To suprise kids or not?

[JustCallMeMommy]

Why don't you ask your kids if they prefer surprises or knowing stuff ahead of time? You can work it into another conversation. Your 10 year old, at least, probably has a preference. My kiddo likes to prepare herself, so the closest to a surprise was telling her we were going somewhere without telling her where. Since I already had another trip planned that she knew about, I was able to get her planning input under the guise of that trip.

 

[Chitownpeeps91]

I would not surprise them.

 

[Shaden]

To me part of the fun is the lead up to the trip, and while I think a surprise would be awesome in some ways I think the lead up and excitement about the vacation is even more fun.

 

[Anesthesia Fine]

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.

Oh, that's a great idea. I'm planning a birthday trip with my oldest in a year or two and she gets a lot of say in what we're going to do, but I was thinking about surprising her with something like a KTTK tour or the Wishes Dessert Party.

 

[TB'sWidow]

Our first trip in 1996 Dh & I surprised our then 12yr Dd & 7yr Ds they thought we were going to the beach and we stopped at the restaurant to tell them, Dd response was tears of joy Ds flat out refused to go he still wanted to go the beach I have him on tape shaking his head saying he wasn't going. Dh & I were flabbergasted at his response but as parents we try to make it better an took him to Daytona for half a day. In 2012 I surprised my second Dd who was turning 12 with a trip with just her and I and her beloved Aunt who met us there and opened the Contemporary room door it was priceless and went off great. Now to this year my Dd who was 12 on that first trip is planning to surprise my grandchildren with a trip this Nov but she remembers how her brother reacted and she is kind of nervous on their reaction LOl. So I say it a toss up

 

[Mainemama]

We have surprised kids by revealing on Christmas or a birthday, around 40 days before a trip. We get the joy of the surprise, they get to plan. I also rely on my older 2 to give preferences for planning ADRs and FPs. If you don't have a convenient holiday prior, you could always just make a fun treasure map or scavenger hunt in advance. Or maybe come up with a reason to celebrate your 5 year old's birthday a bit early... Reveal ahead of time.

 

[Disneytwinsmom]

So we are actually surprising our twins with the trip by doing a scavenger hunt this Thursday ! But we aren't going until Thursday. We have always just told them in the past, but decided to surprise them this year because we hadn't plan on going this year because we have two other vacations planned for 2015.

We like for them to know ahead of time. We have a countdown and of course they love to help with fast pass and dining selections. Mickey leaves little treasures at our door step once a month on the day that we are going. So in other words on the 14th of the month this time. Just little stuff like coloring books for the plane ride, or a new t shirt, etc. they really get into it. Then we also one night a month have family disney movie night and we all wear our disney pjs,eat popcorn out of our Mickey bowl and use of refillable mugs from the resort. We also at dinner time every now and then we ask Disney questions such as " what do you think Goofy is doing right now?" Or " what's your favorite ride at Magic Kingdom?" And we go around the table and answer.

So in other words I'm all for telling them ahead of time!

 

[Rachel In Red]

I think that the anticipation is as fun as the actual trip. You rob them of that when you spring it on them at the last minute.

Agreed.

 

[disneymom06]

I would tell the children. We have been to Disney many times. I decided to surprise them one year. Quite some time later during one of our conversations about disney during dinner, all four children did not like being surprised. They did enjoy the trip but felt like it was rushed upon them and they couldn't prepare for it.

Let your children enjoy in the planning!

 

[WriterGina]

We did a big DW trip this spring break (just back last weekend), and the kids were totally in on the trip and the planning from the get-go. We had a blast. But they are good with and like surprises, so I've decided to surprise them with a short DW trip in September over a school holiday (they have Monday off and we're playing hooky on Tuesday). They keep saying how much they want to go back to Disney, and I smile and say, "Well, maybe in a couple of years we can go again..." We don't usually go away at all on this long weekend, so they're not going to be expecting one thing and getting another, and they already had the fun of planning one long Disney trip this year. The biggest surprise will be that we're staying at the Poly!

 

[cuechik]

I've seen videos on youtube where the parents tell their kids their going to Disney in advance, but still manage to make it a surprise... like telling them they have a surprise and sending them on a scavenger hunt through the house for clues about what the surprise is. That way.. you get the excitement of surprising them, but still enough in advance where they get to help with planning (if that makes sense). you could also create some sort of countdown calender so that each day, they can check to see how many days are left before the trip - helps with all the 'Mommy, how many days until we see Mickey Mouse?" lol

 

[WillAustin]

We've done it both ways. Twice we surprised our kids. One time was great and the other one our daughter got upset because she couldn't tell our pets goodbye.

Watch the first 30 seconds of this:

. Very funny video of our reveal.

 

[whatname]

I'm another vote for telling them. We were going to surprise dd9 and dd11 with our trip in August It was getting too hard to keep it a secret and I wanted to know what FP they wanted and somethings they may want to do. I went back and forth about it for a while but we did tell them. I'm glad we did. The anticipation is part of the fun. Plus, there are some things they want to do/see that I didn't realize. They have been researching and help plan. The lead up is part of the whole experience.

 

[mi*vida*loca]

Since surprising my kids in 2011 they said they want to be surprised for all future trips.

I can't do the morning of again. Too stressful and too much work. Trying to hide packing, etc.

This time I think 60 days is a good compromise.

 

[xlxo]

I vote for last minute.... the less people know about you being away on vacation.... the less likely a burgler will visit.

 

[cemeb4dk]

We are like a lot of you folks. We are DVC members so we have been on a lot of Disney Trips. My DD9 has known about all of them except 1. it was just after she started kindergarten, we woke her up for school, we had made a whole dvd of commercials, and her mickey mouse clubhouse show and then mom and dad appeared mid cartoon and surprised her. She cried so hard and was so upset because she was going to miss school, needless to say we were heartbroken because we built it up so much and held the secret so long. So other than that trip, she has always been in the planning, from countdown calenders to picking magic bands and everything else involved. So this year she knows we are not going to WDW because we have other trips planned. But my wife and I were able to plan a week in October. So as of right now we have not told her, and are thinking of surprising her again by picking her up half way thru the school day and heading to the airport. She is older now and we think we will get the reaction we wanted 4 years ago. LOL. The hardest part of keeping it a secret is I miss my planning buddy and trip talks, I still try and talk trips but can't be to revealing. So hopefully it will stay a secret but Oct is still a long time away.

 

[MmmSuite]

I was going to surprise my kids. I've been asking what if and favorite questions since the trip and planning around their input.

Now, I'm going to tell them about a week before they leave! I'm going to put up the decorations we used in the room at Disney and let them come home to Mickey treats and the MBs wrapped in a box!

Then they get a week of excitement and a surprise!

 

[sdsatl]

So I'm curious how did other people's experiences with suprising their children turn out?

We surprised our kids, and it turned out great! Things that helped, I think, were that we were counting down to a surprise for about a month (so it wasn't sprung on them), and we told them the day before we left. My husband wanted to tell them when we got there, but I watched too many videos of kids crying to agree to that. They had that day before to get excited, help pack, tell their grandparents (who already knew), etc. During the countdown time, we'd also watched videos of the rides and character meals with them and asked them what they wanted to do when they got to go to Disney "one day", so it was kind of like they helped plan it (they really did, too -- I had no idea character greets, parades, etc. would be so important and ended up rearranging our ride-heavy plans).

So I recommend the surprise route, with the caveat that you stealthily talk to them about the trip and possibly give them a little more notice than the day of. I can't imagine telling a five-year-old too far in advance, though; I would go crazy counting down even 60 "sleeps".

Let us know what you decide/how it goes!

 

[kathy884]

I think parents like to do surprises in hopes of seeing a reaction of pure joy and delight in their children. If this is what you are looking for and think a surprise is something you're kids will love, by all means go for it. I know some parents who have done this, and it's a super fond memory for both parents and children that lasts a lifetime. Not everyone in the world, however, likes surprises though, so you need to be prepared for that.

Now me, I've never considered surprising my son, but so much of that is due to how much fun I have doing the vacation planning with him. It's just such a great activity to do together. Also, I'm also a person who personally doesn't like last minute surprises, so planning one myself would be a big paradigm shift for me.

Here's sort of what goes on in my head with the kind of surprise you are talking about: If I was anticipating something else and all of a sudden this is what we are doing, it's a "curve ball" for me that hits me in the face. And instead of being excited going some place I really love, I think about how that's messing up the other plans I have and feel sort of bummed that I'm not going to be doing the other things I was looking forward too. And then on top of all that I feel bad about my reaction as it's a disappointment to the people who are surprising me who I care about deeply and had such good intensions. Anyone else ever feel like that? -- include me in the planning, give me some say, and it's so much better for me and I'm so much happier.

 

[mouseearstx]

Thank you everyone for your thoughts and experiences! We've decided to let DS know, it is very hard to keep a secreat from him anyway, he's super nosey! LOL! When my DD begins talking about all of her birthday plans, which she likes to do, we'll most likely tell her.