Surprise vs prepare

[revwooster]

We are heading to Disney in a month. It's a last minute trip. We have a three year old. Our plan has been to completely surprise her and not tell her where we were going or what we would see and do.
But after reading the forums, we see a lot of people spend significant time preparing their kids for such a trip. Any one have any thoughts about the pros or cons of either method?

James

 

[pigletgirl]

Well, I think it totally depends on your child. Would she like a surprise or is she better off with anticipation? Either way, have a great time!

 

[squeegee]

We are heading to Disney in a month. It's a last minute trip. We have a three year old. Our plan has been to completely surprise her and not tell her where we were going or what we would see and do.
But after reading the forums, we see a lot of people spend significant time preparing their kids for such a trip. Any one have any thoughts about the pros or cons of either method?

James

We've spent the past year preparing our DD (will be 4) for the trip this coming December. She is a bit meltdown-prone when confronted with something out of the routine, so I'm trying to make some of it "familiar" before we go. That said, when we get on the plane, her first plane ride, I plan on telling her we're just going to visit some random uncle. LOL. That way, the actual arrival is a little bit of a surprise.

But, as they said before, it depends on how *your* kid likes things to go. Good luck!

 

[Pesky]

Agree with pp where it totally depends on your child. Our DD LOVES surprises and thrill rides. Our DS? Not as much. So they know they are going someday but won't know exactly when.

 

[tabistar]

I love seeing the anticipation, doing a countdown, etc, so we tell our kids. Plus, I hate keeping secrets!

 

[JenStemp]

We have typically told our children in the past, mainly we can't keep it a secret in our house, we plan too much to keep it a secret. I like to have our children prepared for the trip. This time is slightly different, they know we are going, however we oringally planned to go in August but curcumstances caused us to change our plans and we are now going in June for SWW. Our boys don't know we are going in June!They are staying the night before we leave with Grandma and Grandpa and then we are going to pick them up and say, "Gee I sure would like to go to Disney today! How about you hop in the car and let's go!" I don't think we could EVER get away with a complete surprise, but it would fun to see the excitement on their faces! Like everyone else has said it really depends on what you think your child would handle best! Happy planning!

 

[revwooster]

Thanks for the helpful insights. . . .Our little girl is 3 and truthfully she doesn't know Disney World exists. She won't be of much help in planning. She handles surprises pretty well. So I think we'll keep going with the surprise route at this point. We do plan on taking her to a local amusement park before we go to see how she does on some of the rides. . . depending on that visit we may alter our plans.

 

[kwdw]

I'd also test her with characters at that local amusement park before you go!

 

[SanderMC]

We told our 2.5 year old that we are going in June. She has known for quite a while. We've been flipping through books that have pictures of the rides in them and when we do she keeps telling me which rides she wants to go on (which is all of them). She is very much into Disney movies so we talk about who she wants to meet. We also have a countdown calendar going (have since January). I have the day we leave filled in with red marker and she will walk up to the calendar, flip to June, point to the red spot and say to me, "I gonna go Disney World Mommy". What I have found the most precious is that she now associates Cinderella's Castle with with any church that has a steeple. We'll be along and all of a sudden from the back of the car I'll hear "Castle, Mommy! Castle!".

 

[SEA333]

"Prepare"

LOL

This cracks me up.Kids are going to Disneyworld, for goodness sake, not in for open heart surgery.

We go the casual route. We tell them when we tell them, unless we plan on it being a surprise, which we have done. But we really don't put any thought into whether they will take it well or need to emotionally prepare for it. If they act up in any way, shape or form about ANY announcement for something cool we plan for them - they get a incredulous "are you serious??!! You are going to cry because I am taking you somewhere fun??!!" from us and they stop (if they even start in the first place...which they never have yet....)