Creative surprise needed....

[LovetheMouse]

Some of you may know that my husband and I are planning a surprise trip for the 5 rugrats December 3-10th. We are trying to come up with a way to drive to Florida without them suspecting that we are going to Disney. This will be no easy task....they are no fools, believe me. So we have a friend who has a nice place in Horseshoe Beach, FL and we thought we would tell them we were going there for a long weekend or something.

What I'm looking for from you guys is ideas on how and when to break the good news that we're going to Disney. We are staying offsite in the same villa we stayed in over Easter. And once they start the Disney signs, i'm afraid it will be a dead giveaway. We may tell them that we have to go past the Disney area to get to Horseshoe Beach, though in reality it's nowhere near there....lol. Anyway....so you get the idea. Any creative ways of springing the surprise on them?

Thanks for any help you could give!

[uscwest]

OK, how old are the rugrats? When we took our first two granddaughters to WDW in 2001 they were 8 with one to turn 9 at WDW. We flew them from Indiana to Virginia and told them we were going to Florida to visit their great grandmother, which we did. When we left GGM's house we told them we were going to visit the mountains (hey we didn't lie). Of course they had no way to know that there were no real mountains in Florida. I took a back way into WDW, just so that they wouldn't see too many signs. They had no idea that is where we were going until I drove in the gate leading to DTD.

[LovetheMouse]

They are 11, 8, 5, 3, and 16 months. Its mostly the 11 and 8 year olds I have to worry about. They will surely recognize the area. My husband mentioned maybe arriving at night....I just want it to be a shock. Ya know?

[windbag]

How about planning your trip 'out loud' with comments like :maybe we could fit in a daytrip to Disney....its going to be a busy weekend at Disney with that 'marathon' so its unlikely we will go this time - maybe later in the year....
But as you so rightly said children know EVERYTHING!!! I managed to get my two to DLP which although they knew they were going they didnt realise we were staying at the Disneyland Hotel. Managed to tell white lies to them so that when the man on the train asked us where we were staying and I said the hotel name the kids thought this was where I had to 'collect' my tickets - cunning but fun!!

[Vikki]

When I surprised DH with a trip to DLRP he thought we were going to the lake district.....really :D When we got to the airport he knew it was Paris, but still didn't twig it was DLRP :D

I think arriving in the dark is a great idea. I can't think of any way to disguise the signs though.....I bet even if you put blindfolds on, they'd know :)

[uscwest]

Maybe something to distract them, like a movie in the car, or books to read?

[2goofy]

Kid are sooooo smart and even though they pretend to be deaf and blind sometimes they're not! I would arrive at night and play a movie to boot. Or arrive really late so that they are all asleep. Good Luck!