Tell the kids or surprise them?

[molly2004]

What do you think is more fun (for you and the kids): Telling them ahead of time or surprising them the day of?

 

[stacy6552]

we tried to suprise our son once. it totally wasnt worth it. its way better to have the bribing power of earning Disney Dollars in the weeks leading up to the trip.

 

[molly2004]

Forgive my ignorance. I've seen references to them all over the place. What are disney dollars and how do you get them?

 

[jjan]

Disney dollars look like money made by Disney. They are actually like a Disney gift cert. in $1, $5, $10 & $50 denominations that you can use all over Disney. You can get them at the Disney store at the register and at the parks. I think that you can also get them from Disney by calling, but I'm not sure how + you have to pay shipping. HTH They are really cute and neat to give to kids.

 

[J and R's mom]

DH and I took our then 5 and 8 year old niece and nephew (and family) to WDW in 2001. We wanted to surprise the kids the day of (or night before) the trip, but couldn't keep it a secret any longer and told them over Thanksgiving (which was about three weeks before the trip). I'm so glad that we did! They had three weeks to be excited about and to anticipate the trip.

Depending on how old your kids are, I'd recommend telling them a few weeks earlyso that they can get excited about it and you all can go over the web pages together or watch the WDW vacation DVD that WDW sends out. If they're really young, telling them too early can drive you nuts (When are we going? How much longer? Are we there yet?). But waiting until the day of might not give them quite enough time to digest what's going on and take some of the excitement out of it.

 

[Christy]

We surprised our DDs (5 & turing 8 on the trip) in the morning as we were waking up to go to WDW! It was fantastic and all worked out well. I had everything all set and had written out a basic itinerary for my oldest DD to read. We had all sorts of Disney-themed goodies (shirts, books, playing cards, etc.) for them to check out and have for the plane ride. Prior to the trip, we often spoke of "someday when we go to Disney..." so they sort of planned ahead of time without really knowing they were!

 

[powellrj]

my kids enjoy helping to plan our trips that we always tell them ahead of time that we are going. Many times the things WE think they want to do are different than what they really want to do. I would hate to have them miss the fun of helping to plan the trip and give their input.

 

[pinkdiamonds1007]

When my sister and I were like 8 and 11 my parents surprised us with a Disney trip. And we LOVED it at that age, and everything worked out well. But I would think for kids under like 7, they may need the preperation for the parks first, so they won't be scared once they arrive. Plus, like another poster said..I enjoy involving my daughter in the planning.

 

[Carolinagirl1063]

I have done it both ways and my daughter is 4. In Feb. we told her about 3 weeks ahead of time and she just about drove us crazy. When I planned our May trip, her teacher begged me not to tell her too far in advance since she had drove her crazy too. So I told her 1 day before we left. She was still excited but we didn't have to hear it 100 time a day for weeks.

 

[princess lovers mom]

we just did a totally surprise trip in April...girls didn't know until we got to the Poly desk where we were going...it was the best thing I have ever done and they love telling the story...they had just been Oct 2003 and enjoyed planning that trip with me...if it is their 1st trip I would recommend telling them but make that a fun thing/surprise ahead of time..if they have been before I would really recommend trying to pull off a surprise...it adds another element of memories to the trip!!

 

[DisneyArk]

We've never surprised our sons and always told them while we were planning the trip. But next time I would like to surprise them 1 or 2 weeks out. We always make a paper chain to count down the days until our trip.

Our neighbors just told their kids they are going to WDW in 2 weeks. The kids are so excited and really enjoy telling their friends.

My ds7 does not handle change well and would not like to wake up and find out he was going to WDW. He needs time to adjust to the idea. I know, it's strange...

 

[TwinMom7]

We did this about 5 years ago, and it was the greatest surprise I've ever pulled off as a parent. Our two youngest were 12 and 8 at the time.

DH and I had the trip planned for months - just the two of us. A few weeks before leaving, he found out he had won a trip to the Virgin Islands through work for later in the fall, and then we started feeling REALLY guilty.

So, we decided to buy two more airline tickets and take the kids with us. They were under the assumption that they were staying with their older sister for the week, so they were packing right along with us. It was easy to trick them!! I ended up packing a backpack for them with goodies for the flight, along with another suitcase of extra clothes. I bought them some new clothes, but they just figured that they were for the upcoming school year. TOTALLY CLUELESS!!!

Our oldest daughter called them the day before and finished setting them up for the fall. She told them that her and her husband would take them to Six Flags Great America for the day, so they would have to get up really early and ride along to drop mom and dad at the airport, and then they'd be on their way to Chicago. Of course - they fell for it!

We arrived at the airport, they jumped out to kiss us goodbye and fight over who was going to ride in the front seat. That's when I knew we had them!

I told them to give their sister a kiss and tell her goodbye. They looked at us kind of confused. I then told them that they needed to kiss her goodbye, because they were going with us. The looks on those two faces is something I'll never forget - shock and then some major excitement. It was the BEST day!!!!!

 

[jjan]

TwinMom7... I just had to say that I loved your story. I am doing something like that in 3 weeks and I can't wait. Also... your picture has me in tears. I'm glad that your son is safe and sound and I personally am so grateful to him and all of the other men and women in the armed forces. Bless you all

 

[TwinMom7]

TwinMom7... I just had to say that I loved your story. I am doing something like that in 3 weeks and I can't wait. Also... your picture has me in tears. I'm glad that your son is safe and sound and I personally am so grateful to him and all of the other men and women in the armed forces. Bless you all

Thanks Julie!

That photo was taken 2 years ago this coming weekend. Has it really been that long????

Our son was sent to Kuwait in January of 2003 and into Iraq as the war began in March of 2003. Luckily, he was only gone 6 months - and this photo represents the greatest day of my life.

 

[rt2dz]

We've done it both ways and I say surprise them, surprise them, SURPRISE THEM!!!!!!!!

It keeps way the how much longer questions/whines. They are in such shock when they get there, there isn't as much give me's and I want's.

It is just so much more magical. You can still do all the preps--just mail in advance to the resort. Have it in a smaller box wrapped up from a character (if they're young enough). Plus, you get much more "cool parent" awards.

 

[disneykid1961]

We went the surprise route also for our DS (7) and DD (3). One reason was we were taking him out of school for 3 days (best decision becuase there were no crowds, we just got back 10 days ago!). We didn't want him bragging to his friends. We cleared it with teacher, who was very supportive BTW, and showed up at school when the bell rang. He normally goes to an after-school program, so he was so excited just to see us with the biggest grins on! Drove to pick up Grandma and DD, and headed to the airport under the premise that Grandma was going somewhere. When we got to the airport, we got out and not Grandma, and that's when we shared our surprise. He didn't jump up and down, I think he was just letting his brain figure it all out. A few nights earlier, he had told my husband he wanted to go to WDW soooo badly...so we told him we thought about it and decided to go.

We really decided not to tell partly because of the school friend issue...and as time passed it did become easier to keep the secret. I was bursting at the seams!!! Every night they look at the pictures and autograph books and talk about Mom and Dad's surprise for them. It worked out well for us. Whatever you do, try and savor their wide eyes at everything they see. I've never seen such smiles before...Tearing up while I write remembering it all.
Enjoy!

 

[GoingtoDisney]

We surprised our kids last week and it was the greatest thing! Even though two people kind of slipped the day before, they still had NO idea. We had to leave for Chicago by 7 am so we started getting them up around 6:15, even moved my son's alarm clock up so he thought he was getting up for school. My dh had made little cards for each of them on the computer and they were on the kitchen table with a stuffed minnie and mickey. My son read them and he really couldn't believe it. It wasn't until we were in the car 45 mintues later that they got it. They kept saying we can't believe we are going to Disney World right now!

Another part of the surprise was that my parents were coming along. They came in on another flight and got to the hotel before us. We had arranged for connecting rooms. We got to our room and our kids were checking things out and opened the first connecting door wondering what it was. A few minutes later my dad knocked on the other door. My son opened it and dad popped out. The looks on our kids' faces were priceless!!

 

[tlbwriter]

I'm dealing with this decision right now. We're going with my SIL's family, and she and her husband want to surprise their kids. I really *don't* want to surprise DD - she loves looking forward to things - but I don't see any way to tell her and expect her not to spill the beans.

 

[Disney Ella]

I have read some of the surprise threads to my kids before and asked them if they would ever want to be surprised and they said yes. So this year, the trip is a surprise. After the last trip, we told them it would be a while until we could go again, but I've managed to convince DH that we need to go on a WDW trip.

Whenever I want to find out what my kids would prefer to do, I tell them that someone on the boards who has a kids about their age is asking questions and ask them what they would advise this family. It's been a little hard because DH doesn't get quite as excited about trip planning as the kids and I do, so we'll see if I'm able to actually keep it a secret.

 

[dsnymomof4]

Personally, I think that planning and aniticipating your Disney trip is half the fun! We constantly talk about our trip - what rides we'll go on first, where we'll eat, what parades to see, etc. My daughter's favorite book to read is the Birnbaum for Kids. She could tell you more than I could about some of the attractions (she's 8)! Anyway, they have been getting Disney Dollars for Christmas, birthdays, any occassion to save up for souveniers. I guess I can also see the fun of surprising them, but I like that they're involved in the whole planning experience.