Surprise the kids or tell them?!

[mrsbert]

We just returned in February from a trip I started planning in October. It was PURE torture for me to keep it from my boys. I kept telling my DH that I wanted to tell them but he insisted we didn't. I told the boys that DH had a school he needed to attend pertaining to his job as a police officer and since it was going to be a long weekend for us, we would tag along. Both DS's thought it would be great to stay in a hotel. On the way there I pulled out maps, which happened to be of Magic Kingdom, and told the boys we were lost and I needed their help.

This is the reaction I got from youngest DS when he figured out where we were going:

Yep, that's right, he's crying. This boy hates changes in the schedule. He eventually came around.

This is the reaction from oldest DS (whom I thought had totally figured it out). I was wrong; he was clueless the whole time we were planning.

Good luck with your final decision. As other posters have said, you know your kids best and how they will react to the situation.

 

[mylilnikita]

I usually have DD9 help plan trips. A couple years ago I planned a trip to WDW as every year since she was 5, but with a twist. She knew we were going to WDW, but I surprised her with a trip on DCL-which was our 3rd.OMG!!!!!!!!! I can't believe I kept it all that time, everyone knew but her, even her teachers and the limo driver.
She has been on the DCL bus, so I knew I wanted to really get her so I hired a limo to take us from the hotel to the cruise terminal. As we got close, the driver told me and I had been playing with the camcorder and was asking her what would she have liked to have done if we had more timeshe thought we were going to the airport to fly home) she said the Mickey Boat, I rolled the window down and said you mean that one right there"? It was great the look on her face was priceless and to have it on dvd.
But, I really like when she helps plan with me and also, I almost blew it and told her by mistake a couple times over almost a year's time.
Have a great time with whatever you decide to do.

 

[sunnyday123]

I am such a loser, I am sitting here crying!!! Just thinking about suprising a little one ( or even not so little!) get's me all leaky!!

 

[stopher1]

Since they've already been there a few times - you might try making some kind of scavenger hunt for clues, or envelopes to open daily or weekly for a month leading up to it....and even create some kind of airplane ticket as the final clue as the reveal... just a thought. Since they've been there already, they'll probably guess at the airport if they haven't already...

 

[rt2dz]

We’ve done both and I think the surprise was much more fun for them than knowing. There is no build up, it feels totally unplanned and anything that happens is great. If a favorite ride is shut down, that’s fine. If we couldn’t get an ADR for a coveted restaurant, that’s OK too. They don’t care where we’re staying or anything. There is no “When are we going to get there/go…” My kids love the build up and help in planning, but DS7 told me last trip that the surprise trips were the best.

This year’s trip will be a surprise; they think we can’t go this year because DH can’t get the vacation time when it would be possible, so anything they hear us over talking about will be for next years trip. I’m going to tell them we’re going to see my sister and then when we get there, say “change of plans” (we drive). You could tell them you have to fly to Orlando to get somewhere else because that was the only airfare available or just surprise them at the airport.

 

[DisFanEY]

Thanks so much to all who had any input.... I do think we'll try to do some sort of build-up to them finding out where we're going, even if we don't wait until we're on our way. Our trips are just so special, I want the announcement to be special too. We've never done any sort of surprise, so I'll give it a shot!
My DSis has decided she's going to join us for part of our trip, and we'll definitely keep that a secret. The girls will flip when they see their fav aunt at DW!!!

Thanks again for everyone's stories. I loved hearing all about your experiences!

 

[twinscandc]

We did a surprise trip for our twin DD's and 1 year old DS last March. We LOVE all things Disney and have taken the girls on yearly WDW trips since they were 3 (they are now 11). It was a Spring Break Trip and we had told the girls that we couldn't go anywhere for Spring Break that year b/c of vacation time, etc. It was probably the hardest thing that I've ever had to do, but I kept it a secret for over 5 months!!

We decided to hold off telling them until the early morning of our flight. I had downloaded the Spectromagic Parade music and started to play it in the hallway. The plan was for us to go into their room at 5:45am and I was to tell them that they needed to get up because we were going to go get our DS's hair cut. I got about 5 words out and then started to SOB (Crying Hysterically)!!! My DH had to take over... At first they thought something was wrong, but then started to complain about how early it was, did they have to go, could't they just stay in bed and sleep. Finally my DH said that they had to go b/c we were getting DS's hair cut on Main Street (I had been "planting a seed" in weeks prior about how cool the "first haircut" was at the barber shop on Main Street). At that point, they jumped out of bed and this was their reaction:

They say it was the best surprise ever and they LOVED it!!

 

[DisFanEY]

That picture is absolutely priceless!!! Thanks for sharing!

 

[Wtinsler]

I dont think I could keep it a secret if I tried! So mine knew from the day we started planning. I dont know who is more excited me or the girls

 

[higgy66]

When we go next Sept we're planning to suprise our DDs who will be almost 7 & 6 at that time.

I think we're going to pack up the car the night before and then just tell the girls we're going to pick a friend up from the airport.

We've taken them to Disneyland Resort Paris before and they loved it so I think this will just add a suprise element.

They have no concept of Orlando and size of parks etc so even if we told them they wouldn't get it. I think we'll suprise them this time and then next time they can help with the planning. They will just be so excited to see Mickey Mouse again it will be lovely. Then when we get to MK and it's a warm sunny day it will be amazing. We went to DLRP in snowsuits!

 

[mrsltg]

I took my oldest on a surprise "mom and me" trip last May. I picked her up from school and took her to the airport under the guise of bringing a forgotten presentation to my boss. She fell for it hook, line, and sinker. I had the whole trip planned for four months and it was incredible! Surprising her made it that much more fun and she was blown away when I told her. In fact, that surprise is how I got my tag, "Miss Sneaker Pants" - it's what my dd screamed when she found out what was really going on!

 

[joenan88]

OK! I have toyed with this issue myself and my hubby and I have decided to surprise our 3 kiddies (10, 7 and 6) August 15-20. The reason we have decided to surprise them is because they were just there in November and they LOVED it so much it is all they talk about...they were there 3 years prior and because of their ages really didn't love it, as much. We waited 3 years to return and my kids, in my opinion, were the perfect ages! We had a blast!

My kids started asking the minute we left the Poly when can they return? After about 8 weeks of listening to how much they loved it my hubby and I decided to do Disney instead of Hershey Park this year. We have also set up a limo at the airport in Orlando to take them to The Contemporary in a MK view...the hotel they were enamored with....they are going to freak!

We are going to drive them to the airport and tell them we are flying to Hershey instead of driving (they hate the 4 hour drive from Long Island)..I am not going to say a word to them until they figure it out...Then they have to figure out where we are staying...I have all my disney books for them to look through on the two hour flight..that will keep them quite busy! What is even better is that my son is turning 8 while we will be in Disney!

I did mention to my husband I was apprehensive about mentioning Hershey because they might prefer that because they just returned from WDW...BUT my fears subsided when my kids asked us a few nights ago if they can go back to Disney instead of Hershey..we just told them it was to much money to go and maybe next spring..they were devastated!

Have a wonderful trip! I know we will!

 

[Omma]

This is our 1st family trip to WDW and we are going to surprise our kiddos. (They will be 5, 6 & 7.) It has been SO hard not to tell them! But we know our oldest dd will lose ALL focus at school if we tell her so we decided surprising them is best. Their teachers all know and are getting homework packets ready to sneak to me....our veterinarian knows and is arranging to pick up the pets to board while they are at school...it seems like everyone is in on this!

Now, having McD's P&PP toys right now is GREAT. It gave me an excuse to talk about WDW and what a P&PP is, etc. and the kids have no clue I'm "prepping" them. So we are talking about WDW, and they sooo want to go, but we keep saying, "I know, maybe when you are a little older". I SO hope they are excited when we surprise them!

 

[Mouse House Mama]

I have a trip booked for later this year. We are not telling the kids until that morning. I can't wait to see how surprised they will be!

 

[emmymom75]

My hubby and I went the "surprise" route last year, I don't recommend it for a 1st timer. My daughter was well lets just say "cranky". Complete sensory overload, she cried on almost every ride (had to drag her on Small World). She was 6 going on 7 at the time. The best part of the trip last year (sad to say) is the day we left. We are going back to Disney in May (for her 8th B-day) and this time she knows, the kid could not be more excited! My husband has the count-down calendar and she wants to go on everything this time. So my advice don't DO IT! But, hey, every kid is different so maybe it will work out!

 

[danx2plus3more]

from reading the posts..im starting to think imo that maybe the kids who were unhappy are the kids who maybe dont like surprises...my kids love a good surprise..if your kids like getting surprised with stuff i say go for it..i am changing my surprise..instead of telling them at the airport i stumbled across a post yesterday..we are going to have mickey mouse call the older kids cell phones and tell them they are going on a trip...the younger one we will have the call made to home and let him answer it..that way they are excited about driving to the airport..and i think i will have t shirts waiting for them to put on after they get the call...who knows how many times this will change lol..sept 12 is a long way away

 

[drcbpearce]

We planned a surprise trip to Hawaii last year on spring break for DS who was 6 then and DD who was 3. I could barely contain myself for the 6 weeks leading up to the reveal. I planned it all out, gave them new swimsuits and a postcard from our friend in Honolulu asking us to dogsit. I was expecting a big reaction, but got an oh, great. They had no idea what it was going to be like. If I told them now, they would flip.

As for our coming trip to WDW, I went to a travel agency that was having 'Open Mouse' and showing all of the great spring specials. I just went to take a look. I really wanted to go, but the $$ just wasn't there. But it never hurts to just look. That day i found out we were getting a big tax refund, so we booked it. I couldn't surprise them b/c my DD4 was with me. But it's been really fun, every night I tell them to have Disney dreams. I've got a rewards chart so they can earn some extra $$ for our trip. I show them maps and talk about our trip everyday. The build-up is makiing everyone excited at once and it's so much fun!

but seriously, any way you tell them, and no matter their reaction, they'll have a blast!

 

[_queenie_]

I have never surprised my kids with a disney trip. We have always known for at least a month that we are going. My kids have always loved the anticipation and planning that going to Disney involves. We watch movies, sing the Disney songs, plan what we are going to wear, eat, ride,see and do. We go online to different websites. We watch our Disney planning DVD, we watch Disney Travel on demand. My youngest wants to make Disney tshirts. Anyway, what I am saying is that planning is so much fun. But no matter what you decide to do, once you get there, you know you will have so much FUN!!

Ditto, we always tell our kids. My BIL surprised my niece (almost six at the time) and she was really upset because my kids had known about the family trip for months!

 

[5fordisney]

We told our kids last time but are surprising them this time around. I have no idea how to do it though. We will be at my mom's for the weekend (we fly out on a Monday) so I'm thinking that we will pack the car to go home and tell them we are going to take a detour on the way home. That will get us to the airport. My thought right now is to give them each a gift bag in the car before we get to the airport with a disney shirt, sunglasses, autograph book, etc. I'll tell them the bag contains items they may need for our "detour". I just don't know! I love reading others ideas!

 

[leagirl12]

We were going to surprise our kids (ds 10, dd 9) by letting them figure it out when we got to the airport...let me tell you it is killing me not telling them. Well after reading some of the responses here we have decided to tell them in about a month (our trip is middle of June). This will be our second trip to Disney and I think the anticipation and planning will be more exciting for them.

We originally planned to go to Washington DC for our summer vacation and actually only changed it to Disney about three weeks ago after the kids started asking over and over when could they go back again. Since we already had a vacation planned the kids have been earning money to spend. We are going to give them that money in an envelope in the form of Disney Dollars with a colorful Disney themed note that says Surprise we are going to Disney World!!!

I think they will love it!