Surprise me

I'm in New Orleans for the next few days after flying out yesterday to surprise my Dad for his 70th birthday, and when wiling away the hours on the airplane thinking about pleasant surprises, I was taken suddenly by how badly games do surprise. Sure, there's the shock of a ghoulie leaping out from around the corner, but the heart palpitations from running into an enemy don't compare with the warm fuzzy feeling you get when someone takes you away for a weekend. I racked my brain and couldn't think of anything. Go on, enlighten me: what are the events in games which have genuinely (and positively) surprised you?