by doing a scavenger hunt. He was 9 and she was 5 so he read the clues out loud. They ran around collecting clues until they got to the end. I had a couple of drawstring backpacks with Disney items inside. They each got Mickey Ears, coloring books, and some other small knickknacks for the trip. They loved it!

The day-of surprise is fun because it is just so outrageous. I can't imagine someone telling me, "Hey, we're going to Disney World today!"
But, it is nice to have time to talk about the trip before hand because it helps build even more excitement.

 

[DisCruiseDad]

Surprising our kids (and seeing their reaction) has always been one of the best parts about going to Disney. The last time we went, my wife had personalized Mickey/Minnie shirts made for each of or kids, and on the morning of departure we work them up at 5am (to catch an early flight) and just handed them clothes to put on (including the shirt). It took our older son a few minutes, but as soon as he saw the shirt he put it together and immediately got excited. The best was when he jumped on his younger sisters' bed exclaiming "wake up, wake up, you're going to meet the princess at Disney!". They were in disbelieve the entire drive to the airport, and their excited comments kept us laughing the entire way there.