SURPRISE trip! About This Page:

[ecuagoddess]

I'm super excited- I decided I'm taking DD to Disneyland in October for a surprise mother-daughter trip! Neither of us has ever been to Disneyland before, so I'm just reading as much as I can. I hope to get some good discounts for hotel/tix, and I think we have a good chance of being able to attend a Trick-or-Treat Party based on last year's party dates.

To do:
-keep an eye out for discounts
-decide on Halloween costumes
-KEEP THE SECRET!!!

Our flight leaves Hawaii for California pretty early in the morning. I'm thinking of waking her up with the Mickey Mouse Club March music. I just don't know what to say after she's awake- "We're going to Disneyland right now!" or something else. Any ideas?

[HeatherD]

Yay! How fun that you get to plan this! We were planning on surprising our kids with a WDW trip, but ended up telling them 3 days prior (at DS' birthday party). Maybe you could ask her were she'd like to go today (of course, if my son lived in HI, he'd say Kilauea....). If she doesn't answer Disneyland, then you could then ask, "How about we go to Disneyland?" And when she gets excited about it, you can tell her you're leaving in XXX minutes.

OR

You can leave massive hints everywhere - wake her up with Mickey music, make Mickey pancakes or Mickey waffles for breakfast, have her dress in Disney clothing, have a movie playing on TV, etc. If you overload the Disney stuff, she's bound to ask (or maybe not...in our house, there's so much Disney the kids don't know "overload" ).

Whatever you do, good luck keeping the secret!

Oh! Or you could do a scavenger hunt (that's what we did) with just a few clues, that leads to the suitcases and tickets and such. I guess that would depend on how quickly she wakes up in the morning...

[chezp]

How wonderful - you'll love Disneyland!

[Colexis Mom]

Have a great time!!

[Disneydiana]

Have fun!

[ecuagoddess]

Originally Posted by HeatherD

Oh! Or you could do a scavenger hunt (that's what we did) with just a few clues, that leads to the suitcases and tickets and such. I guess that would depend on how quickly she wakes up in the morning...

I LOVE that idea! I did a scavenger hunt for her in the past, and she had so much fun doing it. She wakes up pretty quickly, so even in the early morning that would work. I could set it up the night before while I'm packing.

Squee! This is so much fun! I"ll be sure to report her reactions 140+ days from now!

[ecuagoddess]

UPDATE:

We're almost to double-digits!!! I've reserved the hotel and purchased Trick-or-Treat party tickets for the first night there.
I'm pretty sure of the costumes. DD will be Alice (in Wonderland), because we bought that dress in the UK at Epcot during our trip last year. Just need some white tights and she's set. I think I will be the Chesire Cat. I'll paint some stripes on a peachy-pink top, leggings, and tail, find some pink ears and I'll be good.
Have thought more about the morning we leave. I take business trips to the neighbor islands sometimes, leaving early in the morning. I will tell DD she has to go to sleep early the night before, because she and DH have to take me to the airport for a business trip in the morning. I can do the packing while she's in bed and put the stuff in the car. Then we all get up early and drive to the airport. When she says her usual, "I love the airport, can I go on the airplane with you, mami?" comment, I'll say, "Well...........OK, come on!" She'll be surprised, I'll bust out the Surprise Mami-Daughter Disneyland Trip 2009 shirts to wear, and we'll skip to the airplane!

[mechurchlady]

Great plan so far. They do not allow costumes for adults and older kids except at the DCA event but you can store stuff in lockers if you need to. Sounds like you are going to have a lot of fun and if you have any questions do feel free to ask them.

Keep watching the various boards and sites for closures and special events the week you are in DLR. Nothing like getting hyped on a ride then finding it closed.

[lauren-roxy]

How exciting!!!

[HeatherD]

Great plans!

[PRColey]

Sounds like great plans!! How exciting!!!!!

[dolphin041599]

How fun! I could never keep a secret like that. We aren't going until 2010, and she already knows about it.

I can't wait to hear about the Trick-or-Treat party as we will hit it in 2010. Have fun!!!

[ilovedisney0_0]

Oh man, I am so jealous!! I have always wanted to do a suprise trip for my DD, but I get too excited about it myself and always blurt out all the details! Have a magical time!