To surprise...or not to surprise....that is the question.

[jacs1234]

We are two Aussie parents, with a lot of kids, well, only 4, and we're taking them to Disneyland at Christmas time.

We've taken them before, and we surprised them on the day we were leaving. They woke up in the morning and got dressed for school as usual when they heard a knock on the door. Outside was a huge box and inside that was some helium (mylar?) balloons that popped out when they opened the box and it had a letter from Mickey inside inviting them to go to disneyland, and telling them to go get dressed because we're leaving RIGHT NOW!

It was a lot of fun and they were sooooo surprised and excited. I've never seen them get dressed so quickly before.

Should we surprise them again? I just don't know. Maybe it would be nice if they had a week or 2 to get really excited about it.

What do you think?

There is no way I'd tell them now because I'd get sick of counting how many sleeps there were to go

 

[Jynxed]

I think you should do it as a planned trip this time around. Surprises are fun, but planning with your kids is also fun. There is nothing like having them count the days until Disney and watching the excitement build as the days get closer.

My sister did the planning thing and took it to another level by creating a countdown calender (got the idea from the Dis WDW boards). Then got a planning DVD from DLR and a book so the kids could plan out which rides they had to do. She had a lot of fun with them in the weeks leading up to the big trip.
As most of us Dissers know, planning is half the fun. You should let your kids on it!

 

[vpalmer]

We are counting down to a trip at the end of this month and my DD is brimming with excitement about it. We create a countdown chain and on each link of the chain we have a character sticker and the name of an attraction/meal/show that she will experience on the trip. We started the chain about 35 days out. It might be a fun way to tell them early and countdown the sleeps in a fun way!

 

[skiingfast]

Maybe you could go with a mix. Older kids help plan and surprise the younger siblings.

 

[Shimmer]

It sounds like you've already pulled off an awesome surprise once!

My kids love the anticipation and planning part of it. It is fun to dream, think, talk about, all we want to do. What about letting them know about this trip (but in a fun, surprising way) and let the experience the anticipation.

Then, for your 3rd trip you will know which you liked better: surprise or planning.

 

[TheColtonsMom]

Kudos to you for holding out and surprising them once. We went on Dec 2010 and on our way home we decided we would be going for Halloween 2011...my 6 year old was there and knew exactly when we did...he has the dates on his calendar and has been great about helping plan what we want to do next time...we have been having loads of fun. Once we get a little closer we will do a countdown chain as was mentioned above and of course we will get him a character call as we did last time so the gang can call and tell him how excited they are he is coming the day before we leave...that was truly a magical experience we want to do again.

 

[oumagic]

Half the fun on our first visit was letting the kids look at pictures/videos of rides and hotels and read through the various brochures and guidebooks leading up to the trip. If my kids are half as excited and happy about trip coming up in October, they are going to have months of smiles before we ever cross the AZ/California border I am sure we will surprise them someday with a short weekend trip, but I vote to let the kids enjoy the planning and anticipation.

 

[mama2dutchies]

I think it depends on your kids

Will they drive you nuts if you tell them too soon??

I -like- to surprise them, but mine are on the smaller side still (2& turning 4 when we go and 7).
I'm sure the 7 year old would LOVE to plan it all out for us but this trip is all about the 4 year old (last trip was all about the 7 year old and her love of the fair maiden's).

We're driving down from sacramento and my character call will come on the way.

You have a long plane ride for them to plan too.. Why not tell them on the way to the airport and have a folder with maps and stuff you already have planned in it and let them figure out what they want to do too.. They aren't going to sleep on the plane anyway :lol they will be too excited!

 

[Homemom]

I would tell them before the trip. They could get excited, save up some spending money, and make lists of their must do's. (Plus they could come up with something to occupy themselves on that LONG flight! )

 

[oumagic]

When we told my son last year, he wanted to go to the library and check out books. He did a book report and essay on Disneyland to share with his 1st grade class. They both had birthdays before the trip and got some Disney cash cards and Disney PJ's for the trip. Each kid is different and there are pros and cons to a surprise.

 

[LavenderPeach]

What about letting them know about this trip (but in a fun, surprising way)

I like this idea. It gives you the best of both worlds. The kids can have fun anticipating the trip and helping to plan but you can still do a surprise by telling them the news ahead of time in a fun, creative way.

 

[bumbershoot]

My son likes to know, and we like the fun of him knowing. The countdown has also been a TERRIFIC way of helping him understand time and months and weeks and the relative length of time of waiting. Sure he would have figured that out in other ways, but this is a nice, tangible, reward-at-the-end-of-the-wait way to do it!

But my son is also like me, where he likes to be prepared. He likes to know what is going to happen next, and sometimes surprises sort of confuse him. My mom did ONE surprise regarding Disneyland, and I have no idea how or why she did it (seriously WHY did she do it...we were going to and from the Grand Canyon, she had Disneyland tacked on to the end of it, but because we knew we were driving south we bugged her like crazy with whining about going to Disneyland...she only tortured herself!), but it was a nice surprise...and that was enough for me.

 

[jacs1234]

Thanks guys. Dh is more on the side of surprising on the day, and I'm more on the side of surprising earlier. I'll get him to read this thread

 

[wannagoback]

We always talk about going to Disneyland again "someday." And "maybe" we'll go for DD's 5th birthday. Well, I do have a trip booked but the kids don't know it. But we still watch videos and talk about what would be fun on our next trip. So, they get all the fun of planning and dreaming about it, but they don't know that we're actually going.

Still trying to decide when/if to tell them. DD4 is very unpredictable these days and she might need some time to warm up to the idea. I'm waiting to see if she grows out of it in the next four months...

 

[nemofans]

I'm also trying to figure out what to do. I have a trip booked, but haven't exactly told them we are definitely going. I am always talking about Disney parks anyway, so they don't know. We are thinking of surprising, but not sure how to. DH wants to just have them wake up that morning & when they see the suitcases, let them try to figure out where we're going. I kind of want to do something more fun. I've done the countdown to WDW b4 & that was fun for them.
Since you've done the surprise thing already, maybe tell them in a fun way about 2-3 weeks b4. It is cute to watch them get so excited as the days get closer!

 

[BELLEDOZER]

Take it from someone who let the kids know as we were driving to the border that we were going to DL instead of the Gulf Islands this past Feb/11 for a 14 day family vacation, that it all depends on your kids. My older son has major anxiety issues, and the prior trip to the mouse last time he stressed out the entire lead up to the trip. By surpising the kids, my older son was better to not stress over the trip and enjoy it more. The only thing I'd change is not to have such a good cover story ( I had them thinking we were going to the Guilf Islands for 2 weeks and my DS6 was rather upset that we weren't going there). It took him a few hrs to warm up to the idea of going to DL. Would I surprise the kids again...YES! My D8 has asked me not to let him know of any upcoming trips to DL or WDW as he know's that he will overthink it, and stress out about the trip long before we go on vacation.

 

[AussieDisneyNut]

There was no way in the world that I could have surprised our kids with our trip to DLR .... I was way too excited myself! I enjoyed planning it with them and we had a Disney movie festival in the lead up to the trip. Also, how did you manage to pack their suitcases without them knowing??? Good luck with making your decision.

 

[BELLEDOZER]

I've got a rather over active imagination...I bought them all new clothes (hit the discount stores and thrift shops), and besides I rather enjoyed plotting and scheming against the kids. Was it worth it...the kids accusing DH and I of lying about DL as we hit the border (then it hit them that we really were heading to the mouse)Priceless! It's amazing how I can spin a story, when I've got a good reason behind it. The kids had no clue what I was up to, and that was part of the fun of planning the trip.

 

[jacs1234]

We always talk about going to Disneyland again "someday." And "maybe" we'll go for DD's 5th birthday. Well, I do have a trip booked but the kids don't know it. But we still watch videos and talk about what would be fun on our next trip. So, they get all the fun of planning and dreaming about it, but they don't know that we're actually going.

Still trying to decide when/if to tell them. DD4 is very unpredictable these days and she might need some time to warm up to the idea. I'm waiting to see if she grows out of it in the next four months...

That's a good idea, we talk about it all the time too, plus I'm planning a big trip from Disneyworld to Disneyland for my 40th in 3 years and they know about that. So I often say, on mummy's birthday trip, which ride would you like to go on first.

Oh....I'm hoping my dd5 will grow out of her fighting with her brother stage in the next 6 months. Lets both cross our fingers

Also, how did you manage to pack their suitcases without them knowing???

We actually got our suitcases out and had them sitting in our room empty for quite a few months before the trip. We just filled them slowly and no questions were asked. DS10 had a light bulb moment after we told him though "Oh, so that's what the suitcases were for!"

 

[LisainCalifornia]

We have surprised our kids just one time--and it was just this past April. We were already in Los Angeles visiting my in-laws, and after being there for 5 days, we left like we were driving to the airport. Instead of going to LAX, we drove to Disneyland and stayed the night in the Disneyland Hotel. It was our youngest who figured it out (as I suspected it would be!).

Here they are:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CbaaE7UYxzs