Is this the right place? Countdown or Surprise?

[Kara]

We booked Sunday for AKL Standard Room Club Level. My kids are 12 and 8...trying to decide whether to surprise them or do a countdown..and was looking for different ideas along both lines

 

[scrapbookmommy]

We told our children and we are using more of a countdown approach. I wanted to get their input on a lot of the vacation plans and I was just too excited myself to keep it a secret. This is my sons first trip and my DD hasn't been since she was a toddler. Someone here sent me a very cute countdown chain that we put together yesterday. It's one of those paper ones that you take a loop off each day. The person who made it really must have put a lot of work into it because their is a different Disney pic on each slip of paper. It's very cute. Send me your email and I can forward it to you if you want.

 

[Manda]

I've done both approaches. He was excited when we did the surprise, but was kind of overwhelmed by it, I think. And it was really hard to plan days, ADRs, etc., without input. I think I could have planned a trip he'd enjoyed more if I hadn't been trying to keep the surprise. And I think the anticipation is what helps make it exciting, too. After that trip, he pretty much asked me not to surprise him again... but here we are a couple years later, and he knows that we're going at the end of summer. But he asked me to surprise him with it. He wants to know we're going and help plan a little and tell me what he wants, but he doesn't want me to tell him the date or have a countdown - he just wants me to pull him out of bed on the morning we depart and surprise him that it's the day! So we're going with that approach.

 

[Tnkrbelle565]

We did a surprise this last trip and won't do one again. It was fun for DH and I for a couple of minutes but DD became really overwhelmed. She had been to WDW plenty of times before so she knew what to expect but she was very thrown off that she hadn't been part of the planning.

 

[tzolkin]

Is this your first trip?

My kids really enjoy the months of planning and the anticipation. I feel they would have missed out on a lot if we had surprised them. We watched the planning DVD, made the customized maps, and talked daily about Disney. They earned Disney Dollars and we had a countdown chain. We also did Disney movie nights since my little ones hadn't seen most of the movies and I wanted them to be familiar with the characters/stories that have attractions in the parks. They even enjoyed helping with the packing.

When we went last year it was a total surprise for the kids.
We did discuss Disney and made plans for our "next" trip, but told them we couldn't afford to go yet. We told them we were going to visit grandma (south of Disney) and they did not suspect a thing until we actually pulled into the parking lot of the resort. It was fun, but I don't think we would do it again. (We've actually already started planning our next trip and my older DD is even helping me compare the costs of different options and budget how much we need to save each week... A good lesson in math and financial planning. )


Perhaps you could do some sort of big announcement instead of a surprise. I've seen some ideas on this board-- decorating the house and having a special dinner, making T-shirts, etc. That way you'll have the fun of surprising them about the trip, but it will be far enough in advance that they can still participate in the planning and enjoy the anticipation.

 

[Indiana Rose Lee]

we like looking forward to the trip, so my vote is countdown. some people really like surprises, though.

 

[Kara]

Is this your first trip?

My kids really enjoy the months of planning and the anticipation. I feel they would have missed out on a lot if we had surprised them. We watched the planning DVD, made the customized maps, and talked daily about Disney. They earned Disney Dollars and we had a countdown chain. We also did Disney movie nights since my little ones hadn't seen most of the movies and I wanted them to be familiar with the characters/stories that have attractions in the parks. They even enjoyed helping with the packing.

When we went last year it was a total surprise for the kids.
We did discuss Disney and made plans for our "next" trip, but told them we couldn't afford to go yet. We told them we were going to visit grandma (south of Disney) and they did not suspect a thing until we actually pulled into the parking lot of the resort. It was fun, but I don't think we would do it again. (We've actually already started planning our next trip and my older DD is even helping me compare the costs of different options and budget how much we need to save each week... A good lesson in math and financial planning. )


Perhaps you could do some sort of big announcement instead of a surprise. I've seen some ideas on this board-- decorating the house and having a special dinner, making T-shirts, etc. That way you'll have the fun of surprising them about the trip, but it will be far enough in advance that they can still participate in the planning and enjoy the anticipation.

I'll have to read some throughout this forum....
Thanks everyone!!!
I may do a sort of questionairre for them just to start out with some clues and get some input...then as it gets sooner, maybe do the countdown. They are both pretty easy going boys...and 12 and 8 so they can handle either way I think.