Have you surprised your kids with a Disney trip?

[omniscientmommy]

We just booked a last minute trip and we agreed we'd surprise the kids, basically like on the way to the airport type surprise. DS8 I'm not sure how he'll react to it. He's been very moody and grumpy, thought I had a few years before the tween emo phase. DS5 however will be over the moon. He has been asking how many days and says our July trip is too far away!

 

[Lizzie the Banker]

Yes they cried all the way to the airport because they wanted to go to school. One kept saying I will never learn to read and become a dentist. They were in kindergarten

ha ha ha that is too cute

 

[Lizzie the Banker]

I told my kids we were going to Disney on Thanksgiving but we were really going in the summer. I did this so that they could help me with planning, and I could get a feel for what their must dos were. I packed right in front of them and told them I was getting rid of old clothes and they never even picked up on it. The day before we went I set up a scavenger hunt with clues, and then each of them got a final clue. My 5 year old got a clue that said "We are going" and then my 8 year old got a clue that said "To Disney tomorrow." They were both so excited! Now we really *are* planning a trip for Thanksgiving and the kids don't believe me!

 

[Lizzie the Banker]

I actually surprised my kids this Christmas, along with my 7 year old sister in law. It wasn't Disney, but Great Wolf Lodge. I wrapped up suitcases that were already packed with their clothes. So they unwrapped the suitcases and opened them to find their clothes and wolf ears. Then we got in the car and left. This could work with Mickey ears.

 

[Dannielle]

2 years ago, my children came home from school the Thursday before memorial day weekend. The first thing they noticed was that the Dog wasn't at home. We told them she was at the Groomers. Then they say at the Kitchen Counter to have a snack. My husband and I pulled out a puzzle that I had custom made (Walgreens Photo can do this for you) and asked them to put it together for a surprise for the weekend. They had no instructions, so i was nice enough to put the border together for them. They just had to fill in the middle. I kept the final few pieces of the puzzle in my pocket so that had to pretty much finish it to figure out the surprise.....The Puzzle was the Walt Disney World arch on World Drive....and it said "Surprise We are Going to Disney World" They were so excited, asked when. Then we told them we leave for the airport in 20 minutes.

Another time, we woke the kids up at 4am...blasting the sound of "When you Wish Upon a Star" through the house. When the kids finally got out of Bed and walked into the living room; my husband and I were standing there with the Suitcases and yelled Surprise, we are going to Disney!!!

 

[Cinderelly911]

We surprised them this time last year (wish we were going again). We did a scavenger hunt! It was fun...but it was hard to pack in secret! I posted a link to our surprise video (I think I did it right)

 

[friedela]

Cinderelly911, adorable video!! I love how your DD was super excited just to play a game, bless her heart! Thanks for sharing!! My DH gives you extra thumbs up because of your DH's Canadiens t-shirt

So it's been a while since I made this post! I've enjoyed reading everyone's responses and experiences! We are homeschooling this year for the first time and it's been a challenging year, we've had a lot of tough stuff to work through. We're been talking a lot lately about how we wish we could break up our year with another trip, both of my kids have been begging us to go to Disneyland but we've been putting them off saying we can't afford another trip right now. Last week as part of our writing I had them write out, "if I could go anywhere, I would go to...." and they both wrote me paragraphs about how much they are dying to go to Disneyland. They wrote out their fastpass selections as well! We have gone back and forth (DH and I) about if we should wait until the morning of to tell them, but I just know they won't sleep the night before if they know in advance and yes, as many of you mentioned I can't handle the, "when are we going???" whining, lol. They don't know it, but we have been planning this trip WITH them for the last 2 months, we are just being sneaky about it

So we are still sticking with the plan of telling them the morning of! It'll be a great, "yaaay! We made it through our first year of homeschooling!". We are SO excited!!!

 

[DisneyCAL]

We did a scavenger hunt (poems in rhyme) around the house and down the road to the mail box then to the car. From there a clue took us to an arcade then dinner then a hotel near the airport. We made the clues not relate to disney or else I think they would've figured it out. They thought it was just a fun family weekend. The next morning their last clue told them to get dressed. I made tshirts that said "I cant keep calm, Im going to Disneyworld!". And we were at the airport 20 minutes later.

This year we told them and my DD8 says "i wish you didnt tell us so we could do the scavenger hunt again".

 

[auralia]

we go about every 2-3 years. a couple years back we told the kids we were going to the space center... and we did and the beach a day or two and the last day we said we were going to get breakfast.... they were all in their tablets so they were not paying any attention to where we were going..... we parked and went in to go eat (we were staying in the villas there) and my kids were still 100% clueless... I"m like um amber where are we.... and she was like breakfast in a big hotel... and i was like where is the hotel and she said Florida.... mind she's about 8 years old i think.... so I put a magic band on her and she asked why I was putting old magic bands on her from Disney trips.... and I said it was new and she said um ok why? and my 6 year old is just spinning in slow circles in the lobby with little to say. Finally my daughter says ok so we are going to eat at Disney world that's nice..... ya... she didn't catch on until we were in our room..... I guess she doesn't expect us to do nice things lol.... so this year we are going for a quick weekend at universal on April 6. and after we leave the park on the night of the 8th... we are headed to the grand Floridian villas for a week..... they don't know... I am very very curious if they will even notice we are at Disney until the morning... I'd think the pull down bed would give it away, but I am not saying a word or taking out their magic bands until they figure it out this time...... Amber is 12 now though but they have never been to grand Floridian villas before...... I am super curious as to how long it takes for them to figure it out I have a video of the first time we "surprised them" and it is so anticlimactic it is hilarious.

 

[Tigger's ally]

Never my kids, but man did I ever surprise Mrs. Tigger......twice!