Surprising the kids, not feeling the love

[MommyMK]

We leave a week from Saturday and my kids have no idea we are going, we will tell them next Thursday night. We are DVCers and this is our first time surprising the kids and I gotta say I really am not loving it! I hope the surprise for them is worth it in the end, but I don't think I will do this again. Since we can't talk about the trip it doesn't feel real, doesn't feel like we are going in a little over a week. I also have nothing ready yet, nothing pulled out or packed and since my kids are home for the summer I can't get anything out because I don't want to clue them in. I know surprises work well for many families, but this has made things especially clear for me, the anticipation of the trip and talking about the trip for months ahead of time is just as much fun as the trip itself. Not to mention how many times different people (including DH and I) have slipped or almost slipped and said something about the trip in front of them. Too much stress! If we ever surprise them again, it will be a true surprise and I will not tell a soul besides my husband lol! Hoping the big reveal is worth it in the end.

 

[puffkin]

We never tell our kids more than a few days in advance. But we go several times a year (DVC and AP holders) so we talk about Disney all the time. My DS9 just says things like next time we go to Disney I want to do this or try that so he still helps in the planning, he just doesn't know it.

ETA: We don't tell them mainly because it makes my life easier, not for their reactions. Honestly, they don't really give that big WOW reaction like you see on tv. I know lots of people who have done the surprise and did not get the reactions they were anticipating, so I just wanted to warn you to prepare yourself.

 

[MikL99]

I went for the first time last June and we surprised my two boys (10 and 3 at the time) and it didn't go over well. My son was scared to fly and i didn't put much thought into that. Once we got there it was great but the surprise did not go over well. Also like you said there was no anticipation build up since they didn't know. This time they both know that we are going next year. I'm going to do the Disney count down chain with them this time as well.

I don't regret doing the surprise once but i'll never do it again.

 

[Lakegirl]

I think it will be worth it. My daughter cried she was so excited. She thought we were joking and she got upset that it couldn't be real.

 

[luvmy2babies]

I say tell them when you need to. When I surprise my two if I get to a point where it gets too difficult preparing to leave without them knowing I tell them. It hasn't been more than 3 days out yet; but for some it may be a week or two. Before one of my trips, my daughter was sleeping in my bed due to a problem with her mattress. I couldn't use my usual spot to pack (walk-in closet) so I ended up telling them and then we all packed the suitcases together.

It will still be a surprise. I do surprises for a variety of reasons, one of which is not having to deal with disappointment if I can't finish paying for the trip or something and it makes life easier when I'm not hearing "is it time yet?" every single day. I've done the day before, day of, and a few days out. All were great.

 

[hereyago]

I surprised my dd once and it was hard not blabbing about it.

 

[Lilliputian]

We surprised our kids once. We did tell them that we were going to FL because Daddy had a convention he needed to go to. That was true. We just didn't tell them that the convention was at the Dolphin or that we left the house a week early so that he could vacation with us before his convention started. We even started driving with them thinking we were just going to some random town in FL. We stopped for the night at a hotel the first night on our way there and then told them before we started driving the next morning.

It made it a lot easier to pack and get ready. We even made matching Mickey Mouse shirts, telling them that it was so we could all dress alike and not get lost.

 

[ScienceDad]

I think it will be worth it. My daughter cried she was so excited. She thought we were joking and she got upset that it couldn't be real.

Our DD did the same thing!
Before our 1st trip we had told her we were going on a trip to see the world's largest yarn ball. She totally bought it and had even told her friends at school. The morning we were leaving we told her we were really going to Disney and she was crying and didn't believe us until we showed her the Magic Bands.
We had the whole thing on video but 1/2 way through our trip DW phone randomly did a factory reset and we lost the video and 75% of all our MK pictures. Yay technology!

 

[MommyMK]

I think they will be super excited, they talk about going again all the time and at this point I'm just going to wait and tell them when we planned, it's so close at this point anyways. We've got a treasure hunt planned and their magic bands are the prize at the end of the hunt.

 

[hallen4]

We leave a week from Saturday and my kids have no idea we are going, we will tell them next Thursday night. We are DVCers and this is our first time surprising the kids and I gotta say I really am not loving it! I hope the surprise for them is worth it in the end, but I don't think I will do this again. Since we can't talk about the trip it doesn't feel real, doesn't feel like we are going in a little over a week. I also have nothing ready yet, nothing pulled out or packed and since my kids are home for the summer I can't get anything out because I don't want to clue them in. I know surprises work well for many families, but this has made things especially clear for me, the anticipation of the trip and talking about the trip for months ahead of time is just as much fun as the trip itself. Not to mention how many times different people (including DH and I) have slipped or almost slipped and said something about the trip in front of them. Too much stress! If we ever surprise them again, it will be a true surprise and I will not tell a soul besides my husband lol! Hoping the big reveal is worth it in the end.

This is exactly why I chose not to surprise my kids. We thought about it for a while and tried it out for a couple weeks, and I couldn't stand not talking about it, so I cracked and told them that we were going. Maybe someday I will have the patience enough to keep it a secret

 

[sharona]

The anticipation and the planning are part of the fun for my dd.

 

[disny_luvr]

I can't imagine keeping a trip to the World a surprise but I think it's awesome that people can do it. Can you maybe tell them this weekend so that way you'll have all next week to talk about it and pack. Talking about Disney and planning a trip there is part of the fun for me. Regardless, have a great trip! I'm sure you're kids will be ecstatic.

BTW, we leave next Saturday, too! Maybe we'll "see" you there.

 

[dalmatian7]

I couldn't do it. My DH likes going but has no interest in planning. My little DD (age 4.5) is my planner in training so I love running stuff by her. I will probably do a count down chain this time but for only 5 days or so. The only thing with "sharing" planning duties now, is that in looking at hotels she picked AoA over the Contemporary. Big Lightning McQueen fan doesn't understand luxury vs. giant characters hehehe. So AoA it is! Since it is only for a few days and we will have a car, I am actually excited to try out a value.

My sister has done the surprises, and they went okay. One was so early in the morning they didn't "get it" for a few minutes. And the other my nephew cried he was so happy. She struggled with trying to get the packing done behind closed doors.

 

[katyjeka]

We usually don't surprise our girls but last year we decided to give it a try. I missed talking about our trip and almost slipped up a couple times. Our oldest dd was in on the surprise so that helped a little. We filled our family room with balloons after our younger 3 went to bed. We blew up over a hundred. They were so excited in the morning when they walked in the room. We had one balloon, different color, that we had them pop. We had filled it with princess confetti. They then realized that we were going back to Disney and leaving that day. It was soooo much fun!!

 

[Lisaloo]

We love the anticipation and planning as a family. It's such a big part of the experience for us BUT we don't go every year anymore so the buildup is fun. I think the surprise will be amazing for your kids, especially since you are DVCers and you will be back. I wish I had given my kids a surprise Disney trip along the way, it's impossible now that they are teens and all booked up! Enjoy!!

 

[Baklava]

So maybe suprises aren't really the way to go for your family. That's okay.

My son HATES surprises. Like, it would spoil the first day or two of the trip for him level of miserable. If you discover that surprising doesn't work for them or for you, there's nothing wrong with that.

 

[disneyjes]

We told our son. It's our first trip and thus we want him to be a part of the process.

However....we are lying about the day we are leaving. He is going to think we are leaving a week later then we actually are so there will still be a small element of surprise for him. However he is turning 9 so he might just figure it out on his own since he knows it's a birthday trip, lol.

 

[Pesky]

Sigh. I hear you. I surprised the kids with DLR and swore that was my last time doing so and wanted the kids involved in planning. Plus while the kids were excited and grinned ear to ear, it was not an over-whelming response, probably because both had just woken up from being asleep in the car. DS doesn't want to be surprised but DD has begged to be surprised again. Yeah. So I'm trying to involve kids in planning as much as I can but without tipping them off as to when. We'll surprise them the morning of as to the where (not to PHX where I will be telling them so I can pack) and for the US portion, they won't know until they finally figure it out after the hotel. And then I SWEAR this is the last surprise trip. It's way too hard keeping it quiet and too much work. DH has inadvertently blabbed a couple times and it gets hard covering it up.

 

[Nancyg56]

We never surprised my DGD. She is the type of child who needed to think about things so if DD had just sprung a trip on her, she would be upset rather than happy. My DD did wait until the day before on her 6th birthday trip, and it worked out okay, but she never did that again.

I will say that we are taking the two Princesses who live on our street and their Mom with us this August. After much discussion my DH broke the news and I am so darn glad! WE are having a blast! They did not really absorb the whole thing for about a day, and so I think it was a good thing Mom agreed to tell them early. They are in full Disney Planning Mode, and since they have never been, we are enjoying every minute!

 

[MommyMK]

I think we are going to tell them on Sunday instead of Thursday, gives them a little bit of time to process and get excited and gives me time to pack out in the open! I'm still on the fence about when to tell.