How to surprise the kids on Christmas morning?

[halfmonkey]

Not sure where to post this but this seemed like the most appropriate place.

So we're planning on doing a land and sea vacation at the end of March. We'll be doing WDW from Monday through Friday and then doing a Disney cruise from Saturday to Saturday. Our kids, which will be DS9.5, DS8, and DD4 at the time of the cruise, know that we're going on the cruise and they've been on two other Disney cruises before. The previous cruises were on the Wonder. We did a cruise to nowhere out of San Diego and a cruise down to San Diego from Vancouver. Kids loved it and are super excited for this upcoming cruise.

My question is, I'm trying to think of a way to surprise them with the trip to WDW. They don't know we're going to WDW first and it'll be a first time trip to cruise out of FL and a first time trip to WDW.

I was thinking of putting the usual presents under the tree and maybe getting the letters that spell out DisneyWorld and putting them in presents too. I would have the kids open their normal presents and then save the letters last and kind of have it like a scavenger hunt where I would have one child open one present and it would be a random letter and then inside the present would be instructions on where to find the next present/letter. The letters would be in random order. I'm thinking maybe keeping the letters in envelopes and so once all of the presents are found, they can line up the envelopes with the letters and open them. I'll number the envelopes so the kids know which order they go in and as they open the envelopes, it'll kind of be like wheel of fortune where they'll have to figure out what it says. This is what I'm thinking now but I would love to hear your own surprises because I'm sure some of you came up with some great ideas. Please share your story because the kids have been asking about WDW and now we finally have the chance to take them. Thanks.

 

[nursejackie]

This isn't an answer to your question but it brought back memories for me when, in 1985, our parents told us we were going to Spain for our holiday (we live in England) but in fact they had booked for Miami and WDW and intended to tell us at the airport. However their plans were thwarted when as 16 and 13 year olds we were looking for clothes for going out to all the discos in Spain. They came clean about a month before we flew. It was the best news ever!

 

[FabFourteenFamilyFun]

So much fun- whatever you do!! We surprised our family- 8 adults and 6 grandchildren on Christmas Eve! I did a stack of boxes for each grandchild- they had to open in order starting with an ornament that We always get- after that it was cheap stuff that they could use at Disney World like a rain poncho- then in the last box were 3 different shirts I had made. The adults all got the same shirts too! So much fun! That was 3 years ago and my parents surprised them again at Christmas! This time I told her to write" you are going to the happiest place on earth" then cut it up into a puzzle - fun too but as soon as they saw "happiest" they knew! 3 years ago they were ages 4-9! Wish we were doing a cruise but daughter won't have a great time!!!!

 

[cleverclovers]

Make an ornament that says Disneyworld 2017 and put it on the tree on Christmas eve after they go to bed. Offer a special treat to the first one who finds the "special new ornament". Watch their faces as they figure it out.

 

[FabFourteenFamilyFun]

Make an ornament that says Disneyworld 2017 and put it on the tree on Christmas eve after they go to bed. Offer a special treat to the first one who finds the "special new ornament". Watch their faces as they figure it out.

Love that idea! You could buy one at the Disney Store as soon as the dated stuff comes out!

 

[halfmonkey]

One other thing I forgot to mention that will complicate the situation a little bit or at least make things a little trickier. So normally, I wait for the kids to go to sleep and we have milk and cookies set up for Santa and fruits and veggies for the reindeers on Christmas Eve but this year we're going to be going out of town on the morning of Christmas Eve and won't be back until the day after Christmas. The plan so far is to pack the car up early in the morning on Christmas Eve and get the kids in the car. I'll pretend I'm running late and so I'll have my wife go pick up my parents at their house. This will give me some time to then bring out the gifts and set them up so when they return home from the trip, they'll see them under the tree. So keep in mind, that whatever it is I do for the surprise, I have to be able to set it up pretty quickly too along with the other gifts too.

Love these ideas. Keep them coming!

 

[mjmgsssp]

Last year my friend created a scavenger hunt for her 3 grandkids. She had them going all over her house to find envelopes. Inside each was a piece of a homemade jigsaw puzzle (9 pieces in all). Once they put the puzzle together (it was a Mickey head), they got to open the final gift which contained autograph books, a Birnbaums guidebook, some Disney gift cards, etc. It was a huge hit!

 

[FabFourteenFamilyFun]

One other thing I forgot to mention that will complicate the situation a little bit or at least make things a little trickier. So normally, I wait for the kids to go to sleep and we have milk and cookies set up for Santa and fruits and veggies for the reindeers on Christmas Eve but this year we're going to be going out of town on the morning of Christmas Eve and won't be back until the day after Christmas. The plan so far is to pack the car up early in the morning on Christmas Eve and get the kids in the car. I'll pretend I'm running late and so I'll have my wife go pick up my parents at their house. This will give me some time to then bring out the gifts and set them up so when they return home from the trip, they'll see them under the tree. So keep in mind, that whatever it is I do for the surprise, I have to be able to set it up pretty quickly too along with the other gifts too.

Love these ideas. Keep them coming!

I think it depends on how much time you want to spend on it- I am NOT a shopper but I had fun getting stuff for Disney if you don't have the time it would be so easy to hang up the ornament!

 

[PanamaMike]

When surprising my niece & nephew (9 & 5 at the time) with the family trip to WDW a few years ago we did this:

Kept the box hidden in the basement on Christmas Day until all the other gifts had been open and the kids were busy enjoying their presents.

The adults gathered in the living room. I placed the large box under the tree and we called the kids in by telling them they seemed to have missed a rather obvious present.

The box was addressed to the two of them from Santa and inside were 7 small gift boxes decorated with each of our names and WDW stickers.

The kids handed them out to all of us (inside were our park hoppers) thereby participating in the giving of the gift, not just receiving it.

The large box also contained a Birnbaum WDW Guide book, two envelopes with $25 each in Disney $ for the kids and a note from Santa giving the dates we were going on our trip.

 

[Brittni__duh]

My nieces were surprised with a trip to Disney this past Christmas. We had "family Christmas" the first evening of their winter break from school. We told them it was the only time everyone could get together. They had new luggage under the tree and inside each girls new luggage was their own Magic Band. After that, they got a few Disney gift cards and stockings full of useful Disney World things. My DH and I had just gotten back from a trip so we bought all the little essentials for them. (Water bottles, autograph book, pen, Mickey santa hats, etc.) After opening them, they were told to go pack their new bags because they were leaving the next morning to spend the week of Christmas in Disney World.

 

[R-Patz]

Aww I am loving reading all of these stories! I love the idea of having the kids trying to work out from the clues like you suggested, their faces would be so cute when they work out that the letters spell out Disneyworld! Maybe Santa could leave an obvious note for them to read before they start opening presents, telling them that as they open their presents they will find numbered envelopes which they MUST wait to open at the end to unlock their special main present. That would start building the anticipation for them

Good luck, whatever you decide your kids are going to be thrilled!

 

[Alberta bound]

We did this with my teen nephews one year. At Christmas we packed a box with sunglasses,a summer shirt, flip flops and finally the confirmation of our flight to WDW. They were really surprised!( I only did one box and they opened it together.)

 

[goofyx3]

I am also surprising my kids on Christmas morning. My kids are DS18, DS16 and DD13. My sister is joining us on the trip with her kids, DD17, DD14 and DS8, also surprising them on Christmas morning. I'm going to have them open a large wrapped box with Disney mylar balloons inside that will float out once the box is opened. Can't wait, it's been so hard keeping this secret!

 

[leebee]

The Christmas that DD was 7, I made a photo scrap book with pictures from the previous trips to WDW, wrapped it, and made sure it was the last thing she opened. We had mugs of hot chocolate and cozied up to look at the pictures together. At the end of the pictures, there was a page with an invitation from Cinderella to join her for breakfast on such-and-such a day. The very last page was a travel itinerary, plane tickets, and park tickets for the trip. She was very surprised, as we'd told her that we wouldn't be going back for quite some time, maybe not until 6th grade.

 

[kniquy]

We did this for our twin boys a couple years ago. It was the best surprise ever!! We went to 5 below and tried to find a bunch of disney related items and used those as stocking stuffers and just gifts for them to open. They really did not catch on (they were 9 at the time). Then we had a huge box ( i think it was a furniture box --so it was huge!!) which we left for them to open last - in it we put a bunch of disney & Mickey balloon (which i found on amazon. we used helium so they would float up, but with ribbon tied to items) and on mickey i typed up a sign that told them they were going to disney next week (we went on NYE). In the box we put a book for kids by kids about disney ( i cant remember the name) so that they could read it and tell us what they wanted to do for rides. We also put in a binder with pictures of where we were staying and other agenda info (more for me, but just to add to the box). Oh and i made my own iron on t-shirts that they wore that day that said "we're going to disney" If you want the picture for that just PM you email and i can send it to you.

 

[run.minnie.miles]

I'll never forget how my parents gave us our 1st WDW trip on Christmas morning.... We had finished opening presents and my sister and I were starting to organize/look through all of our opened gifts while my parents watched, drinking coffee. Probably about 10 minutes later, my dad said, "Hmm girls, I think you're missing 1 present." Being kids, we knew there wasn't anything left under the tree... "Did you look under the tree skirt?" There was a big envelope with a colorful certificate inside announcing our trip. #Magical

 

[wilkeliza]

I'll never forget how my parents gave us our 1st WDW trip on Christmas morning.... We had finished opening presents and my sister and I were starting to organize/look through all of our opened gifts while my parents watched, drinking coffee. Probably about 10 minutes later, my dad said, "Hmm girls, I think you're missing 1 present." Being kids, we knew there wasn't anything left under the tree... "Did you look under the tree skirt?" There was a big envelope with a colorful certificate inside announcing our trip. #Magical

That is such a dad thing to do! Oh hey there is one still left. It is under the tree skirt haha.

 

[run.minnie.miles]

That is such a dad thing to do! Oh hey there is one still left. It is under the tree skirt haha.

Haha! Yep! Dads have their own sense of humor, don't they?

 

[halfmonkey]

I just received a thing in the mail saying that we're going to Walt Disney World kind of like how you receive something similar when you book a Disney Cruise. I didn't know they did this for WDW too. In any case, I'm thinking of using this to surprise the kids. I was thinking of putting this in a yellow envelope and then putting that in a red envelope and then putting that in black envelope for the kids to open. I have 3 kids so I would let the oldest open the black envelope and the middle can open the red envelope with the youngest opening the yellow envelope and then all of the kids freakin' out. The colored envelope would represent Mickey Mouse's colors. I don't think the kids would pick up on it but we'll see. I could even put the letters W, D, and W on each of the envelopes to see if they pick up on this hint too. This might be a little easier then doing a scavenger hunt.

 

[WDWNY]

You can get a Disney count down and put it in front of the tree! or have it wrapped up