To surprise or not to surprise that is the question?

[2Tiggies]

I think I have sent her 1 bouquet of flowers in the 25 years we have been together

And you own a florist?! No offence Wayne, but this statement is worthy of a thread of its own on the Community Board

 

[disneyholic family]

And you own a florist?! No offence Wayne, but this statement is worthy of a thread of its own on the Community Board

 

[2Tiggies]

Beth, this is the second time in a week you have posted that lmao smiley under one of my statements. I do wish you people would take me seriously

 

[wayneg]

And you own a florist?! No offence Wayne, but this statement is worthy of a thread of its own on the Community Board

I bring flowers home many weekends but only remember paying to have 1 bouquet delivered to her at work.

 

[buzz for boys]

Thanks all for the opinions and thoughts.
Lee thanks for taking the time to tell it from your experience.

For us the distinct postive to keeping the trip secret is that there is less pressure if anything happens with Cam that means we cant go. When we cancelled in Dec 2009 the kids were so disappointed it was awful!!!

I know the kids will never in a million years guess that we are going back as we have never managed to return so quickly so all disney talk has stopped until jan next year when they believe we will start to look into as we will have half saved for it !

Negatives would be Im not sure how they will like it that they have been duped for so long!!

I would have to keep it secret from everyone because my entire family cant keep a secret for toffee! So that means boring u guys silly with my excitemet *** noone else will know

I also think that so far since bookig it doest seem real because the kids are not in on it !!

We have however decided that for now we are going to go with the surprise idea!! If things change we will reassess if needed!!
The worst that can happen is we spring a surprise - Kids h8 it that they were not told and then they enjoy a holiday and foret all abot not knowing anyway !!

louise x

 

[2Tiggies]

I bring flowers home many weekends but only remember paying to have 1 bouquet delivered to her at work.

But Wayne, if you don't like surprises you can always just tell her every day for a month "On the 27th I am sending you flowers." Then you don't have to worry about it being a surprise

 

[2Tiggies]

For us the distinct postive to keeping the trip secret is that there is less pressure if anything happens that means we cant go.

Now for you, this is a positive

Negatives would be Im not sure how they will like it that they have been duped for so long!!

They don't have to know how long you planned it

I would have to keep it secret from everyone *** my entire family cant keep a secret for toffee! So that means boring u guys silly with my excitemet *** nooe else will know

That's exactly what I did - and got to know some wonderful people on here in the process. And you know whatever you decide, we will support you and share your excitement all the way through. And if you change your mind, we will agree with you!

 

[wayneg]

For us the distinct postive to keeping the trip secret is that there is less pressure if anything happens that means we cant go. When we cancelled in Dec 2009 the kids were so disappointed it was awful!!!

This is why there is no blanket rule for everyone to follow, we all have to do what we think is best for our own family.

 

[dixonsontour]

There is no way i'd manage a surprise.

DD is very much involved in the planning. She knows we are going in October and we talk about it a lot. It is fascinating what she remembers and wants to re do - her highlights are different to what I think she liked best.

I spend too long on here and have a planning folder by the bed and a disney box in the wardrobe I put stuff in for the holiday. I buy her disney clothes/dress up off ebay so she is used to disney items coming. I can't imagine trying to hide all that.

This week alone i've shown DD pics of the wonderland tea party to see if she liked the look of it, tried on her disney clothes to see if they should fit or if I should ebay them and buy some more. After her swimming lesson on thursday we were talking about how she needs to learn to swim so she can swim on holiday. We spent a night looking at her autograph books instead of a bedtime story.

 

[buzz for boys]

Now for you, this is a positive



They don't have to know how long you planned it



That's exactly what I did - and got to know some wonderful people on here in the process. And you know whatever you decide, we will support you and share your excitement all the way through. And if you change your mind, we will agree with you!

We think its the ideal pick me up if Cam needs surgery before we go (fingers crossed he wont !!) then we will reasses tellig the kids ad its the ultimate distraction for all 4 of them !!
I think we have been 3 times aleady so I know what is and what isnt a hit for them !!
For instance Keira would hate BBB but would love pirates league
Good thig is that hubby is in o the secret so at least I can always talk to him when kids arent around!!

Im not putting any pressure on us at surprising them that way if anythig does happen that means it wont work out I wont be too disppointed !!

For now Im thinking on how to surprise a 5 8 10 and 13 yr old so the big ones dont get it before the little ones

 

[wils]

We booked at Easter to fly Christmas Day. Didn't think I'd manage to keep it from Molly (Dec was only a baby) but Dec 23rd we had Christmas Dinner and there was a letter from Cinderella (which I had made) inviting Molly to breakfast in the Castle on Boxing Day. We packed that night and drove down to Gatwick the next day. It was magical


Plan a surprise - you can always change your mind and tell them at any stage if you want or need to

 

[buzz for boys]

We booked at Easter to fly Christmas Day. Didn't think I'd manage to keep it from Molly (Dec was only a baby) but Dec 23rd we had Christmas Dinner and there was a letter from Cinderella (which I had made) inviting Molly to breakfast in the Castle on Boxing Day. We packed that night and drove down to Gatwick the next day. It was magical


Plan a surprise - you can always change your mind and tell them at any stage if you want or need to

Just oticed you live down the road from me in coventry !! I cant believe I have never noticed that before !!

 

[Minniemouse07]

If you tell them the day or 2 before then that will be enough time for them to get involved in the planning - as in what rides they want to go on and which parks they want to do - without weeks of sleepless nights due to excitement.

A day or two isn't far enough out for "planning."

We are going in August and I'm figuring out our TS meals now (August hours just came out) so I can have them ready at our 180 day mark.

If I had surprised the kids, I wouldn't know that dd(9) MUST eat at 1900 PF for dinner one night. "It just wouldn't be a trip to WDW w/o it mom!"

I was all ready to skip it this time (we will be on DCL for 5 days before WDW so I wasn't going to plan any character meals) but she is adamant.

Last trip we talked at length about how it was short so the decision was to either skip a park or spend less time at MK & Epcot. Dd and I decided together to skip AK.

This all has a HUGE impact on ADRs and touring plans ... all too important to not have the kids' input (yes there are two of them but ds is 5yo and still just keeps asking to see LMA and Lighting McQueen...past that, he's good! ).

I'm not saying I don't plan surprises while we are there (this trip we will be doing the Family Magic Tour) but dd is too involved in all of the planning for me to ever truly do a last minute (less than a few months at least) surprise trip.

 

[2Tiggies]

A day or two isn't far enough out for "planning."

We are going in August and I'm figuring out our TS meals now (August hours just came out) so I can have them ready at our 180 day mark.

If I had surprised the kids, I wouldn't know that dd(9) MUST eat at 1900 PF for dinner one night. "It just wouldn't be a trip to WDW w/o it mom!"


This all has a HUGE impact on ADRs and touring plans ... all too important to not have the kids' input

I accept that there will be those who disagree with me on this point, but I don't think that not getting an ADR is enough to wreck a trip. I also had to book blind last year with ADRs and didn't get them all right - but we enjoyed our meals and it really didn't matter. I really wanted CRT in 2009. I couldn't get in. It didn't put a damper on the holiday though. I know we want it perfect for our kids but they don't criticise us nearly as harshly as we do ourselves.

Similarly with touring plans, they are designed that you can skip and double up on attractions as need be. We do that all the time.

You obviously know that a last minute surprise won't suit the way you like to plan so you don't do it, so you won't have this problem. Not everyone knows exactly how to prioritise the aspects of their trip though.

It is a challenge and a fun one at that. Is it for everyone? Absolutely not. But if you can pull it off it's not just a brief moment when the kids find out - that moment lives on in our house months later and I suspect it will for a long time to come.

 

[Sapper383]

Flippin Heck it's taken me a few hours to get through this threadand I can't believe how many people have an opinion on this

........and now I will add mine


I was all set to surprise DD5 and DS11 for our September trip.....I had an idea to make them tshirts saying we are going to Disney, but give them to them on the morning we go......anyway.....it all went soooooo wrong

after booking my Sister asked if she could come with her family and then my parents asked to come....4 become 10......well as you can imagine there was alot of talking but I still didn't want the kids to know........then DS came home with a letter about a sking trip to Canada and was pleading to go and yet we couldn't aford this on top of our disney trip So we ended up telling DS, so that he would understand why we were saying No to Canada...........at this stage I still wanted to keep it as a surprise for DD......I caved in when we were looking at our last trips photos and she was telling me how much she wanted to go back and see Anistasia and asking would she ever be able to go to the BBB again................I know, I'm rubbish

I am however lovin making plans with the children

 

[2Tiggies]

Flippin Heck it's taken me a few hours to get through this threadand I can't believe how many people have an opinion on this

You still don't know this? Everyone has an opinion on everything .... and because this is the DIS, we all feel free to express it

It's good to see varying points of view. That is the whole beauty of a discussion. It helps those posing the questions get get objective points of view.

 

[disneyholic family]

Beth, this is the second time in a week you have posted that lmao smiley under one of my statements. I do wish you people would take me seriously

or maybe



or

(what does that even mean????????)

 

[wayneg]

Flippin Heck it's taken me a few hours to get through this threadand I can't believe how many people have an opinion on this

You still don't know this? Everyone has an opinion on everything .... and because this is the DIS, we all feel free to express it

It's good to see varying points of view. That is the whole beauty of a discussion. It helps those posing the questions get get objective points of view.

I go on many forums (Disney, Rugby, cruising, money saving etc) and I have to say the users of this forum have more respect for other peoples opinions than any other I go on.
I believe many on here have the same outlook as me, when going to Florida there is no right and no wrong way to do it, its all about finding the right way for your family, if someone chooses a different way you support them.
Long may the respect continue

 

[Pegasus928]

I think the comments reflecting on how we all have differing opinions as to how we do WDW are spot on. As Wayne said there is no right or wrong way to do it. From how you tell your kids, to the planning aspect all the way through what works for one family would make a miserable holiday for another.
And from my point of view I think that 2 days is more than enough for kids of the ages we are talking about to get involved in the planning, especially when they have been 3 times before and you know exactly what it is that will make it a holiday to remember.
Louise you know your kids better than anyone and I know that when you spring your surprise they will be jumping up and down for joy.
Just don't let Dan be holding a chocolate milkshake when you do tell them though will you

 

[alibeau]

I go on many forums (Disney, Rugby, cruising, money saving etc) and I have to say the users of this forum have more respect for other peoples opinions than any other I go on.
I believe many on here have the same outlook as me, when going to Florida there is no right and no wrong way to do it, its all about finding the right way for your family, if someone chooses a different way you support them.
Long may the respect continue

Couldn't agreee more Wayne

As for the surprise thing, I don't think I could do it, I am rubbish at keeping secrets I have sprung a few small surprises in my time but I love the whole build up to the holiday..... new clothes, making plans, where will we go, what will we do..... I get excited just thinking about it and I am sure the girls do to....

I would be worried about struggling to keep it a secret for so long and then on the day of the surprise the girls having little reaction I'm just not 100% sure they would react well to such a big surprise

Also our eldest (7) doesn't miss a trick, I'm not sure I'd be able to keep it from her

The one surprise I do remember from my childhood is when my Dad asked me to help him clean his car and when he opened the boot there was a brand new bike for me for my birthday I didn't have a clue, I wonder if I would remember it the same if it hadn't been a surprise?

Good luck with whatever you decide

Ali