Surprising Kid (4 yr old) w/ trip?? Or tell in advance

[emsmommy323]

Have a wonderful time!!! Have you booked any character meals?

We have 2- The Crystal Palace on Monday for lunch and Akershus on Wednesday for dinner. The only other ADR is for Le Cellier for our final night, we want a kick butt meal that night! If there were a character meal with Buzz and Woody we would love to do that but I haven't seen any that do!

 

[alyn]

We have 2- The Crystal Palace on Monday for lunch and Akershus on Wednesday for dinner. The only other ADR is for Le Cellier for our final night, we want a kick butt meal that night! If there were a character meal with Buzz and Woody we would love to do that but I haven't seen any that do!

I haven't seen a Woody & Buzz meal either. That would have been right up our alley too. We are doing the Disney Jr breakfast though with Jake, Oso and I think Leo & June. I keep debating on Akershus for the Friday, but we are having dinner at the Castle on the 14th that ought to satisfy our Princess fix!! So excited about that!!!

 

[stairstepmom]

We considered surprising them somehow (would be tough though with all the packing and planning required for a family our size - taking the dogs to the kennel, etc.) tut to me, the anticipation is half the fun! The day we told them we went out to the bookstore and got the Birnbaum's guides, picked out some Disney books for each kiddo and went to the craft store for Mickey paper, little cardboard boxes and stickers - they made a countdown paper chain immediately and designed little boxes to save their money in. They have been flipping through Birnbaum's and talking about the rides they want to go on the most ever since, and the first thing they want to do each morning is run to the living room and tear off a link on the chain. Every day until the trip is exciting for them, so I really think it's stretching the memory

 

[pinkprincess30]

My kids were 9, 6 & 5 when we took our first trip last year. We had SOOOO much fun in the time leading up to the trip! We made paper chains for a count down, the kids did special projects to earn extra gift cards, and talked about how much fun it was going to be and what we wanted to ride first. Our boys had fun telling their friends about the trip, too. To me, if you tell them a month before the trip you get an extra month of excitement & anticipation. If you tell them the day of, as soon as your vacation is over so is the fun. I say savor the anticipation WITH the kiddos

 

[kristinemomof3]

We are surprising my son & taking him at the end of March. While we are there he will turn 6. We have various pictures around the house of DH, myself & my other 3 children at Disney before he was born. He gets very sad that he has never seen Disney. He did but he was 3 months old lol.

We told him that maybe we can save money & go in the summer. So every penny, nickel or dollar bill that he sees or gets he puts in his piggy bank to save to pay fo the trip.

I want to tell him about a week prior but DH wants to surprise him when we wake him at 4:30 to get on the plane. I just don't know if that's going to work !

 

[chimilady]

We're going for the first time in September. My girls will be 4. My husband and I are so excited, but I don't think that I will tell them the day of, I will tell them a few days before. Since we've never been, they have no idea what WDW is, they know Mickey through the Mickey Mouse clubhouse, so what I do is find youtube videos of things, like the Castle, or the MNSSHP, or fireworks. I say things like "Gosh, I wish WE could go to see Mickey Mouse at Disney World!" I saved the planning DVD they sent, and will show them that as time gets closer, and I will show more you tube videos. right now we just show a lot of disney movies, so they get to know characters. My girls just saw Alice for the first time this weekend, so that would be so much fun. Then, I think the day before we fly (because likely we'll be taking a 6am flight, which means we need to BE at the airport at 4) we will surprise them then. But it will be hte first time for all 4 of us, so we are excited.

 

[danielephant]

we tried...i def. can't keep my mouth shut! LOL

 

[disneychic2]

My daughter has been to Disney at the age of 2 (she remembers most of it)... And knows that its only a matter of time until we go back again (hoping this fall 2012). In random conversation... I asked her if she wanted to know ahead of time when we were going or if I should surprise her, wake her up one day and tell her we are leaving for Mickey's house!

She said she wants to be surprised... but I don't know if I can keep my big mouth shut... I love Disney!!! And it will be my son's first trip, which adds to the excitement!!!

I don't know what the debate is. You asked your daughter what she wanted to have happen and she told you. So that's what you do. If you didn't want to go by what she wanted, you maybe shouldn't have asked her. Get your excitement out of your system with your DH or other family & friends and preserve this for her ultimate surprise as she said she wanted. You'll be glad you did. (I know what you mean about being so excited you may let things slip. I'd be the same way. Next time, don't give her an option and do whatever YOU want!)

 

[joshua74133]

We are planning on doing a surprise at the air port next Jan... the kids have been begging to go for about three years now but every year something has came up.
one year we got preg so we spent the money on the baby.
last year i got hurt on the job, so we had to pay off my doc bills.
this year im going to save every dime so we can go.

4 kids
11 year old boy, 9 year old girl, 7 year old girl, 2 year old boy.

Im booking at VWL next month.

 

[CanadianMomofTwo]

We're surprising our kids in 3 weeks. They're 3 and 5.5. We ordered the disney planning dvd, they've watched it a bunch of times... we sort of said "oh, we'll go there someday, doesn't it look like so much fun? It's a lot of money though, mommy and daddy have to save up and maybe we'll go when you're 6 and 4... we'll see..." Our plan is to wake them up, take them to the airport and surprise them there. I can't wait.

 

[flower72]

I am surprising my girls (6 and 7) with a trip next Saturday. I have been planning this since June and they have no idea we are going. We talk about our "one day" trip and starting saving money in a jar (they have no idea it's all been paid for already).

I plan on telling them the day we leave. I have a letter typed for them to read that explains how much we love them and wanted to do something special for them. I have a box with a "I'm going to Disney World" t-shirt, Mickey Mouse, lanyards with some pins, and maps. I hope when they open it up, they will piece it all together.

It is our first time going and it's a girls only trip. I know the next 9 days will be tough to keep the secret and not spill the beans but I have waited this long, a few more days won't kill me (at least I hope not)

 

[3pletprincesses]

Dh and I tried to surprise our 4 yo triplets last May and it was a flop. We drove 27 hours before getting to Disney without telling them and it was a complete flop. I think it was the fact that they didn't have the time to think or digest it before hand. they were not excited at all and it was as if we were taking them to a regular park. We were disspointed LOL

a few months later we went back with my mom. they girls knew about it and were soo excited to do the countdown and were talking about it all the time .I've learned my lesson, no surprise trips for my girls lOL

 

[MamaToDavis]

We were in a similar situation recently and decided to tell our boys 2 weeks prior to our trip. We actually wrapped up a big Mickey balloon and a countdown calendar I made and put the present under the Christmas tree. They spent the days leading up to the trip watching Disney DVDs (the ones that show the behind the scenes at the theme parks and all the rides), talking about their must see attractions, and were just so excited. The anticipation leading up to the trip is half the fun! It was our 4 year old son's first trip so he really had no frame of reference when it came to WDW.

 

[Momoftwins+1]

I say try the surprise just have no expectations for the tv advertisement reaction.
We surprising our three boys (8,5,5) in June with a trip to WDW. We live a few states away but plan to head out in the evening the night before and arrive in the AM sometime so most of the trip they will be sleeping. We want to see how far we make it until our 8 year old figures it out.
We surprised them with a cruise two Christmas's ago and it worked out great and was a great video moment and memory.

 

[SweetMissy]

It is hard! Our kids don't know we're going next month and we've been booked for a couple weeks. We plan on just pulling into the airport, which is when I believe my son will figure it out.

 

[lsulindy]

I'm anti-surprise. The planning and anticipation is half the fun. But, I think a lot depends on the age of the child and if they've been before. For younger children they just don't "get it". I think they need time to prepare. We looked at rides on youtube, watched videos, talked about expectations "You wait in line, then you ride the ride, and then you get off to do something else and someone else gets a turn" etc.

I really think my kids have just as much fun looking forward to Disney as they do on the actual trip. But, if she's been before and asked for a surprise, then I'd be more likely to do it.

 

[Dustykins]

That's a toughie. I would have liked to have surprised my kiddos. Partly, because I love seeing all the videos of kids being surprised and partly because my son has a tendency to have a weak stomach and has puked before from being too excited (and I'm afraid he'll get himself all worked up with the anticipation). BUT....we're going for my sister's wedding and I'm sewing the bridesmaids' dresses, my mom is making all the flowers and DD and I went with my sister for wedding shopping so we can't exactly hide all the prep. Plus, they know Aunt Kristmas (their name for her) works for Mickey Mouse so I knew it'd never work. Here's hoping that planning for more than a year will keep DS' excitement to just below the puke level.

 

[333disneymom]

I say it's fun either way! We told our children the first time we went, and had a great time planning and doing a countdown. The only problem was that since they knew, they had a difficult time going to sleep the night before. The last time we went, we surprised them and it was so much fun to see their reactions. The entire time we were at Disney, they were still in awe that we pulled it off. They also really seemed to appreciate it. Good luck with your decision.

 

[Goobergirl]

Our plan is to surprise the kids at Christmas this year, the trip will be about 6-7 weeks later if all goes as planned. I think my DD will be excited, and my DS will probably just be excited if his sister is, I don't expect him to get it. DD has seen pictures from our last trip and asks all the time when we can go again...now to keep quiet for a WHOLE year, yikes!

 

[mjkacmom]

We surprised our kids once, when it made sense to do so. Our 2006 trip was a surprise Kindergarten graduation gift for our son.

Kindergarten, hmm, quite the accomplishment! Where are you going after college graduation, the moon? JJk, I assume you had a trip planned, and it coincided with "graduation."