Telling the Kids!
There's nothing more fun than surprising your kids with a trip to Disney World. For most of us, it's a once in a lifetime chance to plan, hide, and surprise the kids with the news when the time is right. This page is dedicated to those amazingly creative ideas for sharing those magical words "We're going to Disney World!"
I encourage you to share your Disney surprise ideas with us so that we can post them for others. We'll first take you through our recent 'big surprise' and give you some ideas we have come up with to help you get started with your surprise planning.
I encourage you to share your Disney surprise ideas with us so that we can post them for others. We'll first take you through our recent 'big surprise' and give you some ideas we have come up with to help you get started with your surprise planning.
For us, telling our eight and five year old that they were going to Disney World was a long time in the making. While the kids had been before, they didn't really remember much. One aspect you need to consider especially with young children is that they may not quite understand what's in store for them at the theme parks.
Like many kids, ours had their favorite Disney movies and characters but weren't extremely well versed in all of the Disney stories. So, we decided to make the weeks leading up to our 'big announcement' a family fun challenge. We sat down with the kids and developed a list of Disney movies that we knew they should see to make the most of their Disney visit. At the time, of course, they had no idea this would end with a trip to the magical world of Disney, mostly because of their young age. You may need to be a little more stealthy with older kids.
Like many kids, ours had their favorite Disney movies and characters but weren't extremely well versed in all of the Disney stories. So, we decided to make the weeks leading up to our 'big announcement' a family fun challenge. We sat down with the kids and developed a list of Disney movies that we knew they should see to make the most of their Disney visit. At the time, of course, they had no idea this would end with a trip to the magical world of Disney, mostly because of their young age. You may need to be a little more stealthy with older kids.
Rather than going out and buying or renting brand new Disney movies on DVD we purchased a VCR for $10 from Goodwill and then bought several movies from our list on VHS for $.50 or $1. This saves a ton of money and young kids could care less about the less-than-perfect picture quality.
Over the next several weeks, our kids watched all of the movies on the list in a series of 'family movie nights'. This allowed us to enjoy being together as a family long before we ever entered the parks.
During this period of time, my wife and I gathered a variety of Disney objects to make the reveal more fun including some small gifts to give the kids for their visit to Disney: a Mickey/Minnie T-shirt, Disney fruit snacks for the plane ride, and a booklet we designed and put together marking the highlights of our upcoming trip. These items were wrapped up as part of the upcoming surprise.
Over the next several weeks, our kids watched all of the movies on the list in a series of 'family movie nights'. This allowed us to enjoy being together as a family long before we ever entered the parks.
During this period of time, my wife and I gathered a variety of Disney objects to make the reveal more fun including some small gifts to give the kids for their visit to Disney: a Mickey/Minnie T-shirt, Disney fruit snacks for the plane ride, and a booklet we designed and put together marking the highlights of our upcoming trip. These items were wrapped up as part of the upcoming surprise.
The Big Reveal
Once the kids finished watching the Disney movies on the list we 'scheduled' an event for them to win a prize. The idea was simple: we put together a scavenger hunt for the kids to find a series of 12 envelopes. Each envelope had an age-appropriate trivia question over one of the movies the kids had seen. Once they answered correctly, they were given another numbered envelope and a new clue which would lead them to the next envelope. You can see a small clip from the hunt in the video above.
They weren't allowed to open the envelopes until the very end. And, even then, they had to open the envelopes in order from 1 to 12. Inside each envelope was a puzzle piece. We designed a puzzle using Photoshop that told the kids "You're Going To Disney World" and ordered the small puzzle from an online website for $5-$7 total. As the kids opened the envelopes they constructed the puzzle that would reveal to surprise to them. Take a look at the video. Let's just say...each child will respond to the news in different ways. Ours...found it very hard to believe.
They weren't allowed to open the envelopes until the very end. And, even then, they had to open the envelopes in order from 1 to 12. Inside each envelope was a puzzle piece. We designed a puzzle using Photoshop that told the kids "You're Going To Disney World" and ordered the small puzzle from an online website for $5-$7 total. As the kids opened the envelopes they constructed the puzzle that would reveal to surprise to them. Take a look at the video. Let's just say...each child will respond to the news in different ways. Ours...found it very hard to believe.