Help with surprising kids with trip...

mprice

mprice

New Member
Hey folks, my wife and are taking two kids from our church with us to WDW in May. Their parents know and are keeping it a secret with us until the last day of school when we are leaving. We need some help on how to "announce" the trip to them. They are 9 and 12. All suggestions welcome!
 
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kreiderr

New Member
Surprising a 12 year old!

My daugher's birthday is June 13th, right after the end of the school year. We planned a Disney trip with our flight leaving the morning of the 13th, but our 11 year old had no clue what was going on. We had been to Disney several years before and she had loved the character dinner at the Crystal Palace.
So.....
We told her we were going out for her breakfast brunch on the 13th and left home in the minivan. All of our luggage was already packed and in the back of the van. She was still clueless. When we got to within 1-2 miles of the airport we handed her a birthday card and told her to open it and read it outloud. Inside the envelope was an invitation to her birthday dinner scheduled for 6:00 at the Crystal Palace on Main Street USA. As she was reading it and slowly realzing what was happening we hit Play on the van's DVD player and had our Disney vaction planner video was ready to go. You know that great introduction they always do...it's perfect for this.
She immediately began to cry and asked repeatedly "We're really going to Disney???" We handed her her Mickey ears and travel bag for the plane and we pulled into the airport parking garage. She said it was the best surprise ever, because she didn't have to wait months for it to come. The surprise and the vacation started right away.
The memories I have are priceless.
 
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S

SoupBone

Well-Known Member
kreiderr said:
My daugher's birthday is June 13th, right after the end of the school year. We planned a Disney trip with our flight leaving the morning of the 13th, but our 11 year old had no clue what was going on. We had been to Disney several years before and she had loved the character dinner at the Crystal Palace.
So.....
We told her we were going out for her breakfast brunch on the 13th and left home in the minivan. All of our luggage was already packed and in the back of the van. She was still clueless. When we got to within 1-2 miles of the airport we handed her a birthday card and told her to open it and read it outloud. Inside the envelope was an invitation to her birthday dinner scheduled for 6:00 at the Crystal Palace on Main Street USA. As she was reading it and slowly realzing what was happening we hit Play on the van's DVD player and had our Disney vaction planner video was ready to go. You know that great introduction they always do...it's perfect for this.
She immediately began to cry and asked repeatedly "We're really going to Disney???" We handed her her Mickey ears and travel bag for the plane and we pulled into the airport parking garage. She said it was the best surprise ever, because she didn't have to wait months for it to come. The surprise and the vacation started right away.
The memories I have are priceless.
Click to expand...

That is absolutely awesome! :sohappy:


I like the Mickey Ears suggestion, but I like the fact that this story didn't even give her the time to process it. If you could do it and then leave like this, it would make for a memory they will never forget.
 
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J

jformica

New Member
We've done two "surprise" trips in the past. We once suprised our 3 children and once our niece.

For our children we did a Spring break trip and waited until they got off the bus the Friday before the break. I had the car packed and ready to go. When they got off the bus we let them get their snacks and chill out for 15 minutes. I then asked each of them to pack a small bag like they were going on a long trip (hand held game systems etc). They asked why and we told them because we are leaving for Disney world in 15 minutes. There was a stunned look, silence and then "your joking." Once they realized we weren't they were out of their minds.

The one more pertinent to your situation is how we broke it to my niece. We went during Christmas and New Years and celebretated Christmas a few days earlier. We wrote what was going to happen in a Christmas card and gave it to her in front of the entire family. She read the card and had great pause and excitement. She then asked her mom if she was going and she said no. She then proceeded to cry tears of sadness because she was upset she would be going without her brother,sister and mother. The moral of the story is make sure you take that into account as they are not "officially" part of your family (even though you are all in God's family).

My niece ended up having a great time but didn't give us the reaction at the time we were expecting.
 
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Tiggerfanatic

Tiggerfanatic

Well-Known Member
Alison1975 said:
where does one get those cool T-shirts..
Click to expand...
Disney Store on-line.

I just bought 2 of these for DD21 and her boyfriend and surprised them on Christmas with a March trip. I wrapped up the shirts, along with a copy of the itinerary and some Disney gift cards. Christopher lives in N. Ireland and was already planning on coming over the 1st week of March for a visit. I mailed his package overseas, and due to the time difference, had his mother hide it until DD called him on Christmas morning. I handed her her package, and they opened them together while on the phone. Their reactions proved that you don't have to be 10 years old to be excited for a Disney trip. All I could hear Chris saying over the phone was "Is this for real? Is this for real?"
 
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adambrady

adambrady

Member
We are leaving in 13 days for a trip our boys, 9 &11, don't know about. We will have the bags packed and in the car. They believe that mom and dad are goiing on a trip and know we have to go to the airport, but don't know it is for them. We have downloaded a copy of the Disney Magical Express video from Mousebits and will push play in the car once we leave the house. That will be thier clue that we are on our way. Hope it works.
 
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M

mets7

Active Member
We surprised our kids at xmas. We had all the bags packed and in the car. When the kids came downstairs on xmas morning they each had a gift under the tree from Santa wrapped in Mickey paper. When they opened it up it had mickey ears and a note saying that your present awaits you with instructions to go to the car and play the video. Then we had recorded a friend dressed as Santa explaining the details of their present. The kids were beside themselves. It has been ten years and they still talk about.
 
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loveofamouse

loveofamouse

Well-Known Member
we go pretty often but my oldest (6 at the time) had always wanted to go at her birthday but, since her bday is dec 19, it just didn't happen with christms. One year, we decided to do MVMCP plus 2 days. What I did was hid rhyming clues all over the house leading to one another. The last clue led back to the living room where a GIANT box sat in the middle of the room She rips off the paper and throws the box open...just to find another clue. THAT clue was in the shape of a giant ticket with a rhyme that ended with announcing that we were going to Disney in a few days for her birthday. She wasn't excited at first as she wanted to play with her birthday gifts. lol All of her friends, though, were jumping around like crazy. She cried. lol. but my ODD is just dramatic lol. She piped up and was super excited to wear the birthday button and get everyone telling HER happy birthday. Typically, we go at tax season which HAPPENS to be my son's birthday so he gets that button/attention every time
 
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brisem

brisem

Well-Known Member
What we did was: we usualy drive to Myrtle Beach for vacation. So as we passed the exit, my wife gave them a present to unwrap--Mickey Ears. And then told them we were going to Disney.
 
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