Last week we had the opportunity take the girls to Disney World.  It was a complete surprise to them. They woke up early Monday morning knowing they were getting on an airplane but had no clue where they were going until just before boarding the plane.

I’ve seen videos of parents surprising their kids with trips to Disney before and before having children of our own I thought it was because the parents wanted to make it the biggest surprise ever for their children.  While this may be true for some parents this was not the case with us!

We waited until just before boarding to tell them almost entirely for my sanity.  Our girls are still too young to tell or really comprehend time.  Four days is as longs as four months for them so no matter when we would have told them they would not have comprehended the length of the waiting process.  Surprising them this way just ensured that we all remained a happy family.

Keeping this trip a surprise really got Michael Luke and me excited.  I felt much like I did Christmas morning before the girls opened their presents.  I mean, I spent months planning this trip.  I read blogs about “doing” Disney with Toddlers, how to handle Fast Pass,  where the healthiest places are to eat and all of this just added to my enthusiasm.

So how did we break the news to them?

Well, we planned to tell them before leaving the house that morning but y’all I had to wake up at five or five thirty… I’m not really sure because I don’t technically function at that time of the morning.  So, we were running a little behind because when you add a Krystle,  a Michael Luke, and two girls together it equals LATE!  We hurried out the door and decided we would tell them in the car but I decided against it when I realized we wouldn’t be able to see them well and even though I didn’t really think they would go ballistic about the trip I did want to film it.

By the time we got to the airport we had to rush to check our bags in, make it through security, and take a bathroom break before boarding.  Thankfully the Memphis airport isn’t really a booming place on a early Monday morning so we were able to do all of this in a hurry with enough time to sit the girls down at our gate just before boarding. Whew!

And now for the big reveal!

Even though we were super excited about revealing the news to them, I had prepared myself in case they didn’t display the same level of excitement I felt.  Despite the lack of jumping and screaming… come on, you know you were thinking there would be some of that, I think they were pretty excited and the excitement continued to grow once we boarded the plane and throughout the day.

We’ll just call this trip the 1,000 faces of Noah.

Preparing for Toddlers for Disney

Just because the girls didn’t know about our trip to Disney World in the weeks leading up to the trip doesn’t mean I didn’t prepare them for it.  How do you tell your child about a place like the Magic Kingdom when they have no understanding of theme parks and all the character’s there?  For starters, they are huge fans of Disney Junior.  Watching it is a treat for them every time they visit the grandparents.  Next up we checked out lots and lots of Disney books. This helped them become familiar with the princesses and their stories.  I know some people would say, “Why didn’t you just watch the movies?” but Noah doesn’t sit through movies yet and neither one of them really enjoy the external conflict that are found in the movies. What’s the deal with all those crazy step-mothers and witches anyway? Finally, I found a great video on YouTube that gives a tour of all the parks at Disney World.

This video really helped our girls began to visualize what Disney World looked like and why it would be fun.  In the video above Esther even asks about dressing up like a princess…. that’s because she saw the part about the Bipity Bopity Boutique.  (Let me just tell you it’s TOO hot in July to go around dressed in Nylon looking like a princess.)

All of this helped develop a desire for our girls to experience Disney World and helped them visualize it when we told them.  Have you ever surprised anyone in your family with a vacation?  How did you reveal the trip to them?

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