Do you surprise your kids?

[Pir8girl]

Last year we decided to surprise our kids and not tell them we were going to Disneyland until the morning of the trip. We woke them up early and told them to get dressed that we were leaving in an hour for the airport.
My husband videotaped the whole thing and the look on their faces was priceless.
Unfortunatley five minutes later Alaska Airlines ruined our fun. They called and told us they'd cancelled our flight and we had to wait six long grueling hours for the next flight. Talk about torture. My kids were jumping out of their skins.

When we finally got to the airport there was a huge group of kids on our flight all wearing matching t-shirts. We thought maybe they were a school group. Once we were in the air my kids were happy and finally believing that we were actually going to DL. When were just about to land in Orange County the flight attendant gets on the pa and announces happy birthday to (can't remember the girl's name so I'll say Tony) and then says btw we're not going to Canada.
Canada? Huh? I thought, we better not be going to Canada!
And then she says we're going to California Tony.. and you're going to Disneyland! There was a huge cheer and screaming from the back of the airplane. It was really funny. All those kids in matching shirts thought they were going to BC.
The moms had told the kids that could read that they had to go south from Portland to Orange County first because it was a cheap ticket.
It was a great surprise!

 

[EEYOREMAMA]

We usually tell our boys (12 and 13) ahead of time, so they can be sure to pack "everything" they need.

One time my husband had a rough day at work, came home and announced we needed a Disney weekend. We have dogs, so I had to dust off the pixie dust and phone the kennel (yay! they had room), call WDW to seel if we could book a room (they only had BC available (our favorite hotel)) and we drove like maniacs to pull this all together. It was one of our best vacatiions.

Come to think of it, I guess I was surprised too. DH if your reading this, keep those surprises coming!!!!

 

[Pir8girl]

Which hotel is BC? I've toyed with the idea of going to WDW but not sure if I'm ready to make the long trip. DH would definitely have to go if we travel to Florida.
I grew up in So. California so going to DL by myself with the kids is not a big deal, but Florida? I don't think so.

 

[lntsmom]

we don't get to do big vacations enough, so when we do, we plan. I really think that having background knowledge helps the kids enjoy the trip more. With the internet and guide books my kids were able to preview most everything we did on our trip. They had their own ideas about what was important to them, and my older son loved all the fun little "special" ideas (like getting your hand stamped, rubbing it on your nose, then going in a dark ride) and used them throughout our trip.

I think planning ahead, previewing the trip, helped them organize everything in their mind so they were able to remember the vacation in great detail.

If we could afford to go to Disney every year, I wouldn't bother with this in the future. Or, if I didn't have the time or inclination to really help my kids research, I wouldn't think it was important to tell them ahead of time.

But, since kids learn through repetition and they need background knowledge in order to make sense of new experiences, I think I will do the planning routine the next time we can afford to go, to.

 

[Lynzer Torte]

We've never surprised the kids and I don't think we ever will. I think half the fun is in the planning & anticipation!

 

[piecesNscraps]

Last September our whole family decided to take a trip to DL together. The kids found out Christmas day when grandma told them. It was great to see the looks on their faces when they found out. Now they are counting down.

 

[thelionqueen]

I think the anticipation and excitement is the most fun. I would never surprise my kids, they love to help me plan.

 

[Pir8girl]

I don't think I dare tell them because ds will drive me nuts! He will ask every single day how many days left until dl. We're not going until April lol

 

[Snow Brite]

I have never told my kids we were going until we were at the airport. That is a big part of the trip for them. I love the look on their face when they find out. It is getting harder now, with the last of four, to make it a surprise. I think I have him convinced that we are going to go to Alaska for his birthday trip instead of Disneyland.

I think, with my kids, that the anticipation would have been torture for them. As the older ones have watched the younger guys get to go I was worried they were going to be jealous and cry and want to go to. So I have been telling them the morning of the trip. And they make my heart so proud because they all get so excited for the 7 year old going and when they tell him goodbye they all tell him to have a great time and offer some quick tips.

I love the sense of exploring Disneyland for the first time with whoever is there. I can kind of guide them to make the best use of our time, but it is their trip to run.

Every family and every child is different, but this is part of the fun for us.

 

[disneegrl4eva]

I have surprised my daughter in the past with trips for her bday and told her on her bday...one time I told her we were going to san diego and she fell asleep in the car and didnt wake up till right when we were getting to anaheim...shes been there enough to know what anaheim looks like and she gave me this confused look and I just winked at her and she started yelping lol

 

[Mom2micayla]

We surprised our daughters last year in Feb. We drove there (from AZ) and they thought that we were visiting their grandparents (who lived in Fullerton). They had no idea where we were going really until we got onto the tram from the parking lot. One of my all time favorite pics is of my daughter expression when she realized where the tram was taking us.

That said, we're going again in a month and the girls know. My oldest daughter (4 yo) asks me daily how many "night-nights" we have until Disney. So it's sort of fun this way too. There is definitely alot of anticipation.

I think from now on we'll just tell them. Besides, IMO it's a nice way to keep them in line for a few weeks.

 

[PattiPB]

We've done both! But ours started for a different reason. Our now almost 10 yo had numerous medical problems when he was 0-3 years old, so we had a several cancellations at the last minute. We started just not telling the kids, because the disappointments were hard, and we didn't want the other kids "blaming" him for missing special things.

Anyway, everything is great now (thank God!) but we have maintained the habit of sometimes not telling them. People always joke about our family, saying our kids never know what's going on---they wake up one morning at home and go to sleep that night on the Disney Cruise!

It's fun---one time my DD asked what was for dinner, and DH replied "the Blue Bayou". After a few seconds of silence, they started screaming and grabbing Gameboy for the car!

 

[disney50fam]

Yep.... we did and we were so proud of our selfs its hard to keep secerts from them. But we told them dad had bussiness to take care of up near burbank. And we told the were would be there for 4 days and there was a big pool in the hotel and I would take them there.

Well we checked in at our hotel and then we said hey why dont we go get something to eat and as we entered the kids started reading the signs and the started saying "no way" Are we going to disneyland.... WE ARE WE ARE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Pir8girl]

We're going April 26-30. At this point they don't know we're going. My plan at this point is to pick them up early from school and head to the airport.
I'm sure my 10-year-old will guess it when we check in.
It's really hard NOT to tell them because I'm excited too!

 

[Amy&Dan]

I agree that it is fun to have the kids in on the planning and exitement but we are going to, or attempt to, surprise our kids with a trip to WDW this year the end of April. They have no idea, we have had this trip planned for over a year. It is our last year of having both kids with year round schooling, so will be our last off season trip. Also, we have been many times in the last two and half years and want to give this a try. Its killing me but I have waited this long so I don't want to forgo the surprise element at this point. I think it just depends on the family and situation. I must say, secretly calling the WDW dining number from deep inside my closet last weekend was a little strange, but the things we Disney addicts do to feed our love of Disney, never surprises me!

 

[mrsbornkuntry]

We've done both! But ours started for a different reason. Our now almost 10 yo had numerous medical problems when he was 0-3 years old, so we had a several cancellations at the last minute. We started just not telling the kids, because the disappointments were hard, and we didn't want the other kids "blaming" him for missing special things.

The same thing happened with us on our first WDW vacation. We planned a four day weekend there when we lived in GA and didn't tell the kids in case we had to cancel because our then 3 year old DS had been fighting leukemia. (he's fine now, 3 years later). We just got in the car and told the kids we were going to Florida to see what was down there . My then 5 yo DD could read and kept reading the billboards and saying "Can we go to Disneyworld sometime?" And DH and I kept saying "maybe." Then we got to the hotel (offsite) and the next morning the kids wanted to swim and we said "Well, we thought maybe you'd like to go to Disneyworld instead." The kids start yelling "YEAH!" except for my DD who said "I'd rather stay here and swim than go to some little Mickey Mouse park." She's never lived that down!

On our next trip we did tell them, though, and they were really excited, the anticipation was great and it was the first time they flew in an airplane and we wanted to know ahead of time if any of them were going to have issues with flying (luckily they didn't). And I've already told them about our DL trip planned for April so they get excited with me and have helped me plan what they want to do like Club Libby Lu, etc. And because we've discussed it I didn't waste money on something they didn't want to do like a character meal (they've already done one and enjoyed it, but really didn't want it this trip).

 

[hlbtimes2]

Dh and I used to talk about wanting to surprise our kids. We've taken 3 trips in the 7 1/2 years we've had kids. We havent done a surprise yet. We just get to excited to keep it a secret.

However, that is about to change! We just decided yeterday to use 1/2 our tax return for a quick trip down. We were just there in Oct, and said we wouldnt go back for a couple years. But, the trip turned out a bit stressful, and we didnt really feel like we got to "finish". There were just to many things we didnt get to do.

So, in March we'll be taking them. We are going to keep the secret as long as we can. That might be to the airport, might be to the hotel, might be to the entry gate! We'll just have to see how long it takes for them to figure it out.

 

[Pir8girl]

I usually plan a trip south in March too - I need a sun hit every year . But the last few years it has always rained! And we have enough of that. So last year we went in May and it was gorgeous. This year we're heading down in late April hoping to get some rays!

 

[victorandbellasmom]

We've done 3 trips since the kids were born, and none were secrets. I just get too excited with the planning and just have to involve everyone. The first time the kids were 1 and 4, so they didn't know what to expect when we told them we were going to disneyland. They were excited, don't get me wrong, but they just didn't know what there was there besides mickey and minnnie. Our next trip, the kids were 2 and 6. We found such good airfares we planned the trip within a month. The kids had a countdown calendar in their bedroom. The only surprise for that trip was that grandmothers and aunt were joining us down there from Utah. The last trip was a big family reunion so again no surprise with all the planning involved. We're planning 2 more trips this year, 1 in April for dd's 5th brithday and 1 in August where grandparents from Utah will join us again.
Right now, we like the kids being involved in the planning stages, like which character meal do they want to do again or try out for the first time. We may eventually surprise them on one of our futrure trips to disneyland when they are a little older. But right now, we love the anticipation and excitement we see on the kids faces when we start running the countdown calendar and our trip gets closer and closer. Right now we have 77 more days. Yeah.

 

[EEYOREMAMA]

Which hotel is BC? I've toyed with the idea of going to WDW but not sure if I'm ready to make the long trip. DH would definitely have to go if we travel to Florida.
I grew up in So. California so going to DL by myself with the kids is not a big deal, but Florida? I don't think so.

BC is the Beach Club. We think it's the best deluxe hotel and we absolutely love it there!