How to spill the beans????

[grover]

Our trip is booked for this November, DH and I have decided that we will surprise DS (9) with this trip! We are now thinking of how we should spill the beans!

Ideally I would tell him on the way to the airport however we are flying out of MSP and will have to cross the border into the USA the day before as we are going to drive to Minneapolis, they always ask at the border where you are going so we will have to tell him before this!

I have a couple of ideas,

1) Tell him a couple of days before, will give him a gift that will include disney goodies& Birnbaums By kids for Kids guide (he' been wanting this!) or

2) Tell him that we are just going to Minneapolis to visit Mall of America, once we are on the road and before we get to the border tell him and give him the gift!

So what do you think? Any other ideas?

I now he will love the suprise aspect-he has said before that he would love it if we just woke him up one day and told him we were going to WDW!!

I wish we could do this in MSP, but I wouldn't feel comfortable crossing the border and not saying that we are going to Orlando as well as MSP, and I wouldn't want to jump out of the car to tell the border agent as that may look kind of weird to them!

So tell me your ideas!
Grover in Winnipeg

 

[goofy4tink]

How about...."So, do you ever feel like a Super Bowl winning quarterback? No, well you should. Cause "You're going to Disney World!!!" I've always wanted to say that to my dd but have never been able to keep my big fat mouth shut long enough to make it a surprise!!!

 

[disneyag]

I surprised my DS when he was 7. We went on a "mom and son only" trip. I packed his suitcase and backpack and loaded the car without his knowing. I then told him we had to go "run errands" . Of course he grumped and whined. On the way to the airport I gave him an envelope full of Disney dollars and asked where he'd like to spend them. He gave me a strange look and said,"well, the Disney Store, of course." I said, "how about Disneyworld instead?" He still didn't get it and said he'd wait until our next trip to spend his money. So, I finally said, "How about spending your Disney dollars in Disneyworld today?!?!?!" You couldn't wipe the smile off his face all day!!!

 

[CrzyforPiglet]

While I have no kids of my own I like to think of myself as a big one at heart. I think it would be awesome to wake up on what would be "an ordinary day" and have my parents standing in the kitchen, dressed with their suitcases telling me to shake a leg b/c we're going to Disney World!! It would sort of be that christmas morning feeling - once he gets over the shock and gets dressed you could give him the book and such in the car (help pass the time). That way he'd have a surprise and you wouldn't have to worry about spilling the beans at the border!

Good luck and have fun!

 

[cinjam]

I think this is a wonderful surprise for your DS!!

We anticiapte doing the same thing when our DS is old enough to understand. DH & I always fantisize about how we are going to surprise him & our idea is a lot like CrzyforPiglet's. We would wake him up just like it was an ordinary day, we'd be dressed & packed (how I am going to pack w/o him seeing me pack is something I will deal with later), and just say, "SURPRISE...hurry up & get dressed becasue we are going to DisneyWorld...RIGHT NOW!"

Maybe you just tell him you are headed to Mall of America, when you get to the border tell the agent the truth. If DS hears & catches on, turn around and yell, "suprise".

But, if DS doesn't hear you say it (maybe asleep or not paying attention or has a walkman on...these are just maybes) then you can spring it on him at the airport. I've never crossed the border so I don't know if it is even possible to quietly say where you are going.

Again - great surprise for your son!!

 

[MaggieMouse]

We're leaving the weekend after school gets out. I'm going to pack and have everything in the car. Then I'm going to go downstairs with my two year old and whisper in a LOUD stage whisper... wake your brother up.. tell him we gotta hurry because we're going to Disney... or something like that.

Oh darn... you've go me all excited again... I JUST CALMED DOWN!!!!

 

[CDoobee]

I surprised my 10 year old DD last December by taking her to WDW for DIS Con I!! It was a mother/daughter trip. It was hard planning because she gets on these boards too! I had to post under an alias!

We woke her up at 4:30AM and told her we had to take her Daddy to work. Then, because I was afraid she's just want to get in the car in her robe, I said, "Get dressed. Since I had to get up this early, we might as well go out to breakfast!" We pulled over at a gas station down the road (the airport is only about 15 minutes away!), because my DH wanted to see her face as I handed her a card. It was a Mickey card inside of which I had written, "SURPRISE! You and I are going to DIS Con!!" Unfortunately, she didn't realize what DIS Con was and thought I meant we'd meet some other DISers when we went on our family trip the next summer!! I had to tell her we were leaving right then! That her Daddy was taking us to the airport, then had her turn around and look at the suitcases in the back of the van!! Her next question was about what clothes I had packed for her! HAHA I don't think she got over the shock for about 3 days!! It was great!!

Okay, I realize that I didn't really give you any help! I just wanted you to know that HOWEVER you do it, it will be a wonderful surprise for your son that he (and you!) will always remember!!

Have a GREAT trip!!

Debbie

 

[mark & sandra]

Try showing your son the disney planning video the night before you leave.Get him to say that he wishes that he was there then tell him you also wish that you could go, but the only wishes that come true are the ones made on birthday cakes. Then say how about if we buy a small cake and make a wish with a candle on it of corse .HE will be so excited then send him to bed tell him to have a dream about it so this will help the wish. The next morring have a friend deliver the tickets to him so that you can tell him that wishes and dreams do come true . By now the little dear will be so happy and you just gave him back a little bit of childhood that by now he has out grown best of luck sandra

 

[koswalt]

... your son before you get to the airport, you could hand the border guard a note that explains where you're really going, that it's a surprise, and that you're going to say you're going to the mall to fool your son.

 

[funnygarcia]

Considering that Mall of America is within a short hop form airport I think telling him you are going to Mall is perfect! I don't remeber the border people being all that interested in where exactly you will end up - if I remeber it was: how many days? what is your intent? - perhaps you could be vague (but not enough to cause suspicion) and just say Tourist and the number of days? Then again things might have changed since last time I crossed from MN
(years ago ). I was reading on another board... A mom in Australia told her kids at airport where they were really going (they had visited grandparents and thought they were going back home) for a 3 week long vacation to Disneyland/southern California . I don't think I could keep quiet about something that special !! My kids are actually getting sick of me telling them how many days before we go .. down to SEVEN now !! (Disneyland )
Good luck and have a great trip!!

 

[KJMAX1]

Not sure about not telling the agent the truth, especially now......I think I would hand a paper to the boarder guard. I think I wouldnt tell me son, except that you have to go pick something up in the US, and then when you tell the boarder guard where you are going, your son will figure it out, and freak out right there..

 

[disneymom3]

The morning we were leaving, I had to wake DD up about an hour early. I went into her room and when she opened her little eyes and said, "Why are you in here?" I said in a whisper, "you have to get up. It's time to leave for Disney World." She didn't even beleive me at first but then just kept giggling away. All day on the way there she kept saying, "I can't believe we're going to Disney World!"

I think you could wake your son on the day you leave withthe news or tell him partway to MN. I wouldn't hand the border guard a note or anything too unusual in the current atmosphere. I think a note might make them a bit leary. Where are you parking your car? You might tell them the hotel if you plan to leave your car there. I also think the mall of America answer would suffice, of course then your son would hear you say how many days you're going to be gone and would get suspicious anyway. I think I'd tell him the day you are leaving for MSP.

 

[grover]

Thanks for all the great ideas! Can always count on the DIS'ers to pull through! I know what you mean about whispering or handing a note to the boarder agent- I don't want to make them leary of me!
Grover in Winnipeg

 

[margaritabnl]

Great thread!

Goofy.........just wanted to let you know that the Super Bowl "I'm going to Disneyworld" phrase is how our trip started! We are from Massachusetts also, my 10 year old son plays Pop Warner football. We were at a Super Bowl party with another Pop Warner family just shocked the PATS HAD WON. We were getting ready to leave and out of the blue my son said, "Mom, the Pats just won the Super Bowl and Tom Brady is going to Disneyworld, can we go too?"

I looked at my son, then to my husband and said "well, what do you think?" all the while holding my breath since I put us on a Disney ban for 5 years (I was ready for a Caribbean cruise, lol) but I instantly wanted to go back to WDW as soon as I heard "When you wish upon a starrrr..." Everyone in the room is silent waiting for his answer! He sighed, said okay, and gave me a nice jab for caving in on my own 5 year Disney ban!

After reading this thread, I have decided to be bad and lie to my kids! They have been helping with the planning and choosing a resort but I now I will just tell them we decided to stick with the Caribbean cruise after all. They won't think anything of getting up early to go to the airport expecting to go on a cruise. The clothes packed will pretty much be the same too. The jig will be up when we go to the gate for MCO and they see all the other kids dressed in Disney clothes and Orlando on the board. Think it will work?

But back to the original question, lol......I would go with the suggestion of headphones on your son in the car.

 

[vsb372]

We too are planning on surprising our ds (12) and dd (9) when we take our first trip the week after Thanksgiving. Ever since we first got the Disney Vacation Video back in January we have been thinking about a way to surprise them. We have reletives in N.C. We are telling them we are going for a visit. When we are halfway there I will tell them we have a special video for them to watch. I will then put in the video. I can't wait to see their faces.
Good luck on your surprise. I hope you have a camera ready.