Tell us about your Disney surprises!

[KH]

A few years ago we surprised our DD and DS by telling them we were planning a trip in January, but on a dark December morning we woke them and told them we were going THAT MORNING! They loved the surprise and we had a ball. This year, however, I'm going to pull of the mother of all surprises. We're planning a January trip, and my sister and her family are going to join us as a surprise for our kids (they adore their cousins). What makes this so fun is that my other sister and her family (who can rarely get time off during that season) and Grandpa and Grandma are going to come down and surprise the surprisers!!! If I can be more like 007 than Maxwell Smart and pull this off it will be incredible fun. :secret:

Please tell us about any surprises you've attempted- either with or without success. I would love to read your stories!

[DisneyDog]

Our surprise story is still going on at this moment. We are leaving for Disney next Wednesday!! Only, our DS5 doesn't know. He wants to go sooooo badly. He went a bunch of times when he was a baby, but we haven't been back since he was 2 years old. We haven't been able to afford it since we moved back to PA (we lived in Florida when he was born, so going to WDW was much easier). My folks are taking us as an anniverary present.

I have been evil, I know. But I've been showing him lots of Disney classics, we've been watching the new shows on the Travel Channel, and I've been talking about this and that in Disney. Mostly, I am doing it so that he's not completely out of the loop when we arrive. But, he has no clue that we are going. He keeps asking if we can go "when he's 10 years old."

Anyway, my folks live in Palm Beach County. DS thinks we are going to visit them at their house. That way, there won't be any questions when we get on the airplane. They will be meeting us at the airport when we arrive. When we see them (which will be at midnight!), we plan on telling him the great news. So, he won't know until we are literally in Orlando!! If he were any older than 5, there would be no way I could pull this off. We plan on getting his excitement on videotape!! I can't wait!

[KH]

That's fantastic! Have a great time!

[katzctkpt]

Oh, I wanted to do that with our kids this Dec. But, my dh being a disney fanatic couldn't keep it a secret.
Is any of your other family members intercotees? Just don't want them to read it on here and find out about the surprise.

[Vilante]

In 2004, we planned a trip for the week immediately following Thanksgiving and managed to keep it a complete secret from our DD7.

The night we left, my wife and I packed the car after DD had gone to sleep, and loaded her once we were ready. At one point during the drive, DD sat up looked around and asked what she was doing in the car. I told her, I has some work to take care of and that mom needed to come with me. She seemed content and fell back asleep. (I had taken a good nap earlier in the day to get me through the 6 hour drive.)

When we were about to pull on to World Drive about 6 am, we woke DD and said that we were lost and needed help finding signs to tell us where we were. The timing was dead-on, as she gathered her senses and saw the "Welcome to Disney World" entrance sign.

My wife and I to this day kick ourselves for not having the video cam ready to record her marvelous reaction.

As a slight further surprise, we checked into ASM (and a room was thankfully ready) and then headed to Epcot for the princess breakfast at Akershus.

As tired as I was from the midnight drive, I managed to hang on through out the day just to watch DD caught up the magic. :mickey:

[buzznwoodysmom]

We've surprised our boys once before and are about to do it again in June.

The first time we surprised them they were very young, only 4 and 2, but they were so excited. We had to go to Georgia to look for apartments and do some military stuff for DH since we'd be living there for 6 months at the end of the year. We stayed in a cabin in Georgia for 3 nights then the boys thought we were on our way home. They were so shocked when we arrived at All Star Movies for a 3 night stay. It was also just a week before their birthdays so I went all out. While DH played with them in "Andy's Room" I set up balloons, a banner and a birthday cake and we shouted "surprise" when he came into the room with them. They were totally into Toy Story at the time and I had made them each a gift basket full of toy story items including a Buzz costume for the older and a woody costume for the younger one. To this day, that was one of our most memorable trips. At least for DH and I. LOL.

Now in June we are going to Disney's Vero Beach for our summer vacation. The boys have no idea that I also booked 2 nights at WDW after our Vero stay. Once again, they will think we are on our way home, until we pass through those gates. We'll probably say something corny like "look boys, dad took a wrong turn and look where we ended up". We are currently booked at SSR, but are waitlisted for either BCV or BWV. Either way we'll have a great time. There is no way they see this one coming because we told them we wouldn't be going back until at least Jan. of next year and that we won't ever go back during the summer. I can't wait to see their faces and hear their screams when they realize our vacation isn't over yet. It is so much fun, but also very hard to keep such a great secret, isn't it?

[KineGirl]

Ive never been able to keep a trip from my DD but I did have a surprise myself...

We used to take an annual family trip usually around my DD birthday in Oct (cant now b/c of high school) which included my (at the time) DBF(Craig) , myself, DD, my uncle, his wife & my parents. Well my then DBF always has this much more laid back style than I do about how one should do The World and I sometimes I feel like Im dragging him along when he'd much rather be back at OKW pool with a Turtle Crawl in his hand. This particular year (2004) was no exception and to boot he wasnt feeling well. We even went to the ER at Celebration to get him looked at a few days into our vacay. The doc said he was fighting a minor bacterial infection, gave him some meds and sent him back to WDW. The next day he was soooo sick and totally lagging. Normally any little excuse is enough to send him back to the pool but that day he would not go back. I hate to say it but I was getting a little (ALOT) frustrated with him. He obviously felt awful and I felt like we were literally dragging him from one spot to another. Mind you we had my DD birthday lunch planned at the Castle and this is always a big deal with the whole family but I felt she & the fam would understand if he couldnt be there.. he was really sick!! But he said he hadnt missed a birthday lunch yet and he wasnt about to start & how he wanted to give her his present himself - he'd go back to the room after and rest. So Im thinking to myself "PLEASE hurry up lunchtime!" so he could go and rest already. We get to the Castle .. and he cant even eat. Hes totally green :sick: Im a little more irritated now that hes spent this money, cant eat and wont just go back to the room! THEN the server brings out this silver platter for dessert - I look at him and said "Dont tell me youre going to eat dessert now!!" Now Im totally irritated. The server lifted the lid and inside was a glass slipper with a beautiful sapphire & diamond engagement ring (just what I always wanted!! :cloud9: ) surrounded by rose petals. All frustration flew out the window needless to say! He got down on his knee, I started bawling, he dropped the ring, found it (PHEW) and asked me to marry him. I said yes of course and the guy at the table next to him jumps up and says "She said yes!!" and starts shaking Craigs hand! The whole restaurant was clapping and cheering - it was great! When we left to get Craig back to the room, a CM (park mngr type) asked how our visit was. I told her we just got engaged at the Castle! She said "right now?!" I said "RIGHT Now!!" LOL She reached into her pocket and gave us 2 passes to MNSSHP! So cool! Craig stayed in the room that night but insisted me & DD go have fun. We did and the next morning I took Craig back to the ER and it turned out he had cellulitus! Poor guy!! They admitted him and we spent 3 additional days in FL! Thats how I know he must really love me - he couldve died just to propose to me in the most perfect way. LOL It was the sweetest thing anyone has ever done for me and Im so glad hes ok because now we've been married 3 years and I cant wait to spend many, many more!!

[princessjojo]

Oh my word, KineGirl, you have me in tears over here. That was the sweetest thing I've heard in a long time. I get so excited myself that I can't possibly keep anything a secret, but I love hearing about others. These are great!!!:secret:

[KineGirl]

Oh my word, KineGirl, you have me in tears over here. That was the sweetest thing I've heard in a long time. I get so excited myself that I can't possibly keep anything a secret, but I love hearing about others. These are great!!!:secret:

Awww ty princess!... all the girls love that story :mickey: ME especially!! It was pretty awesome - a day/week I'll never forget!

[pink]

I wasn't the one giving the suprise but my brother and I sure got one! It was about six years ago when I was in middle school and my brother was still very young- one day my mom picked me up from school one friday afternoon (my brother was already in the car) and casually asked me "what would you like to do this weekend?" when I didn't have anything to do she responded, "how about we all go to Disney world." My brother and I freaked out and then later on we all got to reveal the big news to my father who also had no idea. :mickey:

[EvilQueen2006]

I surprised my dd11 this past August. We told her we were planning a camping trip in NH. We told her that the weather was supposed to be really hot that week so make sure you pack clothes for hot weather. We put the Disney specific stuff in my suitcase. When we got to the parking garage at the airport we told her we had to catch a bus to get to the campground we were going to. We entered the airport and actually got through security before she looked at her boarding pass and read it. "This says we are going to Orlando?" Suddenly she "got it" and started jumping up and down and squealing. I wish I had the camera ready for that moment.

[pbdennis]

Our last trip to WDW was September of 2006. My DW and I checked out our two girls, 5 & 8 at the time, out of school. They were not aware of the trip and did not know they were being checked out. I was waiting at the car with a video camera to capture the moment. As they walked to the car, they saw my wife's friend dressed up like Minnie Mouse holding two large tickets with Disney stickers all over them. "Minnie" was our driver to the airport. It took a few minutes for the girls to get a grasp of what was going on. The oldest one figured it out, but couldn't believe it. The youngest didn't realize it was the real deal until we arrived at the airport. We had everything packed and headed straight to the airport. That was truly a special moment.:mickey:

We are returning in just 13 days. The oldest knows about the trip, but the youngest will be informed once we head to the airport. :secret:

[DisneyWhirled]

I surprised my dd11 this past August. We told her we were planning a camping trip in NH. We told her that the weather was supposed to be really hot that week so make sure you pack clothes for hot weather. We put the Disney specific stuff in my suitcase. When we got to the parking garage at the airport we told her we had to catch a bus to get to the campground we were going to. We entered the airport and actually got through security before she looked at her boarding pass and read it. "This says we are going to Orlando?" Suddenly she "got it" and started jumping up and down and squealing. I wish I had the camera ready for that moment.

Hello Evil Queen-Sorry off topic...but I live in Biddeford as well!!! We also suprised our two children last August. I see you are going back May/June coming up....We are going in May, too. What a small world :)

[dumbo_buddy]

my first time to WDW was a surprise! i was in the 7th grade, MLK weekend. my parents said we were going to see my g-pa in PA for the weekend. we were in CT. so, we left super early in the morning. i fall asleep immediately when i'm in a car so when i woke up, i was very surprised to see we were at LGA airport! my mom said they decided to take a small plane to PA. i didn't think anything of it because one time my mom had to go to a funeral in PA and she took a prop plane there.

so, we go to the airport and i'm still half asleep. we check in etc etc and i sat in the waiting area (i guess it wasn't right at the gate b/c i never even noticed anything about "orlando").

my mom said she needed to go to the bathroom and dad and i needed to sit with the bags. when she came back she pulled out a minnie mouse stuffed doll from behind her back and said, "surprise!!! we're going to disney!!!"

IT. WAS. AWESOME!!! they even have a pic of my big wide open mouth!!

15 years later i still smile when i think about it:mickey:

[MOJoe]

When my first son was 2, i gave a Mickey plush toy to my wife for Christmas. She thought i meant to give it to my son, but no. I told her we were going that week to Disney!

[magicofdisney]

A couple of years ago I told my kids we needed to "practice" packing for Disney. We spent a day doing so and they went to be exhausted. The next day my mom showed up and told them they were taking a day off from school to spend with her. They were so excited. After they left, I packed everything into the van then met them at the gas station to begin our vacation. They were speechless. They were also young so the "practice" packing didn't clue them in. :mickey:

[TikiGoddess]

Someone on another thread (similar to this one) mentioned looking on *a popular video website* and searching for 'Disney surprise'. There are some great ones!!

TikiG

[tinksmom02]

I'm planning a surprise right now, for our trip in 140 days (yes, I like to plan ahead LOL) We're traveling with friends of ours, their DS and our DD are BFF. actually, they're married (at 5 1/2), but that's another story... ;)

We're leaving on a Saturday, early am. I already arranged to have off that Friday before, so I'm going to load up the car while they're at school, except for their suitcases.

Friday night we're all going to get together for dinner. I'll make Mickey Mouse waffles for the kids, casually take out DD's Magic Kingdom game, and pop in the vacation DVD. We'll present them with their suitcases, which will have Birnbaum's for kids books, T-shirts (which I already bought LOL), disposable cameras, other little goodies. THEN I thought it would be cute to get an "enchanted call" from Mickey to announce the trip! But thanks for the tip--I will definitely have a video and digital camera ready!

Debating on whether I want to order autograph books, lanyards, etc. for the suitcases, or just wait until we get there.

Then, we'll be able to pack all our last-minute stuff (toothbrushes, glasses, etc,) in DD's suitcase and we'll be ready to go!

They're going to flip out!

[Mickey91]

We love to do Disney surprises!!

I haven't pulled off an entire trip yet. I have a big mouth and can't stand not to share the excitement. But, one year we had the kids convinced we were staying at the Pop until the bell hop took the bags out of the car at WL.

DD and I went for a fun (VERY EARLY) day of shopping in her Belle costume only to end up at the castle for a princess make over at BBB, and tea with Aurora at the My Disney Daughter's Perfectly Princess Tea at the GF. She was stunned!:mickey:

One year, we were really heading for Williamsburg and surprised all of us by changing direction and going to the MK for a day!

Not sure what I will be able to come up with this year. But you never know...:D

[Soul_Power]

Someone on another thread (similar to this one) mentioned looking on *a popular video website* and searching for 'Disney surprise'. There are some great ones!!

TikiG

Thanks for sharing this information! I never thought to look that up! Maybe I should tell my boyfriend about this for some inspiration for surprising me! :laughing: Hey, a girl could hope, right?!

[AlliMo]

I have been lucky enough to be part of 3 disney surprises!!!
When I was 10 and graduating from 5th grade, my parents were going to take me out for lunch. They gave me a list of five places...red lobster, bennigan's, etc. I looked down the list and #4 was the Grand Floridian Cafe! It has always been a special lunch place for our family ever since.
The second surprise was in 2001. My family went to disney without my one brother who had been recently married. He said they couldn't go but on the second day, my brother and his wife showed up at our lunch at the Brown Derby. I was in on the coordinating of the surprise but it was still very special. I have the picture of right after the surprise all over my apartment. It was the best day of my life. My Dad and my brother's wife are no longer with us so it is my most precious moment.
The third surprise was just this past December. My brother and his girlfriend and their kids went down for their yearly trip. My mom and I decided last minute to surprise them. I figured out where they would be that day through my brother's girlfriend. Then when we got to AK, I called my brother as if I was still in philadelphia. I kept asking him questions in order to get clues on where exactly he was. We finally figured it out after much stalling on the phone and crept up behind him (while still on the phone) and tapped him on the shoulder. Surprises in disney are the best!

[TikiGoddess]

I'm planning a surprise right now, for our trip in 140 days (yes, I like to plan ahead LOL) We're traveling with friends of ours, their DS and our DD are BFF. actually, they're married (at 5 1/2), but that's another story... ;)

We're leaving on a Saturday, early am. I already arranged to have off that Friday before, so I'm going to load up the car while they're at school, except for their suitcases.

Friday night we're all going to get together for dinner. I'll make Mickey Mouse waffles for the kids, casually take out DD's Magic Kingdom game, and pop in the vacation DVD. We'll present them with their suitcases, which will have Birnbaum's for kids books, T-shirts (which I already bought LOL), disposable cameras, other little goodies. THEN I thought it would be cute to get an "enchanted call" from Mickey to announce the trip! But thanks for the tip--I will definitely have a video and digital camera ready!

Debating on whether I want to order autograph books, lanyards, etc. for the suitcases, or just wait until we get there.

Then, we'll be able to pack all our last-minute stuff (toothbrushes, glasses, etc,) in DD's suitcase and we'll be ready to go!

They're going to flip out!

You're going to have quite a time getting them to get ANY sleep that night... are you sure you don't want to surprise them in the morning, or on the way to the airport? :)

TikiG

[tinksmom02]

You're going to have quite a time getting them to get ANY sleep that night... are you sure you don't want to surprise them in the morning, or on the way to the airport? :)

TikiG

We thought of that, but then I thought that they might like to have a LITTLE anticipation/excitement...:mickey: They can sleep after the trip LOL

[EvilQueen2006]

Hello Evil Queen-Sorry off topic...but I live in Biddeford as well!!! We also suprised our two children last August. I see you are going back May/June coming up....We are going in May, too. What a small world :)

Wow, how weird is that? Hope you have a great trip in May!

[tinklover]

We have a suprise planned for June. My DD's 5 and almost 4 and their family( mommom,poppop,aunt,uncle, uncle's brother,2 cousins,and another aunt) my DBF, and myself are planning on going to Disney. The girls have no clue they are going again this soon as we werejust there last May. so it is a suprise for them and it is also a suprise graduation gift for the second Aunt. We are telling her on May 27th when we all get back to teh house after graduation. the way we are telling her is thru a scavenger hunt. I so can not wait to see her face. that side of teh family has never been to teh World so this is going to be a great experience. I will update this after we reveal the suprise to the aunt and I will also post a link with a pic of her reaction lol.

[Disneypixie513]

Oh I have several!
Surprise #1.) In 2002(i was 10 and my sister was 6) We were woken up at 6 am and told to get dressed and get in the car. So we were both fell asleep in the car. We were at a rest stop in southern VA and Me and my sister decided to look at a map and try to figure out where we were going. We had gone to Texas and Chicage earlier that year so we guessed we were going back..But we were going the wrong way! Well somewhere in South Carolina, Mom tells us we're on our way to Disney! (we had been in 1997). I start screaming and all excited,and my poor sister wouldn't believe mom! She thought they were lieing to us. But mom finally convinced her we were going..

Surprise #2.) 2005. We were going to stay at POR for 10 nights in semptember, and we had talked about my best friend's family coming down with us. In the end they said 1. didn't want to pull my friend out of school and
2. They would rather go at Christmas time to see the decorations.
So on our 3rd day in Disney, we were getting ready for a EMH at AK and it was about 7:30 or so, and my mom takes my sister to the food court to get some Hot Chocolate. Well they were gone for at least 20 mins. And i started getting a little curious. Is the food court really *that* crowded? Well the eventually get back and Mom just looks at me and says "You know..We go to the mall at home and we'll never see anybody we know! But you come down here..." And so i open the door, and there is my best friend and her family! I was so shocked i kinda slammed the door in their face. :blush:

Surprise #3.) Is small..We were suprised with an extra day at MK! And my sister got surprised with an appointment at BBB for a late b-day present.

Surprise #4.) This happened this past August. (little back story. I had been complaining :blush: about not going on vacation anywhere that year because the year before we went to Mount Rushmore and Disney. So this was our "break year".)
We were all sitting at our table and Dad and I were eating. So my dad asks if we wanted to go swimming the next day. Me and Rebekah kinda look at each other and were like “Umm...Sure.” So he asks where we wanted to go. Rebekah shouts out “Disney!” He says “Okay Go pack!” We’re like “Hahaha funny dad.” And we brush it off as a joke. Well after that we’re all kinda hanging around on my parent’s bed. Dad turns to my Mom and is like “I guess they don’t want to go to Disney with us” Me and Rebekah are like “Haha really, we wanna go. But we’re not.” So he keeps trying to tell us that we’re going to Disney! Well Rebekah and I keep brushing it off and “Haha seriously dad this joke is getting annoying.” Well mom brings out a PACKED suitcase! So we’re like “Omgosh! Are we really going?!?” Yes! Well we start screaming, jumping up and down, we were BAWLING. Well we ended up leaving the very next day! Yea kinda stressful packing in one night! Phew. Well fast forward to when we’re looking for our exit for our hotel. We were told we were going to stay 2 nights at All-Star Movies and then switch to Caribbean Beach . Nope, as a late anniversary gift to my dad, Mom actually planned for us to stay 2 nights at the Wilderness Lodge and my dad’s favorite resort on site. Fast Forward again to…A few days later. Not exactly sure how many. We were eating at Pecos Bills and Mom told us we were going to the P&PP!

I swear..My mom is the master planner for surprises..I keep telling her i'm going to die from a heart attack if she keeps it up.

[BelleLovesTheBeast]

WOW! What great stories. I love reading these. I only have one and it's not a big surprise like these.

Last year my DH and I took a trip to celebrate our anniversary. When I got to the room there was a beautiful bouquet of red roses in a B&TB vase.

Then later in the week we went over to POR and he went into the gift shop and bought a bottle of wine. Then he surprised me with a carriage ride with a single white rose and a box - inside was a B&TB charm bracelet. Really not sure why it's called a B&TB one because there is nothing relating to the movie on it. But it was beautiful and a great surprise.

Now it's my turn this year to surprise him with something. Any ideas?