So I've never posted a regular trip report, let alone a pre-trip report, but I felt this particular trip merited one. On Saturday evening, the hubby and I surprised our kids (DS 13 and DD 11) with a trip to Disney World! It was truly the surprise of a lifetime. But let me start at the beginning.
Our family's last trip to Disney was in March 2011. When we returned to NY, we told the kids that we would not be able to return until March 2014 when we will be going to Florida for a family function. They were horribly disappointed that it would be such a long wait, but they accepted it. Last August 2011 I decided that there was no way that I personally could wait 3 years, and I also wanted to see Disney during the holidays, so I convinced my hubby that we should return in December 2012, I booked the room then, and we booked the airline tickets in March 2012 so the trip was definite. We would leave on 12/12/12, spend one day at Universal because DD and I are big Harry Potter fans and are dying to see the new area of that park, and then we would spend the next 3 days at WDW. We decided to keep it a secret and surprise the kids at the last minute!
It wasn't so tough to keep the secret until we started to get close. By last week I was bursting at the seams to tell the kids. So here's how we hit them with the surprise:
Saturday night was the first night of Hanukah. Our family's usual Hanukah tradition is to give each child 8 small gifts, one for each night of the holiday. We would show them all the wrapped gifts on the first night, and they would get to open one each night. Well, on Saturday night, we gathered around the menorah to light the candles, and there was only one wrapped box sitting there. I had created a document announcing the trip which I had placed in the bottom of the box, covered it with heavy towels to give the box weight, and wrapped up beautifully. After we lit the candles, the hubby and I said calmly to the kids that, as they knew, it had been a tough year with Hurricane Sandy and other expenses, and as a result, we were going to focus on the religious aspects of the holiday this year so there would only be one present for them to share. How we kept straight faces is beyond me! The kids somewhat disappointedly began to unwrap the box. When they saw the towels, they confusedly removed them from the box until they were left with an empty box with a paper on the bottom.
I had folded and taped the paper so they would only see parts of it at a time. When they opened the first fold, they saw: "Go pack yor suitcases." Their eyebrows went up.
When they opened the second fold, they saw: "We leave in 4 days for . . ." The anticipation was rising.
And when they opened the final fold, they saw: "DISNEY WORLD AND UNIVERSAL STUDIOS!!!!"
Pandemonium ensued! The kids started screaming and yelling, jumping for joy, hugging us, hugging each other, dancing around, and nearly crying. The hubby and I were doing the same. It was one of the greatest moments in my life as a parent. DS even said "This is the best moment of my entire life!" LOL. We spent the rest of the evening filling the kids in on all the details we'd planned, finally able to share everything with them.
I want to post a few pics now, but I've never been able to figure out how to successfuly do this, so hopefully this will work. Here's a photo of the certificate I created announcing the news:
My hubby recorded the whole thing on video, but here are two photos of their faces when they read the certificate. It was a combination of disbelief, excitement, and sheer joy:
And now all that's left is to pack and leave in 2 days to experience the holidays in Disney!!!
Hooray!
Our family's last trip to Disney was in March 2011. When we returned to NY, we told the kids that we would not be able to return until March 2014 when we will be going to Florida for a family function. They were horribly disappointed that it would be such a long wait, but they accepted it. Last August 2011 I decided that there was no way that I personally could wait 3 years, and I also wanted to see Disney during the holidays, so I convinced my hubby that we should return in December 2012, I booked the room then, and we booked the airline tickets in March 2012 so the trip was definite. We would leave on 12/12/12, spend one day at Universal because DD and I are big Harry Potter fans and are dying to see the new area of that park, and then we would spend the next 3 days at WDW. We decided to keep it a secret and surprise the kids at the last minute!
It wasn't so tough to keep the secret until we started to get close. By last week I was bursting at the seams to tell the kids. So here's how we hit them with the surprise:
Saturday night was the first night of Hanukah. Our family's usual Hanukah tradition is to give each child 8 small gifts, one for each night of the holiday. We would show them all the wrapped gifts on the first night, and they would get to open one each night. Well, on Saturday night, we gathered around the menorah to light the candles, and there was only one wrapped box sitting there. I had created a document announcing the trip which I had placed in the bottom of the box, covered it with heavy towels to give the box weight, and wrapped up beautifully. After we lit the candles, the hubby and I said calmly to the kids that, as they knew, it had been a tough year with Hurricane Sandy and other expenses, and as a result, we were going to focus on the religious aspects of the holiday this year so there would only be one present for them to share. How we kept straight faces is beyond me! The kids somewhat disappointedly began to unwrap the box. When they saw the towels, they confusedly removed them from the box until they were left with an empty box with a paper on the bottom.
I had folded and taped the paper so they would only see parts of it at a time. When they opened the first fold, they saw: "Go pack yor suitcases." Their eyebrows went up.
When they opened the second fold, they saw: "We leave in 4 days for . . ." The anticipation was rising.
And when they opened the final fold, they saw: "DISNEY WORLD AND UNIVERSAL STUDIOS!!!!"
Pandemonium ensued! The kids started screaming and yelling, jumping for joy, hugging us, hugging each other, dancing around, and nearly crying. The hubby and I were doing the same. It was one of the greatest moments in my life as a parent. DS even said "This is the best moment of my entire life!" LOL. We spent the rest of the evening filling the kids in on all the details we'd planned, finally able to share everything with them.
I want to post a few pics now, but I've never been able to figure out how to successfuly do this, so hopefully this will work. Here's a photo of the certificate I created announcing the news:
My hubby recorded the whole thing on video, but here are two photos of their faces when they read the certificate. It was a combination of disbelief, excitement, and sheer joy:
And now all that's left is to pack and leave in 2 days to experience the holidays in Disney!!!
Hooray!
Have a wonderful time!
