Question for those who have surprised your kids?

[AdventurerKat]

I have decided to take my son for Memorial Day for a few nights. I am thinking about doing it as a "surprise" trip.

How have those of you who have done this for your children
"sprung" it on them.

He talks about going back all the time so I know he will be ready and willing to go at a moments notice. Just wondering when and how you tell them.

 

[cleo]

I can't possibly keep it quiet, but my mother surprised my brother and I when we were younger (the year Disney opened). She woke us up in the wee hours of the morning, told us to grab our pillows and get in the car, and we drove for two days until we reached Orlando. At that time, we didn't even know the Magic Kingdom existed, but it became a trip I will never forget, starting with that early morning's groggy chill (December) and ending in the Happiest Place on Earth.

 

[Synonymous]

We were planning to tell our (then) 5-yr old the day before we were leaving (start of her spring break), but we broke down a couple days early. I had found a website with video of Fantasmic, a show she had tried to see a couple of times and never been able to make it through. She watched it on the computer screen that night and was so proud of herself that she didn't get scared.

When she was in her bath that night, still talking about the show and how she couldn't wait until next time so she could see it for real, we couldn't hold it in any longer.

I said to her, "How would you like to see Fantasmic for real?" She nodded. "Three days from now?"

She just looked at me blankly for a few seconds, trying to digest it. I think she thought I was teasing her. Then as my wife and I nodded like idiots her face lit up. We got some very wet hugs that night.

 

[AdventurerKat]

What a cute story. My best Disney related story when I was little was that my dad was in the navy and we lived in San Diego. My parents didn't have alot of money but we drove up the two and a half hours one day to go to Disneyland. My brother and I were so excited. Well, by the end of the day we had done alot, but certainly not everything. We couldn't afford a hotel and frankly my parents had just never planned on spending the night so we weren't prepared and we went home. But much to our surprise, the very next day we drove back up to Disneyland so we could "do the rest". It is one of the best memories I have of my dad as a kid, sacrificing to drive us back up there the next day so we could "see it all"


We will probably be taking a redeye (its a non-stop so easiest and I won't have to miss an extra day of work) so I was thinking about just telling him around the time we usually put him to bed that its time to get ready. As little boys often do, I would expect him to protest, not wanting to go to bed yet. Then I was going to tell him "no, its time to get ready to go to Disneyworld. We have to go to the airport." but I was hoping to get some ideas on something a little more "exciting" than that.

Or maybe when you are four, that's exciting enough. I don't know.

 

[Synonymous]

I think that idea is perfect. That's just how I'd do it.

 

[trola2]

Here is what happened when we surprised the kids. I am copying my trip report from another source...

First, this was as surprise trip for the kiddos. Friday AM my mom and our preacher (she's a close famly friend) were here before the kids got up. I made Mickey icon shaped pancakes for teh kids and I'd picked up balloons from a florist friend for a festive theme. I had 3 character balloons and then one giant red heart mylar that Barbara wrote "Surprise! You're going to Disney World!" on. Anyway, I'd kept the kids up late the night before so they would sleep in. Had DH go up and wake them and brought down all 3 girls at one time. My oldest kept asking, "What is this about?" because she was really confused that we had company at that early hour. Anywho. After it sunk in a little, the girls finally realized that we were leaving that day (no 100 day countdown chain or questions from me for planning, etc!) and they got very excited that we had to pack and get it together.

My kids loved being surprised. They thanked me over and over for such a fun trip and a surprise they would remember for the rest of their lives. (their words!) If you have the opportunity to do a surprise trip, I really recommend it. Our November family trip will NOT be a surprise, but there will be many surprises on the trip for everyone. That will be our last Disney trip for a few years so I want it as memorable as it can be!!

Happy Planning!!
~~Beth

 

[Partridge4ever]

We took my then 4 year old right before her fifth birthday. She'd recently become obsessed w/airplanes. First we just said we were going for a drive. Then when we got to the airport (it's 2.5 hours away), we asked if she'd like to watch the planes take off...pre-9/11, I don't think it's allowed now. I knew we were in trouble when we got to the parking deck because we'd need our suitcases, so we sat her on the hood of the car and I started the video tape as DH asked if she'd like to fly on an airplane for real someday. Of course she said yes. Then he asked if she could fly anywhere in the world, where would it be? She said Disney World, DH said OK, and off we went. It was great! We leave Wed. night for her 8th birthday and now I wish we'd kept it a surprise.

 

[Blueeyes101817]

when we were little ( i was probably about 8, my brother 6 or 7) my parents had us do a mini scavenger hunt around the house..just like little things...we found a sunscreen bottle, sunglasses, travel sized toothpaste..ended up in the room we were sharing at the time..under each of our pillows was a fanny pack with the florida brochures in them..it was the best surprise!!!

 

[HookdonWDW]

Originally posted by AdventurerKat
How have those of you who have done this for your children
"sprung" it on them.

We had just completed another move (military) right before ds' 7th b-day, and he didn't know enough kids for us to feel comfortable having a birthday party for him. Since we were within driving distance, we decided that we'd surprise him with a birthday trip to WDW instead.

DS has a medical condition which requires him to see a doctor who is out of state. About 2 weeks before our trip, we had to go to a doctor's appointment - this provided the perfect alibi! We told our kids that the doctor had called, and we had to go to another hospital in FL to have some more tests run.

It must have been convincing, because dd, who was 16 at the time, kept complaining and pouting that she had to come along to a doctor's appointment. She thought she should be allowed to stay home alone for the 2 days she thought we'd be gone (Note to those with teens: Almost complaining their way out of a trip to WDW really helps to get rid of the whiny, bratty stage )

Anyway, we hopped into the car after dh got out of work. The kids fell asleep about halfway through the trip. As we entered the gates of WDW, dd woke up, and her eyes were huge... she even made a squeaking sound! We put our fingers to our lips, and ds slept on. We pulled up to the AS Movies, and the lobby was completely empty (NOTE: If you want to check in at the All Stars when there's no line, try 2:00 AM ).

We woke up ds and checked into our room. He was still half asleep, and didn't figure out where we were. Finally, as we were finishing our check-in, the CM told ds to do her a favor and to "tell Mickey I said hi" the next morning. DS started looking around and finally figured out where he was. It's amazing that we got any sleep at all that night!

The downside of this is that we needed to remember the next few times to tell him that he was REALLY going to the doctor's, and not to WDW!

 

[Macnjac87]

Two part story here:

This morning is my niece's (and Goddaughter) 6th birthday. My sister booked a trip to Wilderness Lodge Villas about 3 weeks ago and decided to surprise her with it on her birthday. She devised a scavenger hunt starting with some sunblock, a Disney Princess disposable camera (found at Target), a new bathing suit and a few other items. I am waiting to hear from them this morning to see how it went!

I have a "surprise" trip planned for April. My kids think we are going to Disney's Hilton Head Resort for Easter for a week but DH and I decided to add on 4 nights at the Boardwalk Villas before we go to Hilton Head. We are driving down from New York and will stop overnight in Santee, South Carolina and the kids (DS 14, DD 11 and DS 7) think we will be in HH by lunch the next day. My plans are to use OnStar to call WDW-DINE and confirm my reservations for the Hoop-De-Do-Revue that we have for that night!! I guess I will make the call when the kids start wondering why we are in Georgia and have not turned off the exit! I can't wait to see the expressions on their face when they realize where we are actually going!!!

It's been hard not being able to talk about the Disney part of the trip but it's going to be worth the look on their faces!!

 

[lasmickey]

WOW! You all have such great stories! We are totally hoping to surprise our DD(7) & DD(4) for our trip this September. They know we are going "sometime" but don't have any idea when.

Keep the stories coming ~ I'm getting some GREAT ideas!

 

[Tigger&Belle]

I brought my 4yo son down to WDW a couple of weeks ago. I told him 9 days out where and when we were going. I waited that long because he would have driven my crazy with the "when are we going" questions. My older children commented that to them a lot of thye fun of a trip was the anticipation and they wouldn't want a surprise trip.

I think it depends of how often a person goes. If it's a regular thing I think surprising them would be a lot of fun. If it's a once in a lifetime kind of trip or their first trip I think it's good for them to be in on the planning.

Of course you have to understand that it was driving me crazy not telling my son earlier so I'm bad at keeping secrets.

T&B

 

[Jaimee]

We're leaving tomorrow (2-24) and DS still doesn't know!!! I've kept it a secret since November. THis weekend was really tough though, trying to pack. DS's birthday is 2/25 so this is a surprise birthday trip. I did have a few problems, he has to bring a treat to school for his b-day, so I emailed his teacher and explained the surprise, so we arranged for him to bring his treat today. I told him he has a doctors appointment on his bday so we had to bring it early. My "plan" if it goes right, is to wake him up tomorrow as if we're going to school/work. My mom is coming to pick us up so we're going to have to pretend there's something wrong with my car. I wan't to tell him as we're pulling up to the airport and get it all on video. He's been asking about a party for the last few weeks, so I told him we're going to do something REALLY special. He doesn't suspect a thing yet.

 

[ILoveMyDVC]

Last May I left work early and waited for my children to come home from school. I told them that mom had the rest of the day off and if they could go/do anything.. what would they want to do? My lovely 12 yr. old son suggested the OZ festival which was quickly vetoed by both me and his sister. My daughter chimes in
"well, I'd pick Disney World" and my son quickly agrees. So I told them, "great- you have an hour to pack and then Grandpa is driving us to the airport". They looked a little shocked but mostly they weren't buying it. That is until I handed them a list of what to pack. I can still remember my daughter turning to her brother gasping, "she's got a list- it must be real".

Word of caution: We really did have only 1 hour before we needed to leave for the airport and my darling son did not come straight home that day. He had disregarded my come-home-after-school rule and went to a friend's house. It was a frantic 15 minutes trying to locate him while mentally composing the note I was going to leave telling him how sorry his sister and I were that he missed the trip. but we hope he'd have a nice week with his grandparents!

 

[maryeabq]

I surprised my daughters with a WDW trip two years ago. I told them I was going to a conference in Florida and they were going to stay with Grandma and Grandpa. I had them pack the night before and told them they would have to get up early to take me to the airport. The next morning when they got up I told them I had a surprise for them and gave each of them a voucher for a character breakfast. They asked me when they were supposed to use them and I said how about when we get to WDW. They were both speechless. I was a really fun beginning for our trip.

 

[candleonwater]

I'm SO proud of you all for being able to keep secrets!

I'm SO bad at it, I don't even bother! I wish I could! For our upcoming trip, I really would love to have been able to surprise my daughter, but I tend to get her imput on these kinds of things. The only thing I'm trying to keep secret is the fact that she thinks we have a pool view at AKL, but I've switched to a Savannah view. I almost broke down, I asked her if she would have been happier with a SView room and her response was "no, it's okay Mommy, there will other trips". Then, when she found out POFQ is reopening, she asked if we could stay there instead of AKL (which would have COMPLETELY ruined my surprise!).

Of course, this is all dependent on me being able to keep my mouth shut during the 15 hour drive to WDW!

 

[Colleen P]

I surprised my daughter when she was 9. On the morning we were to leave, we had planned to wait to tell her at the airport, but we thought it may be too crazy and we wanted to catch her reaction. Instead we gave her a brochure for Universal Studios, and told her we were going on a plane to go to this part for 2 days. She was thrilled with that. When it came time to board everyone was asking her if she was going to WDW, and I think she was a little sad that everyone else was going. On the plane we pulled out the camera again, and told her we would be going to WDW after US. She was so surprised again. Then as we were heading "home" she dozed off. She awoke and we were at the Disney Wonder. She said, "one day we have to go on that". We said, ok how about today. She would not believe us until we pulled away from the dock that we were cruising, she thought the ship was a museum.
It was such an awesome trip. I can't believe we were able to keep it a secret that long.

 

[mirlow]

We surprised our kids and my mom this last trip. My parents spend their winter in FL. My mom came out to celebrate my dd's bday. The morning my mom was leaving my 8 yr old told me she wanted to go back with gramma and I said sure. She went to pack her clothes and my mom told her that I was just joking. My ds told me that he didn't want to go to school on Wednesday's anymore and I said ok you don't have to go to school. Then we asked them if they wanted to go to Florida with gramma and they were all kind of shocked. We told them all that we were serious. I think my mom showed more excitement than the kids We also surprised my dad and grandparents. They were waiting at the airport to pick up my mom. They weren't expecting us. It was nice because we went out for a birthday dinner (my dd and grandmother have the same bday). It was very stressful trying to pull this off. We didn't know if we were going to be able to go until a week before hand and since it was so close we decided to keep it a secret. I had a lot to do to get ready and nobody but dh knew. We didn't even tell their teachers until two days before we left. We also had my dd's bday party 3 days before we left We had a great trip. My parents even came to stay a night .

 

[AKASnowWhite]

We surprised our 3 kids with a December trip to WDW several years ago. DH and I told the kids that he had to go to Miami on business, and that I was going to "tag along" for the weekend They were to be staying with Grandma. (this was not at all unusual at the time.....) I picked up homework packets from their teachers without them knowing, and did all the planning and packing while they were at school. Because we were leaving early on Saturday morning, we told them that Grandma was letting them come with her to drop us off at the airport. At that time (pre 9/11) non-ticketed people were still allowed to go to the gates to see off/meet their parties. DH and I checked in at the counter, told the agent about our surprise, and pointed out which kids the tickets were for....no problems! We all went to the gate, and when it was time to board we told the kids to "Say goodbye to Grandma". Of course, they all said goodbye to US! "No", I told them, "I said say goodbye to GRANDMA". Oh were they confused! DS(then 7) was SOOOO concerned that he was going to get in trouble for being on the plane - he thought they were going to think he was a stow-away! After a few precious moments of confusion, the excitement set in......they couldn't believe that nearly the whole town knew we were all going, and they had never found out! It was the biggest surprise I've ever pulled off in my life!

 

[CanadaPT]

What great stories! I think that you are all pretty special parents to do something so fantastic for your kids.

I surprised my sisters (much older... 22 and 24!) at Christmas. The gift was last and they both opened up a big box. Inside were pamphlets from various travel agencies about Florida. They were pretty confused because they were all cut up into strips -- more like packing! Then inside was another box. In the box was an Unofficial Guide 2004! Still, they weren't too sure. My one sister looked at the other and sarcastically cracked, "What, he's sending us to Florida?" But as they got down to the other boxes, they still weren't convinced... inside the other boxes they found another book and then two gold envelopes. In the envelopes they found a map showing the route from Toronto to Orlando and attached were their plane tickets!
They were so surprised, plus they get to plan for their vacation in June.