Really though... WHEN do I tell my kids?

[speeb]

The moment has come that I've been looking forward to since my first daughter was born. My wife has let me book The Trip! We're going to be spending the week of Halloween at Art of Animation. So the first obstacle I have to overcome is telling the kids they won't be home to trick or treat, but hoping the budget will allow for MNSSHP. Even if not... Disney.

The kids are daughter 9, son 7, and daughter almost 5 at trip time. We've decided that just surprising them the day before will NOT work because my son really can't handle breaks in routine well without warning.

I'd love to tell my 9 year old now, because I think she could really use the boost. But the 4 year old isn't going to understand a 8 month wait, she's asking me when her birthday is and when she's going to be 5 (January).

Sooooo... all that is to say... when do you usually tell your kids? Is 6 months out too early? My wife kind of wants them to know why we might be saying no to things more often this summer than usual. Should we just wait until October? I want them to know now, but I realize that's a rough spot for little kids.

Advice? Thoughts?

 

[Min Min]

We are not telling our kids until we are packing. I also have a five year old and she would ask me everyday when we were going. I don't want to be drove crazy until our trip in June.

 

[Gracie09]

We tell our girls we are going during a certain time frame. Like now they know they are going when they are 8. So its concrete for them and they aren't asking if today is the day everyday. We also surprise them the morning of the trip. It make packing difficult but they enjoy it (and sleep the night before).

 

[Mousemommy1]

We book a year in advance and have gone every year since our girls were 3 and 5 (they are 9 and 11 now)

Every year our children have known when we booked. They help us plan. Our 11 yr old is a spreadsheet wizard. But, that's us.

We have a 1 yr old now too -- we've told him, but he doesn't seem to care, lol

 

[beesly]

For our first trip, we told DD (who was 5, almost 6) that we were going to the beach and we waited to see how close we could get to WDW without telling her. In fact, it was the DME bus driver who finally let the cat out of the bag for us when he drove us under the Disney arch. (Yes, she actually got all the way onto the DME bus - with Mickey on the side of it - without figuring out where we were really going!)

This time, she has known for months that we intended to go again this year and has helped with the planning. We were originally planning for July, but I let her know in January that we were changing plans and going in April instead. She understands time a little better now, so she has been counting down the days on her own.

If you really want to tell them now, maybe you could make some sort of countdown activity to help your youngest better understand how long it will be until you leave. For example, I remember making advent chains out of construction paper in elementary school to count down the days until Christmas. I think we only started at the beginning of December, so that might not be feasible for a 6-month countdown. I just did a quick search and found this really cute idea for a Disney chain. I definitely wouldn't have the patience to cut out enough of these for 6 months, but maybe once you get closer this would work: https://www.getawaytoday.com/blogs/2013-11-19/disneyland-vacation-countdown-chain

 

[imthemamahere]

I've got just one kid, who's somewhat like your son, apparently - he does NOT like surprises.

I'd never spring a trip on him without advance notice. He'd be MISERABLE, and that's not how I want any of us to spend our (expensive!) Disney vacation!

That said, telling them now, especially for your littlest... it's going to mean they really don't quite grasp the time that has yet to pass before they get there. You know how kids are - a half-hour of waiting is FOREVER. Forget 8 months! What worked for us on our last trip was to give my son (then 5) a head's up about a month out. I actually made a little advent-to-Disney calendar for him, and he made a little ceremony of calling me and my husband to watch him cross off each day before he went to bed. That let him come to terms with the upcoming vacation on his own time, it helped him build excitement, and it also gave him a way to see for himself how much longer we had until we left - he could check the calendar and count for himself. We marked some of the days as "special" by labeling them with a little Mickey head and did a little Disney-themed activity (watched a particular Disney movie, watched the planning video, made a Disney-themed craft, had Mickey-shaped muffins for snack, packed his backpack with a few activities for the plane ride, etc) on those days. It actually helped us amp up for the vacation as well, because all the months of planning meant we'd sort of come down off our initial booking high.

We've also done the countdown chain, when he was a bit younger. Same deal - though it was shorter then, only about 2 weeks, so each link was labeled something Disney-related to do that day.

 

[tzolkin]

I would tell them now, but for my family planning the trip is almost as much fun as the trip itself.

For our first trip (kids were 9, 4, and turning 2) we spent months having a weekly Disney night (watched movies that had an attraction in the parks so the kids would be familiar with the characters and stories). Kids earned spending money for Disney. They received some trip-related items for birthdays and Easter. We had discussions all the time about the attractions and came up with everyone's "must-do" list for each park. We made a count down chain maybe two to three months out.

The following year we planned a surprise trip and the kids did not know we were going until we pulled into the resort parking lot. (We told them we were going to visit grandma in FL, but we couldn't afford Disney again so soon). We had a good time, but it would have been much better if we had told the kids so they could have a few months to get excited. They certainly didn't complain, but I think they were actually disappointed that they missed out on the planning.

Every trip since we have told them as soon as we booked (usually 6 mos). Often we will discuss planning when we don't even have anything booked yet that way the kids can also be involved in deciding where to stay. Last summer we stayed at three different resorts and a major part of the trip was for the kids to be able to have some sibling bonding time (oldest will be heading off to college) so staying in the Epcot resort area so they could walk to Ep and HS and do things on their own was at the top of everyone's list.

 

[speeb]

See, this is the problem! Good reasoning on both sides!

It would be kind of ridiculously silly to make a paper chain with 240 links.

Originally, I wanted to spring it on them once we got to the airport, but considering we have a 90 minute drive to the airport and need to leave around 4AM... Ugh.

After reading through, I think I'm leaning a little more toward sooner than later. Maybe wait until I've made ADRs first.

I really appreciate all the input!

 

[MomTo3PrincessesInNJ]

So the first obstacle I have to overcome is telling the kids they won't be home to trick or treat, but hoping the budget will allow for MNSSHP. Even if not... Disney.

If you can't swing MNSSHP I highly suggest going Trick or Treating @ Disney's Fort Wilderness. You don't have to be a registered guest there to ToT and the decorations (from what I've seen) are amazing! Just something to keep in mind.

We LOVE camping at the Fort and I hope to convince H to lake the kiddos out of school one day so we can do Halloween @ the Fort.

 

[speeb]

If you can't swing MNSSHP I highly suggest going Trick or Treating @ Disney's Fort Wilderness. You don't have to be a registered guest there to ToT and the decorations (from what I've seen) are amazing! Just something to keep in mind.

We LOVE camping at the Fort and I hope to convince H to lake the kiddos out of school one day so we can do Halloween @ the Fort.

Awesome, thanks for the tip!

I almost booked one of the cabins, but 2 bathrooms won.

 

[Pesky]

From what you've said, I'd go ahead and tell them now or soon. The older 2 can help pick any key ADRs and then be in on planning the FP+. Your younger DD may not understand but as you draw closer, you guys can work together to make some kind of countdown system (lots of ideas online). Your older two will definitely understand and, as you pointed out, get why you are not doing certain things because you have Disney coming up. Have fun!

ETA: Just so you know, we aren't telling our 2 until the day we leave. It just sounds like with your troop, early warning might be best from a lot of perspectives.

 

[brockash]

The moment has come that I've been looking forward to since my first daughter was born. My wife has let me book The Trip! We're going to be spending the week of Halloween at Art of Animation. So the first obstacle I have to overcome is telling the kids they won't be home to trick or treat, but hoping the budget will allow for MNSSHP. Even if not... Disney.

The kids are daughter 9, son 7, and daughter almost 5 at trip time. We've decided that just surprising them the day before will NOT work because my son really can't handle breaks in routine well without warning.

I'd love to tell my 9 year old now, because I think she could really use the boost. But the 4 year old isn't going to understand a 8 month wait, she's asking me when her birthday is and when she's going to be 5 (January).

Sooooo... all that is to say... when do you usually tell your kids? Is 6 months out too early? My wife kind of wants them to know why we might be saying no to things more often this summer than usual. Should we just wait until October? I want them to know now, but I realize that's a rough spot for little kids.

Advice? Thoughts?

We've always told our kids as soon as we know for sure and it's booked (usually a year in advance.) We usually do some kind of countdown towards the 30 day mark.

 

[ngm]

We're planning to tell them about 6 weeks before. We're staying offsite, so that still gives time for them to help me plan out FP selections, etc. But close enough that it's not endless months of waiting.

 

[speeb]

This thread has made me even more anxious. Seriously might just tell them tonight at dinner.

 

[imthemamahere]

This thread has made me even more anxious. Seriously might just tell them tonight at dinner.

Ha! You do what's best for you. And have a great trip, when it finally rolls around!

 

[katienanna]

We are also spending the week of Halloween at AoA! What about writing out a little note such as "We are going to Disney World!" and folding it up in an Easter egg for them to find in their baskets Easter morning? The wait will be long, but maybe you can make/print off a free count down for them so they can get more and more excited as the date approaches.

 

[speeb]

We are also spending the week of Halloween at AoA! What about writing out a little note such as "We are going to Disney World!" and folding it up in an Easter egg for them to find in their baskets Easter morning? The wait will be long, but maybe you can make/print off a free count down for them so they can get more and more excited as the date approaches.

Yay for Halloween!

My wife suggested something similar, but I don't want to get "How did the Easter Bunny know we're going to Disney?" As it is, my 4yo told her last night that she thinks the EB is a regular person in a bunny costume with a hopping machine.

Pretty sure I'll cave this weekend. I'm just too excited about it.

 

[kreckl]

I would tell them
Planning is so fun for kids. Get a kids guide book, read about it together, watch movies that would be relevant to the trip....Before our first time, we hadn't watched a single Disney thing with our 5 year old.....we had to introduce Mickey and friends. Next trip, he was 8, and we watched the Lion King and Tom Sawyer....Got a guide book so he could read about "scare factors" and loud things....
Maybe you could do a Disney night once each month beforehand. Choose 6-7 things? That could be the day ( or weekend) that you "talk Disney" each month. Ask questions, watch youtube videos of park things, whatever. Then its off limits until the next Disney night.
Your little one might understand if you reference seasons. Like, not spring. Not summer, but fall.

 

[SheraVI]

We are going in 61 days for our oldest's 4th bday. Grandparents are meeting us there. Planning to not say a word and see how long it takes her to figure it out.
We are little concerned with the messed up "routine", but our kids are fairly flexible so long as they get their food + naps in. Planning to stick to that routine as much as possible. We know we'll miss some parades + things, but we also know that we'll be back.

 

[Princess Minnie321]

We told our kids when we booked, which was about 10 months out. So they could understand about when we are going, we told them after Halloween. We leave the weekend after.

We have been watching Disney movies that have attractions at the park. They also both told me they want to have breakfast with Mickey and Minnie. We watched a few YouTube videos and when my daughter saw Sofia at Hollywood and Vine her face lit up. It was not on my original ADR list, but having seeing her reaction, I am adding it.