If you don’t want anyone to find out that it was you, make sure to bring people that can keep a secret. If one person tells, then your cover is blown! Bring close friends.
To play it safe, you’ll want to pick a house that doesn’t have any low windows (especially near the door), a dog, or any other hazards. It’s also easier to get away if you do it at night and being woken up will annoy the occupant of the house a lot more. Be aware that your friend’s parents might open the door instead of your friend. Assuming that you want to prank your friend and not bother anybody else: try to pick a time when your friend is home alone without his/her parents. Make sure that the house has a doorbell. If not, you can knock the door instead.
Consider using a getaway car. Consider hopping onto bikes to pedal away. It will almost always be easier to get away at night. Make sure you have a light on your bicycle if playing in the dark. If there is a long driveway or large yard in front of the house, then you might want to ditch into the bushes or jump into a neighbor’s yard. If you are playing at night, then you have the cover of darkness on your side. Look out for motion-sensor lights. If you’re playing during the day, then you’ll need to pick houses with a quicker, shorter escape route. If you’re playing with only one or two other people, then it might be most effective to all run in the same direction. This way, you can stick together and hide in a secure space. If you have a lot of people in your crew— say, more than five— then you might want to scatter after each ding dong ditch so that it’s harder to track down the group.
Let them warm up beforehand. Some stretches or a little jogging could help the person get ready to run away quickly.
Start running as soon as you ring the bell. Don’t stand in front of the door for longer than a second or two. The longer you wait, the more likely you are to get caught. Knock if there is no doorbell. Don’t hammer obnoxiously on the door. Knock like you’re a visitor or a delivery person so that the owners of the doorbell think there’s actually someone there.
Don’t take it too far. If you ding dong ditch one house more than two or three times, then the owners will begin to get frustrated. They might wait by the door to catch you – they might even call the police! Do not be malicious. At some point, you are just being cruel by endlessly tormenting the same person or family. Remember that you’re disturbing everyone in the house, not just your friend.
Play until you’ve had your fun. Remember: the longer you stay out playing ding dong ditch, the more likely you are to get caught – especially if you are repeatedly hitting houses in the same neighborhood. On one hand, it’s easier to get from house to house if you stay within a single neighborhood or a few blocks. However, if you hop around and hit several different neighborhoods, you and your friends will be harder to track down.
If you’re standing on someone’s porch and they open the door before you can get away: just pretend that you are visiting them, or that you are coming to ask about something. Pretend that you are distributing fliers, or delivering a gift, or coming to borrow some sugar. If you get caught in the act by your friend, your friend’s parents, or a neighbor: play it cool if you can get away with it, but know when to own up to the prank. This is when you should apologize and say, “We were just trying to play a dumb prank. I’m sorry. It won’t happen again. " If you get caught by the police, it’s usually best to just be honest. You might be able to get away with a cover-up lie – but the officers have probably seen this before, and there’s a chance that they’ll see through your story. If you are sincere and show that you’ve learned something from the experience, then they’ll usually let you go with just a warning.
