Quite a few of my readers have emailed me to ask me to post this……
If you were going to surprise your kids at Christmas with a trip to Disney World, what would you do?
I would wrap up a big box with a couple Disney themed balloons in it. When they open the box the balloons would float up with a card attached to them that said surprise! You are going to Disney World.
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Jodie says
Reading these has made me quite excited. We are coming from Australia in March. We have quite a large 3 week trip to Anaheim, South Lake Tahoe and the Monster Trucks in Vegas.
We have decided to created a box for Xmas day with a little Snowman (we are going snowboarding), A Minnie/Mickey keyring, A Monster Jam monster Truck and a little packet of Lego for Legoland.
We have made a little poem for her to read, she can then open the little gifts above and down the bottom of the box will be a basic itinerary of the trip and a countdown calendar with some stickers she can pop on each day.
Our daughter will be 6.5 at Xmas so we are hoping the how long wont be that bad with her own calendar.
We’ve had it booked for quite some time and I’m not sure how I’ve kept it a secret.
christal says
does anyone know if you can get a personalised dvd from a disney character inviting kids to disneyworld?
Joanna says
Love this idea!! Were actually going in March for spring break (i know busy time) we have 6 kids and from 16 down to 4 years old ….we want to pull the kids their last hour of school and tell them that we have to leave (and have all their stuff packed) and drive to california (were in AZ) and arrive at our hotel (away from disneyland), they will be so excited with the fact that we are going to California. Then the next day go have breakfast at ihop or dennys or something like that and then drive to Disneyland and as were driving up record their reactions!!! I already know im gonna be in tears just watching their reactions, this will be our 2nd family trip, the first one was in 2009 when my son was only 4months. I’ve been planning this trip for months buying gift cards ahead of time!!
Denise Carriere says
To whom it may concern,
We as grand parent we are get our grand kids for christmas present a trip to Disney I woud like to know where do I get a Personalized letter from Disney to give as a gift.
Thank you
Denise
Tammi says
I would call the WDW reservation line/travel agents and ask how you can get a letter from a character. It’s usually like a signed picture with a little note I think.
Dana says
I am surprising my 10 yr old on Monday. I already have her bags packed. I am waking her up at 3am to go to the airport. When she asks where we are going I’m telling her NYC (we live in NY). When we get to Florida & to the Disney bus, I am going to tell her Merry Christmas!! I am so excited to see her face.
janine says
We are going to wdw then follow by a dcl in may 2013. I booked it this past july… I am so excited and trying to keep it a surprise. My 3 yr old was premature and had 2 brain surgeries. It is finally time to celebrate. My 7 yr old is going to be over whelmed looking for a great way to surprise them…..Dp I do it for christmas or wait. I want them know and share this amazing excitment with me
Lisa says
We just booked our trip to Disney for our boys, who are 7 and 10(Neither have been to Disney) for their spring break in March 2013. I am trying to figure out a way to surprise them. My husband and I don’t think that we can keep it a secret for 6 months. How can we surprise them??????????
Ashley says
My husband and I are taking our boys, 8 and 4, in a little over 2 weeks. They have NO IDEA! We planned on waiting until the morning of departure but my son plays football and will be missing games. We didn’t want him to feel bad about missing football so we plan on telling them this weekend, 2 weeks before we leave. I plan on having a scavenger hunt that leads to a big box with Mickey balloons and a special note telling them of their surprise. I sure hope it works!!
Ashley says
Oh…and we’ve kept this trip a secret for almost a YEAR!!
Nicole says
We are going to surprise my 7 year old twin girls on their B-Day in Feb. with a trip to Disney world. We are not leaving until April 27 but the girls are going to think we are leaving May 4th so I will be waking them up bright and early on April 27th with another surprise of leaving a week early.
Michelle says
I was wondering if anyone knows of a website or a store that i can buy a card that i can send my niece from Disney, Something like so glad your coming to visit us from either Mickey and Minnie or the Princess?? … I want to mail it to her . She is so excitied and i want to her beleive that there excited to meet her as well …. any ideas or suggestions will greatley appericated
Laura says
I have always wanted to surprise my child with a trip. He’s already at that age to do it so hopefully this Christmas.
SuperExcitedDisneyMom says
We are surprising our 4 and 5 (She will actually turn 6 in a week so we’ll be celebrating her bday also!) year old daughters on Christmas morning. I bought personalized suitcases and inside each one includes a princess costume & wand, princess pj’s, personalized minnie mouse shirt with their names in the Disney font, and Minnie Mouse hats. I put both of the suitcases in a big bag and the outside has a brown envelope with both of their names, inside is an invitation from Cinderella asking them to join her for dinner in Disney World and her “signature”. I also have an enchanted call coming from Cinderella at 9 a.m. to wish them a Merry Christmas! =) I’m super super excited!!!
Secret Santa Mom says
We are planning a surprise Disney trip for our 2 boys who are 14 and 16 at Christmas this year. We are in the process of ordering personalized MMs. We purchased decoder rings (honoring The Christmas Story – that we watch EVERY year!) – and both products will be wrapped individually in their stockings. The MMs will have an encrypted word on each piece of candy. And once they find all pieces in the bag they will have to decypher the code. On the bag of candy we may make a take that says something like “Santa’s Secret message to: _______”
So once all the gifts are opened, they will have a little project to work on to find out :) what their special surprise is – I will post again after Christmas and share how it goes :)
jen says
I would try to time my surprise better next time. We surprised my 8 year old son and 7 year old foster son with a trip this past April. I gave them both gift bags with mickey t shirts and sun glasses. They were a bit confused at first (I think they were hoping a video game was in the bag :) )… Finally I asked them “why would I give you sun glasses and a MICKEY shirt??? My foster stated in question form “cuz we are going to Disney????” When I said yes, my foster son had a huge smile! Next thing I know my son was FURIOUS, And stomped away. I later realized that it was April fools day, and he thought I was playing a joke ! I had to show them our Disney passes so he would believe me! Anyway, they both had a great time!
Emma says
When I was 7 years old, my parents surprised me (and my siblings) the morning we were going. They woke us up with disney music at 4:00 to catch our flight. We all said, “What flight?” and then they told us the news… I am so happy I am going with my cousins this year!!!!
Amy says
We took our 6yr old daughter on Disney Cruise aboard the new ship, The Disney Dream & then to Disney World for couple days afterwards. To surprise her, we had Ariel (Little Mermaid) call the night before to welcome her aboard – this can be set up via Disney Cruiseline website. In addition, we mailed her a package of things she could take on trip from Ariel. During our trip, we arranged for her to have Disney Princess makeover, dinner at Cinderella’s castle and go trick-or-treating at Magic Kingdom….over course of the days, I left “invites” for each of these on her bed. Needless to say, she was ecstatic the entire time.
Rob says
Great ideas here!!! I think this is what I’m going to do for my two girls 9 and 6. We’re leaving for Disneyland on Dec. 14th, so I’m going to wrap a “present” for the 25 days of Christmas. Each day they will open one present that will have a clue to a Disney related movie or theme starting difficult and getting easier as they go leading up to the passes for Disneyland on the 13th. I’m starting with something like a cooked noodle (for Lady and the Tramp) one of their favs. A Dopey Doll that we have, a comb or trident (Little Mermaid), glass slipper, apple with a bite out of it… etc. I’ll put them hardest to easiest and let them think about each one until someone figures it out. Don’t want to make it too easy on them, but I think my oldest will start putting the clues together pretty early.
jennifer says
My dh and I are proud parents of an 8 year old son and 7 year old foster son. Our foster son has been with us for 2 years, and he is part of the family. Last month, dh and I thought about taking our first honeymoon (after 14 years of marriage!) Together. Sadly for us, we received the news that our foster son will ne returned to his mother. It is a heart breaking for all of us, especially my 8 year old. Thankfully we have some time before he goes home, so we want to make the rest of our time together special. What better memory to have than a trip to Disney! We cancelled the honeymoon, and just booked our flight and hotel to Florida! The boys still think dh and I our going on our honeymoon. I bought mickey t shirts and mickey sunglasses. We will leave in 2 weeks. The boys will get a “gift” from us before we leave to the airport! I’m so excited for my boys!
Dawn says
I am surprising my daughter who is turning 11 on her birthday next month with a trip.. I ordered a birth plate from the disney store and instead of it having birth info on it it says “we are going to disney feb 28- mar6 2011 happy birthday.. since she eats waffles or pancakes for breakfast i plan on putting her food on the plate and she will see it when she cleans her plate
Christina says
I love this idea! How cute and original!
Lisa says
We have actually surprised our kids twice with Disney trips. The first time it was a Christmas gift. At that time, you could order personalized stuffed animals through the Disney Catalog. We ordered a Christmas Mickey and he held a Christmas list that read “We’re going to Disney World!” so when the kids opened it and read Mickey’s list they were screaming with excitement. The second time was in October and we picked the kids up from school early without telling them and brought them home to a limo waiting in the driveway to take us to the airport! Both times we super fun for us and the kids!
jen says
any good suggestions for saving on going to disneyland?
Angela D. says
When we took our girls to WDW earlier this year we did it a little differently lol. We live an hour away from Orlando and told the girls we were going to drive to Orlando to look at houses for when we move there next summer. They didn’t catch on that we were going to Disney until we passed under the “Mickey Arches” as they call them lol..they totally freaked out then…it was great!
Christy says
My friend made arrangements with a professional photographer in town who does Santa portraits. A couple of days before the appointment, she dropped off a scrapbook she made for her kids from “Santa”. It had pictures of rides and things from Disney, and the last page said, “Suprise you’re going to Disney World!.” The photographer explained everything to Santa, and when the kids came to have their portraits taken, Santa gave them the book at the end of the visit. He told them that because he was so busy, he wanted to give them their present early. He looked through it with them, and told them the suprise. They were so excited, and the photographer was able to capture the moment. They left Christmas eve, and my friend didn’t have to worry about making sure Santa could visit them at Disney without any snoopers in the luggage!
Christina says
We told our kids a little slyer way. We bought them all Disney pjs and Christmas Eve put them to bed in them. When they got up they saw us with Disney pjs on as well, drinking coffee out of Disney mugs and listening to Disney Christmas music. For presents I had been buying Disney clothes at the Disney Store Outlet for cheap and had each present under the tree wrapped in Disney paper. There stockings had only Disney related small things in there and Disney-themed candy. When all the presents were opened they were kinda disappointed they only got Disney Clothes, Disney Crocs, Disney hair pooties, etc and no “big present”. Santa had brought them all a Disney something or other as well, but overall they didn’t pout or whine but were excited with what they had. Then we had breakfast and I made Mickey Mouse Belgian waffles with our Mickey Mouse waffle iron and served orange juice from our Mickey/Minnie pitcher. I bought Mickey Mouse paper plates, cups and napkins from the birthday section at the store and we ate off those. Finally one of the kids said, “Boy does our family love Disney stuff.” My husband agreed with a huge smile then asked what could be better than spending Christmas at home eating Mickey Mouse waffles? Our teenager said, “being at Disney World eating Mickey Mouse waffles.” Then dad said, “well what do you think we are trying to tell you?” DING DING DING!!!! The teenager got it but the little ones were still stumped. Then we told them they were going to Disney World the next week! They were so surprise and excited to wear their new clothes at the Magic Kingdom. It was great. I couldn’t have planned it any better.
Rebecca says
Absolutely too cute!!!
Melenda says
We are going and so far I’ve keep it a secert. We leave the the sat. after thanksgiving. Were going to tell them at my girls birthday party( well be down there for their 8th birthday). We have item that are disney themed ( item that they can use in disney or on the way)and are going to wrap them in a christmas box each filled with Disney balloons. When they open the balloon will go up. On one balloon there will be a note to tell them where were going. In the note we have spelled out Disney, Mickey, and Minnie. Each letter has a different saying about disney. The last letter will tell them where were going if they haven’t guessed already. I can’t wait to see there faces.
Heather says
Last Christmas, I got a huge box (size of a large Christmas tree) and filled it with ballons. At the bottom of the box was a letter from Santa addressed to my three girls (ages 1, 3, and 9) saying they were going to Disney in five days. There was also a box for each of them inside that contained a princess tiara for their first day, which involved dinner with Cinderella. They LOVED it! I also made the trip extra special with a letter each morning “written” by a different Disney character. The letters told about what they would be doing that day, where they would be eating, what shows they would see.
Glenda says
We surprised our kids with a trip in 2005. We went to Disney in May of 2005 but when the free dining came out we booked another trip for September of that year. I packed EVERYTHING without the kids knowing. They were 9 and 5 at the time. They knew that my DH was off so we told them we were taking a day trip to Greensboro which is on our way to Disney. When we got to the mall in Greensboro we told them our news. THEY WERE SHOCKED! My daughter was thrilled but my son is a planner and likes to know EVERY detail BEFOREHAND. He was VERY SHOCKED and it took a while for him to clam down and enjoy the fact that we were going. We caught the moment on tape and we laugh and cry every time we watch it. My son was HILARIOUS. He loves Disney but the surprise was a bit much for him. LOL.
I love the idea about balloons coming out of a package. A scavenger hunt to find Disney related items and clues would be fun.
Patti says
We had planned a trip to Disney World for my Children and Grandchildren during the holidays. We were leaving on the 26th of December and we didn’t tell the Grandkids about the trip until they all unwrapped a special present that contained matching Disney t-shirts. The expressions on their faces was priceless! It was a magical trip to say the least!
Randi says
I would mail them hints written on plain postcards (I have older kids, for younger kids I’d have Disney related postcards) starting a few days before. I’d put one letter on each card so they had to have all the cards together. When they got the final card we’d leave the next day.
Our kids knew when we were going, but I think it would have been so exciting for them if they didn’t know and we surprised them. Maybe next time we’ll go in spring and do an egg hunt with clues. :)
Jennifer says
Santa is bringing us a Disney Cruise this Christmas. I am finding a HUGE box, putting in the Disney Cruise DVD, photos of the ship, copies of menus from the ship, a cruise guide book like the passporter, putting alot of colorful confetti, etc in the bottom and then stuffing the top with blown up Mickey head balloons!
Good luck with your surprise!
Rebecca says
I love this idea! We are suprising our daughters(ages 7 & 4) with a Disney Cruise after my husband and I graduate from college in May! We are having a graduation/Disney Cruise party with a tropical theme and we are about to explode waiting! We are also planning on a day or two at Disney World after the cruise! So, excited!
Kellie says
I actually just did this for my 21 year old sister last year! I knew she would be home from college for a few weeks around Christmas time so I planned the trip for right after the New Year. So when she found out, it was less than two weeks away! We’ve been several times together with our family so I took one of those picture frames that holds multiple pictures and I filled up each spot with a picture of one of our previous trips over the years except one. In that one, I just wrote the dates we would be going. She loved it!
Allison says
I once did a scavenger hunt for a Disney trip Easter gift. Each item they found was something to use on the trip (disposable camera, books for the plane, mickey cookies, etc.) and it gave them a hint to find the next clue. The last clue led them to t-shirts for all three kids that said “We are on our surprise Disney trip” with the dates! They LOVED it!
Clare C. says
We surprised my oldest daughter at Christmas when she was 5 years old. Our twins were just 2 then so they weren’t too into the surprise but my daughter had been wanting to visit WDW. We didn’t do the balloons but we did wrap up a package with her own personal Disney “invitation” inside. Our trip was for January (not too long to wait after Christmas) and we spent the bulk of our family Christmas budget on Florida Resident Seaonal passes. We went in Jan. and then Dec. of the same year. Wonderful memories!
Karen Sch says
I know someone who drove their kids 20 hours to Disney World without telling them where they were going. The kids at the time were 9 and 7 and as soon as they drove under the Welcome to Disney World sign they screamed and shouted all the way to the hotel. The kids are in their late teens now and they still talk about the surprise!
Julie says
We did this one Christmas, well, Santa did. Many of the kids gifts revolved around the trip. They just didn’t know it until the last gift. They got autograph books, Disney pens, Lanyards, new pins, new Disney pj’s, Disney Dollars, new fanny packs, water bottles, disposable cameras, Disney maps and more. Then the last gifts were not so noticeable, tucked into the Christmas tree. These were their Annual Passes. What a wonderful Christmas and year following!!
April R says
We are surprising our kids at Christams with our May trip. I plan to buy them each a piece of luggage and pack it with vacation items and I’m going to put an invitation inside from Mickey. Or at least this is my plan right now. LOL
Pamela says
Hello
I hope you dont mind my email. I know you wrote on here some time ago. I am planning to do the same as you and tell the kids about our surprise trip even though we are not going till May. I am just getting a little concerned after reading most peoples posts that its a long time for them to wait in between knowing about the trip. my girls will be 10 and 3 nearly 11 and 4 (July). how did your surpirse go?
Kristin from Couponing to Disney says
Pamela, I don’t mind the email; I love helping out with ideas, esp. when comes to Disney.
We actually took our daughter to Disney twice. The first time she was only 3 when my husband let it slip in April that we were going in Oct – that 6mos was an eternity! Every day she asked “how much longer.” Eventually when it got to be 2mos away, she & I made a countdown calendar with various Disney characters & stickers that helped to eliminate some of the questioning. However, at age 3 she was too little to understand the concept of time muchless months so I wouldn’t recommend telling your kids this soon. The longer you can wait to tell them, the easier it will be on your sanity… you just have to make sure you don’t tell anyone else – family or friends – to avoid a slip-up.
The 2nd time we went, our daughter was 6 and we waited ’til the night before leaving to tell her and it was great! Again, we booked our trip in April for Oct so it was hard for us to keep it from her that long but we knew we didn’t want repeat of 1st time. This time we found we had to create a “code” for when we spoke to each other about the trip so she wouldn’t catch on and we didn’t tell family ’til about 2 weeks before leaving and we made sure to emphasize that she knew nothing about it and we wanted to keep it that way. To add to the surprise, we “mailed” a package from Ariel with things for her to do at airport, on the plane, etc. and gave it to her just prior to telling her. In addition, if you booked your vacation thru Disney.com there’s an option in which you can have a Disney character (Mickey, Goofy or Ariel – maybe different now) call your kids to welcome them….you pick date & time for this phone call and it’s free. We had Ariel call just after we gave our daughter the package and she was definitely surprised; I’m shocked she slept at all that night. In addition, we had the suitcases & carry-on bags packed and loaded in the car a couple days before leaving so all we had to do was grab last minute things and walk out the door. We initially planned on waiting ’til morning of on way to the airport to surprise her, but decided it would be better to let her “burn off her excitement” at home vs. at busy airport full of strangers.
I’m not sure how much you have planned, but my advice, keep in simple and don’t tell them anymore than they need to know even while on the trip. We played it out as if each day was a surprise, never telling her what laid in store for following days as we wanted her to enjoy the moment of whichever park we happened to be at on that particular day. Because we splurged on this latest trip, we did the princess makeover and had the “invite” on the table in the morning after breakfast. And because we were there over Halloween, again the “invite” to trick-or-treat at Magic Kingdom was slipped under the door in the morning when she got up. There’s lots of little things you can do to make entire trip a surprise.
Good luck and let me know how it goes!
Amy H
Stephanie says
Pamela… We are surprising our kids Christmas morning with a trip for March. I found a count down chain on one of the Disney boards that someone had created. He emailed it to me, and sometime between now and tonight, I’ve got to print it and put it together. I going to put together and let it be in the last box they open… Hopefully, will the chain, the “how many days” question won’t be too annoying. I can’t wait!
Karrie says
I loved reading about all the ways parents have surprised their kids with a Disney trip. My husband and I just surprised our 2 1/2 year old and 9 year old Christmas morning and left 3 days later. We just got back on jan 3. Since we were staying at Animal Kingdom Lodge, I bought my daughter a tiger print carry-on and my son a Trunki ride-on carry-on with tiger stripes. I packed both bags with pj’s and toothbrushes. And they each had a book packed inside that was disney themed. I wrote Surprise!! We’re going to Disney World!! Along with a personal note to each one telling we were leaving in 3 days. Since my son is 2 1/2, I got him a little golden book titled “Where’s Buzz and Woody” and I wrote under the title, “they’re waiting on you at Disney World”. I also made little tags that said “open me” and attached to the outside of their carry-ons. We had planned it back in June as our 10 year anniversary trip, but wanted to take the kids. It was the hardest secret I ever had to keep. But it was so worth the wait to see the excitement on their faces. We also kept it from the rest of the family for fear of a slip up. And used code words. Spending New Year’s Eve at magic kingdom with the people I love the most, was a memory I’ll never forget.
Amy says
Hi Pamela,
We will also be surprising our girls (7 & 5) at Christmas for a Spring Break trip in March. Where did you get the count down chain – that sounds like a great idea!
Lisa says
Hi Stephanie, We are surprising our children with a Disney trip planned for March this Christmas also. Where did you get the count down chain? Can you possibly email it to me? Thank you!
Jen says
This is exactly what we had planned to do for Christmas , including an ornament which is tradition. How do you get a Mickey invitation? Any way to get maps or other paraphnalia before the trip? Thought that might be fun. Any other words of wisdom, ideas, thoughts would be appreciated. It is our maiden voyage!!!!
Jen athy
Tracy says
I love this idea. I wouldn’t mind opening that box myself!
Robin says
The first trip to Disneyland my parents took me (and my siblings) on, they surprised us on Christmas morning. It was their tradition to always give us a new Christmas tree ornament each Christmas. After we were done opening all of our presents we noticed we each had a Mickey Mouse or Minnie Mouse ornament on the tree with our names on them. Then they told us the big surprise! Needless to say they shouldn’t have worried about buying us any other gifts that year, we were too excited about Disneyland to play with the rest! That was 20 years ago but I will never forget that Christmas.
katie says
All of those ideas/ stories were adorable! I teared up reading them! That would be so much fun to do when my daughter gets a little older!
Amanda Churchwell says
“Santa” would leave a giant stuffed Mickey and Minnie (since we have a boy and a girl) and the Mickey and Minnie would be “holding” a sign that says “Kyle and Kaylee are going to Disney World!!!” Then after all the screaming and jumping up and down we would all load up in the car that “Santa’s Elves” had packed for us (I would seal the doors with some sort of tape and mark it PACKED BY SANTA’S ELVES).
Christy M says
I just LOVE this idea! I would love to surprise our boys like this. We are actually leaving this Saturday morning, but couldn’t keep this trip a surprise. We’re going with 2 other families and we couldn’t quit talking about it!! LOL!
Jennifer says
I did this in May for my two girls, 7 and 4. I didn’t tell them where we were going just that we were going on vacation. As we drove up to the arch, I asked my 7 year old “what does that sign say?” She read it, and they both started screaming. I had my cellphone on speaker with my sister so she could hear their reaction, and I had my camera turn around to catch their expressions (its a great pic).
Linds says
A friend of mine just did this a few days ago- they are going next month- but she did a scavenger hunt around the house and the final clue was to a pizza with pepperoni shaped like a mickey head!
we usually don’t tell our kids until we get to the airport too, less of that “how many more days” part.
Kristen says
My cousin actually did this for their kids. They have twin 5 year old boys, and last year for Christmas they each got a personalized Mickey Mouse backpack with an invitation inside to Disney World. They aren’t leaving their home in MD until November, so each month Mickey has sent them some sort of little trinket to keep it fresh on their minds. What the boys still don’t know is that they are going on the Disney Cruise as well. I don’t know how they are keeping it such a secret, I know I couldn’t!!
wende-the "ordinary" suburban housewife says
this is actually what we are planning for this xmas! we are going to wrap up mickey ears (from our last trip several years ago) for each one of them. i want to have their bags packed in my closet so when they open them with a note from santa of where we are going, we can just grab our bags and head to the airport! still working out all the details, but we will leave that morning!!! i can’t wait!!! that commercial just gives me the chills every time i see it (the one where they are at the airport already when the parents tell them!)!!!
Sarah says
My parents did a pretty good job of it when we were younger. They had us go on a scavenger hunt for puzzle pieces. We then had to put the puzzle together, flip it over and then that was another clue. We ran all over the house finding clues and the final clue sent us to our plane tickets. So much fun. I think I would do something like that.