So you’ve booked a trip to Disney World and now it’s time to share the news with your family! Do you want to do a special surprise Disney World trip reveal so that you can capture their reactions?
This is quite common with Disney World trips and they often make for some of the best videos. Who doesn’t love watching someone scream with joy or cry happy tears when they realize their dream trip is about to become a reality?
Here are some of my favourite ideas I have seen when doing a surprise Disney World trip reveal:
Mickey Balloons
This one works best if you are revealing the trip as part of a gift. It involves wrapping up a large box filled with some balloons, and some added magic is if the balloons are Mickey themed. When your family opens up the Disney World surprise box, the balloons will come flying out and you can include a message in the box (or attached to the string of the balloons) that says “You’re Going to Disney World!”
Scavenger Hunt
This one involves a bit more planning and preparation, but the result is super fun. You create a bunch of clues to lead them on a scavenger hunt and hide them throughout your house.
The kids often get so wrapped up in the fun of the game, that they don’t even realize that there may be a big surprise at the end. The treasure at the end is so worth it and will get some great reactions!
Reveal It When You Hit the Gates (Road Trip)
If you are driving to Disney World, then you can certainly pull this surprise off if your children are young. You tell them you are going somewhere else and then hit the road for Florida.
If they are young enough, they won’t pay attention to the road signs and will be unaware of where you are going. Once you are about to enter the Disney World property, now it is time to get them ready for your surprise trip reveal. Tell them to pay attention and look out the window. The Disney World gates are hard to miss and they’ll get pretty excited once they spot them.
Fake Airport Drop-Off
This surprise is for parents that are really good and covert at keeping secrets. You’ll need to keep the trip a secret from them until the last minute and also manage to pack all their stuff without them noticing. You disguise your trip to the airport as a drop-off for one of the parents for a business trip, but then you let them all in on the surprise!
Play a Fun Family Game
If your family is the type that likes to play games together, then this might be the best surprise for you! Take one of your favourite games and get the kids to answer the question with “You’re Going to Disney World”. Some great examples of games you could play with this surprise are Pictionary, Charades or Hearing Things.
Jigsaw Puzzle
Do you have a kid or loved one that loves puzzles? Time to get creative and design a special puzzle made just for them! You can create your own design for your puzzle for free on Canva.com.
Once you have your image created with the message “You’re Going to Disney World!” on it, you can upload it to a puzzle making service. You could use a site such as www.createjigsawpuzzles.com or Vistaprint. Then, once you receive it, give it to the one you are surprising and watch them piece it together.
Advent Calendar Surprise
Are advent calendars a big hit in your house during the month of December? Why not make your own and customize the contents? Make a homemade advent calendar and provide the kids with little hints throughout the month leading up to Christmas. You can then have the big reveal inside the day of the 25th which will make for a fun Christmas morning!
Gift Them Their Magic Bands and Disney Goodies
This is a great one for Christmas morning or a birthday surprise. If you live in the United States, then Disney will mail you your MagicBands about a month before your trip. Wrap up the box and give it as a gift to whoever you are surprising. You can even add in some extra goodies such as Disney Autograph Books or Mickey Ears.
Early Morning Surprise
Give them a reason to jump out of bed! If you have an early morning departure, keep the secret up until the very last minute. Wake them up when it’s time to go with their bags all packed and ready to go.
They’ll wake up feeling like they are in a dream and you will surely have no trouble getting them out of bed once you let them know where you are going!
Mail Them a Letter
Kids love getting mail. What better way to surprise them with a letter from their favourite Mouse! Send them a letter and then have them open it and read it aloud. You can find a Disney World surprise letter template online like this one from mommytravels.net.
Disney Mad Libs
Mad libs are a fun game where you have to fill in the blanks of a story before you read it aloud. Here is an example of a printable you can use to announce your trip. Have your child give you some answers for the blank sections and then give the completed story to them to read.
Organize a Disney Breakfast
Put together a Disney themed breakfast for your family and take that opportunity to share the news with them. Get yourself a Mickey Mouse waffle iron and make them some Mickey waffles, just like the ones you find at Disney! Disney Family blog even has a cute recipe for making Mickey themed toast and eggs. Enjoy your family breakfast while you share the exciting news 🙂
Trick Them!
There are so many ways you can trick your kids and surprise them with a Disney vacation, but I really like how this mom orchestrated this one:
Box in a Box in a Box in a Box…..
This one is great if the surprise is a birthday gift. Make them work for it and wrap up several boxes in to each other making them go through several layers until they get to the very end. You could make the reveal their MagicBand or perhaps a letter saying “You’re going to Disney World!”. It makes for a really fun game and the anticipation really builds up as they open each layer.
Have you ever surprised anyone in your family with a Disney trip? If so, I would love to hear how you revealed it to them, leave me a comment below!
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Laura is a mom of one adorable girl with a love of all things Disney. She traveled to Disney World with her family in 2010 and was hooked. They have since been a total of over 15 times. With all her knowledge of planning Disney trips, she now wants to share that with others. She loves giving guidance, tips and advice to others planning their magical vacation!
We have a tradition where we go out for Chinese on Christmas Day. I removed the fortunes in the cookies and replaced them with ones I made stating we were going to disney
I love that idea, that is great way to do a trip reveal! 🙂
We got plush Mickey and Minnie head easter baskets. We put in Disney shirts, their Magic bands, sunblock, a handheld fan/misting bottle, beach towels, goggles and Mickey shaped goldfish crackers. Gave them to our girls and asked them to figure out the surprise.
I love that, such a great idea!!!
Can I ask how you swapped the fortunes?
We have never surprised our kids with a trip to Disney, but we have surprised my best friends daughter(also my daughters best friend) and our kids that my friend and her daughter were going with us on our trip last summer. I made a video at MAgic Kingdom a couple months before her birthday and for her birthday showed the video to her and my kids to reveal that they were coming with us to Disney World. My kids knew about the trip but not that our friends were joining us. I’m planning to surprise them for our spring break trip this coming year. Hoping I can hold out until it time to wake them for the drive to the airport.
If you want to make a trip to Walt Disney World a little more magical, I suggest WDW Florist Service. When I took my sons for the first time, I ordered special gifts for them that were waiting in our room when we arrived with a special message from Mickey! Was it an extra expense? Yes. Was it worth every penny? You bet!