To Surprise or not to Surprise...anyone liked to be surprised by which resort

[Ladyhawke10]

I'm someone who does not like surprises--however, I'm wondering if it'd be fun to surprise my son with a WDW resort stay. I don't want to lie in anyway, of course, but I'm wondering how fun it is to keep a secret about which resort so I can surprise him with one of his favorites.

Does this ruin anticipation, or would his imagination run so wild that'd he'll be unsatisfied in some way with anything it'd turn out to be? Or it is the best fun ever?

His favorite is AKL, but he also votes frequently for the Poly (purpose: volcano slide) and the BC (pirate ship slide).

Any thoughts, previous experiences?

 

[Cinderella2004]

How old is your son???

We surprised DD, 7 this past June. I don't think I would do it again. She was definitely happy, after she got done crying about the fact that we weren't actually headed to the zoo .

I think at her age, she was more overwhelmed. Also, she is GREAT at helping me plan our trips, I missed sharing that with her.

Hmmmm, as far as a resort??? I see your point with the imagination running wild.....also, what if he thinks it's going to be one and is disappointed? I'd say if you are going to surprise him, then totally surprise, so he doesn't have time to build it into something it's not!!

 

[safetymom]

For my kids the anticipation was always fun. They got to help plan and we had many great discussions about what we would do at the resort.

 

[jjohnson]

Depends on the child. My 3 do not like surprises & had a great time planning our trip last summer. They were completely involved in choosing the resort. I did upgrade 2 weeks before our arrival to concierge & kept that a secret.

 

[liamsaunt]

I surprised my DH last December. He was in Orlando for business and at the end of his work I flew down to meet him so we could spend a few days at Disney. We had originally planned to stay at POR, but I secretly switched us to the Boardwalk. He was not paying attention to the road signs, so did not catch on until I drove into the Boardwalk driveway! He was really happy. The Boardwalk was so relaxing, and I think quieter than POR would have been (it was pop warner week). He was able to wind down from work quickly, and we had a great trip.

 

[Ladyhawke10]

My son is six, but if I surprise my mother, too--she is 57

 

[3for Me]

I can SO relate to Cinderella2004. We tried the surprise thing one time, and my oldest (who was also 7 at the time - maybe it's the age ) got furious and said we had "lied" to her! She still brings it up!

That said, I am determined to surprise them again one day!

I know this has not helped with your decision, but that's my story.

 

[DreaminDisney]

I think the anticipation and planning a trip is almost as much fun as the actual trip My kids are 8 & 5 and I know they're having fun helping me plan it all.

 

[daughertyk]

We have plans to surprise our 10 and 7 year olds for Thanksgiving, it's their first time to go. I never thought about it being a bad thing.

 

[califred]

My son is a lot like me and does not deal well with suprises. I hate surprises, I like to know what's going on.

My son knows we're going to DW but does not know that half way through we're switching to AKL, I think he can handle that. I know he'd not be able to deal with a complete surprise trip.

 

[ChristyJ]

We surprised our 2 DDs (5 & 8 at the time) and it went very well! I was hesitant at first-I thought my 8DD would be worried about missing school & the logistics of things (just the way she is...), but I wrote out a basic itineray that she could refer to and had other info. for her to read on the plane. It was the one thing my husband really cared about regarding the planning of our whole trip, so I gave in. Next time will not be a surprise because they already know we have it booked, but I'll never regret surprising them the first time!! We video taped telling them-it still makes me tear up when we watch it!!

You know your children best-if you don't think it's a good idea, don't do it. Some parents tell the night before-I thought that was silly in a way because then your child would be up all night from the excitement of it all! LOL!!

Good luck and ENJOY!!

 

[Shadoe1031]

My bf surprised me for my 24th birthday. He pasted three envelopes inside of a dryer box and then filled the box with shredded paper. I was sitting in a pile of shredded paper learning that I would be leaving within the next twenty-four hours for a week at WDW.

It was the best thing ever! Surprises are fantastic.

 

[GuardMusic]

I too surprised my mother (late 50s), which is completely different that a child! She thought she was going with me on a business trip that had a stop-over in Orlando (God, forgive me for that lie!). She didn't know until we were at baggage claim and the photos of her face were priceless!

My friend picked us up and all she did was stare out the car windows on the way to WDW. Did I mention this had been our first on-property stay? It was awesome, but she doesn't remember the first 24 hrs. as she was in shock!

Since then we all get tons of excitement for the planning aspects. Would this be your child or just bugging you with "Is it time yet?"

Good luck!
Gayle