Keeping the trip a secret . . .

[icarus]

As the ticker below states, we are less then 3 weeks from our trip to the WL, and a weeks worth of Disney excitement.

For this reason (excitement), and the fact that our children 5 & 7 are on high octane from 6:30 am until about 8:30 pm (I mean very, very high octane) we have decided to keep this trip a secret until we are going to the airport. The last time we did a count down, and while this was nice, they were a bit more tame.

I don't want them to be exhausted by just thinking about the trip, as well as driving us crazy.

I'm curious as to what others think of this approach . . . we do have a few days left where we can spill the magic beans to them.


Any thoughts?

 

[lisalonglash]

I know EXACTLY what you mean LOL I think keeping it secret until the last minute is a smart parental decision for those of us with extremely spirited (aka high-octane) children! Unfortunately, we can't do that with our trip, as it's the whole extended family going, so no way we aren't going to talk about it within their earshot

Enjoy your trip!!

 

[pilferk]

As the ticker below states, we are less then 3 weeks from our trip to the WL, and a weeks worth of Disney excitement.

For this reason (excitement), and the fact that our children 5 & 7 are on high octane from 6:30 am until about 8:30 pm (I mean very, very high octane) we have decided to keep this trip a secret until we are going to the airport. The last time we did a count down, and while this was nice, they were a bit more tame.

I don't want them to be exhausted by just thinking about the trip, as well as driving us crazy.

I'm curious as to what others think of this approach . . . we do have a few days left where we can spill the magic beans to them.


Any thoughts?

We did it last time (Jan '06)....and we're doing it again this time (Jan '08). We're doing it for pretty much the same reasons you are....because our kids would be off the wall, almost unable to function, if we went the countdown route.

Personally, I think it's a great way for parents to "surprise" their young kids. As they get older, it's both harder to do, and probably not as "fun" for the kids....but yours seem to be the perfect age.

The hardest part, I think, is keeping the secret. We're so excited, we're practically ready to bust...it's taking every ounce of self control to keep our traps shut.

 

[Marty Joe]

icarus,
I have wanted to do this with my DD as a suprise, but DW wanted to tell her about it because it gives her something to look forward to... Something about the journey is half the fun... yadda yadda yadda. I think the look on her face would be priceless though!

 

[lilyv]

If you can keep the secret till the day....THIS will be a trip they have a particularly special memory of. All vacations are fun, but for years to come they will always remember their magical surprise.


I DO understand active kiddos! Ours (22months apart) had similar dispositions. They're 20 somethings now, and the funny thing is, they still approach life with great enthusiasm. It's a great trait to have!

Have a wonderful trip!!!

 

[shyjade]

I decided to "surprise" my DD9 with our upcoming trip in November. She knows we are going to Disney sometime in the next few months, and she even knows where we are staying, where we'll be dining, what we'll be doing. BUT, she doesn't know which week or month we're going...I plan on telling her the day before. I'd love to tell her the day of the trip but we need to be up at 3:30am to get to the airport and that would be too much for her, I'd like her to have SOME say in what she wants me to pack, and she won't be coherent enough at 3:30am for that!

Our last trip we spent so many months planning & thinking about it and even she agreed she would rather be told right before this time, so she can sleep at night between now and then. But because this is an important trip for us I wanted to include her in the planning process because her imput is very important (just the two of us) so this "suprise plan" has worked best for us.

Good luck keeping the secret, it's hard but should be well worth it!

 

[nomolos]

Our first trip (driving) we did inconjunction with a visit to the grandparents. On the way home...we took a "short cut" and got lost. Had to stay at a hotel in Orlando that pm. The next morning took the kids straight to Disney. They were completely stunned! Game Boys work wonders for driving past disney/universal signs. This year we are going with family...so everyone knows. I wouldn't trade the look on their faces for anything!

 

[pilferk]

I decided to "surprise" my DD9 with our upcoming trip in November. She knows we are going to Disney sometime in the next few months, and she even knows where we are staying, where we'll be dining, what we'll be doing. BUT, she doesn't know which week or month we're going...I plan on telling her the day before. I'd love to tell her the day of the trip but we need to be up at 3:30am to get to the airport and that would be too much for her, I'd like her to have SOME say in what she wants me to pack, and she won't be coherent enough at 3:30am for that!

That's precisely what we did for the Jan '06 trip...woke the kids up at about 3:30 AM to go to the airport.

They had no earthly clue. We got them up and ready, sat them down on the couch, and sprang it on them. They went from sleepy and sluggish to bouncing around like wild things in about 10 seconds. I have the whole thing on video tape....it was much the reaction I would expect if someone told you or me we'd won the lottery.

Now, granted, they were (and still are) young...so their input would be minimal in the packing/prepping phase. I think 9 is pretty much the "cut off" for most surprise trips...until they're in their 20's that is. And because our kids remember the previous trip so well, we talk about things they'd like to do "next time" so my wife and I can incorporate them into the planning.

For this NEXT trip...we're driving down. We're picking my oldest daughter up from school a little (30 min) early that day and just driving from there. We're working on making a DVD to pop into our car DVD player to make the announcement about where we're going. Heck, we're even going to store empty luggage in the back of the van for a week before we go so as not to "clue" the kids in when they see the back of the car packed (sneaky, ain't we?).

 

[Jrabbit910]

I think its great keeping it a surprise until you get to the airport. I did that w/ my DH... he knew we were going on a trip but thought it was a cruise... Keep them guessing... & your camera rolling because I am sure they will scream w/ delight!!!

Have a great time...

 

[pinkrose]

As the ticker below states, we are less then 3 weeks from our trip to the WL, and a weeks worth of Disney excitement.

For this reason (excitement), and the fact that our children 5 & 7 are on high octane from 6:30 am until about 8:30 pm (I mean very, very high octane) we have decided to keep this trip a secret until we are going to the airport. The last time we did a count down, and while this was nice, they were a bit more tame.

I don't want them to be exhausted by just thinking about the trip, as well as driving us crazy.

I'm curious as to what others think of this approach . . . we do have a few days left where we can spill the magic beans to them.


Any thoughts?

We are 20 days away from our stay at WL as well!

We are surprising the kids. We have told them that we are going to Ok. to visit family. We can't wait to see their faces when we get to Disney property!

 

[disneydreamer1970]

I surprised DD(6) with a mommy/daughter trip to see Grammy and Pa-Pa at WDW this past December. DH and I got up and took her to breakfast and then DH told her that he wanted to go to the airport to watch the planes which is something that we like to do.

Well, we stopped an watched them for a few minutes and then continued on to the parking garage. DD was very confused at this point, and as we got out of the car, DH went to the back and told her that she was going to WDW with mommy right then and took out our luggage. The look on her face was priceless. She had perma grin all day and asked me if we were really going to Disney all day and even when we boarded the Magical Express bus. It was an awesome trip and she asked me not to tell her when we are going again because she wants to be suprised. She loved it and I'm sure she will remember that trip forever!!

Trish

 

[Laren]

Oh definitely keep it until the last minute if you can. We did that for our daughter with a trip that coincided with her 4th b-day. . .was the best decision ever. She was so groggy she didn't get it. . .then halfway to the airport in the car she started giggling like a maniac LOL I can still hear the sound of it in my head- it was precious.

Seeing how she was SO anxious about waiting for our trip this time (9 months is the longest in advance we've EVER planned a trip she knew about) I won't ever do it again that way and she's almost 12! DH and I decided it is definitely better to still surprise her as long as we can. . .do the planning when she's out of the house, etc, because surprises are still the best, and least stressful, on the parental units LOL

Have fun with your surprise and your trip however you make the announcement!!!

Laren

 

[abt426]

By all means keep it a secret!
I love secret trips. Last spring break we had one. We went to visit family in fl and I promised the girls at least one night in a hotel with a pool, so I gave them some brochures and let them pick a "destination" all during the drive to orlando they thought they were going to gatorland and a holiday inn. We used the new bypass and came in the back of the resort, when dd6 figured it out she woke up dd2 who realized she was at epcot when she saw "her ball" in the distance. I continued to play dumb and said since we were lost we could stop eat at beaches and cream and get directions to gatorland. Then i checked us in and they went wild. Now 6 months later the little one still sometimes asks before she goes to sleep if she is going to wake up at wdw

 

[icarus]

We are 20 days away from our stay at WL as well!

Nice. We love it there.

Thanks to all for the responses. It sounds like surprise is the way to go. I'm not sure how far many of you drive to Orlando with the surprise still bottled up, but the 24 hour ride from New Enlgand would be more of a stress adventure.

I think they will probably guess when we get to the airplane, as we don't fly as a family very often - the last time was to DW a few years back.

 

[mnasmom3]

We're keeping our trip a secret, too. We leave on Friday, finally. Good thing because I can hardly contain myself any more. We've been hiding this from them for 6 months. We didn't do it to avoid the non stop badgering that would surely happen though. We just thought it would be fun.

 

[Marquisfam4]

We are leaving 2 weeks from tomorrow although the kids know this time, when we went back in Oct 05 we kept it a secret, we picked the kids up from school and headed straight to the airport, I handed them a note with some hints, they finally figured it out and they were so excited. It was alot of fun.

 

[diseverestfan]

When our children were younger ( 9,4, and 2 ) we surprised them on Christmas morning with an announcement from "Mickey" that we would be leaving in 5 days for Disneyworld. Most of the gifts under the tree that year were specifically for that trip as well. Our kids loved that gift!
What fun we had keeping that surprise from them. We've been fortunate enough to go 6 times so far to disneyworld, and that trip was definately the best.
Go ahead, surprise them!

 

[yrdlyprincess]

First let me say that I have kept my trip a secret for a yr & a hlf now, my children (7&3) know that we are going sometime between the beginning of this year & b4 December 31 2007--you can see when I am leaving, I still hvaen't said anything --making sure that they stay away from the neighbors for the next 3 nights & sending a note into the teacher reminding her AGAIN that it is a SURPRISE!! Just to give you a little insite on my children-which remind me of yours...when there has been say a party or something it's "when is it,what time is it..." they get up a dawn (and I mean DAWN) My neighbor took their little girl (almost 4) down, the wife told her 2 wks b4 they left & she said "worse mistake of my life" she was up at 4am everyday ...is today the day....So hold off

 

[pinkrose]

Nice. We love it there.

Thanks to all for the responses. It sounds like surprise is the way to go. I'm not sure how far many of you drive to Orlando with the surprise still bottled up, but the 24 hour ride from New Enlgand would be more of a stress adventure.

I think they will probably guess when we get to the airplane, as we don't fly as a family very often - the last time was to DW a few years back.

This is our first stay there. We are very excited!!! lol

Maybe arrange for one of the Enchanted Phone Calls either before you head to the airport or on the way to the airport? Their favorite Disney character can tell them they are going on a trip.

 

[Princess Amy]

We are kinda sorta surprising our 4 year old son. He knows we are going to Disney around his birthday which is in December, but his 4 year old little mind has no idea when that is unless we tell him.

We talk about Disney all the time and the things we are going to do. He gets all excited. But we are not going to do a countdown or anything. We will just wake him up the day of and surprise him. I know he will be jumping up and down with excitement!......Even if it will be 3-4 in the morning.

Oh the day cannot come soon enough.