How soon is too soon?

[ShortyNBug]

I just posted this about 15 minutes ago but it's nowhere to be found so I guess I'll post it again.

I have 2 daughters. One will be 4 in Nov and one will be 7 in Dec. We are planning our trip for Oct 2010 and were wondering if Christmas is too soon to tell them.

My idea is to make them Disney savings jars and put in some Dis $ and have them open them on Christmas morning and that will be when we tell them. But is 10 months way too soon?

I won't even be booking the trip until Jan/Feb so would it be best to wait until after that is done?

I told my hubby we could spend less on Christmas and more on Easter and give them to them then so it's not as far and it's booked and everything but he hates the idea of bigger presents on Easter. My family (my mom and my gma) give the kids bigger things on Valentine's Day and Easter and all the little "holidays" and it drives him nuts. There is only my 2 girls and my sister's 2 boys though so they like to spend a little more and get them nicer things...whatever. Anway, he would make me spend less on the Dis $ I think if I wait until Easter as opposed to Christmas.

They don't need junk/stuff/toys and really aren't even asking for anything that's new or exciting for kids because they have a toy room full of stuff they never use. They would rather have clothes and gift cards so Dis $ or regular cash to save for WDW would be perfect for Christmas and their bdays. How do I keep them from wanting to do the after Christmas spending if I don't have a great reason for them to save their money?

So, when did you tell your kids? Is 10 months too long for them to know? What would you do? Thanks!

 

[Macduffy]

We told our son, who is just turning 4, about Disney 5.5 months before the trip and I regret it! I probably would have told him about 1 or 2 months ahead of time. We did Disney Theme Nights and paper chains but it didn't help with the concept of time for him at that age.

Personally I find that it took a little bit of the magic away from the trip. Next time we go we've decided to tell them when we arrive at the airport and REALLY surprise them

I've heard of parents telling their kids they were going in March but really going in December. That way they get to surprise them in December but can also involve the kids in the saving and planning of the trip - just an idea!

 

[spare+a_pair]

I have 3 DS's - 9, 4, & 4. I have known that we would be taking this trip (during this time) for a couple years now. We booked it February - 10 months before the trip. We have yet to tell our boys.

In fact, we won't be telling them until we drive through the gates

They know that "one day" we want to take them to WDW, but they don't know when that will ever be. We look at books and stuff on line, so that I can get hints on how to plan.

As my DH says - "Do you really want them asking you EVERYDAY how much longer til we get there?"

 

[mjkacmom]

We told our kids 10 minutes before we left for the airport. If you're going to tell them ahead of time, I say a few weeks. Remember the first time you were pregnant? How LONG those 9 months were? 10 months is way too long for kids to wait.

 

[jojo05]

Christmas is a perfect time to tell them! For christmas I'm buying my Boyfriend of 2 years a plane ticket for WDW. That will be his Xmas gift. And I plan on going in August or september. I think it's the perfect gift because any money given at christmas can be exchanged for dis $ and, he can start saving early. Not to mention it's driving me absolutly crazy keeping it from him for 5 months! I'm so excited! You should tell them at christmas!

 

[mjkacmom]

Christmas is a perfect time to tell them! For christmas I'm buying my Boyfriend of 2 years a plane ticket for WDW. That will be his Xmas gift. And I plan on going in August or september. I think it's the perfect gift because any money given at christmas can be exchanged for dis $ and, he can start saving early. Not to mention it's driving me absolutly crazy keeping it from him for 5 months! I'm so excited! You should tell them at christmas!

Do you have children?

 

[ShortyNBug]

My kids also know that we are going "sometime". We've been WANTING to go a long time but I finally just bit the bullet and said now is the time. My oldest daughter saw my books sitting there, they've been sitting there a couple weeks and she never bothered them, and asked me why I'm reading all those books about WDW. I told her, "I just think it looks like an interesting place and I'm trying to learn more about it so we can go sometime." I think she's used to hearing sometime cause she just went on with her business and didn't ask any other questions.

Maybe I should just make the jars and let them fill them with the "sometime" mentallity? I can still get the Dis $ with money I would normally spend on them at Christmas and keep them tucked away for when I do decide to tell them.

It's already killing me cause I hate surprises. I am one who has to wait to buy Christmas presents and birthday presents until the last minute or whoever they are for has to open them early. For my sake, not theirs. LOL! I keep thinking in my head about who bad they will bother me though and that keeps me quiet!

 

[starann]

Our boys are 4 and 5 and know we are planning a Disney trip when they start school next year (we are going Oct 2010)! Looking back I would have like to suprise them with it, but I know I could never keep quiet that long. I now have them helping me save money.....any change we find goes in the Disney jar. Today I talked to them about shutting off the tv and lights when they leave a room, so it will cost us less money and that is money we can save for WDW!!!

Also for their B-days (dec and feb) and Xmas they can ask family for Disney Dollars....cause lord knows, they don't need any more crap in the play room right now!

We also will be having a yardsale and I will be asking them to pick things to sell from their toys so we can put money away for WDW.

 

[badblackpug]

The 7 year old you could maybe tell that early because he/she has more grasp on time and could mark off a calendar, but the 4 year old, wait until you are a couple of weeks out. Unless of course you want to hear "Are we going to Disney now?" for the next year!

 

[antree]

I would keep it a secret as long as possible. Even today with my DD at 15 yrs old I have to wait to closer the time to tell her. My son at 7yrs old is bugging everyday when are we leaving. With that said we go every year so my kids know all about Disney and what they are missing when they aren't there. If your kids haven't been there and really don't know to much about it you might be safe from the whole "It's taking to long I want to go to Disney now" complaints. You know your kids, how well will the next 10 mos go?
Good Luck and Have Fun!

 

[bigdisneygroup]

We gave our children a two week Disney vacation for Christmas of 07 and we didn't go till August of 2008. They were thrilled and the time went really quick. I had some older kids but most of mine are younger - I had a 2 yr old, a 4 yr old and a 6 yr old and they were all fine with the concept of waiting till summer. I think sometimes the planning with them can be almost as much fun as the trip.

 

[BigHappyDisneyFamily]

The last 2 times we went we told the kids about 9 months in advance and they did fine with the waiting...I included them in all aspects of the planning and that really pumped them up for the trip!

 

[disneynutsx4]

Our sons are 11 and 6, and are almost TOO Disney-savvy. We let them know around the time we book the trip even it if is 7-10 months ahead of schedule. However, each of them has been to WDW multiple times, so the idea of going there isn't that big a deal for them anymore!

Perhaps for your kids, especially if one is only about Kindergarten age, you could wait until the beginning of the summer...after school is out. Then there are only a few major time-points they need to be concerned with (summer vacation/break, 4th of July, Labor Day, school startup) and that may help them be a little more patient.

The idea of savings jars is a great one, but if those jars are around for too long the temptation to "borrow" from one is pretty hard to resist! If you start the process at the beginning of summer, you could provide summer-long incentives for savings, and the departure date isn't so far away that it seems unreal to them. Good luck!

 

[1stvisit0909]

Well, we leave on the 10th. My kids have no clue. We aren't telling them until we get up that morning and get ready to go to the airport. I learned my lesson last year with out beach trip...we told them we were going to spend a week at the beach a month early and I swear I hear " are we leaving today" at least 3x a day that month.

So, mums the word about disney! We've been talking about "going to WDW" and the kids have been saving birthday/gift money for a long time. Since we started that, when they want to spend their money we've gone to the WDW website to remind them of their goal. We saved cans for disney, had a yard sale for disney. But they have no clue that we are GOING next week!!

 

[jojo05]

Do you have children?

No, I do not have children. I am 18 years of age. But, Yea sure I know what kids are like. And, I think telling them at christmas is the perfect time.

 

[Ldynred812]

My girls have known about our trip since the day we booked it. We booked it on Jan 31...we leave Nov 21.

I guess it would depend on the kids, but IMO my girls have handled it FINE!!! We talked about that it was a long time away, etc and they really haven't been phased too much by it.

We were at a local fair this summer and they had EXPENSIVE rides there. My oldest DD (age 6) decided to SAVE her money for disney instead of going on the rides!! Was a proud mom moment for me!! LOL

We also made a calendar of all of the EVENTS that must take place before we go...birthdays, 4th of July, 1st day of school, halloween, etc. It really helped at was more at their level of understanding.

Good Luck at whatever decision you make and have a great time on your trip!