Help with ideas

Hey everyone....
Me and my wife are planning on surprising the kids christmas morning.. with their first disney trip as a Christmas gift...they are 6 & 8. we are going to leave that afternoon or first thing the next morning... Any ideas on how to go about surprising them that morning? trying to come up with something creative. :xmas:

Well, wanna know how we're doing it? We're suprising them, with the trip, but we wont' be going till February...but:

I'm taking two huge peices of foam core, and an overhead projector, and I"m making a Mickey and a Minnie. Once the kids are in bed, they will be placed on either side of the tree, holding a banner that says, "Gabe Sarah and Abi, we've missed you so much, please come visit us!!" Then, somehow, we're going to put the tickets in their hands for the kids to take.
They will also be getting P and P party tickets in their stockings, as well as some travel type things (new blankets, handheld games ect...)
So..that's how we're going to do it.

Not to be a downer, but if you plan on leaving Christmas Day do you have your trip booked yet? The week between Christmas and New Years is the busiest week of the year. If you haven't booked yet, you will be VERY lucky to find a room on Disney property. You may want to wait til early January to go, when the crowds die down a bit.

If you've already got your trip booked, then there are TONS of great ways to surprise the kids! I've read some really adorable stories on here =) Hope you get some ideas :xmas:

If they are heavy sleepers, just put them in the car and drive through the night. Wake them up at the Disney parking lot. :ROFLOL::ROFLOL::ROFLOL:

I'm being a smart a$$, but I couldn't resist. Good luck with coming up with a solution. The kids will be excited no matter what. :wave:

lilclerk said:

Not to be a downer, but if you plan on leaving Christmas Day do you have your trip booked yet? The week between Christmas and New Years is the busiest week of the year. If you haven't booked yet, you will be VERY lucky to find a room on Disney property. You may want to wait til early January to go, when the crowds die down a bit.

If you've already got your trip booked, then there are TONS of great ways to surprise the kids! I've read some really adorable stories on here =) Hope you get some ideas :xmas:

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Yes we have been booked .... We done everything in Aug... we are staying at the pop century :sohappy: ..... I wish we could go in Jan but... I have to go when school is out.... and it is too hot to go during the summer... I can not be in the extreme hot due to health issue..

crowan said:

Yes we have been booked .... We done everything in Aug... we are staying at the pop century :sohappy: ..... I wish we could go in Jan but... I have to go when school is out.... and it is too hot to go during the summer... I can not be in the extreme hot due to health issue..

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No, as long as you're all set, it's great! I just didn't want you to get all excited, then find you can't get a room. But Christmas is a very magical time to go =)

Welcome aboard :wave:

I'd be buying a soft toy of their favourite Disney character with a "Welcome to Disney World" banner around their neck.

Or, Just start talking about Disney World while you're having your Christmas Day meal

You could try this...
Wrap up a copy of the WDW travel DVD to be opened Christmas morning and make the family watch it over breakfast or something. Then make a statement like "I sure wish we could go to WDW" and when the kids agree with you, you can say "Well, let's go! Today!"

PintoColvig said:

You could try this...
Wrap up a copy of the WDW travel DVD to be opened Christmas morning and make the family watch it over breakfast or something. Then make a statement like "I sure wish we could go to WDW" and when the kids agree with you, you can say "Well, let's go! Today!"

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I love that idea! I'll remember that someday when I have kids lol.

We suprised our boys with a trip in April. So first let me explain, we have an elf that visits us at Christmas time (http://www.elf-magic.com). He made a suprise mid year visit that morning, got into a bag of chips and brought the boys Disney crocs. Since they got new Disney crocs I suggested they wear Disney clothes to school that day. That evening we went to dinner and Mickey Mouse called and told them Congrats on their upcoming vacation! They were freaking out, when our waitress and the manager came over and handed them a Disney name badge and told them to go home and pack, because they were leaving for Disney at midnight! Needless to say they went wild and everyone in the restaurant was staring at us, but it was so worth it :lol:

It sounds like your driving and your first day there wont be until the day after Christmas. My kids knew we were going but I didnt tell them we were staying at AKL for one night. Fortunately the bus for Pop was the same as AKL and I said "Hey, why dont we just stay onboard and ride around for a little bit?' The bus had gone to Pop first and then when we got to AKL I said "Lets get off and stay here?" The kids still didnt have a clue but slowly they started to figure it out and they flipped. Whether your flying or driving I would just throw them in the car, get to Orlando, and say "Hey lets go see what Mickey is doing for New Years!" If your doing some gifts for Christmas and the whole tree thing after they get done opening their gifts you could ask them if there was one place they could go right this minute where would it be? Hopefully they answer WDW and gather them up and head out.

PintoColvig said:

You could try this...
Wrap up a copy of the WDW travel DVD to be opened Christmas morning and make the family watch it over breakfast or something. Then make a statement like "I sure wish we could go to WDW" and when the kids agree with you, you can say "Well, let's go! Today!"

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I like that idea a lot! :sohappy:

You could order the planning DVD. When it arrives put it in an envelope and pretend it was delivered to your kids on christmas day. When they open it they might be a bit confused but like it anyway.

If you can persuade them to watch it for for 15 mins whilst you tidy up all the torn wrapping paper whilst you could "pick up" your tickets (or fake tickets, possibly in another envelope with your kids name on or you could possibly split them inside the original envelope) and say "Oh, I think something fell out when you opened that DVD" and watch them go crazy!

Only problem with this is that you need to persuade them to sit down and watch a DVD when they are surrounded by new toys. I guess if they don't want to then you can still use the old 'something fell out' line whilst they are otherwise distracted. You could also slip the tickets inside the DVD packaging and then persuade them to at least open it up to see whats inside and watch their faces as when they see the tickets.

The great thing about this is that they can get even more excited whilst watching the DVD!

Order that DVD now though, it might take a while to get to you!

Wow

WOW.... thanks for all the great ideas....

:xmas:

TwoTigersMom said:

We suprised our boys with a trip in April. So first let me explain, we have an elf that visits us at Christmas time (http://www.elf-magic.com). He made a suprise mid year visit that morning, got into a bag of chips and brought the boys Disney crocs. Since they got new Disney crocs I suggested they wear Disney clothes to school that day. That evening we went to dinner and Mickey Mouse called and told them Congrats on their upcoming vacation! They were freaking out, when our waitress and the manager came over and handed them a Disney name badge and told them to go home and pack, because they were leaving for Disney at midnight! Needless to say they went wild and everyone in the restaurant was staring at us, but it was so worth it :lol:

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WOW TwoTigersMom ...you live about 15 min from me...

Hey neighbor :wave:

This reminds me of my first trip to WDW:

On Christmas morning (several years ago when my sister and I were just in grade school), I went to my parent's room to wake them up. My sister and I went down to the Christmas tree to find...nothing. The tree and the presents had dissappeared, milk and cookies were spilled across the living room floor. "What happened to Christmas?!!" my sister shouted. My father replied, "Oh, I guess you kids were bad this year--very, very bad." My mother added that, "per Santa Clause, Christmas has been cancelled indefinitely, and you should feel ashamed--very, very ashamed."

After a few minutes of shock and horror, my parents told us to get in the car (without breakfast) for a drive because they were "tired of dealing with such dissapointing children." Sick to our stomachs, my sister and I reluctantly got into the car (mom and dad had already packed our suitcases, as we would be going away for "a long time."), and we began to drive.

"Where are you sending us?" I asked. All my mom would say is, "away, son...away."

We drove for an hour. The hour became two...and around the Kentucky/Tennessee border, my parents finally allowed us to eat sandwiches they had packed. It was a peanutbutter and jelly sandwich with grape jelly (my sister and I HATED grape jelly).

Seventeen hours later (we had been blindfolded for the final 2 hours), the car finally stopped. We were ordered out of the car, and to take off our blind folds. Our heads hung low, we removed the blindfolds to find that we were...in the Magic Kingdom parking lot!!!!

"Merry Christmas!!" they shouted. My sister and I looked at eachother. I threw up...but then raised my arms in holiday glee! We were at Disney World!

It was the best Christmas EVER!!!!!!

Thanks Mom and Dad!

crowan said:

Hey everyone....
Me and my wife are planning on surprising the kids christmas morning.. with their first disney trip as a Christmas gift...they are 6 & 8. we are going to leave that afternoon or first thing the next morning... Any ideas on how to go about surprising them that morning? trying to come up with something creative. :xmas:

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Make WDW invitations for each child.
Maybe include the following:

_______________ (child's name) is cordially invited to visit the most magical place on earth!

WHEN: ________________ (put the date that you will be leaving here)
WHERE: Walt Disney World

Your friend,
Mickey Mouse

You could wrap the invitations in boxes or put them in their stockings.
Or you you get a WDW vacation planning video, wrap it & give it to both of them.
Then, you could watch it together.
That way, they could get a preview of what is to come!
:xmas: :wave:

crowan said:

WOW TwoTigersMom ...you live about 15 min from me...

Hey neighbor :wave:

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too cool, I'm actually in Opelika, but most folks don't know where that is, if they don't live around these parts. War Eagle!

disneyjesus said:

This reminds me of my first trip to WDW:

On Christmas morning (several years ago when my sister and I were just in grade school), I went to my parent's room to wake them up. My sister and I went down to the Christmas tree to find...nothing. The tree and the presents had dissappeared, milk and cookies were spilled across the living room floor. "What happened to Christmas?!!" my sister shouted. My father replied, "Oh, I guess you kids were bad this year--very, very bad." My mother added that, "per Santa Clause, Christmas has been cancelled indefinitely, and you should feel ashamed--very, very ashamed."

After a few minutes of shock and horror, my parents told us to get in the car (without breakfast) for a drive because they were "tired of dealing with such dissapointing children." Sick to our stomachs, my sister and I reluctantly got into the car (mom and dad had already packed our suitcases, as we would be going away for "a long time."), and we began to drive.

"Where are you sending us?" I asked. All my mom would say is, "away, son...away."

We drove for an hour. The hour became two...and around the Kentucky/Tennessee border, my parents finally allowed us to eat sandwiches they had packed. It was a peanutbutter and jelly sandwich with grape jelly (my sister and I HATED grape jelly).

Seventeen hours later (we had been blindfolded for the final 2 hours), the car finally stopped. We were ordered out of the car, and to take off our blind folds. Our heads hung low, we removed the blindfolds to find that we were...in the Magic Kingdom parking lot!!!!

"Merry Christmas!!" they shouted. My sister and I looked at eachother. I threw up...but then raised my arms in holiday glee! We were at Disney World!

It was the best Christmas EVER!!!!!!

Thanks Mom and Dad!

Click to expand...

That's the craziest story ever!!! My story is not nearly as exciting as yours but I'll tell it anyway...
We're from Canada and my whole life (at that point it was 11 years) we lived in the province of Newfoundland. My father couldn't find work and to make a long story short we moved to Toronto. After only 3 months in Toronto my father announces that we're moving back to Newfoundland. (I'll spare you the detail as to "why".) This time we sent our funiture on with a moving company and decided to enjoy a nice lesuirly drive back "home". I found my mom packing for the trip and asked why she was packing shorts and t-shirts (it was late October). She told me we would be driving through the U.S.A and it was warmer there. I didn't ask any questions and we've driven through a few states before on previous trips across Canada. Well, I have no idea where we were (we had been driving for quite sometime) but my father asks my brother and I where we would like to go in the US if we could pick any place. Well, we say Santa's Village (someplace we had been before in the US) and my father keeps saying, "no, no, any place in the US." Then he says, "How about WDW?" "Yeah, right dad!" we respond. "Well, we'll be there tomorrow if you're interested in going!" The details after this statement are a little blurry for me. I know it included a lot of screaming and my father having to pull off on the side of the road b/c my brother and I went nuts!!! My parents tell me I told complete strangers (basically anybody who would listen) that I was going to Disney World!
It was our first trip to WDW and the best surprise ever (and it kind of made up for all the moving around we had just done in the past 3 months).

disneyjesus said:

This reminds me of my first trip to WDW:

On Christmas morning (several years ago when my sister and I were just in grade school), I went to my parent's room to wake them up. My sister and I went down to the Christmas tree to find...nothing. The tree and the presents had dissappeared, milk and cookies were spilled across the living room floor. "What happened to Christmas?!!" my sister shouted. My father replied, "Oh, I guess you kids were bad this year--very, very bad." My mother added that, "per Santa Clause, Christmas has been cancelled indefinitely, and you should feel ashamed--very, very ashamed."

After a few minutes of shock and horror, my parents told us to get in the car (without breakfast) for a drive because they were "tired of dealing with such dissapointing children." Sick to our stomachs, my sister and I reluctantly got into the car (mom and dad had already packed our suitcases, as we would be going away for "a long time."), and we began to drive.

"Where are you sending us?" I asked. All my mom would say is, "away, son...away."

We drove for an hour. The hour became two...and around the Kentucky/Tennessee border, my parents finally allowed us to eat sandwiches they had packed. It was a peanutbutter and jelly sandwich with grape jelly (my sister and I HATED grape jelly).

Seventeen hours later (we had been blindfolded for the final 2 hours), the car finally stopped. We were ordered out of the car, and to take off our blind folds. Our heads hung low, we removed the blindfolds to find that we were...in the Magic Kingdom parking lot!!!!

"Merry Christmas!!" they shouted. My sister and I looked at eachother. I threw up...but then raised my arms in holiday glee! We were at Disney World!

It was the best Christmas EVER!!!!!!

Thanks Mom and Dad!

Click to expand...

Oh I gotta use that! That is GENIUS!!!!