How to surprise the kids with a Disney trip

[CapnBarbosa]

I'm looking for some tips/suggestions/funny comments on how to surprise my kids with a Disney trip, assuming my wife and I can actually keep the secret before we go. I have 8 and 6 year old Pirates, and a newborn Princess. I should at least be able to keep the secret from my new Princess, but it is Disney, and she does need a little Princess outfit, so I'm not certain even she won't figure it out .... jk ...

details:
We stayed at OKW last Nov. and the boys ask every day when we can go back. My wife was ~8 mo. pregnant, so she really missed out on, well, everything, so they even use that as a reason to go back soon ... "let's do it for Mom" - they are sweet. I've been telling them we can't go back until their little sister can ride Space Mountain, which really gets them going. Anyhow, I couldn't help myself and just booked a trip for Nov. but we want to surprise the kids.

here's the scoop:
We will be staying at Saratoga Springs Nov. 11-18 and driving from Tennessee. We plan on stopping overnight and the grandparents in GA, then finishing the drive the next day. I will pack all their Disney stuff in a separate suitcase so they think we're just going to G&Gs for a quick visit. Our dilemma is, do we tell them before we leave G&G's, or try to make it to the resort, or Florida at least (they like getting the OJ at the welcome rest area - same thing I did ~40 years ago - yikes!)?? I'm assuming they'll figure it out relatively quickly, since they think I am continuously lost behind the wheel, but we want to keep it a surprise as long as possible.

Thanks!

[Jacca5660]

We are also from Tennessee and we just put the kids in the car and said we were going for a ride.

[Amy]

I'm looking for some tips/suggestions/funny comments on how to surprise my kids with a Disney trip, assuming my wife and I can actually keep the secret before we go. I have 8 and 6 year old Pirates, and a newborn Princess. I should at least be able to keep the secret from my new Princess, but it is Disney, and she does need a little Princess outfit, so I'm not certain even she won't figure it out .... jk ...
details:
We stayed at OKW last Nov. and the boys ask every day when we can go back. My wife was ~8 mo. pregnant, so she really missed out on, well, everything, so they even use that as a reason to go back soon ... "let's do it for Mom" - they are sweet. I've been telling them we can't go back until their little sister can ride Space Mountain, which really gets them going. Anyhow, I couldn't help myself and just booked a trip for Nov. but we want to surprise the kids.
here's the scoop:
We will be staying at Saratoga Springs Nov. 11-18 and driving from Tennessee. We plan on stopping overnight and the grandparents in GA, then finishing the drive the next day. I will pack all their Disney stuff in a separate suitcase so they think we're just going to G&Gs for a quick visit. Our dilemma is, do we tell them before we leave G&G's, or try to make it to the resort, or Florida at least (they like getting the OJ at the welcome rest area - same thing I did ~40 years ago - yikes!)?? I'm assuming they'll figure it out relatively quickly, since they think I am continuously lost behind the wheel, but we want to keep it a surprise as long as possible.
Thanks!

I would keep it a surprise at least until Grandma and Grandpa's house. As you said, you can keep the Disney stuff in a different suitcase. That way they will still be excited to see Grandma and Grandpa and won't be wishing ahead to Disney. If you choose to tell the kids at G&G's then they can share in the excitement too!

[Wizzard419]

You can always play the classic family game "Does this rag smell like cholorform?"

[jlpeaches255]

You can always play the classic family game "Does this rag smell like cholorform?"

That made me laugh a little too hard.


Keeping that secret is HARD...I see you have already read my trip report and seen the perils of surprise trips ... but I would try to keep it a secret as long as possible! I think keeping it a secret until you are leaving Grandma & Grandpa's is a good idea because how can poor Grandma and Grandpa compete with Mickey!
Good luck! And of course keep us posted on how it is going.

[Wizzard419]

Most airlines won't let you take a passed out child on board, so you will either have to charter a jet or give them a long term dose and ship them overnight like in Hudson Hawk. Remember to put the "this end up" the right way too.

[Amy]

Most airlines won't let you take a passed out child on board, so you will either have to charter a jet or give them a long term dose and ship them overnight like in Hudson Hawk. Remember to put the "this end up" the right way too.

You forgot to mention the air holes Wizzard ~ you really aren't good with kids are you?!

[Wizzard419]

I would just assume you throw in an open bottle of oxygen.

[mindflipper]

I was wondering: if you tell them you're going to the grandparents, but then take them to WDW afterwards, are the kids going to think from then on that "going to grandparents" is secret code for going to WDW? Then the next time they go to the grandparents, and there's no trip to WDW as well, they're going to think, "Shucks, it just turned out to be a lousy trip to visit grandma and grandpa, and we got no trip to see Mickey Mouse."

[Len90]

I was wondering: if you tell them you're going to the grandparents, but then take them to WDW afterwards, are the kids going to think from then on that "going to grandparents" is secret code for going to WDW? Then the next time they go to the grandparents, and there's no trip to WDW as well, they're going to think, "Shucks, it just turned out to be a lousy trip to visit grandma and grandpa, and we got no trip to see Mickey Mouse."

That could be an issue but you might be able to get away with it by breaking the news just after leaving. You can either make a "wrong" turn on the interstate or you ask the kids where they want to go when leaving G&G.

[mindflipper]

I was wondering: if you tell them you're going to the grandparents, but then take them to WDW afterwards, are the kids going to think from then on that "going to grandparents" is secret code for going to WDW? Then the next time they go to the grandparents, and there's no trip to WDW as well, they're going to think, "Shucks, it just turned out to be a lousy trip to visit grandma and grandpa, and we got no trip to see Mickey Mouse."

That could be an issue but you might be able to get away with it by breaking the news just after leaving. You can either make a "wrong" turn on the interstate or you ask the kids where they want to go when leaving G&G.

When I was a kid, and my parents wanted to take my brother and I out of school for a trip, they told the school that my grandmother died. I think I had 7 grandmothers die in total, and yet I always still had two left alive. Looking back, I wonder what my parents would have done if my grandmother had really died back then?

[Amy]

When I was a kid, and my parents wanted to take my brother and I out of school for a trip, they told the school that my grandmother died. I think I had 7 grandmothers die in total, and yet I always still had two left alive. Looking back, I wonder what my parents would have done if my grandmother had really died back then?

That is funny ~ I wonder why the school never caught on! I'm glad you never really had to leave school due to a Grandmother dying though, that would have been awful...
That reminds me of the M*A*S*H episode where the they are going through Klinger's file and all his relatives have died ~ multiple times!

[mindflipper]

When I was a kid, and my parents wanted to take my brother and I out of school for a trip, they told the school that my grandmother died. I think I had 7 grandmothers die in total, and yet I always still had two left alive. Looking back, I wonder what my parents would have done if my grandmother had really died back then?

That is funny ~ I wonder why the school never caught on! I'm glad you never really had to leave school due to a Grandmother dying though, that would have been awful...
That reminds me of the M*A*S*H episode where the they are going through Klinger's file and all his relatives have died ~ multiple times!

Well, as you don't go the the same school for all of K->12, and there are school changes due to moving, then taking in account you can have normally 2 grandparents (if not including ones by divorced parents) - well, there are endless possibilities but it can be done without anyone catching on. The only thing that could give it away is the school administers wondering why the kids were so gleeful about their grandmother having just died...

[Amy]

...Well, as you don't go the the same school for all of K->12, and there are school changes due to moving, then taking in account you can have normally 2 grandparents (if not including ones by divorced parents) - well, there are endless possibilities but it can be done without anyone catching on. The only thing that could give it away is the school administers wondering why the kids were so gleeful about their grandmother having just died...

I can picture you now ~ what? grandma's dead? Yippee!!!

[mindflipper]

...Well, as you don't go the the same school for all of K->12, and there are school changes due to moving, then taking in account you can have normally 2 grandparents (if not including ones by divorced parents) - well, there are endless possibilities but it can be done without anyone catching on. The only thing that could give it away is the school administers wondering why the kids were so gleeful about their grandmother having just died...

I can picture you now ~ what? grandma's dead? Yippee!!!

No, I didn't, but I think my brother did once...