Surprising the Kids.

[JeffC]

I see all types of discussion about the long wait, how many days for you, etc. And it got me wondering - has anyone just got up one morning and told the kids they were going and left?
We did a few years ago. Back in January of that year, we decided to go for a just 6 days (Sunday-Friday) and decided not tell our two teenagers. Leading up to spring break, we kept telling them they were not going to do anything and I would have a week-long list of chores for them to do. Well on that Saturday before we were to leave, my wife and I called the kids into our room and presented them with a two page list of chores. There was the usual "clean your room" type stuff and when they turned onto the second page, I wrote in big letters "pack" with tickets tapes to it. It was pretty cool to see them with that smile on their face - a classic.

 

[sbkline]

Sounds pretty great...except that I wonder if now, everytime you give them a list of chores to do, they're gonna be thinking you're really taking them to WDW. :lol:

 

[wdwforus]

When we went in Dec of 05 we didnt tell the older 2 that we were going to AKL instead of Pop like they thought. I had made a one night reservation without my wife knowing but when she opened MY mail and read what the paperwork said she started to scratch her head. She later said that all I would have had to do was tell her that it was a mistake and that Disney would fix it but I had already told her. Fortunately the bus we were on for Magical Express was servicing both Pop and AKL. We told the not to get off at Pop, that we wanted to go for a ride to see AKL and they started getting funny looks on their faces. It still took them awhile once we got to AKL to figure out they we were actually staying there. They loved it!!!

 

[phichi17]

Sounds pretty great...except that I wonder if now, everytime you give them a list of chores to do, they're gonna be thinking you're really taking them to WDW. :lol:

Rewards like that...can I come to your house to live???:lol: :lol:

 

[Ms. Tinkerbell]

We surprised our kids for a trip to Disneyland once. We woke the kids up real early, after we had already packed up the car, and told them we had to pick up a friend of their Dad's that was flying in. When we got to the airport, we handed them an envelope with tickets and Disney Dollars and told them we had played a trick on them

 

[hack2112]

A couple years ago my aunt woke me up in the morning, at 7 AM. We then got in the car and she started driving. It seemed hours had gone by when I saw a road sign for Universal. I asked her and she said no, that's not where we're going. It wasn't. It was Sea World. I probably hadn't been there in years and it was great!

Also a couple years ago, my parents said we were going to Disney the week after my birthday. They surprised me and we went the week of my birthday with my best friend. It just felt really great leaving school early for one of my favorite trips to Disney EVER!

 

[JeffC]

Sounds pretty great...except that I wonder if now, everytime you give them a list of chores to do, they're gonna be thinking you're really taking them to WDW. :lol:

Yeah, it's kind of like that. In fact we talking about our trip here in a couple of weeks and I told them that even though we're planning on going, actually we're staying home and doing chores and they'd find out the day we're s'posed to leave. They didn't buy it, though. I think it was because they were with us when we bought the package through our travel agent.

 

[ELopez]

We surprised our kids once when they were like toddler/preschool age. We didn't tell them until they saw the sign! We video taped their reaction.

We are tempted to surprise them everytime, just to spare ourselves the "How many more days?" etc. But I think that the planning/anticipation is so much fun that I end up telling them!

 

[Dagger]

I can't wait to do fun stuff like that!!!!!!!!!!! :sohappy:

 

[brisem]

We usually surprise them. Every year we go to Myrtle Beach, so 3 yrs as we drove by our exit, my wife gave them a present--Mickey Ears.
This year, will be a surprise too--just havent decided how to tell them yet.

 

[weluvtink]

For our trip in August, we didn't tell them until the night before. We went out to dinner and I asked them what they wanted to do the next day. We gave them a few suggestions(go to the park or the beach?) Then I said why don't we go to Disney World? I had already packed everything, all we had to do was go home and load up the truck. My son(7) started to cry, and my daughter(4) just said "ok, that sounds good".

 

[CAPTAIN HOOK]

Back in 2003 we decided to include a visit to Discovery Cove with our WDW trip. The kids like something to do while sat on the aircraft for 9.5 hours so I put together a Disney Crossword and told them that the winner would get a prize.
On completion, I handed them both an envelope with details of our forthcoming trip to DC - they loved it

 

[3dwarfs]

Last year I told my 8 & 9 yr. old children we were going 8 months ahead of time. (I was so excited and it was their 1st trip so I just couldn't keep quiet). I don't think I will do that again. Everyday their teachers would here about any new plans we made for our trip, luckily they laughed about it. Then after the excitement wore down they just seemed a little annoyed because the trip seemed so far away. So now I'm trying to decide if I should go a week next March or 11 days next June, and I definately want to surprise them this time.(But how can I hold my excitement it!? :sohappy: )

 

[pinkrose]

I love reading these stories of surprising people with trips! Great ideas everyone!

 

[Lightyear]

We have surprised our kids a few times. I think I will do so again this year because I swore that we were not going to WDW this year, that we need to see and do other things. And I really meant it at the time! After Christmas I started getting the itch...and now we are booked for our usual two weeks in July. :sohappy: (That didn't last long!)

However, I have almost slipped like a thousand times already. We will see how long I can keep the secret.