Any great ideas for surprise trip?

[KerriL]

Hello all,
I am surprising my kids DS(13) and DD(11) with a trip to AKL Concierge for a week at the end of the month.
Does anybody have any creative ideas on how to present them with the surprise?
I do not plan on telling them until the night before or even the morning of our flight!
Thanks!
Kerri

 

[Kitten516]

I would try to keep the secret for as long as possible. At least till the morning of the flight if not till they were on the flight, or after you land. I think that if you can pack them without them knowing that would be even more of a surprise. When DH an I finally have kids. I want to put them in the car, and just get there, and then have them see the gate and see their faces light up. You might want to hint with Disney activites for the airplane, or little Disney toys and such. What a great surprise.

 

[Lainy67]

I would pack them up after they went to bed, and load the suitcases in the car. Then get them up bright and early, make them get dressed and in the car. Say you have to go somewhere else, and end up at the airport.

If only you could blindfold them and put earplugs in, but at that age, they can definitely hear the announcement and read the gate, and tickets stuff....

Maybe you want to start leaving hints the week before. Like little things around the house and see if they notice. Ask where the sunscreen is after it gets dark, then take it into your room (to pack of course).

My dd knows, I couldn't keep it in, so I can't mess with her mind. That is a bummer.

 

[Ityldu]

We're surprising the kids with a trip in Jan. We'll have to get them out of school early, so we're going to do something like leave a note in their lunchboxes, or just show up and pull them out early and just drive them to the airport without telling them.

Another thing we did, since we had to leave before sunrise, was wake them up and say Mickey just called and invited us down. Okay, they were real little, but I think it would still be a cool way for a teenager to wake up. Heck, I'd pop out of my skin if DH announced it that way.

I guess it all depends on what time you're leaving. How about making Mickey shaped pancakes for b-fast. Then tell them it's just to get them in gear for what's ahead of them that day.

Have fun. I can't think of a better surprise.

 

[millercjsb]

KErriL We surprised our kids who have been to disney 1 a year since birth las t Sept. Granted they were 5 and 1/2 and 4, but we told them we were going on a field trip to the local airport and that we got to check a bag just to see where checked luggage goes. My friend Denise came with us, supposedly to check out the fieldtrip for her kids- she got paged as soon as we arrived at the airport- so she had to borrow our car to handle the emergency at home(wink wink)I told them if it wasn't too busy at the airport that the pilot and stewardesses might take all the people who signed up for the field trip on a short flight.
WE arrived at airport, checked our bag, checked in at gate for the "fieldtrip" and waited for the boarding announcement. the kids watched planes taking off and landing. WE got on board and lo and behold they took off, 2hrs later we are still 45 min from orlando and my son starts to complain that the field trip was taking too long. When we landed the kids wanted to know where Denise was with our car, we of course couldn't find her so we went to National to "borrow" another car to go back home. WE drove all the way to the entry gates of disney and had to show them the characters on the sign before they would believe that we weren't back in Albany, NY. they had a great trip and even though they had been many times before , this was their first surprise.

 

[Ityldu]

Carol - that's a great one. Maybe I'll switch and try that. My kids would still fall for it, even the 8.5YO b/c on rainy days we go to the local airport and watch planes take off. Plus, he so gullible (I mean trusting) that he'd fall for that whole story. Hmmm? What to do?

 

[KerriL]

Thanks guys..all your suggestions sound great!!
Well, our flight departs at 7:20am so I will need to wake them up at least by 4:30am. I will probably tell them that we have to take my husband to the airport, that's the only way I can think of to get them there without arrousing any suspicions! Then, when it's time to go through security and to the gate, we'll all go!
I did have this trip planned and they knew of it, but then I got laid off from Disney last year and had to cancel. They were so disappointed. So they are really not expecting it!
It is easy to find out where they want to eat and which parks they want to do because I tell them I am planning a Disney vacation for a family(I'm still a Disney Vacation Specialist, although not for Disney) and I want their opinions! They still don't have a clue that I am discussing their own vacation...
Well, only 12 more days to go!!
Thanks again,
Kerri

 

[Deb & Bill]

We are taking our son to WDW for his birthday as a surprise. We also have an early flight that will connect at another location. So we hope he won't catch on too early. Then when we get to MCO, we will have a stretch limo waiting. Hope he is surprised.

 

[wld]

Here is what we did. DD's were 8 and 11 at the time and we had not really discussed a trip to Disney as their dad was the only breadwinner and I had just finished nursing school.

We saw the money add as I started my part time job and DH and I started talking about it and decided to keep it a suprise. We went in early Dec. I contacted the teachers on the side and let them know so we could get homework. I had to work that Friday(we left on Sat) so my mom went and got the homework from the teachers after the girls left for the day. One of the teachers had messed up and forgot and gave my daughter her homework. She was really confused!!!! My mom met them when they got off the bus and since she knew from trying to pick up the homework she did a quick "Is there another Jessica"thing (thank goodness her name wasn't Penelope or something. Our Jess was yeah it must be her etc.
My sister then picked them up from my mom with the excuse I was working late. Hubby was on 2nd and I got home at 8pm did rest of laundry packed us and hid the stuff.
We woke them up in the morning with a card that said have fun on your trip and a Birnbaums for kids. They did not believe us. My sis showed up and drove us to the airport. They did not believe us until we checked in our luggage. You should have seen their faces, it was so cool and so worth the effort from everyone. The 8 year old turned around and said "we are really going" they thought it was an elaborate joke until then.Their biggest shock was that their Grandma and Aunt told a "story" but understood why.
Don't think they would have fallen for check the airport out, but that would be neat for younger kids. They had the time at the airport and on the plane to check out fun things to do with the guide book.
It is sure worth the suprise, although I'm not sure we could suprise them again

 

[KerriL]

bumping!!!!

 

[lolatuck]

My DH and I did this for our two DS's three years ago for a trip to Disneyland. We were driving, and we told them we were going to my brothers house for a visit. We actually stayed at my brother's house one night because he was a convenient stop on our road trip. The next morning when we got back on the road we just headed towards California. It took a while for the kids (then 11 and 10) to figure out that we weren't heading back the way we came. They thought we'd taken a wrong turn. That's when we spilled the beans that we were actually going to Disneyland. They were so surprised.

I just love doing that!

Good luck with your surprise!

Lola

 

[Dona Momma]

We leave in 6 days. It has been so hard trying to keep this a surprise. This will be our 2nd trip to WDW.
The kids know we are going on vacation, but they think we are going to Sea World in San Antonio. DS is not very excited about this trip. DD is excited just to go and stay at a hotel.
We will be driving to WDW. We will leave 5:00 a.m., so kids will be asleep. We will stop in Al. Hopefully kids will not figure it out.
They think we are saving our money for next year. We told them it just cost toooooo much money to go the WDW two years in a row.
DS has seen me looking up information several time, but I simply tell him that I am planning our trip for next year. He has even decided on penny presses he wants for next year. He got a little upset when he saw that some of them are for the 100 year celebration. I just told him that they should still have them when we go.
IF HE ONLY KNEW!!!!!
We will be staying at the GF and I can't wait.

I thought I would simply tell them when we arrive in Florida that
I had a dream and my heart made a wish and I guess it came true!!!

DISNEY WORLD HERE WE COME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Jodi1980]

I took a fortune cookie and with some tweezers took out the fortune and replaced it with one I typed "We're going to Disney World!". I took my daughter out for chinese food the night before we left for WDW. It was great!

 

[Dona Momma]

We leave tomorrow and I decided to make a little card for the kids. I will also be giving them Mickey shirts.

This is how it goes:

I had a dream and my heart had a wish and now
it is coming true.
I have a surprise for you.
I know a friend that is turning 100 years old.
Many say his castle is built out of gold.
We have been a little tricky.
But we are now on our way to see MICKEY!

S U R P R I S E!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Love,
Mom and Dad

 

[Steffi]

Dona, I love that! Have a fantastic trip

 

[denecarter]

We go to WDW every year, but always in summer (I'm a teacher). I was able to get the Swan for $149 for December 25-31, so I've got a trip planned for dd (who will be 15), myself, and my mother. I'm planning our July 9-14 trip right now, so dd doesn't notice the planning stuff. Sometimes I bait her with comments about which restaurants I want to try "someday" and how I'd like to go at Christmas "someday".

On Christmas morning she'll find a little plush or something sitting beside her Winnie the Pooh stocking. Inside the stocking will be her Annual Pass, the plane ticket (confirmation letter anyway), the resort confirmation card, and a bunch of Disney Dollars.

 

[DisneyWorld fanatic]

Here's how we surprised our children on their first trip to WDW. At the time, they were 4 & 3 so it was very easy to pack and get ready without them knowing what was going on. We packed the van the night before. The next morning, we woke them up, got them ready and left around 6:00am. We didn't tell them anything until we were leaving NJ and entering DE which was about an hours ride(we live in central NJ). Of course at that age, 1 hour seems an eternity. We told them that we were going to a really big Disney Store that had alot of Disney stuff but we could not keep that going for very long but we were in VA before we actually told them that we were going to WDW. They were so surprised, and actually, our son didn't believe it at first. They were so good in the van on that long trip. They were "angels"!!
Of course, we arrived at WDW very late, around 11:00pm and stayed at the Wilderness Lodge. The were practically bouncing off the walls. After a good sleep, we started our 7 day WDW vacation and have been back every year since.
The vacation was wonderful but I think the best part was seeing the childrens faces each day as we encountered new things. What a joy!!!!! Have fun on your trip!!!!! Jim

 

[milmore104]

I know it is so hard to keep a suprise. If your anything like me and my family you just love disney. We no sooner get home from a 2 week trip and are itching to go back. Anyway if you can keep it a secret it is all the much more exciting for everyone. trust me I suprised my husband and daughter last Dec. with a trip. I told them we were going shopping for x-mas and when we drove by the airport I said actually why don't we go to Disney instead. You can imagine the look on my husbands face as I turned into the airport. It is really hard to keep this secret but it is really worth it.