My kids have no clue we are going, anyone ever do this?

[RogueHabit]

3 years ago we got as far at International Drive before the kids finally "fell in" on the surprise. It was easier then because they were 4 & 9.

We were going to try the same this year, but the cat got out of the bag yesterday. As soon as our lad, now 12, found out that we would be flying to Charlotte, NC, he worked out that we would be doing immigration, etc there, before flying on to Orlando.

Within 20 minutes of so he had worked out the entire itinary, barring a couple of minor errors an started planning what rides he wanted to do first, all whilst we were walking the dog.....

 

[danpam1024]

LuxeMama, your story made me cry . I am assuming your DH is a soldier and just wanted to say Thanks, I hope he is safe and well. You're right, you DO DESERVE a vacation, I could never keep such a secret :zipit:.

 

[Edeyore]

My wife and I did this for our children in 1998. It took a bit of time, as we packed for them and made all the plans. We then had a limo come to the house at 5:30am to pick us up. They loved it. We live in New Hampshire and the excitement just kept building as we were driven to Boston to fly to Orlando. It was a hard secret to keep, but they really loved it.

 

[Brwneyedgirl72]

Several years ago, one of my dear friends was going through a pretty ugly divorce that was hitting the kids pretty hard. We thought it would be fun to give the kids a nice surprise to help cheer them up. We told them that we were going out to dinner, and piled them in my car - What they didn't know was that we were spending the weekend at WDW. We drove about half way and stopped at a rest stop on the turnpike and went to Burger King. They looked really confused and asked if this is where we were having dinner. We tried to play along as long as possible, but thought that we would fill them in. I have never seen two kids so happy in a long time - first they thought we were lying and then it sunk in. It was a great surprise.

 

[abbeysmom]

About 6 years ago, my hubby and I decided that we wanted to do something nice for my bestfriend that is raising her granddaughter. The GD was 4 at the time. She kept saying that she wanted to see "the castle". This was in July. We started buying 4 day hopper passes at the Disney store once a month and then started collecting things that were Disney related. We talked with my friend and said how fun it would be to take the GD somewhere together so we planned a vacation of some kind in March just so that we could ask off of work. So the planning began. I got ressies at ASMovies (2 rooms) and bought 5, 4 day hopper passes. I then had to think of a way to surprise them so I got together all my little Disney stuff (brochures, maps, etc.) and wrapped each one individually and put each of their names on them. Then I wrote a letter from Santa telling them how good they had been and that for being so good that Santa was taking them to Disney. That was the last gift that they opened. They knew something was up when they started opening all the little things but still had no idea. When they opened the letter and read it we all started crying. Hubby and I paid for the room and all the tickets. All they had to come up with was food for the 3 of them and gas to get to my house from NC (I am in GA). This was something that they would have never been able to do financially otherwise. The little girl went from 7am to midnight and never complained once. We had a great time and are very glad we did it because unfortunately the family has now split up and things are just not the same. But I will never forget the look on the 4 year olds face when she saw that castle. Hubby and I still talk about that trip everytime we return.

 

[surfsupdon]

My parents surprised my sister and me with a trip back in '96 when we were 11 and 12. We were told we were going to the Outerbanks, imagine the pure surprise when we passed the Disney World signs on I 4.

Our parents had us picking up things on the floor when we passed the "welcome to florida" signage and told us palm trees grew on the Outerbanks b/c we were so close to the warmer gulf stream, haha. They had a great answers to all of our inquisitive questions.

 

[YodaGirl]

My parents did something similar to that when we were young. We knew that we were going to WDW, but we were told that we still wouldn't be leaving for a couple more weeks.

They suggested that we get our vacation shoes on (we always got new shoes for vacation). Then we hitched up the camper for a "test run". We were 5 and 7, so it took us awhile to figure out, hey...we're not turning around.

We were driving a horizon, so the lid or whatever covering the hatch back can be raised or lowered from the inside. She had my brother move it, and there was all of our stuff...including my precious baby doll I hadn't been able to find the night before! :lol:

 

[jedeye18]

My husband and I are putting together our Disney trip...leaving 12/23 coming home 12/27....we are sending a tree to the resort ahead of time, bringing lights to string on our balcony at the Poly and everything, my kids have no clue we are going...we are going to tell them we have to bring my Mom to the airport and when we get there we will open the back of the van and all their bags will be packed and then it will be "SURPRISE WE ARE GOING TO DISNEY!!!" My sons B*day is also Christmas day, so on Christmas day we are going to go to Animal Kingdom (his favorite park)

We have dinner reservations at Boma for my sons B*Day and Im going to have them bring over a Zebra Dome cake (his favorite desert)


Has anyone else ever done this? Tell your story!

May i just say that you are now in the nominations for the Greatest Parents Ever.

 

[MichRX7]

I take my family 1-2 times a year and usually let our two boys (7/8) know well in advance of our trip, but I found out my boss/friend was going down for his 40th this past February. They have 1 son who is 9 and a friend of the boys so I asked if he wanted some help celebrating and that maybe my folks could watch the kids one night for a more "adult" celebration. He was very excited (as was I, lol) and I planned everything out inviting my mother-in-law, my wife's uncle and his girlfriend (first trip for both). The night before leaving we put the kids to bed as normal for a school night. Once we confirmed they were asleep we packed the bags for the short trip and put them in the kitchen. At 3am we woke them up telling them we had to pick up Grandma and get to the airport to meet Tyler (boss' son) at DisneyWorld. The 8 year old had somewhat caught on since his teacher sent home a "to mom" note that said she was jealous and to enjoy our vacation, but they were still bouncing around in the car saying the familiar "this is awesome" and "sweet" phrases and naming all the rides they had to ride with Tyler (I have never ridden M:Space so many times in my life).

My wife's Uncle is a Las Vegas nut and retired Ford concept designer and it was so much fun watching him be completely blown away at WDW. We only went to MK and EPCOT, but he rode around with his head on a swivel and I kept hearing the phrases "I can't believe the attention to detail", "This blows Vegas away", and "You could fit the entire strip inside one of these lands."

We also stayed at AKL (kids first time there) and they sat with their Great Uncle for hours just watching animals outside on his balcony.

The night of EPCOT my folks did watch the kids and we celebrated my boss' 40th in style culminating with us taking him to his favorite restaurant at EPCOT the newly remodeled Teppan Edo where the waitresses surprised him with a birthday cake and singing happy 40th birthday in Japanese (or at least we think that's what they were singing, lol).

This next trip (12/6-13) we currently have 30 friends/family going. 16 are going for their first trip, a few for their 2nd (who haven't been in 10+ years), and then my family of grizzled disney vets.

Woah, time flies, gotta run and do some more planning, lol... Need to come up with maps for making sure he hit all those rides the newbies want to see! :ROFLOL:

 

[popsicletrees]

We used to keep trips a secret from my dad until about two weeks before our trip, and it was not because he would be so excited to go.