Surprise your going to Disney! If you are surprising your kids with a trip to Disney and need some ideas, today we have a roundup of just that. Here are 40 Ways SavEars have surprised their families with a Disney Vacation! Be sure to have a camera ready, as recording reaction videos is part of the fun.
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40 Ways SavEars Surprised Their Kids With A Disney Vacation:
1. We did an Easter egg hunt and in some of the eggs had 1 letter each that spelled out we are going To Disney world!! It was fun having the 3 of them work this out!!! – Heather W.
2. “I went on Fiverr and had someone tell her in a Mickey voice on Christmas that we were going.” – Jessica F.
3. “We gave them Christmas gifts of new shirts, water bottles, sunglasses, etc. last box was the magic bands” – Barbie T.
4. “We did a scavenger hunt, 3-4 clues around the house leading to Disney stuffed toys and printed “tickets” in the washing machine! My nephew wanted more clues and my niece said she had hoped the surprise was a puppy!” – Jennifer W.
5. “We did a scavenger hunt the morning before we left our Elf on the Shelf arranged it.” – Stephanie M.
6. “My kids are getting an awesome surprise tomorrow morning 1-2 hours upon arrival. I designed these last night and cost me nothing (I’m a graphic designer lol) They usually know about our vacations but decided to keep this a secret” – Crystal J.
7. “We had Santa deliver our surprise trip last year. He brought packed suitcases and other gifts that revealed the trip. We left the next morning.” – Tarra D.
8. “When our son was three we got him a Disney suitcase and gave it to him filled with travel snacks the night before we left.” – Jennifer K.
9. “I put my daughter in the car after school and told her we were going on an errand. I put in the Cinderella movie. When we stopped at a rest stop she asked where we were going. I asked her what movie she was watching. Then I asked her if she’d like to go to Cinderella’s house. She looked at me funny and then I told her the truth. “But we don’t have any clothes!” To which I showed her our packed bags and her Cinderella dress in the trunk. They she exclaimed, “You planned this!” Yes, indeed!” – Martina B.
10. “We made Mickey shaped pancakes and my husband and i reminisced about past trips and turned it into a “When should we go again…?” to which our 5 year old was like, “Today! Today!” and we said, “let’s do it!” And left for the airport a bit later” – Kristin S.
11. “We’re waiting till the morning of also! (Hardest secret I’ve ever had to keep lol) I’m doing a huge box wrapped and on the inside theres going to be balloons, shirts, ears, and a sign that says “we’re going to Disney world”.” – Ashely M.
12. “We just surprised my son (7) last month with a Disney Cruise. I got him all ready for school and we waited until he said something in the car (after an hour when it normally takes 5 mins to get there! ). We told him we were going away and would give him hints during the road trip. I had a bag of goodies I’d been collecting for a while (we had an 8 hour trip) and every hour or so I’d give him clues (a little LEGO fish, a movie, a new bathing suit, coloring books, etc and the last was a stuffed Mickey). He thought it was so exciting and it helped the ride to go a little faster!” – Kelli N.
13. “We rang the doorbell around 4 in the morning and her go get a package that Mickey had left” – Emmaly M
14. “We went last year with my then 7 and 2 year old. We drove and it took 23 hours to get there. We picked up our oldest from school and told her we were going to the beach. She didnt have any idea until she saw her Grandparents. She asked them why they were on vacation with us and they said were not. You’re at our house and then it clicked that we were in Florida and going to Disney. I managed to plan a whole trip and pack for a 2 week vacation for 4 people behind her back” – Katherine W.
15. “We surprised our 12 y/o daughter and 12 y/o nephew Christmas morning with a scavenger hunt. They had no clue it was a Disney trip because we had been telling them we were going to our family hunting cabin…our daughter told us this was the best surprise ever and she always hears stories and sees movies like this with big surprises. She said she felt like she was in a hallmark Christmas movie!!!” – Josie D.
16. “We had a box “delivered” to the front door….when the opened it Disney balloons popped out (dollar store) and the inside of the box said we’re foing to Disney” – Amber N.
17. “Gave them each a bag with wrapped & numbered presents to open. It had Disney coloring books, autograph books, their luggage tags, ears and the last thing was a shirt that said “I can’t keep calm, I’m going to Disney”. It was fun watching them all put it together” – Brittani M.
18. “We sent our kids to school and got them out around lunch time telling them they all had appointments and drove to the airport. Our oldest figured it out when we told the guy at the airline desk our final destination was California. Our two younger ones figured it out when we were walking up to the parks the next day.” – Stacy B.
19. “On three different occasions over the years we pulled up to the airport and over the span of these several years (we didn’t always surprise them) – their responses were 1) Are we at the airport? Why are we at the airport 2) This is the airport – are we going to Disney? 3) Um, this is the airport – we better be going to Disney.” – Jean S.
20. “We told the kids that we had a surprise for them in a box. We put a Disney stuffie, a Disney shirt, a Disney book, and a magic band for each kid. The funniest part was that they first thought the magic bands were ones that they could play with! My oldest was six at the time and when we asked her where else we would use them, she hesitantly said Disney World? And when we said we were getting ready to leave, they were just sooo excited! We loaded into the car (which I had packed the night before) and then we left!” – Nondi B.
21. “We went for Christmas and I ordered a puzzle that said pack your bags we’re going to Disney, my niece and daughter put it together a few hours before we left. Last year, I surprised my daughter on the way to the airport. I packed her carryon backpack with a Mickey and Minnie beanie baby, her ears, and a few other flying necessities. She thought we were going to the Disney store or a Disney art show at first lol she figured out a few minutes later.” – Phylicia J.
22. “Stripped and redecorated the tree with all Disney ornaments while they were at school. Added a cricut-made banner that said Merry Disney Christmas. Picked them in a bit early from schools and they opened little gift: pins for trading, new tshirts, gift cards for their spending allowance, reservations for meals we had booked and a special experience for each of them. Caught our plane 12 hours later.” – Amanda C.
23. “They unwrapped a suitcase full of Disney items” – Sarah R.
24. “For my step sister, who was 14 we did a scavenger hunt with random stuff and the final prize was a box with a 1st trip to Disney shirt. For our boys who were 4&5 we just told them we had something fun planned and we’re going somewhere they’d never been before. Woke them up super early cause our flight was at 6 and told them when we got to the airport with a shirt to change into and a stuffed animal” – Christina B.
25. “I packed and hid the suitcases in advance, then loaded them in my trunk after they went to bed. Woke them up at 3AM saying it was time to go to school. My older daughter called me on it and my little started crying asking if we were really going to Disney. The excitement and adrenaline took over at that point.” – Karen H.
26. “After the kids had gone to bed, we packed their bags for them. We got up the next day, packed the car and then woke them up and told them to get dressed so we can go somewhere. Never told them until we arrived. At that point we gave them each a package that had a shirt and a gift card for them to spend how they wanted. We are planning to go again next year so trying to come up with ideas on surprising them again is harder since my kids are now teenagers.” – Kathy H.
27. “We are doing a scavenger hunt and Disney picture is the last thing they will find. It’s a group of 6 kids and their last pictures will save going to Disney” – Nikki T.
28. “Build a bear with voice recorder inside saying we were going to Disney” – Brienne T.
29. “I’ve surprised them a few times, the first time we did a scavenger hunt which was my favorite, my son actually got the part of Michael Darling in Peter Pan for a local theatre company near us. I have friends who work in Disney they all went to collect me videos of Peter Pan and tink to give out clues for my kids and we taped the words onto legos and they had to put them together. The second time I did it we did a Halloween box (since we went for Halloween) with a ticket to not so scary, a few other things in there and made it seem like a package arrived for them to receive them we left that night. Another time I just put them in the car drove to the airport and when they finally askEd why we were at the airport I was like surprise we’re going to Disney!! Last time I made letters from Mickey Mouse with a whole box of goodies, autograph book, shirts I made, giftcards and a video. You can get super creative but it does pay to have friends who work there they usually go all out for us it’s always hard to top every year we surprise them” – Kimberly S.
30. “At the time my daughter was 5. Had her get ready for school. We even packed her lunch. Left for school but mom got lost and we found ourselves at the airport. She didn’t know what our destination was until we got in line for the magical express.” – Andria K.
31. “We did a puzzle that said Surprise! We’re going to Disney World. In their Xmas presents we put a puzzle piece but their presents were things for the trip – shirts, luggage tag, swim suit, cross body bags, sun glasses, etc.” – Amy C.
32. “We surprised our three the morning of. Telling them we needed to get up and drop their dad off at the airport. That morning we gave them a giant box with items for the trip and a letter telling them their bags were packed and we needed to go. I also packed a bunch of surprises for while we were there. To this day they believe they were personally invited by DisneyWorld to attend the Christmas party It was an amazing trip and memory.”- Tatum S.
33. “We did a scavenger hunt that eventually led to wrapped magic bands and told them we were leaving the next day. This was in 2017 and they still talk about it, so glad I took a video of the surprise because we like to look back and watch it often.” – Karisa P.
34. “We surprised our three grandchildren this past Christmas Eve. We put this letter and Mickey balloons in a box with Disney Christmas PJ’s. We had a very early flight to Orlando. We arrived at the park and had a wonderful Christmas. It was so special.” – Maria G.
35. “A few years ago we did a scavenger hunt and the last clue they found told them that we were going to Disney and gave the dates and all the information. We had tons of fun with that!” – Tricia C.
36. “I’m doing a puzzle this year. Just getting a few little gifts he’ll use on vacation in January (new outfit, magic band, luggage tags etc). Each present will have a puzzle piece and it’ll say we’re going to Disney/universal!” – Rachel M.
37. “We did a suit case packed with Disney pj”s and t’s and ears and little Disney toys.” – Susie A.
38. “This last Christmas, we put little Disney gifts including autograph books and such in a big box with Disney balloons filled with helium and wrapped it up. Then we had our 2 open it up on Christmas morning and left the next day! It was so much fun!” – Sarah P.
39. “We had a “package drop” with doorbell ring with letter from Santa and a box with shirts for each day, water bottles, cookies. All things Disney” – Amanda W.
40. “We hired Santa to deliver our trip a couple years ago.” – Tarra G.
Learn more tips and tricks for your next Walt Disney World vacation. Destinations in Florida can also help you add tips and tricks to your next vacation.