Should we tell the kids or keep it a suprise?

[Fintastic]

The anticipation is part of the fun, IMO. Like Christmas - lying awake on Christmas Eve wondering what's under the tree, building up the excitement, is part of the experience!

 

[cali_crafter]

We were planning on waiting until the car ride down there but I think I will tell them this weekend, which is a week before our trip. My kids are almost 6 and 3.5, it has been 2.5 years since they have been there so I'm afraid I'm going to plan out some big surprise and they won't know what to get excited about.

Telling them a week before will let us watch some rides on youtube so I can see what they might be afraid of and it will be fun to talk about with them and count down.

 

[poohfriend77]

I'm struggling with the same question. For our first trip, DH kind of wanted to surprise the girls. He had a surprise trip as a boy and loved it. I was a little worried because our older DD is such a planner (wonder where she gets that? ) I thought she might freak out if she didn't know some of the details in advance (we still kept some meals/BBB a surprise), and it was fun to talk about it and share the excitement.

Now we're planning our second trip. We were planning to tell them about 6 weeks before, like we did last time. But DD has been begging to go back for her birthday, which is in January. Now I'm considering telling her that we'll go for her birthday, so they can help me plan, pick out shirt designs, etc. Then on Nov. 28, we could say, "I just can't wait any longer! Let's go to WDW today!"

 

[WDWCatMom]

Our first trip was a complete surprise. We told them at the very last minute. Of course the very last minute was when the WDW arch was visible. It was AWESOME.

Next trip, they are getting exactly 24 hours notice.

This is our plan also. The fun part is that DD will catch on sooner than DS. She loves being the one to tell him something exciting. The best part is going to be watching DS recognize where we're at during Christmas since Halloween is close enough that he'd remember the sights.

Last night we were hypothetically discussing future disney visits, I asked if she'd like to visit during Christmas. Her answer was a "No".

I spent a couple seconds internally doing .

We asked why and she was afraid that Santa couldn't come for her little brother. I explained we'd bring the presents and a small tree so she was perfectly fine afterwards.

DD will know we're going camping so she can help pack without knowing where we're going. DS is fairly easy with his stuffed Tigger, a blanket and some movies for the road trip.

 

[WDWCatMom]

I'm making a DVD right now starting with pictures of CBR and it will eventually tell the surprise.

That's an awesome idea!!! I could nonchalantly pop in the WDW Vacation Planning DVD in our dvd while they're busy snoozing or reading, and start playing it as we enter the Orlando City Limits.

 

[dormouse72]

I can't keep my mouth shut so I blurted it out as soon as we had made the plans (also I had just gone without my kids and the hurt/nasty looks they kept giving me were starting to get to me; I was sleeping with one eye open, so for my own safety I told them). Of course, it's harder with teens - when we booked it DD # 1 was so excited but now with the school year in full swing, cheerleading, parties, babysitting jobs, etc. it's harder for her to leave knowing what she's missing. I don't know how she would have reacted if I had tried to surprise her with a trip.

I had offered back in August to take her off the reservation if she really wanted to stay behind (my sister offered to stay at my house with her) but told her once I paid that money she was going to go if I had to drag her on the plane by her hair. She chose to go but really it's like being between a rock and a hard place - it would be hard to stay behind knowing everyone else was in Florida having fun, but her friends are important as well. Of course, they all thought she was NUTS when she said she was on the fence about going at all. One of them offered to come instead - of course it was a boy so we spoke about him having to spend a week in drag.

We only manage to go about every four years so on our next trip she'll be in college But somehow that doesn't seem get me off the hook for having to bring her. She wants to see the new Fantasyland and eat in the Beauty and the Beast themed restaurant because that's her favorite princess. Some things never change

 

[lbuzz52]

I wanted to surprise my dd with our first trip but was scared someone else would tell her. But now I'm glad we told her at ten weeks. We've had so much fun looking at character lists deciding who to say hi to. Also we've watched most of the rides and talked about the scary parts so hopefully she will be brave for most of them. My mom keeps commenting that she can't believe dd4 talks about the trip everyday.

 

[mousebymarriage]

We just booked a trip for Feb and the kids don't know, DD is 13 and DS is 8. Actually we have 2 reasons for not telling them yet:

1) We orginially weren't planning to go because DH works in the auto industry and it has been slow so we didn't want to spend the money however, the current deals were too good to pass up). We are still nervous about the money thing so if we decide to cancel the kids won't be upset or disappointed.

2) We want to surprise the kids because it will have been 2 years since their last trip and they have been begging to go back. We are hoping to surprise them on Christmas Day but, I am not sure how yet. By Christmas we will definately know for sure if we are keeping the reservation.

 

[lemondog]

We surprise them for 2 reasons...
1. If we told them in advance, the wait would be unbearable for them (and us as a result)
2. If something happened and we had to cancel, they would be devastated. I would rather them not know to begin with

We surprised them for their first trip to Disney in July 2008, for oldest DD's 7th bday. She opened her gift, a Hannah Montana suitcase. Inside was a note telling her to get it packed, because we were heading to Disney the next day. She was super excited, but I don't think the twins really knew what on earth we were talking about.

Well ever since that trip my kids have done nothing but ask when we are going back -- we all LOVED it! So we told them in July 2010 (we hope to go every other year in late July, when swim team season is over for older DD and value season starts at our fave resort). That was our plan, but I was able to snag ressies over spring break (mid March) on the buy 4, get 3 promo, so even tho it's peak season we will go for the same price as we did in late summer.

They know we are going next year, but they think we're not going until July. However, we are going to pick them up from school that Friday before Spring Break and tell them we are leaving THAT NIGHT for Disney. They are going to freak out, no doubt!

 

[spare+a_pair]

Oh the agony of waiting! I am ready to explode with the secret!

We have been planning this trip for A LONG time. I finally booked in January and now we are about 50 days away. We are leaving the day after Thanksgiving. My twins birthday is Thanksgiving Day, so I wanted to wrap a gift and surprise them that way.

DH - who has also never been to WDW - put his foot down and said NO. He does not want to tell them AT ALL until we drive through the gates. Since DH rarely gets involved in planning and this is important to him, that's what we are doing.

Right now, our boys think that we are going to a wedding. They are pretty easy going and laid back, so no questions asked. Imagine thier surprise once they figure out what we're doing!

 

[jtopp]

W have tried both methods, and my favorite by far is the surprise method. While my children and i spend long evenings planning everything..rides, food,travel.. the best has been the surprises. I only wish i had a video of the first one--we told them in the car on the way to the airport. DD cried with joy, DS had a smile ear to ear, and the baby, who knew all along(I had to tell someone) was also happy. Second surprise was a christmas gift, with a recordable gift bag holding park passes. The recording was "you're going to disneyworld! How fast can you pack?". Needless to say, we were on our way within the hour. Luckily, that one was videotaped. Good luck whatever you do, but have fun either way.

 

[nu2dvc]

We have taken 5 trips to WDW as a family. And while I think the build-up in anticipation and planning stages are half the fun, we did decide to surprise the kids one year. Didn't actually tell them until we were in the airport terminal boarding the plane. They thought Daddy was taking a business trip and we were there to see him off.

I thought they would be ecstatically overjoyed, but the reaction was sheer shock. They were happy, but in a stupified way. Anyway, it was a good once-in-a-lifetime moment, but I will be letting them in on the planning from now on.

It's also good to hang over their heads and keep them in line

 

[svioli]

Just got my luggage tags and other reservation information in the mail.....i'm getting sooo excited and I wish I could tell them. But I know the reward of seeing their faces when they figure it out will be priceless.

just a few weeks to go!

 

[JLR]

I am struggling with the same question. My daughter would LOVE the planning. We also are having a simple Christmas and Birthday. However, my dd already has a lot of difficulty staying focused in school and she would talk about NOTHING else from now until then. When I broached the idea with her teacher since we will be taking her out of school, her teacher supported us waiting. I know she'll jump with joy when I tell her. She'll be 9. So far we've told her there is a big special surprise after school is out. (She doesn't know I mean when school is out for the day on April 20th) She is guessing the surprise is a trip to Minneapolis or perhaps her own computer. She is still pretty gullible. I explained my books by saying I am planning our trip for 2012.

 

[KELLY]

We leave in 5 days and my dd still don't know. My youngest won't understand anyway. But older dd dosen't have any idea.

 

[yrdlyprincess]

I would keep it a surprise--it's in 2010 right, that is a long time for them to keep saying to you, when do go, how many days away???? I told my kids that we were going in Nov back in the summer and just gave them the 30 day countdown calendars the other day--I told them they didn't need to ask me when we are going because they can look at their own calendars.

 

[Mickey0429]

Our son has been going to Disney every year and loves it. Last year, we picked him up from school the day before Halloween and asked him what he wanted to do. He gave some ideas and then I gave him a Disney envelope with a note in it that said Surprise You're Going to Disney World for Halloween. He cried! I did have to make sure I had all his favorites and packing at night was tough. And we are getting ready to do it again for December. This time he will find out through a scavenger hunt!