Should I tell or not? *Update* on page 5

[BamaDisneyBoy]

Taking the family to WDW the first week of December. We have been about 10 times. We have gone from staying offsite, to the values, then to the moderates. The family thinks we are staying at CBR this trip but I have AKL booked. Question is should I surprise them when we get there or tell them now? For me, the anticipation of the trip is a huge part of the fun. What would you do?

 

[mevelandry]

Do you take the magical express? I wouldn't tell them until you get there.

 

[lalasmit3547]

Taking the family to WDW the first week of December. We have been about 10 times. We have gone from staying offsite, to the values, then to the moderates. The family thinks we are staying at CBR this trip but I have AKL booked. Question is should I surprise them when we get there or tell them now? For me, the anticipation of the trip is a huge part of the fun. What would you do?

We are going Dec. 8th and am wondering the same thing. We want to surprise our son and trying to come up with a good way to do it!

 

[snorkelyn]

If you think they would be really excited...then I would surprise them. But, perhaps they don't really care *where* they stay, in which case your big reveal may not get the reaction you hoped for.

I once woke my kids up (2, 4 and 6 at the time) and surprised them with a trip to Disney. They were so underwhelmed, it really ruined it for me. They just wanted to go back to bed. They had never been there, had no memories of ever being on a plane...and they had NO IDEA what a big deal it was to go to Disney.

So, if your kids realize how cool it is to stay at AKL, and would be really excited....then I say DO IT! I love surprises like that!

 

[BamaDisneyBoy]

Do you take the magical express? I wouldn't tell them until you get there.

We are driving down. They will notice when we don"t head toward CBR when we get there. I could just tell them I missed a turn.

 

[Nancy F]

They know they are going to Disney World so they can plan their days and have the fun of looking forward to their trip. But it will be a nice surprise I think if you wait till you get there to tell them they are staying at AKL.
Nancy

 

[BamaDisneyBoy]

If you think they would be really excited...then I would surprise them. But, perhaps they don't really care *where* they stay, in which case your big reveal may not get the reaction you hoped for.

I once woke my kids up (2, 4 and 6 at the time) and surprised them with a trip to Disney. They were so underwhelmed, it really ruined it for me. They just wanted to go back to bed. They had never been there, had no memories of ever being on a plane...and they had NO IDEA what a big deal it was to go to Disney.

So, if your kids realize how cool it is to stay at AKL, and would be really excited....then I say DO IT! I love surprises like that!

My oldest DD16 has always wanted to stay at the AKL and DD14 also wants to stay there. They are content staying wherever we stay though, they are just happy to be at WDW. I don't know how many more trips we will make as they are getting older.

 

[BamaDisneyBoy]

They know they are going to Disney World so they can plan their days and have the fun of looking forward to their trip. But it will be a nice surprise I think if you wait till you get there to tell them they are staying at AKL.
Nancy

That's what I'm thinking. The DW doesn't know either. She will probably be as excited as the kids.

 

[KimmiP]

I am doing the same thing. My dd and niece think we are staying at POR, but I just booked CR in the tower. My dh says make it a surprise. June can't get here soon enough

 

[CWdreamer]

If you think they would be really excited...then I would surprise them. But, perhaps they don't really care *where* they stay, in which case your big reveal may not get the reaction you hoped for.

I had an experience like that. On our last trip, my kids thought we were staying in the garden wing at CR, but I upgraded to the tower months before we left and kept it as a surprise. I was so excited to surprise them, but it fell flat when I told them. Oh well!

I would still do the same thing again anyway because surprises are always fun, even if it's just for me.

Therefore, go for the surprise!

 

[BamaDisneyBoy]

I am doing the same thing. My dd and niece think we are staying at POR, but I just booked CR in the tower. My dh says make it a surprise. June can't get here soon enough

I don't think I could make it to June without telling. LOL

 

[kathy884]

You know your family best, so I think it's a very personal decision.

My son is a lot like me. The anticipation of staying at a great place and an upcoming vacation is just so much fun. I have always involved him in the planning, as he we have so much fun talking about the upcoming trip, deciding what we want to do. Yes we love the trip, but if either of us just found out at the last minute, we would have missed out on all the pre-vacation fun.

 

[Wood Nymph]

Taking the family to WDW the first week of December. We have been about 10 times. We have gone from staying offsite, to the values, then to the moderates. The family thinks we are staying at CBR this trip but I have AKL booked. Question is should I surprise them when we get there or tell them now? For me, the anticipation of the trip is a huge part of the fun. What would you do?

I would tell them and let them have the fun of anticipation. Then your family can talk about the AKL and plan together. Sometimes I think that surprising teens and especially spouses takes away a lot of their fun. They would like the chance to talk about the trip with their friends, too. They are going to be excited to find out they are going to stay at the AKL, so what difference does it makes if they express their joy a few weeks before they get there?

 

[karenklo]

We surprised our boys with the whole trip last year when we stayed at AKL! They didn't know we were going until we got to the airport and didn't know where we were staying until we pulled up to Jambo! It was so much fun surprising them! Now I had brought up AKL online before so they could see it and know something about it. I just told them how much fun it would be to stay there "if we had the money" lol!

 

[BamaDisneyBoy]

I would tell them and let them have the fun of anticipation. Then your family can talk about the AKL and plan together. Sometimes I think that surprising teens and especially spouses takes away a lot of their fun. They would like the chance to talk about the trip with their friends, too. They are going to be excited to find out they are going to stay at the AKL, so what difference does it makes if they express their joy a few weeks before they get there?

This is exactly what is causing my dilemma.

 

[kmb584]

I would surprise them!

The trip itself isn't a surprise as your family already knows about it, but they also "know" that you're staying in a moderate. I think an upgrade to a deluxe is a surprise well worth keeping! I know I'd be doing a little dance if I were in those shoes!

 

[loughmann]

Taking the family to WDW the first week of December. We have been about 10 times. We have gone from staying offsite, to the values, then to the moderates. The family thinks we are staying at CBR this trip but I have AKL booked. Question is should I surprise them when we get there or tell them now? For me, the anticipation of the trip is a huge part of the fun. What would you do?

I'm doing the same thing with my fiancé he thinks were staying at pop for our honeymoon and I booked AKL. Surprise them!!!

 

[Sue M]

I would surprise!! I did this to my adult daughter in August. We were doing a split stay, and at first I booked POFQ and YC. Then I changed to GF & YC, but let my daughter think we were still going to POFQ.
When we arrived I told her we were going to GF for breakfast. When she found out we were staying she was beyond excited.

 

[Collette]

I would tell them and let them have the fun of anticipation. Then your family can talk about the AKL and plan together. Sometimes I think that surprising teens and especially spouses takes away a lot of their fun. They would like the chance to talk about the trip with their friends, too. They are going to be excited to find out they are going to stay at the AKL, so what difference does it makes if they express their joy a few weeks before they get there?

This is what I think, too.

Good luck with your decision!!

 

[MermaidMommy]

I would tell them and let them have the fun of anticipation. Then your family can talk about the AKL and plan together. Sometimes I think that surprising teens and especially spouses takes away a lot of their fun. They would like the chance to talk about the trip with their friends, too. They are going to be excited to find out they are going to stay at the AKL, so what difference does it makes if they express their joy a few weeks before they get there?

I agree with this, too. Our trips are just DD13 and me (DH is not a Disney fan ), and she's very involved in planning. We were originally staying at AoA only, but I also booked GF and YC as a surprise. I even had planned out how I was going to surprise her when we got there. However, she told me flat-out before the trip that if we were staying anywhere "cool" that she would like to know before the trip. So, I told her. I still got a great reaction -- lots of screaming -- and, as she later told me, it was better to know before the trip because she could be excited about the hotels for several months, rather than just the few days we stayed there. I asked her after the trip if she still thought it was better that she knew beforehand, and she emphatically said yes.