With DVC how do you surprise your kids?

[Mad4Mickey]

we did this once to my niece and nephew , but we flew . We told them we were going to see their Great Grandmother . They really didnt know till we got on the ME LOL Even then they were not sure till the video kicked on .

Tried this with my Granddaughter back in Oct and she said " this plane better stop somewhere near the mouse house juju " she is 4 and tells anyone that will listen she owns DVC and she has a FF card with AA

 

[Rochester Disney Fan]

Last year we told our 9 yr old twins that we were doing a 10 day split stay between AKV and BLT. After the first 6 days we said it was time to pack for our move the next morning. We had breakfast at Jambo and then went over to where you check in for the Cruise.We had never done a cruise before and the kids would ask us if we could everytime they would see the cruise ship on that Disney Vacation channel at the resort. We let the Castmembers at the Cruise station tell the kids. It was a priceless reaction.

 

[LPnerd]

Since we have DVC, we have obviously made many trips to WDW. We took a year off this year and the younger kids were pretty disappointed. So we are really wanting to surprise them next year with a trip.

But how do you surprise your kids when they know the route to WDW?

We are either 20 hour drive or 2 hour plane ride away - so it would take some pretty impressive sneakiness to pull this off. I'm at a loss unless we just break down and tell them at the airport or pick them up from school with the car loaded and tell them about 3 hours into the drive. ETA: the kids will be 9 & 10 at time of trip

Anyone able to surprise their multi-trip kids?

I love the idea of picking them up at school, if you're going by plane, don't admit anything until they see the gate your taking off from. and if they still don't get it, just stay quiet.
My kids wouldn't get the orlando thin at this age as they were going to WDW not Orlando. you might get away with that. I just pack when they're not around the night before... the way I did this was to have a detailed list for each kid, doing this took me about 15 min a kid, and no, not kidding. hide the suitcase under your bed or in closet, ( yet another reason Parents should have some privacy), and pack ahead what you can without notice. Underware and sock and flip flops are easy, get new ones and leave them in the package!
this sounds like so much fun!
I have to caution, don't lie to your kids. that is a REALLY slippery slope.

 

[BethanyF]

My son enjoys planning as much as I do, if not more. I havent been able to pull any surprises at WDW, but I did surprise him with the Disneyland Hotel instead of Paradise Pier (where we were originally going to stay). His reaction was great when we had him get out of the van at DLH and made him think we had to walk from there to PPH. Got the bags out of the van and headed toward the lobby before he figured it out.

This year's trip to DL may include the be-all, end-all of surprises....a lunch at Club 33 on his birthday. Just waiting for the reservation day (end of next week) and crossing my fingers that the member can get us in.

So I guess my point to the OP is maybe the trip isn't the surprise, but an element of it can be.

 

[AirGoofy]

Since we have DVC, we have obviously made many trips to WDW. We took a year off this year and the younger kids were pretty disappointed. So we are really wanting to surprise them next year with a trip.

But how do you surprise your kids when they know the route to WDW?

We are either 20 hour drive or 2 hour plane ride away - so it would take some pretty impressive sneakiness to pull this off. I'm at a loss unless we just break down and tell them at the airport or pick them up from school with the car loaded and tell them about 3 hours into the drive. ETA: the kids will be 9 & 10 at time of trip

Anyone able to surprise their multi-trip kids?

Mine were 9 & 7 at the time. The first part of the surprise was to plan a trip for a time we normally don't go. We usually go in October for school fall break, and booked a week in June. Second, have your story lined up. When we drive to WDW (13 hours), we usually leave around 4:00 PM and arrive at 7:00 AM, driving straight thru the night. For this surprise trip, we left after a dance recital night, around 7:00 PM. Our story, we told them we were driving to their grandparents house. Driving at night, they couldn't see where they were going and were a little groggy waking up for gas station refills.

It was a fun surprise.

 

[StormalongKay]

We woke the kids up early and told them I had to drive Dad to a work meeting....kept going until we drove into the airport garage. When we got to into the terminal, I told them we were going to Disney. They loved the surprise! It had started out as any normal day.......

 

[papertraveller]

We have managed to surprise our daughter three times.

The first time was easy. It was her birthday weekend, and her dad went to get her a lunchtime because she'd been told she had to go to the doctor for a flu shot. I came home from work early, and we had a bunch of Disney gifts for her -- a lanyard, earrings, and a book that I'd made for her explaining the surprise. We had a fabulous weekend.

Then one Christmas we told her we were going across the border to Buffalo to do some shopping. We were trying to keep her distracted as we went through Customs & Immigration, but had to tell the border guard that we were going to Orlando. So from the backseat comes the voice saying, "We're going to Orlando? Disney? Really? Really?"

And the last time was another weekend where we just woke her up early. I went into her room with the video running, saying "You know how sometimes we wish we could wake up in the morning and end the day by having dinner at Epcot? How about tonight?"

It still took her awhile to understand...

 

[Tinker mommy]

We tried to surprise our DD (5 at the time) and DS (7) at Halloween two years ago, so we kept it a secret. We were all packed up and ready to go and woke them up at 5:00 am to catch the plane to DL. We had the video camera rolling and my DH and I asked the groggy kids, "Guess where we are going?!"

They looked at us and looked at the packed bags and said, "Disneyland." I guess we are a bit predictable

 

[Madhatter family]

We tried to surprise our DD (5 at the time) and DS (7) at Halloween two years ago, so we kept it a secret. We were all packed up and ready to go and woke them up at 5:00 am to catch the plane to DL. We had the video camera rolling and my DH and I asked the groggy kids, "Guess where we are going?!"

They looked at us and looked at the packed bags and said, "Disneyland." I guess we are a bit predictable

LOL! I could see this happening!

We won't lie to them. Except maybe a lie of omission by not telling them until we have to...

I'm pretty sure that at this point they even know that MCO = Orlando. We may have to settle on just having certain elements be surprises.

I do really really like the idea of a cruise being the main surprise - maybe just a night or two at WDW and then leave for a cruise.

I've certainly had a lot of fun watching YouTube videos of how people surprise their kids.