Getting the family more excited!

[fairydust1278]

Hi all, I need some advice on how to get my family more excited about our very first trip next April! I have sat down with them and watched ride videos, park walk-throughs, and other disney related videos on youtube. I have even taken them shopping for stickers and such to make our own autograph books as well as talked about making matching shirts for our trip. Are there any other ideas you have that will help build their excitement? Looking forward to your ideas!!

 

[Allies mom]

My family loves to pick restaurants to eat at. We spend lots of time planning and rearranging ADRs. A first trip is so exciting! I hope it's everything you want it to be

 

[Q-man]

We have family movie night every Sunday evening with just Disney movies for the 2-3 months before our trip.

 

[The Hendies]

Are you staying on-site, and do you plan to tip? Have the family make tip envelopes for each day. I spent about 2 hours making mine yesterday.

 

[karly05]

I'm going to go against the grain here and say "leave them alone." April is a LONG way away, to start with. And honestly, it has been my experience that sometimes, the more you build something up and try to sell someone on how absolutely super-fantastic it is, the more of a letdown it is when they finally experience it - whereas, conversely, it can be so much more fun and exciting when you don't know what to expect and end up pleasantly surprised by how much you enjoy something.

 

[APiratesLifeForMe2]

I'm going to go against the grain here and say "leave them alone." April is a LONG way away, to start with. And honestly, it has been my experience that sometimes, the more you build something up and try to sell someone on how absolutely super-fantastic it is, the more of a letdown it is when they finally experience it - whereas, conversely, it can be so much more fun and exciting when you don't know what to expect and end up pleasantly surprised by how much you enjoy something.

I actually kind of agree. I get super excited for my trip and would love to talk about it every hour of every day but my other family members don't. They tend to get annoyed with me which is why I joined the DIS. I do however like the idea of a weekly movie night for the few weeks prior to the trip. April is a long way off, I would wait till after the new year and maybe start up a countdown wall or movie night etc.

 

[mom2AidanAndEli]

Another vote for the "leave them be" camp. As excited as we get, not everyone has the same enthusiasm for months (or years!) ahead of time. Doesn't mean they won't have a great time, but just in a different way.

One other thought, and please don't take this the wrong way! I see you have boys who are 9 and 14. Do you think they may be seeing things like stickers for autograph books and matching shirts as a bit "babyish"? I know my DS11 and DS13 would be mortified if we all wore matching shirts in the parks! And they honestly outgrew the autograph thing after our first couple trips. Now, that's just them. And I know plenty of adults who still do the autographs. But sometimes those tween and teen boys are more about being "cool" than anything.

I'd say just let it be for now. As you get closer, they'll probably start to get excited all on their own. If you push it, they may resist even harder.

 

[Jess30]

April is a really long ways off, especially to a kid. We started a countdown about 60 days out. That was about perfect for my 7 year old. She had no interest in disney movies (although now that we are back, she does!). I think it's kind of hard to process at that age. It wasn't until we were driving through the Walt disney world signs when we got there that she really got excited.

 

[Jess30]

Another vote for the "leave them be" camp. As excited as we get, not everyone has the same enthusiasm for months (or years!) ahead of time. Doesn't mean they won't have a great time, but just in a different way. One other thought, and please don't take this the wrong way! I see you have boys who are 9 and 14. Do you think they may be seeing things like stickers for autograph books and matching shirts as a bit "babyish"? I know my DS11 and DS13 would be mortified if we all wore matching shirts in the parks! And they honestly outgrew the autograph thing after our first couple trips. Now, that's just them. And I know plenty of adults who still do the autographs. But sometimes those tween and teen boys are more about being "cool" than anything. I'd say just let it be for now. As you get closer, they'll probably start to get excited all on their own. If you push it, they may resist even harder.

Oh, I somehow missed the ages of the boys the first time. I agree with this assessment. My 14 year old son wouldn't want to be part of this at all.

 

[delmar411]

Another vote for the "leave them be" camp. As excited as we get, not everyone has the same enthusiasm for months (or years!) ahead of time. Doesn't mean they won't have a great time, but just in a different way.

One other thought, and please don't take this the wrong way! I see you have boys who are 9 and 14. Do you think they may be seeing things like stickers for autograph books and matching shirts as a bit "babyish"? I know my DS11 and DS13 would be mortified if we all wore matching shirts in the parks! And they honestly outgrew the autograph thing after our first couple trips. Now, that's just them. And I know plenty of adults who still do the autographs. But sometimes those tween and teen boys are more about being "cool" than anything.

I'd say just let it be for now. As you get closer, they'll probably start to get excited all on their own. If you push it, they may resist even harder.

I agree with this 100%.

And there are plenty of things coming up that they will naturally be focused on, Halloween, Tgiving break, Christmas, Easter....all these things are before your trip.

Wait until the final 30days and see if they want to do anything to prep for the trip.

 

[Lynne M]

I'm sorry, I mean this kindly, but what you're doing is going to backfire in a big way. Another couple of months of pushing so hard is going to result in your family being less excited about this trip, not more excited. You'll start seeing eye-rolling and hearing "mom, STOP!" every time you bring it up. And that'll bring you down.

The bottom line....you can't make someone get excited about a vacation, especially someplace they're never been before. Back off. They know where to find Disney videos if they want to look at them.

Just take them to Disney, and let them find their own magic there. You want them to want to go back, right? That's how you do it.

As for the matching T-shirts and autograph books....you know your family best, but at 14 you couldn't have made me wear a matching t-shirt at gunpoint, and I wouldn't have had any interest at all in character autographs.

There's plenty of stuff at WDW to make a 9 and 14 year old fall in love with the place. Don't push, and let them find their own fun. A 14-year-old boy is probably already hearing from his friends that Disney World is for little kids, and stickers and autograph books are just going to reinforce that misconception. You don't want him deciding ahead of time that he's not going to like WDW.

I know it's hard to contain your own excitement.....but you've found exactly the right group of people to help with that. :good vibes You can come here and talk Disney all day and all night, do countdowns, write about your planning, as much as you want.

 

[v.t.]

My boys are 14 and 12. The only thing we discuss early are which parks they want to visit more than once and where they want to eat. Other than that, I try to keep my addiction to the disboards. When we start getting mickey mail is when the excitement starts. They want to talk about which rides we want to go on, etc.
We are going to wear matching shirts for MVMCP, but they are all fine with that. The other days I make them coordinate for pictures. Like blue tones one day, black another, etc. I keep hoping for that perfect picture and a orange shirt next to a red would not be perfect. LOL

 

[eliza61]

Hi all, I need some advice on how to get my family more excited about our very first trip next April! I have sat down with them and watched ride videos, park walk-throughs, and other disney related videos on youtube. I have even taken them shopping for stickers and such to make our own autograph books as well as talked about making matching shirts for our trip. Are there any other ideas you have that will help build their excitement? Looking forward to your ideas!!

You know, unfortunately the things you are doing would probably kill the magic for me.
1. Generally its hard for me and my family to get pumped 7 months ahead. Think of it like this, there is still Holloween and Christmas to get pumped up over.
2. My kids were bored watching the videos. Let a little "mystery" creep in. IMO, videos steal the"wow" factor. There us nothing better than the experience of walking onto Main street for the first time and watching jaws drop.

 

[MommaBerd]

I somewhat agree with previous posters in that less is more. however, I think you can find a balance. There is a thread with some *fantastic* movie night ideas! It was recently revived and that's how I found it. I think you can successfully have a Disney movie night at least once a month with more boy-focused movies - POTC series (if you approve), Wreck-it Ralph, Monsters, Inc., Toy Story to name a few. Or, ask them what their favorites are.

Also, when it gets closer to your trip, and because boys can be competitive, buy or research Disney trivia for them to "study." Tell them you are going to have a tournament when you travel. Have a *real* prize - extra spending money, for example.

Finally, as for the matching Ts, if they are resistant to the idea, ask them to "indulge you" for just one day. Then, learn how to make the Mickey tie-dye shirts - let them pick the colors and have fun making them together. (BTW - LOVE Dharma Trading for the dyes. MUCH better and more vibrant than store-bought.)

Hope that helps!

Sent from my iPhone using DISBoards

 

[fizz13]

I agree that it's maybe too much too soon, my boys are 9 & 12 & they get sick of mum Disney overkill pretty quick.
but after New Years, around February, start asking them what attraction they are interested in, get them involved in itinerary planning. another one we do is 30 days out we make a 30 link paper chain, one for each sleep before Disney. each morning they take turns removing a link until it's Disney day. that gets them excited as they can visualise how close it is.
but right now, they know there's Halloween, Christmas, school,
but feel free to enjoy those you tube videos, trip reports, the DIS, rework ADRs, itineraries & touring plans, just do it without them.
one other point of view: when I took my DH for the first time, I tried to show him the trip planning DVD, videos etc & he said please don't, I don't want to see it all before I get there, I want the surprise & don't want to be disneyed out before I get there. so that's what we did & he loved it, just a thought

 

[serene56]

I'm going to go against the grain here and say "leave them alone." April is a LONG way away, to start with. And honestly, it has been my experience that sometimes, the more you build something up and try to sell someone on how absolutely super-fantastic it is, the more of a letdown it is when they finally experience it - whereas, conversely, it can be so much more fun and exciting when you don't know what to expect and end up pleasantly surprised by how much you enjoy something.

I agree- I think you leave them alone for the time being. Especially for a first trip. If someone overloaded me with information for my first trip I dont think I would have went to begin with

 

[Dorisk3]

The disboards can work up anyone into a fervor, but most regular people just want to go and enjoy themselves when they are there. Don't lose them before you've even gone.

 

[mjkacmom]

My family does not get excited for any vacation until a couple of weeks before the trip. Just drop it for now, and bring it back up in April.

 

[fairydust1278]

Yeah i guess i am pushing too hard right now. I will back off for a while and then 30 days out start a countdown. Thank you all for your responses! Hope everyone has a good day!

Sent from my iPhone using DISBoards

 

[APiratesLifeForMe2]

Yeah i guess i am pushing too hard right now. I will back off for a while and then 30 days out start a countdown. Thank you all for your responses! Hope everyone has a good day! Sent from my iPhone using DISBoards

I did want to add that your kids are going to think you are the best parent ever once they go to Disney for the first time! It's truly magical and something hard to explain to someone who has never been. I remain forever grateful to my mom for giving me the Disney bug when I was young. So here's to you for being the BEST PARENT EVER!