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Pinkhoody
04-18-2007, 05:23 PM
I'm taking my nephew in about 2 weeks... it's going to be a surprise! I figure I'll tell him a couple days before we leave. One day to absorb it, the next day we leave, and it will be an all-day drive. We won't actually visit DL until the day after.

An idea I had to surprise him with it was to get on Google Earth and have it showing the trip from our house to Disneyland. It looks pretty cool and doesn't say "Disneyland" until the end of the virtual trip!

What do you guys think?

Any other ideas? I'm open... :)

simnia
04-18-2007, 05:32 PM
it's going to be a surprise! I figure I'll tell him a couple days before we leave.

What do you guys think?

I think it's a very bad idea. Haven't you seen dozens of sitcoms and movies by now about the disasterous failures of surprise birthday parties? Wisdom says not to spring surprises on people like that: it's just asking for trouble in a hundred different ways. Your nephew may have made other plans that he didn't tell you about, or any number of other things could go wrong. A surprise creates a distortion in the normal flow of things, next you'll be finding yourself lying and going through other contortions to try to keep the surprise, and so on in a chain reaction.

santoanderson
04-18-2007, 05:37 PM
How old is he? If he's young, slip him some Nyquil, throw him in the van and wake him up when you get there. :rolleyes:

Pinkhoody
04-18-2007, 05:42 PM
I think it's a very bad idea. Haven't you seen dozens of sitcoms and movies by now about the disasterous failures of surprise birthday parties? Wisdom says not to spring surprises on people like that: it's just asking for trouble in a hundred different ways. Your nephew may have made other plans that he didn't tell you about, or any number of other things could go wrong. A surprise creates a distortion in the normal flow of things, next you'll be finding yourself lying and going through other contortions to try to keep the surprise, and so on in a chain reaction.

Nah, he knows we're going away to "a really fun place for a week"... he just doesn't know where. He's anticipating a big trip and knows exactly when it is, and I'll tell him in time for him to think about and plan for what he wants to bring. He's a smart guy... he'll probably figure it out before I tell him, huh! ;)

Pinkhoody
04-18-2007, 05:42 PM
How old is he? If he's young, slip him some Nyquil, throw him in the van and wake him up when you get there. :rolleyes:
14. I love your idea, but I don't think it'll fly. :p

kisroo
04-18-2007, 05:44 PM
I think it depends on the age. I sent my niece a card that I made on the Disney.com webpage that was her "invitation" to Disneyland.

santoanderson
04-18-2007, 05:45 PM
14's a weird age. I've dreamt up different ways to break the truth to my not yet existent children. I'd love to find someone who can emulate the Mickey Mouse voice, call them on the phone, and invite them to the park.

disneyhound
04-18-2007, 05:47 PM
I think it's a very bad idea. Haven't you seen dozens of sitcoms and movies by now about the disasterous failures of surprise birthday parties? Wisdom says not to spring surprises on people like that: it's just asking for trouble in a hundred different ways. Your nephew may have made other plans that he didn't tell you about, or any number of other things could go wrong. A surprise creates a distortion in the normal flow of things, next you'll be finding yourself lying and going through other contortions to try to keep the surprise, and so on in a chain reaction.

??? Your response simnia is puzzling on so many levels...

Pinkhoody; I love surprises as does my dd. The first time I took my dd to DL, I put together a booklet that contained information I collected from websites about DL, our flight, our hotel... I gave it to her at Christmas, wrapped up as a present, we left two weeks later. She looked that booklet over every night, she still has it!

Over the past 6-7 years I have waited until the evening before we were catch our flight to Anaheim to tell her. We always go during January or February; she knows our trip is coming... but never knows for sure or when. She loves the surprise!!! A lot of fun! Have a great trip!!!

santoanderson
04-18-2007, 05:50 PM
For a fourteen year old I'd wait until the night before, right after dinner. I'd tell him to pack his bags and go to bed early. There needs to be some anticipation, but not days of it. You don't want him slacking off in school. Anyway, he'll only sleep 5-6 hours the night before and will be pretty sedated for the trip.

Pinkhoody
04-18-2007, 05:57 PM
??? Your response simnia is puzzling on so many levels...

Pinkhoody; I love surprises as does my dd. The first time I took my dd to DL, I put together a booklet that contained information I collected from websites about DL, our flight, our hotel... I gave it to her at Christmas, wrapped up as a present, we left two weeks later. She looked that booklet over every night, she still has it!

Over the past 6-7 years I have waited until the evening before we were catch our flight to Anaheim to tell her. We always go during January or February; she knows our trip is coming... but never knows for sure or when. She loves the surprise!!! A lot of fun! Have a great trip!!!How cute! What a great idea...

santoanderson, that's hilarious... I love the idea of having someone call. I don't know who of my friends I could get to do it. How much could I pay you to do it? jk :D

santoanderson
04-18-2007, 05:58 PM
I do a decent Chief Wiggum, but no Mickey Mouse. Lo siento.

Alisonsmom
04-18-2007, 06:10 PM
??? Your response simnia is puzzling on so many levels...


I'm so glad someone else thought so too!

I have also printed a card off the Disney.com website and surprised my niece with it the night before we were going. The look on her face was priceless once she figured out what it meant!:D

illnevergrowup
04-18-2007, 06:11 PM
About a week before my son's 13th birthday, I borrowed the photo idea from Polaroid commercials and sent him on a scavenger hunt through the yard. I started off with a birthday card that had a picture of a tree in it; on the tree I pinned a picture of the trash can; in the trash can I left a picture of the lawn mower etc... He had to follow all the pictures (some were a little more difficult to figure out than others; like the muffler under an old tractor) and the final clue was a picture of my mother from behind. Taped to her back I had a big sign that read "You're going to Disneyland!!" It was a little cheesy, but great fun and he was totally surprised.

santoanderson
04-18-2007, 06:25 PM
^^^
Fun.

I just had another idea, if you were to have some family get-together, home evening, something, with little kids (7 and under) I'd draw up a quick connect the dots image of cinderella's castle. Or maybe you could do a word association game. Take 10 sheets of paper, each with a letter that spells "DISNEYLAND" Scramble them up or hide them where ever. Keep the giveaway letters in very hidden locations: D, N, Y, D, N, I mean who would guess Disneyland from ISELA? Iceland? At that point you can start giving clues for the remaining letters, etc.

Pinkhoody
04-18-2007, 07:23 PM
For a fourteen year old I'd wait until the night before, right after dinner. I'd tell him to pack his bags and go to bed early. There needs to be some anticipation, but not days of it. You don't want him slacking off in school. Anyway, he'll only sleep 5-6 hours the night before and will be pretty sedated for the trip.

Well, I think I'd tell him on Saturday the 28th, then we leave the next day... Sunday's all day driving down there and getting settled in the hotel. Then we actually go to Disneyland on Monday! Chief Wiggum, huh? ;)

Scavenger hunt and word scramble, also great ideas!

JohnGar
04-18-2007, 07:32 PM
The Google Earth thing is good for his age, but you could change it by just giving the Longitude and Latitude of where he is going and let him try to figure it out.

Google Earth will give you the coordinates you want and maybe you can make list of rides (unnamed of course) with their corresponding coordinates.

If he's smart, he should be able to figure it out.

Malcon10t
04-18-2007, 07:36 PM
??? Your response simnia is puzzling on so many levels...

OK, so I wasn't the only one. I have surprised my kids many many times. It has always been a blast. And its fun to watch their faces, even when they have been to Disneyland a hundred times.

Pinkhoody
04-18-2007, 08:56 PM
The Google Earth thing is good for his age, but you could change it by just giving the Longitude and Latitude of where he is going and let him try to figure it out.

Google Earth will give you the coordinates you want and maybe you can make list of rides (unnamed of course) with their corresponding coordinates.

If he's smart, he should be able to figure it out.

I thought about that yesterday! I think I just might revisit that idea. Thanks!

MickeyDogMom
04-18-2007, 09:35 PM
Hmmm... I loved suprising my sister at DL, this was a while ago and she is VERY gullible. She knew we were going to DL but we convinced her we were staying at the Tijuana Motel, where they supplied us with bulletproof vests because the neighborhood was so bad, outdoor plumbing, we'd have to walk 2 miles to DL, and so on and so forth. She was probably about 14 at the time. We were actually staying at the Hilton Exec floor but it's fun to mess with her. She TOTALLY believed us right up until we pulled up in the drive for the Hilton, the cabbie even played along.

I like the Nyquil idea, the scavenger hunt, the M.M. calling... all great ideas fo young ones. I can only think of torturing ideas for the big kids like, for Xmas/B-day for a gift give him a bag of socks (not good ones either) and see how long it takes him to open it and find the card saying you're going to DL. Or make him take out the garbage and find the notice. I'm going to be an evil mom...

kohl
04-19-2007, 06:46 AM
I don't really have an idea , but this is what we just did for my sons 9th birthday.
We let the kids pick a restaurant they want to go to for dinner on their birthday and they ALWAYS pick Goofy's Kitchen. Well, we have never gone because it is a 6 hour drive for us each way. This year since they were on spring break we decided to surprise him with Goofy's Kitchen.
It is hard to surprise them because they have always guessed where we are going. This time, we told them that we had to get up early to take dad to work. That night my son cried because he had to get up early on his birthday and we had to go to his dads work and talk to all his friends. He said I know we will be there a long time and he didn't want to. Well, we woke them up at 4:45am and were on the road by 5:10am. My daughter guessed right away when she got in the car and saw the suitcase. She finally told her brother where she thought we were going after being in the car for an hour and a half. He was so excited! That really was a great surprise for him! It was too short of a trip for us, but it was worth it to go just for his birthday.
Hope you all have a great trip!

A Big Fan
04-19-2007, 06:54 AM
My girls are into pirates right now, so we went to a craft store and got a couple of little "pirates chests" put Disney gift cards and some "jewels" in, then made a little treausre hunt with clues around the house until they found their treasure chest. One of the stops on the treasure hunt was a "talking pirate" e-mail you can send from POTC : Dead Man's Chest website to tell them about the Disney trip we have planned.

bloodnswash
04-19-2007, 06:58 AM
When I was 15 my grandparents gave me a 2 week cruise to Canada and Alaska with them. This is how they surprised me. The day of my birthday they gave me this wooden box that my Nana had painted a flower on (24 years later I still have that box and puzzle). I opened the box and inside there was a plastic bag with a puzzle in it. I put the puzzle together and it was a picture of the cruise ship in Glacier Bay; it had some writing at the bottom that said something to the effect of "you are cordially invited on a 2 week cruise to Canada and Alaska with Nana and Papa............" They had the puzzle done at Longs or Thrifty....some place like that. I've always thought that the way they presented the gift to me was pretty neat. And the cruise was awesome.....no sisters, or mom and dad.....just Nana and Papa :)

mistofviolets
04-19-2007, 08:38 AM
Here's a puzzlemaker site. There are several puzzle styles for you to play with, if you decide to go that route.

http://puzzlemaker.school.discovery.com/FallenPhraseSetupForm.html

You could also play on treating him like he's much younger and your clueless about his likes and dislikes. A trip to...a zoo. (The zoo used in the opening credits of 3s company is in LA) "You like animals, right? There will be hippos..." eventually; "There's this zoo..." and then, night before, "I hope you're not too disappointed, but, the zoo's booked...would you mind if we went to Disneyland instead?"

hlbtimes2
04-19-2007, 08:58 AM
We surprised the kids last March. They were 4 and 7 at the time. We told them we were going to Long Beach for daddys work (we live near Seattle, his company is based in Long Beach). They bought it. They had NO idea how close LB was from Disney. We actually got them from the airport, into to the hotel, and alseep with out them knowing where we were. The next morning we got them up, a bath and dressed before we told them. They thought we were joking. LOL

We are suprising them next Thursday. We are planning on telling them the morning we depart. I was going to take the casual approach-- I dont want to go to work today, lets do something fun........." Or "how about a corn dog for dinner?" Then I got the idea to do a scavenger hunt. The clues would be Disney related, and prizes along they way would be things for the trip- Disney fruit snacks for the plane ride, pool toys for the hotel, Mickey coloring books, etc. It would end with them playing the disney planning dvd in the portable dvd player.

However, I think they are on to me. Last night Harrison said that when he does to DL he wants to ride Buzz and go to build a bear. I told him that was nice, too bad we arent going soon! Hannah heard us. She came and said that next time we go, I should keep it a suprise and tell her the morning we leave. I can wake her up and tell her to get her slippers on, we are going to Disneyland! I told her I would keep it in mind, for next time. LOL She thought last night would be a good night to try it out. Little does she know, she's only off by a week!

So, now I'm not sure if I should make it a fun game or just tell her to get her slippers and see if she believes us!

Amneris
04-19-2007, 09:01 AM
Well, I understand the warning about surprises. The kid's 14 -- hardly a kid!! He probably has a significant other in addition to a gang of friends he always hangs out with. A week away would seriously disrupt his plans -- even if just going for a pizza and renting a movie doesn't sound much like a "plan" to a grown-up.

HOWEVER, as he knows he's going somewhere, that isn't a problem. I think your plan of just giving him a little notice is perfect! Sure it'd be fun to wait until he's in the car to tell him, but this way he'll be able to pack what he thinks is appropriate for the specific trip, and that is VERY important! Four year olds you can pack for. At 14, he's going to need to know what he's packing for. (Does he have a portable DVD player (or a game system he can watch movies on)? If not, that'd make a great present since it seems like you have a long ride ahead of you.)

I think the maps and puzzle ideas sound great! Something that will take him a LITTLE time to figure out. Something he has to get and think about before figuring it out. That's a TERRIFIC way to surprise him! If he's unfamilar w/ Disney, the "book" idea sounds like a good something to go with your presentation. You can not only give him the flight info so he can tell his friends exactly when he'll be on vacation, but you can also print off menus and ride descriptions so he can study it before hand and in the car and pick out what he'd like to do the most to celebrate. Do make sure that you let him make a lot of the decisions of what to do and when. My Aunt took me to WDW when I was 10, and although I had a great time, other than a late-night trip on Pirates, everything was pretty much she said we're going here and now here and now here (because she'd been there before). I didn't have any info about the rides or the park to form an opinion so had to go along with her. It was fun, but I felt "left out" as well. It wasn't really "my" trip, if you can follow?