DisneyKingDude
Member
We are surprising our kids in a few weeks with a trip to WDW. We will be driving down from Arkansas and would like to do it on the way somehow. Anybody have any creative ways we can do it?
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Ideas On How To Surprise Our Kids
- Thread starter DisneyKingDude
- Start date
HouCuseChickie
Well-Known Member
How old are your kids? I've done a number of different surprises for mine and have a few surprise options for them in waiting, but some work better depending on the kids' ages.
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My boys are 6 and 13. They both really wanted to go to WDW this year but we have told them we just couldn't afford it this year, but that we are going to the beach in Florida instead, which we are going to do for a couple of days after WDW.
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CAPTAIN HOOK
Well-Known Member
So the boys know that you're going to Florida, they just think they're going on a beach holiday ??
Why not just "stop off" at DownTown Disney for a meal "on the way" ? During the meal you could present them with their park tickets, or have the waiting staff serve them park tickets on a plate
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We are leaving on a Friday afternoon and plan on stopping half way and arriving at WDW on Saturday. We are really wanting to do it on that Friday.
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Livelovedisney
Active Member
You can have them wake up to a box with disney stuff inside like magic bands or lanyards and pins....along with a letter. Or you can have someone with a mickey voice call and tell them the surprise.
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HouCuseChickie
Well-Known Member
If you want to surprise them the day you're leaving, you could go for the swap approach. We did this a couple of years ago. Before bed, I put out the kids' clothes and from everything they saw, the clothes were just average clothes. After they were solidly asleep, I swapped out their avg clothing for full on Disney attire and had new Disney carry-ons packed with some goodies sitting beside the new Disney outfit. I also woke them up with Disney music to set the mood.
If you have a little bit of time on your departure day to do the reveal (and by a little bit of time- I mean maybe 10-15 extra min), you could do a scavenger hunt or a string hunt. A true scavenger hunt might work better if you think the older child will work well with the younger one. You could wake them up, have hint 1 in a place where they won't miss it and set up a series of hints through the house. When I did this...the final piece in the hunt was a large box containing a couple of helium filled mouse ear balloons. They opened the lid to the box and the balloons (which were anchored with tape to the bottom), went up. And that's when we did the "surprise we're going to Disney World" - and then a surprise slide show with some details of the trip as well as pics from past trips started playing on the tv in the background.
If you have a little bit of time on your departure day to do the reveal (and by a little bit of time- I mean maybe 10-15 extra min), you could do a scavenger hunt or a string hunt. A true scavenger hunt might work better if you think the older child will work well with the younger one. You could wake them up, have hint 1 in a place where they won't miss it and set up a series of hints through the house. When I did this...the final piece in the hunt was a large box containing a couple of helium filled mouse ear balloons. They opened the lid to the box and the balloons (which were anchored with tape to the bottom), went up. And that's when we did the "surprise we're going to Disney World" - and then a surprise slide show with some details of the trip as well as pics from past trips started playing on the tv in the background.
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BigRedDad
Well-Known Member
Travelling from Arkansas will be a long drive. They may figure it out after about hour 12 in the car. What you could do is make a bunch of tiles that spell out "WE ARE ON OUR WAY TO DISNEY WORLD". Give it to them at some point in the car ride and tell them to figure it out. It may take a few hours, but it will keep them occupied.
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We hand wrote a little book about what our 10 year old was going to do on summer vacation and he ended up in Disney with his parents !! and the last line was this is a true story !! He started to cry with happiness
Another great idea!!
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Weather_Lady
Well-Known Member
Along the lines of some of the previous posters, I was thinking of a homemade puzzle (you can buy blank puzzles at craft stores, or on Amazon), with a map tracing your route and your destination, with various milestones marked along the way. Every time you reach a milestone (or as a reward for good behavior, or whenever you feel like it), give them a few more pieces that chart the next leg of your journey. Save the "final destination" (Disney World) pieces for last, and once they've had a chance to react to the surprise, hand out some care packages with things that the kids can pore over as you drive the last leg of the trip. (e.g., park maps, autograph books and pens, disposable cameras, sunscreen, sunglasses, small-denomination Disney gift cards for souvenirs, CDs of Disney music, a kid-centric Disney guide book like Birnbaum's for Kids or Guide to the Magic, http://www.guidetothemagic.com/shopping.htm, etc). If you have a DVD player in your vehicle, you could pop in the Disney planning DVD so they can preview some of the available attractions. (That's especially helpful if they haven't been to WDW before: my kids were thrilled when we told them we were taking them for the first time, but they were ten times as excited once they had an idea of some of the things they could see and do there.)
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Chernaboggles
Well-Known Member
Make it into an I-Spy style car game! Tell them they have to spot things that start with letters.
"Find something that starts with the letter D!"
"Find something that starts with the letter I!"
On your own pad of paper, write out D I S N E Y W O R L D (and write what they've found longways underneath each letter, if you want, for a fun visual memory of the game). Save the last few letters for when you're stopped, like playing over a meal at a rest area. Show them the paper and ask what it spells. When they yell "DISNEY WORLD!" produce bags for each of them with t-shirts or mickeys or whatever. Break out the Disney music or movies for the remainder of the trip.
For safety reasons, do NOT reveal Disney trip while car is in motion.
"Find something that starts with the letter D!"
"Find something that starts with the letter I!"
On your own pad of paper, write out D I S N E Y W O R L D (and write what they've found longways underneath each letter, if you want, for a fun visual memory of the game). Save the last few letters for when you're stopped, like playing over a meal at a rest area. Show them the paper and ask what it spells. When they yell "DISNEY WORLD!" produce bags for each of them with t-shirts or mickeys or whatever. Break out the Disney music or movies for the remainder of the trip.
For safety reasons, do NOT reveal Disney trip while car is in motion.
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Jahona
Well-Known Member
First trip to Disney World as a kid was in 1996 or 97. My parents woke me up at three in the morning and tossed a mickey ears hat at me.
My sister is going this year and it's a surprise for her daughter. They are driving down from Virginia and telling my niece that they are visiting the grandparents in Georgia. Except they are going to drive through Georgia and into Florida. Wonder if my niece will notice an extra few hours in the car.
My sister is going this year and it's a surprise for her daughter. They are driving down from Virginia and telling my niece that they are visiting the grandparents in Georgia. Except they are going to drive through Georgia and into Florida. Wonder if my niece will notice an extra few hours in the car.
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