question for those who have surprised your families??

[poohlover]

We have never surprised the kids with a trip...trip planning is part of the excitment in my opinion!

So how did those of you who have done it keep it all to yourself?? My 2 DD will be going to Orlando for the Music Days next April with the HS band...could they march down Main ST. without ME seeing them??

But I thought it might be fun to surprise the other kids, DD 5 & DS's 13, 10 & 7! So how do I keep all the excitment to myself???

Did you all leave hints?? How did you do it?

 

[bananiem]

We surprised our kids with their first trip to WDW when they were 4 1/2 and 6. Their first "clue" was that I had been checking out guidbooks from the library. When they'd ask I'd say, "In case we ever go." Then about 3 weeks before we left we gave them each a little fanny pack with Disney stickers, Disney WOnderball, Disney Pez dispensers, disposable cameras and plane tickets.
I took their picture as they guessed. It's priceless!!
They got to help plan the second trip.

 

[EvMc]

I surprised my 8 year old. I told everyone but also asked them not to tell! I told her teachers and they were great about it. I usually take her out of school each year and her not knowing kept her quiet with her friends, too. She didn't make them jealous! It was hard not to tell her. She was surprised when I took her out of school early one day and kept asking where we were going. I pulled over after about an hour on the road and played a video about the building of Walts dream. The puzzled looks, pictures and squeals were priceless.

We have another trip coming up next month and she has 2 friends going...they won't know until we get to Florida...unless she squeals!

I also have another booked in Oct. that she doesn't know about!

It's hard not telling but spending time on the interent reading about Disney helps me! Its like keeping the Christmas presents a secret...its all worth it!

 

[mrsheppo]

About 8 years ago when I was as a single mom, I scrimped and saved for a year to take my four kids to Disneyland. We went over spring break week. My brother also came along to be our driver. We lied and told them we were going to visit their other uncle in California. We waited until about two hours into the trip and then stopped for breakfast. At breakfast, I told them we had a change in plans and I gave them each a card with DisneyDollars in it and asked them if they knew where we were going to go instead. You have never heard such excited kids in all your life. The best vacation and now looking forward to our first vacation in WDW this year.

Couldn't keep this one a secret. Kids are much older and helping to pay for part of it.

 

[tithonia88]

We surprised our kids, then 4 & 6 for a quick early December trip to see all of the spendor, decorations, and go to Mickey's VMCP.

We kept it a complete secret. I packed without them knowing - even their "on the plane" backpacks. My husband, daughter and I picked my son up at school and then, when we got back to the car, I handed them each a present. They opened each of their presents up to reveal a Minnie figurine ornament and a Mickey figurine ornament. We just said, "We are going to the airport right now, to get on a plane, to go to Disneyworld". My precious son (6) just welled up with tears and had a huge smile on his face. He was crying with joy! (I am crying now remembering). It was very special. The entire trip was also the stuff dreams are made of (snow on mainstreet for Texas kids!).

Enjoy planning!

Tithonia

 

[lasmickey]

All of your stories are great! We aren't going to WDW until October 2004, but are hoping to keep it a secret from DDs (8 & 4 when we travel) until we get to the airport. (I just don't know if I can last that long, I hope so though!) We've discusses with them that we might go "sometime", but our plans are to pack everything without them knowing, wake them up early in the morning, drive to the airport, and then give them small backpacks filled with "Mickey" and "Minnie" items, and let them guess the rest. Tithonia - I can only hope this works out as well for us as it did for you!

 

[christinou]

We surprised the kids last year, they were 4 and 6, we live in upstate NY and always drive to WDW. We told them that their dad had a conference in Atlanta, and that we would go with him, that it was during their winter break.
We drove all on the way to Orlando, they thought it was Atlanta. Then drove on property, they still were not paying attention, finally we drove by the Swan and the Dolphin, and my oldest one looked up and said it is the fish hotel, the fish hotel is in Disney World, where are we??? My little one was screaming we are in WDW, the oldest one still could not believe it, we still talk about that surprise, and they love the memory of it......
This year we woke them up at 4:00 a.m. and said we are going to WDW, they went back to sleep and said yeah right......
Finally they got it that we were going, the big surprise is that we took the auto train, they just loved that.....
I am not sure how we can top that, but they keep telling us that the surprises are the best....

 

[Simba's Girl]

tithonia88

That's how we plan on surprising DD (who will be 2 weeks shy of 4 when we go).
I can't wait. She's been buggin us about it for about a half year now. She dosen't know that her grandma and grandpa are meeting us there!

Heather

 

[BCVNovember]

I'm taking my 3 daughters, and my dad, in November. I think my 7yo (who is the oldest) is wondering because I keep getting these yellow envelopes with mouse ears on them (WDW resort confirmations - I've changed plans about 8 times, but now with the demise of FTP, I'm done) and I keep telling her they are junk mail.

I'd like to keep the secret until the day before we go, but we'll see if I really hold out that long.

 

[cali2gagirl]

hehehe..ya'll are better than me! I can't keep my mouth shut!! We've only been planning for about 3 months, it was a decision since I have the summer off work, and I HAD to tell the kids - I bought a Birnbaum book for them to go through...we've read it at least 10x... and I have their 'drive down' bags packed with little Disney stickers, books, etc.
I don't think I could ever surprise them...although I bet it's priceless!! It would be nice..as the countdown gets closer tho..and I'm as anxious as they are... to NOT hear "Are we going to DisneyWorld today?" about 3 times a day from my 2 yr old

 

[poohlover]

Thanks for all the replies! I'm sooo wanting to surprise the kids...but how HARD was it to keep ALL the planing to yourselves?? We have been about 6 times... I ALWAYS talk about Disney...so I don't know if I could keep all the planing to myself.

My oldest 2 will be going twith the HS band so we could talk about the trip in relation to THEIR plans...but I'm afraid that my 13 yr old DS will figure it out.

I would be GREAT to surprise them though.

 

[dsnycrzy]

I am trying to plan a surprise trip for the 2nd week of Dec. but now that I am back in college, I have to think about ALL of us missing days out of school. I just don't want to be there in the middle of the holiday madness. We are going in August, so I'm trying to look into our Dec. trip while the kids think I'm still tinkering with our Aug. trip. Then after that I'll act like I'm planning our summer next trip while fininshing the x-mas trip. .

The most quiet I can keep is lying about the dates ( saying we're going in Aug. but really going in June-this is my plan for next year ). It's not just hard for me to keep it quiet, it's impossible b/c I'm Disney .

 

[melindaandrob]

We're surprising the kids in Sept., we haven't figured out HOW to surprise them yet though. Dh thinks I'm going to blow it, so it doesn't matter. I love to talk about our upcoming trip so when I mention Disney at the dinner table he just smirks and shakes his head

 

[EpcotMonique]

I've been reading these boards for almost a year and finally got the courage to register; this thread made me do it!

We surprised our DD (age 5) and DS (age 4) last year on Easter and put the luggage tags in their Easter basket (our flight was 1:00 in the afternoon). It took them a while to figure it out, but once they did, they ran around the house trying to pack. Little did they know, I had packed everything the previous week; it was all done after their bedtimes.

For anyone who is thinking about surprising their kids, I would highly recommend you do it!! They were so thankful the whole trip for everything!

This year, we said that we won't be going to WDW during the summer. We are going to "Canada" - oh yeh, Canada is in Epcot you know! This time, we are not telling them anything. We are just going to let them figure it out. I don't know when or how...maybe on the flight they'll question it... "Good afternoon and welcome to flight XX with service from Washington to Orlando". I am so excited about this and can't wait for their reactions. We leave in 6 days but who's counting...

 

[winniedapooh]

We surprised our 5 DCherubs several years ago at Christmas by saving 1 present for all to last. When they opened it, it held hats, t-shirts, etc. Underneath all of the packing peanuts held their Fisher Price Airplane and a note which then 11 yo DS read---it had a picture of a plane saying can't wait to see you in WDW with the dates and to have a good trip love Mickey! We have that one on video! This year we are leaving the 26th of Dec and will be wrapping a piece of luggage with a plane inside, well maybe.....I have one other thought too-lol!

Faith, trust, and pixie dust to all!

 

[ghcoughlin]

Hi I hate to be the one to buck the trend I think if it is your first trip to WDW a surprise at the very last minute could backfire.On our first trip our kids 5 & 8 knew for a few months.Well when we walked onto Main St and they saw the castle yes it was magical.But it was all a little overwhelming.They couldn't believe they were there.The first 2 days the kids weren't themselves.Walking around in a daze.They were trying to put it all into place .Then FINALLY they adjusted to the reality of being there.My kids are the type that adjust to situations very well.So this threw DH and I for a loop.Plus in our family the anticipation , planning , playing Disney games at the dinner table is half the fun.I had a few last minute surprizes,like when we went to CRT for breakfast or matching t-shirts pulled out of their suitcases.My favorite was when they ran into the cabin at FW and found all sorts of little gifts along with Pioneer themed Disney beannies
Don't get me wrong a few trips the kids weren't told until pretty darn close to the trip.Or we left out what hotel we were staying at.
All kids are different but I thought I'd throw my experience and thoughts out there
Have a wonderful time no matter how the kids find out.
Heidi

 

[EpcotDave]

I have to agree with EpcotMonique(she is my other half and without her I might not be posting here for the first time).

We can't wait until the kids figure out they are not going to Canada(well, Canada is in Epcot) and instead going where they truly want to go!! It almost brings a tear of happiness to my eye just thinking about it. When we surprised them last year I can still remember how appreciative they both were.

I can't wait!!

Dave

(Please note - We have nothing against Canada!! Without Canada there would be no Barrage!!)

 

[FunkyRooster]

My mom surprised my brother (14 at the time) and I (18 at the time) three times and got away with it both times. The first time, I was done with my first semester of college and was going to meet my family at my grandparents house. We were opening up some presents and was handed a mickey bag with all sorts of Disney stuff in it like pez, mickey band-aids, battery packs and gum. Of course my brother and I didn't catch on until we saw a photo copy of a plane ticket...we looked at each other and screamed. We were going to Disney for New Years and had only a week to pack!! My grandmother caught our excitement on camera as well. The other time was when we were actually in Disney driving to what we thought was Coronado Springs. My brother wanted to see the paper with the confirmation on it and showed it to me whispering, this is not it, it says Grand Floridian...and then surprise!! My parents did it again and surprised us with the upgrade. The last time was when we were at the Polynesian for the Fourth of July, and were going to Port Orleans for the rest of the vaca. At first my mom wanted two mugs to be delivered to the room from the AKL but when they didn't get there in time she sent a card to the room saying that we were going to the Lodge instead. She says it's hard keep that kind of secret quiet especially keeping my dad quiet too.

 

[nancyL]

We got annual passes this year and they have burned a big hole in my pocket. We've already been to WDW twice and the passes expire in October. I really really wanted to go ONE more time. (grin).
My husband (as luck would have it) has a business trip in Orlando in Sept so his airline ticket is paid for as is 4 days of a hotel. I managed to book the Beach Club (hopefully will be changing to an ap rate shortly) for 11 nights. We told the kids that Daddy is getting to go to Disneyworld but since we've already been so many times already this year that it just wasnt reasonable to expect to go again so Daddy is going alone. Then we came up with the idea of actually going ourselves. Well, we told them that Daddy's business trip was changed to Atlanta anyway. We're having "Daddy's Limo" pick him up at our house just before the school bus is to arrive on our day of departure and we're going to see if we can get the limo driver to "drive the kids to school so thier friends can see them dropped off in a limo" before it takes Daddy to the airport. Of course we're going to drive right past the school and all of us will go to the airport. Isnt that the coolest idea???? I think my 9 year old might suspect something but the 6 and 3 year old are clueless. hee hee hee. Im so excited planning the surprise- the trip itself is almost the icing on the cake.
giggle giggle giggle
NancyL

 

[Taurus]

I am so glad I found this thread! Dh and I are also planning to surprise dd for our October WDW vacation! We haven't quite figured out how to do this yet but were thinking of packing in secret, getting up the next morning and taking a ride "for breakfast." There is a nice restaurant close to our local airport - mabey just driving over to the airport after breakfast and letting dd figure out the rest? Oh I just cant decide how to do this!!!