To suprise kids or not?

[Princess Disney Mom]

I think it is best to surprise them with a trip in an age appropriate amount of time before a trip, but before the trip day. When my kids were younger I'd tell them about the trip when I purchased airline tickets a few months before the trip. With a tot you may want to wait a bit closer to the trip. I do not think telling any kids the day of is a good thing. YouTube peoples videos of surprising their kids at the last minute, most were not happy and some said they just were not going. I would surprise my kids with an ADR they didn't know about or airline upgrade or something like that.

Waiting and planning for a trip is so much fun enjoy it.

 

[PrncessA]

I think it is best to surprise them with a trip in an age appropriate amount of time before a trip, but before the trip day. When my kids were younger I'd tell them about the trip when I purchased airline tickets a few months before the trip. With a tot you may want to wait a bit closer to the trip. I do not think telling any kids the day of is a good thing. YouTube peoples videos of surprising their kids at the last minute, most were not happy and some said they just were not going. I would surprise my kids with an ADR they didn't know about or airline upgrade or something like that.

Waiting and planning for a trip is so much fun enjoy it.

We actually did a unintentional combination. We had originally booked the trip for August, told the kids, then moved the date to June for scheduling reasons and didn't tell them until 30 minutes before we left. It let me do a bit of planning with the kids, but still surprise them day of.

We are one of those YouTube Videos, LOL

 

[sweetnjmom]

The main reason why we are not telling him until tomorrow morning (our flight is at 4 PM) is because he wakes up at 5 AM when he's excited about something. For example, my in-laws were coming for a Grandparents Day at his school and he woke up that morning at 5:25 AM all excited that Nana and Poppy were coming. This past weekend, he was in my bedroom at 6 AM because his best friend was coming for a play date that afternoon. EVERY hour he asked when his friend was coming. EVERY hour. I couldn't handle that this week... there has been too much insanity in my life lately.

 

[mi*vida*loca]

I am surprising my kids with a late September trip!! It will be my DS 12th bday. I am checking them out of school at 9:30 am and telling them we are getting away for a mom& grams weekend.. we will then go to my mom's and have the kids change out of their uniforms.. and just start driving...lol we will arrive in florida around midnight and check into a hotel off property for the night... then in the morning drive to disney and let them be surprised with the welcome to disney sign!!!

BUT since we have been before we are always talking disney in our house.. so I AM getting their input for planning, by asking WHAT IF questions...lol
Like restaurant ADRS..
What one was your favorite..
what one didn't you like
what ride do you miss the most
which one didn't you like
Those types of questions
It's very hard keeping a secret...

That's what I've done so far since I booked ADR's in February. I plan on telling them the week before I make FP+ but I've got an idea of what FP+ to do already. Just haven't booked them yet.

 

[Colleen27]

Can the older one keep a secret? We just booked a June trip, rather last minute especially for us. Originally we didn't tell DD6 because I didn't want her disappointed if it didn't work out but now I'm thinking we might just make it a surprise. But DD13, who really enjoys the planning, has been in on it from the start, even when it was just a "maybe". So she's helping pick our restaurants and rides and designing her own Magic Band (we paint them) and enjoying the anticipation without letting her little sister know what's up.

 

[bumbershoot]

When DS was very little, we used the anticipation of trips as a way to show him how time passes. Calendar countdown, clocks, those are great tools to show them, and when they are little it's a tangible way of showing them time.

As the days, weeks, and months pass, they see the countdown chain getting shorter, or the days on the calendar getting crossed off. If it's a matter of *hours*, well, there are clocks to show it. Is it easy? Nah, what the heck is *easy* about kids, right? But ultimately when they have a terrific sense of hours and months passing, and it ultimately has been fun explaining it all to them, it's fabulous.

 

[KEVD]

I vote for telling in advance The anticipation and planning adds months of fun to the trip!

 

[lasmickey]

My vote is to surprise them some what ahead of time, so that they have the benefit of both being surprised and having time to prepare/plan with you. We did this when our girls were younger and we were taking our first trip to WDW. Our oldest daughter was 8 (turning nine while we were there), and our youngest daughter was 4. We had told them we were saving our money to take the trip the following year so that we could talk about it around them without them being suspicious. Then one afternoon we surprise them with a treasure hunt that ended in them finding small backpacks filled with things such as pressed penny books, autograph books and pens, Disney dollars, etc., and a note from Mickey Mouse stating that he would see them on the dates of our vacation. We had also made a paper chain (each link had a Disney Character and a number on it) with the number of days left until we left. This really helped them to actually see how many days were left until our trip without the constant question of how much longer. Whatever you decide, I hope it works out exactly as you want, and you have a wonderful vacation!

 

[Kathryn777]

We tell ours ahead of time (8,4,2). We use a countdown chart that doubles as a way to keep track of the chore money they've earned to spend at Disney.

 

[lizard1]

I HATE surprises so I would never surprise my kids like that. The last time I was surprised was for my baby shower. I pulled into a parking lot and recognized a lot of cars and figured out what was going on. I left and almost didn't go back. I reluctantly went back, but I didn't really enjoy myself and was upset because I had my ideas of what I wanted and of course I was never consulted about them. Therefore, I would be afraid that my kids would hate the entire trip because of not being aware of it or feeling like they have any input in it. I agree with a PP who said to surprise them with a meal or experience at WDW....that way there is still some surprise, but they have time to prepare themselves for the trip.

 

[SillySallySews]

Our kids are 13, 8, 4, and 3. This is always hard for me because if I tell the younger ones too soon they drive me nuts asking if it's time yet. Charts and countdown calendars do not help. They still ask. But I like to tell the older ones far enough in advance to get their input on planning. My older ones are terrible secret keepers (and honestly, so am I). I think you have to consider your kids and how they react to things and decide how long you can handle the pre-trip craziness/questions lol.

 

[DaisyLou2]

We wanted to surprise our daughter for fear of her obsessing about it in the weeks before. She is on the Autism spectrum and is easily distracted at school etc and will obsess about something if she is super excited. We just didn't want the additional distraction for her. Though, we almost broke so many times....especially at Christmas, but decided she would really love the surprise more than the anticipation for weeks. I think we chose correctly but everyone is different and I think next time we will let her know a few weeks out because she might enjoy planning with me now that she has been there in person.

 

[mackenziefaith]

My older two (14 and 11) have been 8 times. My youngest has been once. We've always told them in advance and spent the 6+ months talking about it and planning every detail. This year, I've decided to surprise them. I already know they love Disney and I will secretly be getting them into Disney in the months leading up to the trip. We'll watch more Disney movies, watch the planning video (we get one every year so it's not out of the norm). It'll be hard for me, but well worth it.

My vote is surprise them!!!

 

[Goofy'slady]

I've never surprised my girls (16 & 9). And from the events that happened on our last trip in 2013 when my then freshly turned 8yr old had anxiety which in some cases turned into meltdowns in regards to fear over certain rides I've decided the best course of action is to always tell her in advance. Yes, part of that reason is to plan but to be honest they really don't help all that much with the planning other than "YES! we want to go back to Disney". I might get a request of a special ADR but other than that nothing. So the most important reason now is to get my youngest to wrap her mind about going on rides that she's been going on since she was 3/4 but now is all of a sudden scared out of her mind.

I've enlisted the help of YouTube videos of families with kids her age on rides that I know she's had issues with in the past and for now she's at least saying that she's gonna do way better this year than last time. I've decided if she freaks out that she'll be 10 by the time our trip rolls around in August that I will leave her somewhere close by like a shop attached to the ride itself and my oldest and I will ride the rides without her.

 

[BrerRabbit1114]

I think you should still surprise them, just not the day of. Maybe a week or two in advance. I'm 23, and one of my favorite things was knowing I was going to Disney World, and when. I love planning out the trip in advance, and thinking of all the fun things i'm going to be doing. I think everyone should have a chance to mentally prepare for Disney, no matter what age. Disney World is overwhelming enough, even with months of preparation. Regardless, i'd love to know what you decide on.

 

[Delilah1310]

For our second trip, we surprised DS who was 5 at the time.
we picked him up from school and his Mickey plush was sitting in his car seat with a note about coming to see him right now ... it was worded better than that, but that was the idea.

Our DS really couldn't wrap his head around how we could leave right that second and how we didn't have plane tickets and what about whatever his normal after school activity was. lots of questions about the logistics. Once we got there, it was a good solid 24 hours before he really got into the swing of things. I think he just needed some processing time.

For all of our other trips to WDW and DL, he has been involved in the planning and has always hit the ground running ... and like others have mentioned, although I know him well, I am still surprised at some of his must-do and can-pass choices.
The number 1 thing for next month's trip? the Chip and Dale campfire at Fort Wilderness - never would have guessed that!

 

[TXAKDisneyFan]

We tried surprising DD when she was around 4 or 5. Turns out, she doesn't get very outwardly excited about surprises. We told her at the airport and she just said "ok." Kind of anti-climactic. Some friends had a similar experience with their 7 and 5 year olds (one actually got upset that she had to ride in an airplane). DD was much more excited once we got to WDW.

This time, we told our kids about our upcoming trip a few mos ago (we're going next month). Again, DD (now 7) wasn't outwardly excited (no jumping up and down or anything), but she has expressed excitement since we told her.

We haven't specifically told DD that she's going to BBB, or dining at CRT, but I think she kind of assumes she's going to BBB (since she's gone on previous trips).

 

[Shrill]

We will be surprising our DD (7). However, we know from experience that she adores surprises and she loves being a "detective". So we will just be telling her we are going away the day before (since we will be doing park and fly at a hotel), then dropping hints via items hidden in her backpack etc and letting her gradually figure it out (no big reveal). Also, I have a friend who was planning a trip and then her daughter got a terrible ear infection and was almost unable to fly. Luckily it worked out but after that I decided that we would at least wait until a day or two before.

Editing to add that it is our first trip and she talks all the time about wanting to go, but she doesn't really know what is there other than castles, princesses and "rides" (which is the equivalent in her brain to Centreville in Toronto): so planning would be a bit beyond her anyway.

 

[chelseabun76]

I also have always wanted to surprise my kids... but we have never been able to take a full family vacation there yet. Our kids go one at a time on a special trip with Grandma (and me lol) and once it worked out that my sisters dd was turning 8 the same year (that's the magic age that she takes them and they all know this), so we went with her and my sister as well. We only have one more grandchild to get to Disney, that is my youngest and he will be 8 in 2018, so that's our next trip. I would for sure think of surprising him, he's one of those kids that asks over and over again how long and when are we going, even if it's just on a 2 hour trip to see family. lol

 

[Tod&CopperFan]

When we went on our first trip, kids were 12, 9, and 6. We told them several months in advance and they were super excited and were eager to help with planning. I did keep the resort that we were staying at (AoA) a surprise. They would ask, but I just said "it's a surprise". They had a lot of fun guessing but didn't find out until they saw the sign and they were thrilled. I thought it was a good balance of knowing in advance but still having an element of surprise.