How to surprise the kids with a Disney trip

[Wizzard419]

I can't imagine any school could be anal enough to deny a parental request.

[mindflipper]

I can't imagine any school could be anal enough to deny a parental request.

Depends upon how anal the school principal is, and I knew a few back when I was in school...

[jlpeaches255]

They can't deny a parents right to take the kids out of school for any reason but they sure can try to give you a hard time.
I usually use the "Family reunion" story. One year the office staff gave me a really hard time and told me that the kids could have to stay back for missing too much school. My kids are VERY good students so when I told the teachers what the office staff said they just laughed!

[Wizzard419]

Now they are kind of getting strict (at least in CA) since funding comes from full day attendance. It might have gotten worse over the recent years since they did have the whole thing about how calling in sick/early outs should only be used for valid reasons.

[Jacca5660]

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...

My Ds's school is K - 12

[mindflipper]

Now they are kind of getting strict (at least in CA) since funding comes from full day attendance. It might have gotten worse over the recent years since they did have the whole thing about how calling in sick/early outs should only be used for valid reasons.

I think there's been something about attendance and funding (or even with raises/promotions) even back when I was in school. Attendance was paramount.

[Polynesian Princess]

Good luck with surprising them! I don't know if I could do it.

[Wizzard419]

You could always just tie their hands, put hoods over them, throw them in the trunk and then say "Surprise!" when you get there.

[mindflipper]

You could always just tie their hands, put hoods over them, throw them in the trunk and then say "Surprise!" when you get there.

You're going to be a wonderful parent some day to a child and he'll remember it all...as he's telling his therapist when he's grown...

[Wizzard419]

If anyone asks, just tell them the kids are epic champions of "hide and go seek".

[Polynesian Princess]

If anyone asks, just tell them the kids are epic champions of "hide and go seek".

Well I guess you've got it all figured out then, huh?

[TTA Traveler]

Ha. I remember as a kid my dad/grandma surprised us just hours before we took our trip. They went on with the morning like usual and then out of the blue "hey, you guys want to go to Walt Disney World?" all casual. I loved that! If I ever have a trip with the family kids I'll make sure to do plan it that way.

[cccmouse]

We did this one time when our boys were in elementary school. We had arranged with the school ahead of time for them to be away from school and we just showed up, went to each of their rooms, knocked on the door and asked to take them early. When they asked why we were there we told them that we were leaving right then for DW. The only problem was that one of our sons was now going to miss a birthday party that he had planned on attending that weekend, but he soon got over that.

[kcarts]

Many moons ago.... My sister and I were taken out of school for trip to Disney World (Sea World and Cape Kennedy were included). My father posed it as an educational trip. Epcot had just opened (and I mean just opened. We were there for day 2). He basically said told the school that we would learn more in that week in Florida than we would all year in school. I remember having to give a talk about what we learned upon my return.

It also didn't hurt that assistant superintendent of schools in my town had played ball with father either......


On another note.. here's how not to surprise your kids.... My buddy is taking his three daughters there this spring. They went a couple years ago and loved it. He tells them this time "We're going to Disney in May. Enjoy it b/c your mother is pregnant and we wont be going again until you new brother is at least three".

[jeremyleo]

For one of our trips a few years ago, when our kids were the same age as your two older ones, we asked friends to purchase Disney Dollars for us when they were at WDW a few weeks before we had planned on going. We gave the Disney cash to the kids (this was at Christmas - we placed envelopes with the D$ on the tree) with no explanation. The expressions on their faces as they tried to understand what was happening were priceless. Eventually we asked "where would you be able to spend that kind of money?". Screaming and jumping around ensued...