Favorite way to tell kids they're going to Disney?

[ExcitedMama]

We haven't told DS yet about going to DL. He's almost 5 and remembers going last year and on that trip he knew in advance. This summer we surprised him with a trip to Legoland where he had no idea until we pulled up and he figured it out. I haven't decided what to do this time. Since we are going together as a family for one day and then I'm taking them back without DH on non-consecutive days and then going back again as a family I have a lot of options for telling him and surprising him. I'm thinking if giving him a Disney item to unwrap and then giving him clues. What's been your favorite way to tell your child they're going to DL? Or do you prefer to surprise them?

 

[SweetAlex]

So much fun! He's going to be so jazzed! We surprised our girls the first two times we went and for our third trip coming up, we told them right away and it just seemed so anti-climactic .

The first time we went, our trip was booked for late February. On Christmas, we wrapped up a huge box addressed to both of them. It had nothing in it but a clue. This clue led to the next one and then next one and so forth. They were all Disney movie quotes (like "There's a snake in my boot") but put together, they made a cute poem (my one creative moment in parenthood). The last clue led them to a rolled up Disney poster announcing our trip. My youngest (almost 4 at the time) just jumped up and yelled, "I gotta go pack!" It was pretty cute.

The second time, we had told the kids we were going to Seattle for a week (about 3 hours away). But that morning, we brought them both into our bed and sadly announced that we could no longer go to Seattle and handed them a present to make up for it. Inside the present was our tickets to Disney and some gift cards. We were leaving later that day. My oldest was so excited but my youngest took a few hours to register the change in plans. She wasn't upset, just confused. LOL. I LOVE surprising the kids with trips to DLR!

 

[WendyWhy]

We are taking our kids in early Jan - plan on telling them on Christmas after they open a new Mickey ornament! Randomly, I needed an ornament with 2013 on it (forgot to get one that year we last were there) - and able to get a cute one from Amazon!

 

[MICKEYFIL]

We surprised our kids (5 and 4) this year by walking them all the way up to the check in booth at the airport before we told them. It was great and they enjoyed the surprise, but one piece of advice I got from this site really helped me. Don't tell them you are doing something else and then surprise them with disneyland. They may be disappointed that you aren't doing the thing you said you were doing, even if it seems undesirable in comparison.

 

[SweetAlex]

We surprised our kids (5 and 4) this year by walking them all the way up to the check in booth at the airport before we told them. It was great and they enjoyed the surprise, but one piece of advice I got from this site really helped me. Don't tell them you are doing something else and then surprise them with disneyland. They may be disappointed that you aren't doing the thing you said you were doing, even if it seems undesirable in comparison.

Oh wow! Did they think they were going somewhere else? Fun!

Honestly, I think it depends on your kids. Our kids are very easy going and don't mind change or spur of the moment adventures. Yes, our youngest took a bit of time to adjust but it wasn't disappointment or anxiety, she was excited but it took longer for the excitement to kick in then with our oldest. We did make sure though, not to talk too much about all the fun things we would "do" while in "Seattle". That made it easy to see Disney as the clear winner

But for kids who need extra time to process changes or big events, then yes, surprising them may not be best, or at least plan the surprise with some time for them to adjust before leaving.

 

[MoreDisneyFreaks]

We surprised ours a few years back by telling them we were going to Grandma's birthday party. We had a grocery bag that was zippered shut that I told them it was pasta salad. After about 20 minutes in the car, I asked them to check that the salad didn't spill over. Inside was car survival kit, all disney themed along with the tickets. It took them about 3 minutes to get it and like 30 minutes to truly absorb it. They were so excited and talk about it all the time now though! It was our best trip ever.

This year we are surprising them at Christmas for a Feb. trip. I can't wait!

 

[ImDMous]

We packed up a big box for Christmas for our nephews and niece (3, 6 & 7). Mickey ear hats with their names, tickets, pins and lanyards, a few other trinkets. Made a big deal to have them open it together and all that, their reaction was " Eh, can we play with our toys now?"

Won't do that again... They had never been before and really weren't very excited about it. After they did get back from their trip, the oldest nephew hated it. How is that even possible?!?!

If someone did the same for me, I'd be ecstatic!

 

[MICKEYFIL]

Oh wow! Did they think they were going somewhere else? Fun!

Honestly, I think it depends on your kids. Our kids are very easy going and don't mind change or spur of the moment adventures. Yes, our youngest took a bit of time to adjust but it wasn't disappointment or anxiety, she was excited but it took longer for the excitement to kick in then with our oldest. We did make sure though, not to talk too much about all the fun things we would "do" while in "Seattle". That made it easy to see Disney as the clear winner

But for kids who need extra time to process changes or big events, then yes, surprising them may not be best, or at least plan the surprise with some time for them to adjust before leaving.

You are coming from Castlegar and we left from Coquitlam, so there are big differences in coordinating travel between the two of us. We flew out of Seattle and loaded the kids up that morning while they were still sleeping and we just told them we were going somewhere and we would do something fun. Surprisingly they didn't question it and we just wanted to see how far we could take them. At the border we told the customs agent we were going to Anaheim, which meant nothing to our kids and just proceeded along.

 

[thewelts]

My friend asked her son to bring this letter to his teacher (The letter was not actually delivered to the teacher - It was solely for him)...

Dear Mrs. Teacher,
Please be advised that (child's name) will not be in school on the following days as he is going to Disneyland to celebrate his 10th birthday.

Signed,
The parents

 

[SweetAlex]

You are coming from Castlegar and we left from Coquitlam, so there are big differences in coordinating travel between the two of us. We flew out of Seattle and loaded the kids up that morning while they were still sleeping and we just told them we were going somewhere and we would do something fun. Surprisingly they didn't question it and we just wanted to see how far we could take them. At the border we told the customs agent we were going to Anaheim, which meant nothing to our kids and just proceeded along.

How fun for them! We actually lived in Langley at the time of our last two surprise trips and flew out of Seattle both times too. Sure saves money flying out of the US, worth the extra couple hours of travel. We thought about trying to cross the border without telling them yet but they were old enough at that point to likely figure it out so we ended up telling them before we left the house. Great that you were able to pull it off!

It's actually almost the exact same process from Castlegar. We're just across the border as well, just 7 hours east of you . Our local airport doesn't have international flights so we're flying out of Spokane which is almost the exact same distance as Seattle is from Langley.

Can't wait!

 

[lilsassymom]

We have a 7, 6, and 2 year old. I googled 'creative ways to announce Disneyland trip' and came across some poems. I took a little bit of different poems here and there, and added some of my own touches, but this is what I came up with.

We are having our oldest daughter read this out loud to her siblings on Saturday. We will be checking into our hotel on Sunday...

Dear (name, name, and name),
What will you do today?
Go to school, do homework, and play?
Or maybe get in the car, and drive away somewhere far?

We are going away to a hotel to stay,
And you will have some very fun exciting days.
It’s a place where you all want to go,
Where there isn’t any cold white snow.

It’s a place in the west with a very big castle,
And getting there shouldn’t be much of a hassle.
There are rides and parades and fun to be had,
And you will get to go with your sisters, mom and dad.
The place has a great big mouse as a pet,
So tell me now, have you guessed it yet?

We are going somewhere grand. We are going to.....Disneyland!
We packed our bags from our house, now let’s go see Mickey Mouse...
The car is waiting, so hurry, get dressed...
We are visiting Mickey, Minnie and all of the rest.

 

[AmberStar]

We told our kiddos MONTHS ago... like try 8 months ago. I am so happy we decided to tell them early on. The anticipation has been SO much fun. Counting down the weeks and days. Talking about things they will see and do. Very generalized though as not to give away too much magic.

My youngest needs to know in advance what to experience or melt downs will occur so giving us time to talk about things. For example, "in disneyland we will wait in lines just like at the bank; but the reward is more fun!"

Our countdown is at 2 weeks... Can't even handle it. The kids are counting "sleeps" (like counting days in a more tangible kid friendly way) and I have began packing.

There will be loads of surprises once we get there... like character breakfast and a tour. Plus all the goodies I've bought the past 8 months in preparation for the trip! Can't wait.

Whatever you choose will be perfect! I love anticipation and the other fun I've planned leaves me with plenty of surprise left too.

 

[NewbieMouse]

Don't tell them! We once waited until we casually stopped at the Burger King on Euclid Street for lunch.

 

[talentedmummy]

We didn't tell our kids (5 & 2) at all. We started with, "hey let's go spend the night at a hotel?" , "let's for the airport!" And kept it up all the way to Disneyland. We were checked in and in our hotel room before we finally gave in and told our 5 yo that we were are Disneyland.
I know as soon as we saw we are going on an airplane for our upcoming trip, both kids are going to ask if we are going to Disneyland.

 

[bouds]

I told mine that I was picking them up from school early to take them to the Dr for their flu shot. When we got to the car, I put on my ears and made them guess where we were really going. I think they were as happy about not getting a shot as about going to DL!

 

[bouds]

I told mine that I was picking them up from school early to take them to the Dr for their flu shot. When we got to the car, I put on my ears and made them guess where we were really going. I think they were as happy about not getting a shot as about going to DL!

 

[YukonMommy]

For our 3 family trips...first some back ground....4 kids, we live in very Northern Canada, before our trips had been visiting family on roadtrips!

1st trip....got as an xmas present from Gramma! She bought them luggage and then there was a book of clues.....it took them a while, but they were so excited (ok not the 18month old as he was clueless!)

2nd trip....kids knew we were going about 18 months before we went....I know bad secret keepers....for the Xmas before we left in January they got a countdown calander and new Disney shirts. Still as excited as we spent the 18 months watching and rewatching all Disney movies!

3rd trip...1 year after the 2nd trip (for the tail end of the Xmas hoopla) kids had NO idea! we told them after the 2nd trip, no more as we wanted to save for Hawaii and a new roof. Xmas came and went with no trip, no mention. My Mom who was down visiting one of my sisters got home on December 31. We had Xmas supper with her on the 1st and after supper opened presents. We sent them on a treasure hunt. On the treasure hunt they found their (old and previously worn) ears hats, a gift certificate for a treat at the candy store on Main Street and the Disney travel planning dvd. You could tell they thought maybe ...but were not sure. We watched the video and then had a board which they pulled off tabs and read,,,,,,We ended up leaving the NEXT morning...Such a great surprise!!

However you it will be magical!

 

[AmberStar]

My friend asked her son to bring this letter to his teacher (The letter was not actually delivered to the teacher - It was solely for him)...

Dear Mrs. Teacher,
Please be advised that (child's name) will not be in school on the following days as he is going to Disneyland to celebrate his 10th birthday.

Signed,
The parents

I LOVE LOVE THIS!!! My kid is so nosy that I know she would read any note I send to the teacher! Toooo funny!!!

 

[mrsbicewdw]

I so wish we could do a big surprise announcement and just jump on a plane. Our oldest has sensory issues though, and he likes to be really prepared for things and know the exact plan. Meltdowns ensue very fast for him when he doesn't know coping skills ahead of time. We tried to do a surprise camping trip this summer (and he LOVES camping) and it was a horrible first night at the campground. So, we have already told him that we are going, and it is a year away. He has no concept of time, so of course he asks often. But we use it as a way to go over the calender (which helps with learning months anyway) and talk about "first, then". But over the months we are going to build anticipation - making a Disney saving jar, ordering special shirts, watching videos of rides and shows (we have found this really useful for him with new experiences), and eventually a countdown chain. Maybe as he gets older we will be able to do surprises, but for now this is fun too!