Suggestions For a Surprise Trip Needed

[TwoTigersMom]

I'm planning a trip for next April. It will be a total surprise for my boys, they will be 5 & 2 1/2. So far I've been showing them (mostly the older one) shows about Disney on Travel chanel and such. Also we've looked at old planning videos and scrapbooks from earlier trips. He's already started in with the "Wow, I'd sure like to go there Mommy!!" I plan to have my niece send them postcards every couple of weeks starting in January. The postcards will be from different characters describing where they live and how much they would like to see my boys. I'll be telling the boys that their cousin is going to spend a week with us and we will go get her the day before our trip. When we get back to town we'll meet DH for dinner and that's when we'll break the news! We have a local restaurant that we are good friends with the owner and he's already said he'd help us out. So I was thinking something along the lines of our waiter picking on the kids throughout our meal saying he knows a secret and giving little hints. Then at the end of our meal having him bring out Mickey hats for each of them and telling them to go home and get packed! Any suggestions for any of this? Any for the hints or what the postcards should say? Thanks in advance for any help!

 

[brisem]

What we did for our 2 kids was told them we're going to drive to Myrtle Beach (which we do every year) and then as we passed the exit my wife give them each their Mickey Ear> And of course then told them that we're going to Disney.

 

[DivineMadness7]

First, I want to say I always open "surprise trip" threads in the hope that I am catching my mother planning a surprise trip for me.....:lookaroun

anyway :brick:

What a CUTE idea. My eyes just welled up at the thought. The postcards are a wonderful idea and the whole dinner/waiter dropping secrets is even BETTER.

I'll think more on what you should write, suggestions, etc. But I think no matter what you do or write, it will be MAGICAL!

Best of luck with your planning, have a magical trip! :wave:

 

[DisneyMarg]

Am I the only wet blanket out there? I'm thinking 5 and 2 and 1/2 are a little young for such a big surprise. But I do like the restaurant idea. If it were me, I'd do it about a week before the trip instead of a day, so I could help them prepare for the trip and let them look forward to it a little bit. You just never know how kids that young will react. My son would have likely said, "OK, now can I have the ice cream for dessert:?" which would have been a total let down after all my planning. My daughter, on the other hand, would have said, "but I was really looking forward to <fill in blank with some 5 year old activity that doesn't hold a candle to Disney> tomorrow".

And besides, anticipation is half the fun - haven't you seen the commercial ("I'm too excited to sleep!")?

 

[justducky78]

Am I the only wet blanket out there? I'm thinking 5 and 2 and 1/2 are a little young for such a big surprise. But I do like the restaurant idea. If it were me, I'd do it about a week before the trip instead of a day, so I could help them prepare for the trip and let them look forward to it a little bit. You just never know how kids that young will react. My son would have likely said, "OK, now can I have the ice cream for dessert:?" which would have been a total let down after all my planning. My daughter, on the other hand, would have said, "but I was really looking forward to <fill in blank with some 5 year old activity that doesn't hold a candle to Disney> tomorrow".

And besides, anticipation is half the fun - haven't you seen the commercial ("I'm too excited to sleep!")?

It's a really cute idea, but I agree, maybe when they're a bit older. Kids that age have no concept of time. I would wait until 1-3 weeks before the trip and after you've watched a Disney film together say "Surprise, we're going to see Mickey Mouse in 1-3 weeks!" Then create a link chain (out of paper) and each day, let the kids remove a link so they can count down and visibly see the trip get closer and closer.

Then, save the big surprise you had planned (restaurant, etc) for when they're both a little older!

How exciting for you all! :wave:

 

[TwoTigersMom]

I know my younger son will have no clue about the whole thing, however my older boy will. I'm sure his reation will be something along the lines of screaming and jumping and totally "Happy Dancing" around the whole place. DH & I, along with my parents and grandmother, decided that we would go to UO & IOA this year at Christmas time and this would be our present to eachother. So I sat DS down and asked him how he would feel if Mommy & Daddy gave him 1 present, Maw Maw & Granddaddy gave him 1 present and Oma gave him 1 present, instead of having a huge "spoiling" Christmas like we usually do, and we go to Orlando instead!! He immediately freaked and screamed he would LOVE that! I did explain that this would not effect what Santa was bringing him since Santa couldn't go with us.
And really this trip is more for him anyway, kind of a before he starts kindergarten trip.

 

[3fordisney]

How cute!! We are thinking about surprising our little one this year. Last year he knew about it and we did a countdown that we placed on the fridge. This year we thought about not mentioning it to him at all and not telling him till we are on our way in the car.

Mine is 3 and will be 4 when we go again. He went for the first time at 2 and we got him interested and familiar with it by showing him the Sing A Long videos like Disneyland fun, Campout at Fort Wilderness and Beach Party at WDW. He became familiar with the attractions and recognized it when we got there. You can find them on dvd and vhs online and at some stores. He still watches some of the videos, but he knows what he wants to ride and not ride.

I would definitely surprise them and do it close to time and drop hints or wait till you are on your way. If you do it too early, they may drive you insane with the "Are we leaving tomorrow" questions. :dazzle:

 

[justducky78]

I did explain that this would not effect what Santa was bringing him since Santa couldn't go with us.
And really this trip is more for him anyway, kind of a before he starts kindergarten trip.

Hee, hee - Santa can't come with!

I wish I got a send-off like THAT when I started Kindergarten!!

 

[Mori Anne]

.....Sing A Long videos like Disneyland fun, ....:dazzle:

OMG'____.. I thought I was the only one in existance with that sing along movie....lol..... I found it at my local grocery store. It was DVD format...

We did a countdown calander with different Disney stickers for each day (got them at the local scrapbooking store). When we got to the castle, it was time to fly out to Disney. It was a great way to teach my daughter the days of the week, And, she learned how to count to 31. (she just turned four in Sept, and we went in Dec/January).

Off the subject (a little) what is on the WDW dvd that is sold in all the stores at WDW? And, what is on the WDW 'planning a WDW a vacation DVD". And, does anyone know what channels all the "WDW" theme park shows are on? Thanks in advance.

PS. Your surprise sounds GREAT...:sohappy:

 

[autumndawn1006]

disney dollars

You could send disney dollars with the postcards with the note to save them for a special day.

Sounds like a lot of fun! I'm sure they will enjoy it!

 

[goofntink]

My wife and I would like to know if you would like to get Mickey mouse ear hats done for them with their names from the Magic Kingdom, when you do the dinner. Please let us know, would like to help make it a little more Magical. By the way to those who say children around that age have no concept of time, tell that to my 3 and 5 year old neices.We just took them both for their birthdays this weekend,they knew about it weeks in advance,and my 3 year old neice reminded every time we saw her how many days till we went to disney. Kids these days are SOOOOO smart, cause don't know about you, but my 3 year old neice can turn on the computer and play her Disney word and spelling games!!!!!! She also can count to 100,and knows all her colors.

 

[darrin]

I think that's a great idea. My kids are 10 and 7, and when we go in february, all we're going to tell them is we're going on an adventure (we drive now). They absolutely love the surprise of going on an adventure. We're getting AP's for next year, so going more often will be an even bigger surprise. Again, I think you've got a great idea cookin'! let it ride!
:sohappy:

 

[TwoTigersMom]

The restaurant we're going to is a Mexican resaurant. For birthdays they bring out this big sombrero and all the waiters come up and start singing. We are planning to have them all come at the end of our meal with Mickey Ears for the boys and yell something like Go home and pack because your going to Mickey's House tomorrow!!
We're going to UO & IOA in December, and we'll swing by Downtown Disney one night and get some Ears embroidered (sp) and pick up some postcards then too.

 

[eroyee]

planning video

:wave: To Moriah: send for the disney DVD planning video. Its great. we watch it all the time to prepare for our next magical visit in January. It helps. we get all the Disney stuff on our Travel channel and some times on Discover channel. The Travel Channel has the most. hope this helps. another disney fan......Love EEyore.:sohappy:

 

[slowbee]

In May of 04, we took our 5 year old for her birthday... our excuse was I was taking them with me on my business trip. Since I travel alot, she didn't notice.. she didn't know where we were until we drove thru the entrance at WDW... we had the video camera ready and got her reaction...

Last December when we went for Christmas, we woke her up and told her we're leaving for WDW in 45 minutes... those who say children are hard to get up in the morning, you should see how they fly when they are going to WDW.

We're leaving in 17 days for WDW and since we're flying into Tampa and driving over, we have been telling her that we're going to Tampa for vacation. Since she can read, she'll figure it out if she sees a road sign...

 

[LaughingGravy]

I think that's a great idea. My kids are 10 and 7, and when we go in february, all we're going to tell them is we're going on an adventure (we drive now). They absolutely love the surprise of going on an adventure. We're getting AP's for next year, so going more often will be an even bigger surprise. Again, I think you've got a great idea cookin'! let it ride!
:sohappy:

I gotta hand it to you. Driving down and back from anywhere in NY multiple times in a year. Personally, I'd love it, but the rest of my family says nope.
Do you travel down in a camper? That, I could see.

 

[LaughingGravy]

Back on thread topic...

We told our kids only the day before, allowing just enough time to pack. In our case we were taking them out of school, so we needed to get homework in advance from the teachers without the kids knowing. They did the homework at the airport and on the plane ride down, so it was done.

 

[TwoTigersMom]

We told our kids only the day before, allowing just enough time to pack. In our case we were taking them out of school, so we needed to get homework in advance from the teachers without the kids knowing. They did the homework at the airport and on the plane ride down, so it was done.

He'll be in pre school so I don't have to worry about homework yet. YEAH This will also give me a couple hours during the day to pack without him knowing and hide the suit cases in the storage building. He'll only have to pack up a few toys to bring along. So after dinner I had thought I'd take the kids to get a few snacks for the car ride while DH went straight home and to bed since he'll be doing all the driving. Then we'd go home and pack all the suitcases in the car and attempt to put the kids to bed:lol: . Then at 1am I'll slip them into their car seats and when they wake up we'll be almost there.