To Surprise or Not Surprise?

[merdie]

We are heading back to WDW in February!! We've taken ODD once, when she was 2.5 and she remembers a bit about Disney and of course, is Disney obsessed these days.

My big question is whether or not to surprise her with this trip. It would probably be an airport surprise if we went this route because she thinks all airplanes go to Disney World. I am not telling her yet, since it's still so far out but I wanted to see which you all think is better for a 4.5 year old. I think it'd be fun to give this to her at Christmas and have a countdown but is it better as a complete surprise or is it too overwhelming?

Another element is my parents are coming along and we are meeting up in Orlando at the airport. That could definitely be a surprise and she'd be so excited!

Give me the pros and cons!

 

[Superchikk]

We are taking our just-turned 6 year-old and 2.5 year-old next week. We decided NOT to surprise. It's been so much fun to countdown together and prepare for the trip. We've had Disney movie nights, talked about things we'll see at the parks, watched YouTube videos of rides and meet & greets, and watched documentaries (like Modern Marvels) about Disney World and how the parks were built, etc. We've had so much fun with it that I'm glad we decided not to surprise them about the trip. Plus, it would've been SO hard!

We will still have lots of surprises - I've bought the kids autograph books and t-shirts that will be surprises while we're there.

There is definitely something to be said for a surprise trip, but planning together has been super fun for us.

I think your idea of surprising her at Christmas is perfect. Not too long to wait, but long enough to build anticipation. You could still surprise her with the grandparents at the airport in Orlando.

 

[kimnmiah]

We are kind of doing both. My kids dd5(has been 3x) and ds(has been twice) thinks we are planning a trip for next year.

We are planning a trip for next year but in actuality we also leave next week for a surprise trip. I have been casually mentioning things to make sure she won't freak out since she just started kindergarten and is really excited about her new friends

We plan to pick her up from school next Friday with a packed car and just casually ask if she wants to go somewhere for the weekend. That's when we will tell her we are going.

 

[Krobo1211]

We took our first Disney trip in May and pulled off a huge surprise for ds who's 5. It was great I had his bag packed with all his Disney gear and the look on his face was priceless. Plus my son if I told him today he would drive me bananas until trip day. Lol it truly was awesome to pull off the surprise.

 

[vivianmarie244]

We are kind of doing both. My kids dd5(has been 3x) and ds(has been twice) thinks we are planning a trip for next year.

We are planning a trip for next year but in actuality we also leave next week for a surprise trip. I have been casually mentioning things to make sure she won't freak out since she just started kindergarten and is really excited about her new friends

We plan to pick her up from school next Friday with a packed car and just casually ask if she wants to go somewhere for the weekend. That's when we will tell her we are going.

PLEASE let me know how that goes!!!! We are doing the exact same thing. We've told the kids that we can't go until next year so that they can help plan but we are actually leaving in three weeks. I can't wait!!!!

 

[Alexle2007]

My DS6 and I have been waiting forever for my DH to agree to go on DCL. He finally agreed and we are surprising DS with it leaving on 10/4. We are taking a late night out on Fri.So I'll have the SUV all packed and ready to go for when we pick him up from school. We're staying at the Hyatt that night so I am hoping he doesn't figure out until the the next morning when we take the DCL shuttle to the port. At least, this our current plan. Hoping DS doesn't figure it out since he casually asked at Hersheypark on Sun if Santa Claus was real. Who knows why he was thinking about that.

 

[eyeblaura]

We are taking our girls for their first trip in 3 weeks. They are 6 and 3. We went back and forth on whether to surprise them or not. We kept it a secret until about 3 weeks ago when we did a scavenger hunt to tell them. I am glad we did.

My oldest has loved counting down the days, looking at the book and maps etc. and it has given us the opportunity to talk to my youngest about it too. They are excited and the anticipation has been building which is fun too.

 

[navywifetill2002]

My DD4 is a huge planner and doesn't do well with surprises. We have fun watching videos and looking at maps and menus together. I think a lot depends on how your kids do with changes and surprises in general.

 

[Coconuts]

We have done both. My children definitely prefer being surprised. They actually got mad at us when we told them about a few trips. Unfortunately for this trip we had to tell them for various reasons but they are a little excited and keep asking to see my ticker!

We did the Christmas gift thing; they followed a string through the house from under the tree to a gift box that gave them the trip info. When they figured out we weren't going to WDW there and then but in a month, they were just meh.

We did 2 early morning wakeups to take them to the airport but they were so sleepy it didn't really kick in for an hour or so.

Our 2 best reveals were this:

1) We picked them up @ 1pm from school for a "dentist appointment" and stopped home to brush their teeth. DH was waiting inside the door with a camera and all the suitcases with their Mickey ears on them. They went wild! We drove right to the airport.

2) We told them our summer vacation was at Niagara Falls and were going to drive up through NYC and sightsee for the day, probably going to the Statue of Liberty. When we got to the dock/parking lot, they kept commenting on all of the cruise ships there. We told them that the ferry is right along side them. Then we pulled up to the DCL terminal and told them we were there! And we didn't totally lie; the ship went right past the Statue of Liberty!

Good luck and my vote is for surprise!

 

[southernprincess1]

We've done both. Our boys first trip we told them, but they didn't fully comprehend what a trip to Disney meant. The following year we surprised them. We did a countdown chain but only told them we were counting down to a big surprise. Then we told them we were just going to Florida. We drove into Downtown Disney and they saw the Mickey buses.

Our sons have told us that they don't want to be surprised again, but we are. If I told them about our upcoming trip they would drive me crazy talking about it.

We are going to pick them up early at school. Our plan is to meet them in the hallway on their way to lunch. We'll have a big sign that says "We're going to Disney!" I think they'll be so excited that they won't care that we didn't tell them.

 

[cktrotter]

We planned with them when they were almost 5 & 2 because they didn't know about Disney. This time we are surprising them since they will be 9 & 6 right before our trip. Wow, that was a quick 4 years, too quick. We cannot wait to see their faces!!

 

[TwinkleKS]

#1 I get too excited and can't keep my mouth shut, so my kids always know

#2 I like to get my kids "prepared" for the trip to the airport (four hours and an overnight stay), the flight (two flights of around 2 hours each), etc.

#3 There is a part of me that would still love to try to surprise them, but I'm just worried with their personalities it wouldn't work.

 

[Darcy03231]

I took my niece when she was 4, almost 5 and we told her a week before the trip (although it had been planned for about 7 months). It was enough time for her to have a mini-countdown, but not too long so she drove us all crazy. We had plenty of surprises while we were there, so the trip itself not being a surprise was a non-issue.

You know your child. How does she do with surprises and a change in her routine? Some kids are fine with it and others aren't. DD likes her routine (even now at 22) and a surprise trip would have freaked her out. DS rolls with anything and would have been fine with a surprise trip.

 

[wed100105]

I don't remember how we did the first two, but last year we made a countdown chain and gave it to them for Christmas. They didn't really get it and it was a huge let down for me! I am afraid that if I try to do a surprise trip someone will spill the beans first!

 

[cheshireqt]

We are taking our just-turned 6 year-old and 2.5 year-old next week. We decided NOT to surprise. It's been so much fun to countdown together and prepare for the trip. We've had Disney movie nights, talked about things we'll see at the parks, watched YouTube videos of rides and meet & greets, and watched documentaries (like Modern Marvels) about Disney World and how the parks were built, etc. We've had so much fun with it that I'm glad we decided not to surprise them about the trip. Plus, it would've been SO hard!

We will still have lots of surprises - I've bought the kids autograph books and t-shirts that will be surprises while we're there.

There is definitely something to be said for a surprise trip, but planning together has been super fun for us.

I think your idea of surprising her at Christmas is perfect. Not too long to wait, but long enough to build anticipation. You could still surprise her with the grandparents at the airport in Orlando.

We are the same, I like the kids excitement to build and for them to help pick the hotel. Also there is homework involved before we take a trip.
In preparation for the trip for a few months prior:
--We watch disney movies probably 3 times a week until all the main ones have been rewatched, then we start watching the Mickey/Goofy/Donald DVDs.
--We play the disney trivia game on dvd on Friday family night.
--Friday nights are also usually the non animated nights (Pirates, Swiss Family Robinson, Honey I shrunk the kids, etc) (Sat night or other nights during the week are Sleeping Beauty, PeterPan, etc.)
--More than a few times leading up to the trip I pull up the hotel site and we re-look at the pool, rooms, dining.
--We watch the planning DvD a few times (the portion featuring the rides)
--I regale them all at supper time with interesting tidbits, trivia and things that will be new to us, such as taking the friendship boat to DTD from POFQ. For first trip I got most of the trivia from Unofficial guide to Disney, for our second trip I got the trivia from threads on the Disboard, plus there was a modern marvels episode that featured disney. For our third trip I had a book of disney trivia, there was also a Samantha Brown Disney feature running in the lead up.
--For our first trip I put the kids in "training" (they were 6 and 9) we walked at least 2 miles every afternoon, to prepare for the walking at Disney. I don't think that would have worked if we were not doing it toward a shared goal.

I should add that it is not the kids DH has to worry about driving him crazy with the wait, it is me! But there is not much he can do about that.

OP - Some people really like to make the trip a surprise and take a video of it, if that is something you really want to do, then I would do it. An idea, maybe have Grandma and Grandpa greet her with a plush mickey mouse, or other favorite character, so they are not only part of the surprise, but also part of the reveal?

 

[cheshireqt]

My big question is whether or not to surprise her with this trip. It would probably be an airport surprise if we went this route because she thinks all airplanes go to Disney World. I am not telling her yet, since it's still so far out but I wanted to see which you all think is better for a 4.5 year old. I think it'd be fun to give this to her at Christmas and have a countdown but is it better as a complete surprise or is it too overwhelming?


Give me the pros and cons!

If only that were true!

 

[poohfriend77]

We did the Christmas surprise for a Feb trip our first time, and I have to say... it kind of got overshadowed by the presents they could open and play with NOW. It's kind of an abstract gift, especially if the kids haven't been before (or don't remember).

For our next Feb trip, we told the kids on New Years Day. I gave them a new calendar and when they opened it up, there were Mickey heads counting down the days to our trip. That worked a little better, because there wasn't any other excitement going on.

I couldn't keep a secret until we left! Plus, we all think planning is part of the fun, so I think my kids would be really upset if we left them out (they are 10 and 8). We have told them about 6 weeks ahead of our previous trips, but I think we're going to tell them soon about our Jan trip. They ask EVERY. SINGLE. DAY. if we're planning a surprise trip. It's getting harder to keep the secret!

 

[GotLabradors]

We're still over a year out. We're not going to say anything until our reservations are set. I think when we do finally tell them, I will make a big deal about it. My husband has never been and neither have my 2 children. My family went several times when I was kid and I am really excited about sharing Disney with my kids. (Even if they did get rid of Mr. Toad's Wild Ride) I want them to help me plan out the days.

 

[Fantasmiss]

Christmas is a great idea! Counting down and looking forward to it is part of the fun!

 

[yeheyprincex2]

We will be going in November and can't say a word about going to Disney cause my 2.5 year old wants to go right then. Then I tell him we have to wait and he gets upset. Everything is a surprise for him. We don't tell him we are going anywhere or doing anything until we are there. Ahh, the life with a two year old