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angedeaile
04-21-2007, 09:18 PM
After a great trip to DW in August, I decided we HAVE to take another one. :mickey:

It was my little brother’s first trip and mine. It was a dream come true, since I wasn’t fortunate as a child to go and decided it was about time. It was my boyfriend’s second trip, but felt like his first since he was so young.

Anywho, I have been planning since February for this trip. I have the deposit down and just need to purchase our plane tickets, that and pay the rest on my package. All of that aside, I have everything planned.

Now to the point of this thread!
My brother has no clue I am taking him again in December!

I figured a good time to tell him would be on his 10th birthday, which is Memorial Day.:party: That way, he can convert his b-day money to DW money before he spends it on silly toys. I just can’t think of how to tell him.

I thought of maybe doing something pirate themed, since he loves POTC, but don’t know where to go with that.

I thought about doing a scroll with a humorous poem/invitation, but my rhyming skills lack. I guess my creativity is shot.

I did plan on giving him this awesome scrapbook of our past trip. I have been working months on it. I thought maybe doing something on the last page, so when he goes through the whole thing he will get a happy ending…I just can’t think of what to do or say!

Any creative minds out there with suggestions, ideas, or maybe stories of what they did to surprise their youngin's with a trip to DW ? Any help would be appreciated!

mickeys_princess_mom
04-21-2007, 10:52 PM
How about a Treasure Map with clues to a hunt? The "buried treasure" could be a Disney knapsack, or tee with a short note or poem (in a bottle?) telling him the good news! :pirate:

crazypoohbear
04-22-2007, 11:07 AM
I love surprises like this!
Last year I didn't tell my DS's they were coming with me until they "dropped me off at the airport" This year we are bringing a friend of my older son... he has no idea, his friend told him he couldn't make it. (their birthdays are 2 days apart and we will celebrate down there)

I would suggest getting him a Disney birthday card, giving him Disney dollars for a gift. If you can get everyone else in the family to give him Disney vacation gifts. i.e. sunscreen, backpack, light colored hat, Disney tee's, new walking shoes/sandals. A pirate birthday cake,
maybe a mickey birthday balloon etc.
Then give him one last gift. In a BIG BOX ( I like to wrap smaller boxes inside) print out a certificate pronouncing his birthday the start of a Disney countdown ( fill the box with connecting rings with numbers on them so each day he can take off a ring until the trip!)
What a great surprise. have a fun time planning.

wdw_bound
04-22-2007, 10:24 PM
What an awesome big sis you are! :mickey:

We gave DD a suprise trip for her 8th birthday last year and I think the telling was almost as much fun as the going. OK, I'm exaggerating, but the telling was a TON of fun!

We had one big box for her (hatbox size - got it at Target) that we made her wait until after breakfast to open (just cuz I'm a mean mommy ;) ). The box was stuffed with tissue paper and down at the very bottom was a note with a clue directing her to the first stop on her treasure hunt (we loosely used a pirate theme because DD loves them, too). At the first location was a small gift (an Anne Bonny pirate doll), a clue to the next location and a scrap of paper with a number on one side and a letter on the other side. We repeated this for all the locations - each small gift represented something about the trip, although we were very careful not to make it too Disney - for example, a balsa wood glider represented Soarin'.

At the end of the hunt, instead of a clue was a piece of posterboard with lines representing blank spaces and numbers under each line. Using the papers picked up on the treasure hunt, DD had to decode the message, which spelled out "You're going to Disney World in Three Weeks."

It took me about a week to come up with all the clues (I made them rhyme, but badly in many cases) and figure out the key to the code so that it wouldn't be too easy to solve. It took DD about an hour to do the hunt and solve the puzzle. Her reaction was priceless! She still talks about her birthday treasure hunt almost a year later!

I've been dropping BIG hints to DH that giving me a suprise like a WDW trip would be very much appreciated :cloud9:

Have fun suprising your brother - and be sure to get his reaction on film!

Flower
04-23-2007, 08:43 AM
How exciting!!!

I love the 'treasure hunt' idea.

As it sounds like you scrapbook, there are some wonderful pirate themed scrapbook paper and kits available. Last week I was in Michaels and they had a pirates kit with paper and stickers, it was by 'Karen Foster Designs'. There is also alot of pirate stuff available through the mouse memories website - just do a search on their page for pirates.

With the pirate paper/stickers you could do an awesome treasure map, or complete the last page of the scrapbook with it - or do both! Have the last page BE the treasure map for him to do the scavenger hunt!:pirate:

angedeaile
04-23-2007, 01:28 PM
OOOO a treasure hunt eh? :pirate:
I love it!:clappy:

Infact, I think I am going to incorporate everyone’s ideas!

His first present will be my scrapbook. On the final page, I will post a code decoder and a message to direct him to his next gift.

I will have all my family give him gifts that we will use in the hunt and have them help me with hiding and clues. That way, they can be a part of the experience. :party:

I will STRONGLY suggest they get gifts that are DW related.

My DBF already purchased some airplane glider kit to give him, so that works at hinting that we are taking a plane to get to our destination. I also purchased a POTC sweatshirt for him, so that can be a hint about his favorite ride.

The final gift will be a map with a message hinting at where the final gift is “buried”.

Then I will use a chest, I saw a cute craft one at Michaels. Inside will be Disney dollars, pins, and the final page of the scrapbook…all about our next trip!

Whatcha think?:D

mickeys_princess_mom
04-23-2007, 04:36 PM
Sounds great! Have fun!!! I like the idea of involving the other family members, too. :pirate:You get even get those little eyepatches for everyone to wear during the hunt.....:wave:

pianobabe
04-25-2007, 01:25 AM
Surprises are always fun to do. One year, I surprised CJ with a WDW trip. He had NO CLUE!!! I had arranged to pick him up early from school (I already had talked with his teacher and the principal). CJ questioned me as to why I was picking him up early. I lied just a little, but not really:blush: . I told him I had some running around to do and I wouldn't get back in time to pick him up. That was enough of an explanation at that point. I told him to sit back and work on his homework, to help pass the time until we got to the airport. When we pulled into the airport, he asked why were we there. Again, a little lie, but not really:blush: . I told him I thought it would be fun to watch the planes take off and land. That satisfied him. While I was finding a place to park, he was on the phone. He was still talking, so after parking I casual got out of the car, opened the trunk and got our suitcases out. CJ hung up the phone and got out of the car and just kind of looked at me:confused: . I then told him, with a big smile on my face, "Surprise". He still didn't quite get it. I finally told him "We're going to Disney World". He just fell against the car and was amazingly stunned. It was GREAT!!!:joy:
You can pull of some wonderful surprises. It sounds like you have a great start.