Planning a "surprise" WDW trip........need advice.

[TooBoyz4us]

I am seriously considering planning a SURPRISE Disney trip for my family in October. I've done the math, and I *think* I can sneak out the funds in small doses without DH noticing in order to pay for the ressies.
We truly love doing the silver plan package, and using the magical wishes for meals........but, in order to save money, I am going to book the simple Dream Maker package alone.

I would LOVE to hear from others out there who have planned surprise trips
* How did you keep it secret?
* What about Disney travel documents or airline tickets that come in the mail?
*At what point did you finally "spill the beans" to your family?
*And, has anyone ever gotten "caught", and your suprise be ruined?

Thanks !
Chris

 

[M.K. Poppins]

My mom planned a surprise trip for my brother and I when I was in the 8th grade. I had no idea how she hid it, she even had stuff packed for us!! She and my dad had purchased a camcorder, and one day after school, she asked my brother and I to let her film us so she could practice. She played interview with my brother (6 at the time) saying that "he had just won the Super Bowl, what was he going to do next?" When my brother said, "I'm going to Disney World!", I laughed, until she said that it was true, we were leaving bright and early the next morning! We were so excited, and the whole thing (wonderful trip included) was caught on tape!! However you decide to do it, good luck and have fun!!

 

[Dznypal]

A few years ago my DH DS DD planned a surprisse trip for me (I dont know how they kept it a secret my DD loves talk!!!)

My DH made the ressies but had it set up that all mail and /or phone calss go to my mom. The CM was more then helpful when he found out it was a surprise. A few days later they called my mom that we could be upgraded from the CBR to the CR for the same price boy my DH grabbed taht deal in nothing flat!!!

We had our summer trip planned to go to Canada, Cooperstown NY (Hall of fame my DS loves baseball) Baltimore to see a game
at Camden yards then to VIrginai Beach (or so I was told!!!)

We drove since at the time my DH wouldn't fly so on our wasy to "Virginia Beach" my HD told one of the kids to put in a different tape well they had taped themselves singing the "we're going to DIsney WOrld song"

DH gave my my gift to open in the car whcih had our ressies.

I never was so surprised in my life the!!!!

He even had it set up with AAA they set up 2 triptiks one goping to Virgiana Beach and the other to DW!!!!

It was great One of the best B-days!!!!!

We never did go to Virgian a Beach!!!!

 

[cmbelle]

Isn't it funny. I am planning a surprise trip for my DS right now. We are leaving tomorrow. The hardest part is packing. We had to wait for him to go to sleep to pack. And it has been terrible not to tell him...but I have left plenty of clues. The idea of having everything sent to work or to a family member's house was great! I wish I had done that.

Only my advice, though, weigh out your cost options of planning your vacation on your own. Go through mousesavers.com to get discount codes for room reservations, buy the tickets in advance to save a little money (the packages have the hopper plus option, and we never go to the water parks), and I find I save more money to stay an extra night and get reservations at several character meals.

 

[TooBoyz4us]

Awww Dznypal, thats a GREAT story!!! Thanks for sharing it with me

M.K. Poopins.......I bet your parents still cherish that tape !

 

[mad4themouse]

I'm in the process of planning a surprise trip for my family right now. I expect to take them the summer of 2004.

It's already been a year in the planning and it really is hard to keep it a secret. One of my biggest motivators is that I don't want to hear DH say that he doesn't want to do Disney AGAIN! (We were there July 2002 and will be taking the 7-day cruise this coming August).

He thinks we should visit other places. (He's thinking Europe and I'm thinking Disneyland Paris!) This from a man who insists on spending a week at the Jersey shore, every year at the same time in the same hotel!

I've been slowly buying park passes and Disney Dollars over the past year. I have 3 5-day PHPs with 4 plusses (a special from Ticketmania a while back). I just need to buy one AP before my DC membership expires!

I also just recently purchased tickets for DisneyQuest thru the MouseSavers December newsletter. $21 a piece for adults!

Along with the passes for Universal/IOA that I got, we're just about set on park admissions.

Everything is secreted away in a well-hidden place. Fortunately, all the passes have arrived when everyone was out except me. It may be harder to hide things once it gets closer to the trip.

I have enough frequent flier miles but cannot book the airfare yet.


Now, I'm pretty much just stuck waiting to book the flights and rooms before I spring the surprise on them. I'm not sure how I'll do it or if I'll even warn DH ahead of time. He may just nix everything and then I'll have to divorce him

Anyway, visiting these boards and posting my progress towards the surprise really helps me when the excitement builds up and I feel like I've got to tell SOMEONE!

I'd love some suggestions on how to surprise them. The kids are 10 and 12 now (12 and 14 by the time we take the trip).

 

[Snow Brite]

But they were surprises for kids, not DH. But the deal I made with DH was that it had to be at least 75% "found" money. So boy did I start saving every penny, hitting the rewards programs, selling on ebay and garage sales and couponing. I hit that mark and exceeded it both times! WooHoo!

I am the only one to get the mail, so its easy to keep secret. I also did almost everything over the phone when there weren't little ears to hear me. So keeping that part a secret wasn't hard.

As for when I told them, I took my DD to DL for her 7th birthday. She knew her Grandparents lived in CA so she thought I was just dropping her off. We stayed the first night in Long Beach at the Queen Mary and she thought she had the best vacation ever. The next morning (her actual birthday) I had to wake her up at 6am to get over to Anaheim. She fell asleep in traffic and didn't wake up until we had parked in the garage. We were walking towards the Disneyland Hotel when she looked up and said "Hey Mom this place is called the Disneyland Hotel! Is it like Disneyland?" I said "It IS Disneyland! Happy Birthday! "She looked at me all shocked and said "You are the Best Mom!" Totally perfect! and wonderful magical trip.

This past May I took her and the next oldest to WDW. I had shopped for them at thrift stores and a little at TDS to find Disney clothes and summer clothes (not much call for them here usually!) and packed them all up. I just woke them up in the middle of the night when it was time to go, dressed them in sweats and took off for town, telling them I had to return my dad's truck I had borrowed. When he got in the truck and dropped us off at the airport and I handed them each a Disney suitcase and backpack them started jumping up and down and screaming. Everyone thought we were crazy until they heard WHAT they were screaming "We're going to Walt Disney World" over and over.Again, totally awesome and so much fun.

Jennifer

 

[Eponine]

Oh, this is all SO much fun!!

I'm tentatively planning a surprise trip for my little sisters (current ages 8, 7 and 5) for this December. None of them have ever been, and two of them would have birthdays during our stay!

My parents still have to figure out whether or not they'll be able to swing it (we'd handle rooms and park passes, they'd need to come up with food money and airfare), but as soon as they know for sure, I'll start my plotting. My parents are good at keeping secrets, so that's no worry, and since they live a state away, the mail won't be a problem either! Here's what I'm kind of thinking:

My parents tell them that they're coming to visit us for the week, which would be true...just not where they think! Hehe! This would explain any makeup homework, packing, etc. that would have to be done. They'd make the 3 1/2 hour drive down here and spend the night.

I would have gathered together little gift items for them, probably related to each one's favorite princess. A little journal and matching pen, maybe princess hats or some other article of clothing that they could wear in the parks, a charm for each of their charm bracelets (which they got as gifts for being flower girls in my wedding), disposable cameras, maybe some Disney dollars. You get the idea. In the morning, before we had to catch our flight, I'd have them do a little scavenger hunt all through the house, hunting for clues...at the end of which would be their gift baskets along with a fancy, personalized "royal summons" from each princess to each sister, inviting them to join the princesses at the castle for a meal, as well as a week-long visit, and "commanding" them to arrive on that day. This, of course, would be contingent on getting PS for CRT, but the wording could be slightly modified on the unthinkable chance that we didn't get in!

As you all can tell, I'm already having an absolute ball with the idea. Now I'm just crossing my fingers that my parents will be able to budget it in!

 

[Disney Fool]

I totally surprised my best friend two years ago. She's a single mom with two daughters and it took me an entire year to plan a surprise trip for them. They assumed that they were going on a trip to NYC (well, we were...but we kept going!) All I told them was to pack sensible, comfy sneakers, and bring sweaters and light weight jackets, and a camera. The plan was for them to come to my house and we'd drive to NYC. In the meantime, I hit every "for sale" clothing rack in every store I could find. Yes, I bought their clothing, too. It wasn't hard, either, because I bought everything off-season, shorts, and tops, and I hit the Disney Store sales too! Anyway, I packed everything they needed, had it all packed in the car, and when the day arrived, they hopped in the minivan--and it wasn't until they were on the highway that I broke the news to them that we weren't going to NYC, but to Disney World. They were stunned! I had to pull over on the side of the road so I could control the laughter!!! I had sooo much fun planning and preparing for this trip for them. It consumed my life for an entire year, but man, it was worth it!!!

 

[donac]

I too am planning a surprise trip for DH. My two boys know about it but they have promised to keep it a secret. I too am trying to this withou t my husband finding out about funds. I am saving every penny and have a couple of checks that he doesn't know about. I even saved my Christmas money from my parents to add to the pot. I plan on giving him the reservation forms and money for airfare at our 25th anniversary party and then go on a long weekend in Oct to also celebrate his birthday.

 

[Disney Fool]

The best advice I can give from my own experience, is this: tell as few people as possible about your plans. The less who know, the less danger there is of slips of the tongue. Nail down all your plans early, put everything away, and then forget about it. That way, you wont run the risk of blabbing, either. Just keep your dates clear of any other obligations. There will be times when you will want to burst with information, but keep telling yourself that it's best kept as a secret. Just a thought: you might want to enlist the aid of the local Disney Store CM's and give them the reservations, and drag him into the store, and have them single him out and tell him that Mickey is just dying to see him. The CM's are usually pretty good about this stuff. They really get into the act. In any event, have a ball with the planning. And if you need to tell somebody, ask us, we won't tell!!!!

 

[pooh2001]

My DH & I are planning to return to WDW with our DS & DD Memorial Day week.
We went to WDW for our first time last summer. Our DS & DD do not think
we will go back for a couple of years. Our DS & DD do not know of our plans.

I am going to tell the kids (2nd & 5th grade) that we are going to visit
the Grandparents in the Adirondacks. We have to pass Albany airport on the way.
The kids would pack the same items - gameboys, a book to read, some snacks.
DH & I would still pack the luggage.
We would leave early in the morning for the airport or the grandparents.
We'll just stop at the airport and park. The kids will figure it our when they
see the SW flight to Florida.

I hope others come up with fun, but delightful ways to suprise thier familes

 

[bennie]

On my oldest daughters 7th birthday we woke her and her little sister up and simply said "Wake up, its time to go to Disney World". Eventually it sunk in and the two sleepyheads were shocked.

This year its the youngest dd's 7th birthday. Surprising them this time will be much harder. But the tentative plan is to use a Willy Wonka theme. It has nothing to do with Disney but it should work. The kids have always loved this movie and in the past my DH has hidden Golden Tickets in Hershey Bars as a little surprise. There was nothing more to the surprise than the ticket itself.

But this time we'll let them have candy bars for a few days in advance with no tickets inside. And then on her birthday, the Birthday Girl will get the one with the Golden Ticket. Instead of a trip to the Chocolate Factory, she'll be going to DW. Our flight is in the afternoon, so she''ll get the candy bar after lunch. The bags will be packed and in the car. Once she opens the candy bar we'll hit the road for the airport.

The hardest part this time is that I have to pack for them and they've outgrown their summer clothes. I'm ordeing stuff