Surprise or Countdown?

[busymommy2pink]

Hi everyone!

I'm debating surprising my DDs or doing a countdown. What do you think is the best? DD will be almost 6 when we go and my younger could care less since she'll be 3 lol. I'm debating picking up DD after school on Thursday and telling her we are going to the airport RIGHT then. Maybe take a limo (cheaper than leaving our car the whole 11 days we are gone) and pick her up from school that way. Or should I let her do the countdown from 60-90 days?? I'm so torn lol.

 

[Disneyliscious]

Surprise! Surprise!

I did this on my last trip with my 2 boys (at the time they were 8 and 15). It was for my oldests 16th birthday. I planned, and giggled, and planned, and giggled all while they never had a clue. It was so much fun at times and there were days when I wanted to tell them SO bad.

They got home from school on a Wednesday and I was at work. When I got off work that night I came to my mothers where they were and told them. Their reaction?

"Huh?" (It was so calm and non-emotional lol)

I think they were SO surprised they didn't know how to react. We literally packed and left within one hour of them finding out. Over the trip down it was "sinking in" and made the trip so much more fun.!

 

[disykat]

I would do neither/both. My kids wouldn't have done well with a surprise and 60 - 90 days is WAAAY too long for a countdown IMO.

I would keep the countdown to about 10 - 20 days, and have the surprise be that we get to countdown to a upcoming WDW trip.

 

[disneychic2]

I would keep the countdown to about 10 days, but tell them it's a secret where you're going. If that doesn't work, I vote for secret. They're the age that you'll get a really great reaction!

 

[LuLuO]

I was so excited for our first trip in Sept of 2010 that I told our daughter about a year in advance. She was 2 at the time and I figured it would go in one ear and out the other. Well, she asked me almost every day for a year when we were going to see Mickey. It was a long year. This time we'll tell our kids a week or so before we go and do a countdown then.

 

[Rychelle924]

my kids are 6 and 3 as well.. i have yet to tell themabout the trip and not sure when or how either.. but i agree that 90-60 days is a long time for them.. so i think a surpirse might be better unless you can do a shorter countdown. also my 3 yr old asks me every single day if we can go to Mickey Mouse Castle!! lol so dont count out that your 3 yr old wont be just as surprised or exited too

 

[Minniemouse07]

We always do 100 day countdowns and the kids know about our trips as soon as we decide when we are going.

Dd is turning 10yo in a few weeks and will be visiting WDW for the 6th time in August. Ds is 5yo and will be making his 3rd trip there.

The kids help plan, have input on dining decisions, and do a lot of "work" (MouseKeeping envelopes, etc) towards the trip.

In addition... we all get excited for the trip together.

I can't imagine taking away that excitement build up from them.

We are almost halfway through our 100 link countdown chain and I don't hear a peep out of either kid about when we are leaving, etc. Ds knows he can look at the chain and know exactly how many days are left until we see Mickey.

I wholeheartedly recommend a countdown...it is SO much fun including the kids on the planning, watching movies and WDW info dvds, making lists of our favorite "must do" attractions, etc.

 

[jacesmommy]

I vote for the surprise!!! DH, myself and MIL planned a trip for my DS for his 5th birthday. We awoke at 3:30 a.m. to get ready to catch a 7:00 a.m. flight. He gets up and stumbles down the hall all sleepy eyed after MIL arrived at the house. He asks "What are you guys doing?" We told him right then and there and he was like "WHAT!?!?!?! Right NOW!?!?!!." He did the dramatic collapse on the floor thing. It was AWESOME!!

 

[dsnycrzy]

I did both! I made a 30 day countdown calendar. Under each number was a picture, WDW fact or something to do that day. Every morning at breakfast my DD7 would pull off a number. On day 5 it said "SURPRISE WE ARE LEAVING TODAY!!!!". It was so fun to have the best of both worlds.

 

[lucyem]

We told our sons, ages 4 & 6 that we were going to WDW about a month before we left. They were like "Huh?" It was a letdown for us. We had been planning a surprise for a few months. Really they had no idea what WDW and what was so exciting. It was nice to have the month to be excited with them and let them see the dvd and youtube videos and pick out things they wanted to do. My vote would be surprise them a little ahead of time and then have a countdown. Let them get excited about the trip. I think dsnycrzy's plan is perfect

 

[DisneyMacAddict]

I don't get the purpose of the surprise. We are 346 days from our trip. The kids, 8, 6 and 3 all know that we are going next summer. I will be getting the kids the book Birnbaum's Walt Disney World For Kids 2012 in September. We will spend most nights through the winter looking and planning everything we want to ride and see. I love them being apart of the planning process. They love watching the Disney Planning DVD.

I had friends that recently took their two kids to Florida and told them they were going to the beach. About an hour away they told them they were going to WDW. The kids were disappointed. (ages 9 and 5). I don't think I could handle that.

Planning together over surprising!

 

[Micka Mouse]

I did both. The trip started out as a surprise, but about 90 days before we were to leave, we had an awful, cold, rainy Sunday. All I wanted to do was discuss the trip with the girls, so I told them. They were super excited, and I got to spend the rest of that rainy day watching the Disney DVD Planner with them !!!

After that, I wanted something else to do with them. I went to Home Depot and got about 40 of the Mickey Paint samplers. I created a countdown chart, where they had to flip one over each day. Some days we did something Disney related (like pack underwear, gather sunscreen, get the mini-van ready, watch a Disney movie, etc...), other days it just said how many days we had left. My girls loved doing this. My older daughter also created a countdown chain when we had about 20 days left. It was fun! The packing part was really great, because if they flipped the mickey head and it said to do something, they did it....no questions it was very helpful to me (they were 7 and 4 at the time).

There are times I wish that I had kept it a surprise, but then I think of the fun stuff we did together to get ready, and remember that it turned out perfectly for us !

Whatever you decide to do, it will be perfect.............

 

[Minniemouse07]

I don't get the purpose of the surprise. We are 346 days from our trip. The kids, 8, 6 and 3 all know that we are going next summer. I will be getting the kids the book Birnbaum's Walt Disney World For Kids 2012 in September. We will spend most nights through the winter looking and planning everything we want to ride and see. I love them being apart of the planning process. They love watching the Disney Planning DVD.

I would seriously look into the Guide to the Magic for Kids. It is LIGHT YEARS better than the Birnbaum book and your kids are the perfect age for it.

Dd loves hers. It has so many awesome things in it: journal pages, stickers for each attraction, review areas, picture games, monorail check list (saw it, rode it), space for KidCot stamps/signatures.

I HIGHLY recommend it!

 

[PollyannaMom]

I definitely vote countdown. The anticipation is so much a part of the whole trip for me, that I can't imagine leaving DS out of it.

 

[DisneyMacAddict]

I would seriously look into the Guide to the Magic for Kids. It is LIGHT YEARS better than the Birnbaum book and your kids are the perfect age for it.

Dd loves hers. It has so many awesome things in it: journal pages, stickers for each attraction, review areas, picture games, monorail check list (saw it, rode it), space for KidCot stamps/signatures.

I HIGHLY recommend it!

Do you know when they will have the updated one for 2012? It seems like the Unofficial Guide to WDW comes out in August or September. Does it give info on each ride and attraction? Do you carry it in the parks? Last question...would I have to get one for each of my three kids or could they share? Thanks for the information. I love WDW books!

 

[Disneygal27]

I say go for the total surprise, or the pseudo-surprise. either way, it's going to be amazing! although i vote for the limo, just because it sounds like the perfect way to start a magical vacation!

 

[tlbwriter]

It depends on your kids - do they like surprises, or do they like to plan? My daughter LOVES to plan (and did even when she was your older child's age) so a surprise would be a mean trick to play on her. Also, there have been a few threads about surprises lately that showed many kids do not like to be surprised, or do not have the over-the-top reaction that the parents were hoping for. So if you're going to be hurt or disappointed if your kids don't jump up and down and scream in excitement, do the countdown. But as others have wisely suggested, do it a little closer to the actual trip.

 

[Sleepyhappyandgrumpy]

We are taking DD4 in October. We are not telling her until we arrive at the airport.

This is because she will not sleep between now and then if she knows. And she will drive me crazy. Crazy!!

Just a simple trip to the playground is discussed at length. A trip to the grandparent's house means falling asleep at 11 and waking up a 6.

I don't want her to be grumpy and tired before the trip even begins. And I don't want to be tired and grumpy myself.

We talk about WDW a lot. I've showed her the books and she's seen the DVD. She knows all of the rides. I also made up a little girl "Mabel" who went to WDW and told me all about it. DD asks me to tell her about Mabel a lot. (Backfired a little when she asked when she could meet Mabel to ask her questions herself and I had to do some quick thinking!!)

She is excited to go "sometime." I tell her we will go when she's older - which, of course, is true!

When she is older I look forward to have her help with the planning, etc..., but right now I just want a happy, well-rested kid!

 

[ADKSPiette]

Well usually we have the kids know where we are going, but this time, we decided to make a surprise. I'm hoping that it works well, but I have read some stories where things didn't go according to plan.

We always use the "we're not going to disney if you do or don't do something..." I'm sick of having that held over their heads because we're sometimes the bad parents who don't think before they speak

 

[brightspark]

Countdown every time! We've been talking about and planning our DS's 3rd birthday and party for 2 months - he's so excited about it and we've had so much fun planning together. We are going to WDW at the end of november and have been discussing that with him too. He tells everyone he's going to see Mickey when it is Christmas and it snows! I wouldn't miss out on the build-up fun at this time for anything.

The only time I can see me doing a surprise would be if they were older and had been loads and thought the surprise would really have an affect.