Question for those who have surprised your kids?

[Vivig]

Well...we will be surprising our DS 6 in a few weeks. We plan on sending him to school as a normal day and then going and picking him up at lunch time. Once we pick him up...I will let him know that we received a letter for him ( One of our very friendly fellow DIS'er from the cruise board sent a letter from Mickey and gang telling him that they can't wait for him to come to Disney.) Once he opens the letter...then and only then will we tell him we are going to Mickey Mouse's house (as we like to refer to it ) But..we are keeping the 2nd half of our trip a surprise ...once we have finished our three days at WDW we will then let him know that we will be also doing 4 days on the cruise....We are a little scared of his reaction....but we can't wait for it....

I'll keep you all posted on how it went after we return.....

 

[AdventurerKat]

What great stories. I was just thinking about something else with my DS that you gave me an idea for. My mom comes and takes him at least once a month to spend the weekend (now that the little guy is older she is taking him too...aren't we lucky!)

Anyway, since my mom would probably end up taking the baby for a couple days so my husband could have some time alone, she could take us to the airport. Sage is always asking me if I am going to go to grandma's too and I could say sure, and grab our suitcase. He would have no idea what was going on til she got us to the airport! Then, I am sure he would figure it out.

This is going to be fun!

 

[ArielsDad]

We're sooooo bad at keeping things like that from the kids.
We did, however, make it part of Christmas...

we bought each kid a rolling dufflebag and packed the inside with things we hoped would lead them to guess! it worked! we[ve watched the planning DVD countless times since.

While it's great to suprise them at the last minute, I'm enjoying the planning with them too!

 

[clutter]

This was kind of mean.....

I took my kindergartner to school one day last May and told her I had to pick her up early for a dentist's visit. Once outside, I had my new digital camera ready for her "before" smile. Then I told her we were going to DisneyWorld! You should see the "after" smile.

Unfortunately, the trip didn't turn out so wonderfully due to a family tragedy, but those first few days were definately more magical than any trip we've done before or since.

 

[NotUrsula]

We got DS on the last day of K; he had no idea. Unfortunately, when we did spring it on him, he didn't believe us. (This was not a 1st trip, it was his 4th, BTW.)

Dad picked him up from school and told him that I had a surprise for him at home. I had all the luggage packed and ready, we just needed to have DS change out of his uniform before we headed for the airport. So, he gets home, the luggage is in the kitchen, both of us do the ta-da thing, "We're leaving for Disney in 10 minutes!" and DS just looks around and says, "So where's the surprise?" At 5, he was sure that a surprise had to be a *thing*; he was expecting a toy or a treat.

We get to the airport, and he's asking, "Are we going to Chicago?" (He had been asking to go up to the Field Museum again.) No, not Chicago; Disney, in Orlando, in Florida. "Oh." We get on the plane, and he's loves flying, so he's doing his usual preboard chatter, and I'm thinking it is finally sinking in. We touch down at MCO, the SWA crew does their little "Have a good time at Disney!" spiel, and he looks at us with his jaw in his lap and says, "Oh-my-gosh! It's TRUE!" At this point, he begins all but bouncing off the walls in excitement. Unfortunately, at this point it was 10:30 pm Florida time; it was about midnight when we got to our room, and it was *THREE AM* when we finally got him to sleep.

Getting up for early entry at MK the next morning was no picnic. We've decided not to do surprise trips any more!

 

[cmmam]

We have a 15 year old DD. We have booked the land/sea package for Spring Break. She knows about the cruise but not about the parks. We have one month to go still!

We are still debating when to tell her we are going to the parks. We have to pull her out of school a couple of days early, so we will have to tell her before we go.

We just have to figure out how long to wait now...

She will be thrilled!

 

[HANDYMOM]

We are surprising DS's (5 and 3) the first week of May. We're telling them that we're driving to the "far away beach" If we told them anytime sooner, we'd surely have to tape their mouths shut for the duration!!! We are leaving the night before so they'll watch a movie in the car and sleep most of the way. We're motelling it on the way and should arrive around 11:00am.

The funny thing is, the last time DH and I were at Disney was on our honeymoon 6 years ago and the first people we met on the Mears bus were a couple and their two kids (around 5 and 6) that they had surprised just hours earlier! I cannot wait! Keeping quiet is toughest on me!

 

[AdventurerKat]

Not Ursula...that's a great story! Actually, all of these are great stories.

Sigh...not to have to wait for May...