Tell them or surprise trip?

[mrsannb]

I just booked our vacation today.
I'm wondering...do we tell the kids, or not?!
I'm not that good at keeping stuff like this to myself. But I can see how it would be good. They'd be so surprised, and if we didn't tell them, they'd sleep a lot better the night before and then not be so crabby the first two days. (we have gone fairly recently, so it's not HUGE HUGE, but a big surprise)
I guess I could tell them we're going, but not tell them when. Tell them some morning they'll wake up and we'll be going.

What do you think? Which have you tried and how did it go?

 

[MrsBanks]

I've done it 3 ways -

1st - telling them, knowing they enjoy the planning as much as I do. I think they had built the trip up so much in their minds they became over excited and drove me crazy. We had a horrible first 4 days.

2nd - telling them the day before - HUGH mistake, as you can imagine there were a million questions and no one could sleep that night.

3rd - waking them up at 3AM and saying "do you want to go to Magic Kingdom or Epcot today?" - this worked the best since there was no anticipation or expectations.

I'll be using #3 again in November.

Good luck with whatever you decide.

 

[jmamom24]

Our children were 11, 13 and 15 1/2. They had never been to Disney, but I was able to plan EVERYTHING without them! We told their teachers 6 months ahead of time, we arranged for the dogs to be "at the vet" for routine shots, we packed their suitcases (even with their favorite clothes, but the didn't even notice), and we let them go to bed.....

Then at 3am, my husband set off the fire alarm from the Family room (which causes all of them to go off), I got my oldest to help me gather the younger two, and when we got downstairs to the meeting place, my husband turned on the light - and we yelled "SURPRISE" - you're going to DISNEYWORLD!!!!! They had 20 minutes to get dressed, gather anything they wanted to take on the plane and we were LEAVING!!!!

To this day, it was the best thing we ever did!!!!! We spent 9 days in Old Key West going to all of the Disney Resorts and became DVC members then too!

 

[mrsannb]

DH had the idea to tell them we're going to visit grandma and grandpa (because they are going with us this time!)

 

[princess&her4princes]

My vote it to surprise them....that way you can just plan all the fun, pack when you have the time and not have them asking you every other day when the trip is. We surprised our boys last year for the first trip and it was the best!! They didn't know where we were going until we were on the plane and it was great. We packed the car the night before and told them to sleep well beacuse we have an adventure to go on the next morning...they went RIGHT to sleep and were ready the next morning bright and early when we woke them. IT was great!!! This year they know we're going and even though it's exciting, it was more fun to have them surprised last year. Have fun!!!

 

[Kickapoo Joie Juice]

I just booked our vacation today.
I'm wondering...do we tell the kids, or not?!
I'm not that good at keeping stuff like this to myself. But I can see how it would be good. They'd be so surprised, and if we didn't tell them, they'd sleep a lot better the night before and then not be so crabby the first two days. (we have gone fairly recently, so it's not HUGE HUGE, but a big surprise)
I guess I could tell them we're going, but not tell them when. Tell them some morning they'll wake up and we'll be going.

What do you think? Which have you tried and how did it go?

We've done it both ways; surprised the kids and let them help plan. We found that they enjoyed the buildup and the planning almost as much as the going-they said they felt a little "gypped" on the surprise trips because they didn't get to enjoy being excited before we left. And we've been 46 times, and only surprised them 2x. We've found that sharing the enjoyment and anticipation before we leave as a family by watching disney shows that we've tivo'ed, listening to the disradio over breakfast on the weekends, and talking about what we'd like to do and see is almost as enjoyable as the trip itself...

 

[mbethel]

We've been debating when to tell our DD4. At the latest we'll tell her Sunday which is only 2 days prior. We might tell her tonight, 5 days is one hand-that usually excites her. She absolutely loves to help pack her bag for the airplane anytime we go on a trip.

 

[liznboys]

We've done it both ways. Most trips we've taken they knew about it well in advance and helped with the planning and all. But two trips which were planned more last minute and were sort of "bonus" trips, we decided to surprise them. It was really fun, they were so excited!!

If this was someones "once in a lifetime" trip then I wouldn't do the surprise thing, but if you've been before and know you'll be going again, I'd say do the surprise thing just for fun at least one time. Good luck!

 

[imthatgirl]

we like to tell our kids. we love immersing our selves in the planning and preparing. which we wouldnt be able to do if the kids didnt know.
we love countdown calenders, picking restaurants, making spread sheets, eating mickey pancakes everyday for the week before we go, watching our trip planning videos.....etc..etc..etc..

for me, i just couldnt give all that up. plus i really think they enjoy all of that too. it makes the trip last a lot longer.

 

[FLAngie]

I vote for surprise them too! But if it were me I would have a really hard time keeping the secrete from them until Nov.

 

[tripplanner]

My vote is tell them. My kids are like me and really get a lot of pleasure out of planning our trip. We talk about it when we take walks or around the dinner table. We all like to anticipate the trip. I would really hate for us all to miss out on that part.

Now to change gears a bit, I do have a fond memory of getting a call from my dad on the day before Thanksgiving break when I was in college telling me to hurry up and get home because we were "heading to Disney World". I was soo excited, it was a spur of the moment trip that I will never forget.

 

[3smithboys]

Last Christmas we planned a scavenger hunt with clues that the kids had to find. All of the clues were Disney related and also led them to the next clue. At the end there was a big box with presents for the plane and a big sign that said "We're going to Disney World!" It was such an awesome surprise, and we had the best time. - so good that we're going back this Winter Break and next Winter Break.... I think I see a trend starting!

 

[princesspiglet]

Our last trip on DD's 4th birthday we told her because I wanted ideas on what she wanted to do since it was her trip.

We are going in Feb 09 and she has no idea. She will be 6. I mention things about "our next trip" and we talk about what she would like to do and eat, but we have never set an actual date. She keeps asking when we are going back and I give my standard aswer of, "I don't know yet, hopefully soon." That appeases her.

This trip we are totally suprising her by packing everything up the night before and loading the car up, except for Daddy's suitcase. Daddy travels alot to Orlando for business and we are going to pretend it is another business trip for him. We always take him to the airport so we can watch his plane take off and wave, so this time we will proceed with that plan and once we park at the airport, we will ask her to help Daddy get his bag out of the trunk (like always) and once she opens the trunk we will have a big sign reading "We're ALL going to Disney World this trip!"

DH and I can't wait to suprise her. I think we are more excited for the suprise then the actual trip! I know she will be totally psyched.