Surprising Your Kids With a Disney Trip

My husband and I are surprising our three youngest children with a surprise to Disney next month.  Our girls have been several times and ask periodically about when we can go back.  We drive (about 8 hours) when we go and bring just about everything but the kitchen sink with us.  Ours will be a fairly short trip - just 4 nights - but since we've done everything several times already, I think it will be great.  After we decided to surprise the kids, I began to do research about how to best reveal the big news.  And my research revealed a shocking consensus: surprising your kids with a trip to Disney should only be done with great consideration.

YouTube is filled with Disney surprises gone wrong and I don't want mine to go that way, so I have compiled some helpful tips below.

Things to consider before you decide to surprise the kids:

1. Does your child like surprises?  Some kids are planners, others are go-with-the-flow types.  If your child needs a lot of time to adjust to the idea of meeting giant costumed characters and being wowed by fireworks, they might not enjoy the surprise as much as you'd like them to enjoy it.  Also, would your child benefit more from helping plan the trip? When I was a kid, selecting dining reservations and planning out the trip was just as much fun for me as the trip itself.  I loved counting down the days and making binders full of reservation numbers and plans.  I know I'm a Disney nerd, but if your child a planner and has gone to Disney before, they may actually be disappointed that they didn't get to help plan the trip.
2. Has your child been to Disney before?  If they have gone and know what to expect, the surprise will probably be great.  They will be so excited that they are going to Disney right in that moment, that there will not be room for a negative response.  If they haven't gone before and don't know what to expect, the surprise may not be as big of a moment as you're hoping for - 
3. Can you (and whoever else knows) keep the secret? This is always a problem for me.  My family can't keep a secret for the life of them!  I told my parents from the get-go that this was going to be a surprise for my kids and yesterday at lunch one of my parents asked my kids if they were excited about their Disney trip.  Luckily, my kids are only 5,4 and 2 and didn't pick up on the slip.

Still think it's a good idea? Then do it! But based on a lot of YouTube results, I highly recommend you don't tell them you are going to Grandpa's house (or any other place) and then change the destination to Disney.  Even if Disney is 100 times better than the place you told them you were going, the general results seem to be disappointment (especially if they've never been to Disney and don't know how awesome it is).

Now to the best part: fun ways to reveal the big news! Whatever you do, don't forget to break out the video camera for the big moment!

1. Character phone call - this can be done through Disney or you can have a friend call and pretend to be a character inviting your kids to come to Disney for a visit.
2. Fill a piggy bank with coins and call it your Disney Fund - you can build this up for weeks or months in advance.  When you are ready to announce your trip, decorate it and set up that video camera. Put it out on display and call the kids to come see the piggy bank!
3. Invitation - you could do a space-themed Buzz Lightyear invitation that includes a cool nerf gun and a letter from Buzz or a royal invitation from their favorite princess along with a princess crown/tiara. You can have it in a wrapped box and place it on your front doormat.  Send them upstairs, ring the doorbell, and step back... 
4. Gifts - wrap up a gift (autograph book and pen, Disney photo album, or a new favorite character plush toy from the Disney Store) and add a tag that says, "Bring this with you to Disney tomorrow!"
5. Clues - you can do a series of challenges, such as a scavenger hunt to find Disney items that are hidden around the house or have them search for letters (DISNEY) and then have them unscramble the letters to figure out where they're going.
6. Free Disney World park maps make a great part of your announcement http://customizedmaps.disney.go.com/.

Feel free to chime in with more ideas.  My husband and I are leaning toward giving the girls a series of gifts in the car on our way there, but we're not set on any one way yet. Any suggestions are welcome!  I will post a video of our reveal after our trip.