To surprise or not to surprise...

[threeboysmom]

I booked a trip to WDW in September a few weeks ago. It will be for myself and 2 of my sons (ages 13 & 8). I haven't told them yet... Trying to decide if I should keep it a surprise - wake them early the morning we leave and say "Guess what? We're going to Disney World right now!" Or should I tell them and let them in on all the planning?

Has anyone surprised their kids and then regretted it? Have you surprised your kids before and they were disappointed?

Just want to hear of other's experiences and advice! Thanks!

 

[gigi1313]

i would not surprise them! i have considered it but just don't think it's a good idea... besides the wanting to be in on the planning angle, there's also the "what if they had their heart set on doing something next tuesday," only to miss it because now they are in wdw? i realize whatever they might have been planning may pale in comparison, but still, they're not being given a choice... not to mention, the anticipation of a vacation is almost as fun as the vacation itself!

what we did for our last trip was tell the kids we were leaving tuesday... but woke them super early monday morning (Extreme Home Makeover style shouting "XYZ FAMILY YOU'RE GOING TO DISNEYWORLD!") and hauled them off to the airport while they were still a little dazed and confused telling them we decided to start our trip a day early... it ensured that they would sleep the night before and the excitement would not have them starting the trip tired and cranky! LOL!

anyway, that's just my $.02 on the subject... maybe plan some surprises when you get there (we're spending our last night at AKL which the kids are not expecting) but to spring the entire trip on them out of the blue is, imo, a not so good idea!

whatever you decide, ENJOY!

 

[maxiv]

well to avoid the thing that they might have planned something during the time you booked the trip, simply tell them not to plan ANYTHING for the entire time...just don't tell them why !
that should do

i myself (i'm 18) find the idea of surprising your 2 boys wonderful but on the other hand i would want to pack my stuff by myself, i don't know if you usually do the packing for them anyway....

max

 

[zdad]

If done right it could be fun. Previous poster is right about them maybe having other plans, if "the trip" is totally blind. Maybe you can manufacture a trip for that same week, say to Old Aunt Millie's. She's the one the smells like BenGay and loves to squeeze the kids cheeks and kiss them, leaving those big orange lipstick marks. That would be a trip they don't want to take, but have to take. Then, as you're pulling out of the driveway, tell them you changes your mind and you're all going to the World !!!

You know you kids best. Mine are great practical jokers and something like this would go over great with them....provided I had the time blocked off on their calendarsome other way, so they didn't make any conflicting plans.

(My big surprise will be the ride to the Airport. Family believes a "van" will be picking us up and taking us to the airport. It is, in fact, going to be a stretch Hummer. The boys will flip out.)

Best of luck. Your boys are lucky to have a DIS mom !!

 

[DisneyWorldDad]

We surprised our kids (13, 8 and 2 1/2) over President's day. We told them that we were going to visit their grandparents in Clearwater, so, until we got to the Turnpike off of I-75, the route was the same. My 8 yo son (who, belive me, would have known the Turnpike goes to Disney, not Clearwater) was asleep at the junction, so noone was the wiser until they started seeing Sea World and that stuff. We had them on the hook until we went under the "welcome" sign. It was alot of fun.

DWD

 

[ptrbryant]

some children, like our DS9, likes the anticipation almost as much as the trip (kind of like his mom ). But, our son also gets so excited that he loses too much sleep leading up to the trip, so we tell him a few weeks ahead of time---not months.

Karla B.

 

[SC Minnie]

I surprised DD10 last November. She had been several times and had been in on the planning of those trips. This was a girls only trip for a long weekend. I picked her up early from school and she had no idea why I was there. When we got outside I asked her if she wanted to go to WDW. She looked at me strange and said yes. I then had to say do you want to go RIGHT NOW. She was really confused and thought I was playing on trick on her. She believed me when I opened the truck and the suitcase was packed. As we headed down I77 she still didn't believe me. While on I95 past Jacksonville she said 'I can't believe we are going to WDW, I feel like I'm dreaming!!!'. It was so cute and made everything worth it. We had a leisurely trip and I let her decide what to do most of the weekend.

 

[Tammi67]

We went to WDW last year at Christmas and my children want to go back in the worst way. They are only 5 and 3 so it's not like they have plans of their own yet. We have a trip planned the week before Christmas for this year. My intentions are to keep it a secret until December, then they will get a "letter" from Santa in the mail stating that he is giving them a trip to Disney as their present. Included in the letter will be their "park tickets", MVMCP tickets, and "airline tickets". My oldest will be 6 and reading by then so I hope it goes as well as I see it in my head. BTW, I'm sure Santa will still be leaving a few small presents under the tree for them Christmas morning.

 

[meandtheguys2]

We get as much of a kick out of planning and anticipating as we do of going! So it wouldn't be best for us. Always thought it sounded fun, though!

 

[Minderbinder5]

I agree with some of the other posts...the anticipation is a huge part of the fun! I am planning a trip for September also, and I compromised. I was just too excited about it (our 1st trip) to keep it entirely to myself, so I told my bf that we were going to WDW. That way he has been excited and researching on his own to build the anticipation. I am keeping all the details a secret, though. So, he has no idea what hotel we'll be in, and I'm going to surprise him with lots of extras like Cirque and backstage tours when we get there.

 

[Amy&Dan]

We tried to surprise our daughter by taking her to Disneyland last Sept. for her 8th bday. We were going the WDW in October over my son's bday and that wasn't a surprise. She kept saying how lucky Matthew was to go to WDW and we kept telling her that due to fall break always falling over his bday it was just lucky, all the while knowing we were going for a long weekend to Disneyland for HER birthday. I finally felt like she would really enjoy knowing she was getting the VIP treatment too! We ended up giving her a stuffed Dumbo from the Disney store and he had a note inviting her to come to Disneyland and ride "him" and celebrate her birthday with Mickey! We videotaped this whole thing and that was a nice surprise! We just don't do well keeping anything Disney under wraps I guess! Now this year we are going back to WDW again over their fall break from school and we are surprising them with staying at the Contemporary the first two nights. They think we are staying offsite until we move to OKW so hopefully we will be able to keep that a surprise but who knows? Good luck with whatever you decide!

 

[HANDYMOM]

We surprised DS's (at the time almost 3 and almost 5) last May. We quietly planned for 6 months. Finally, picked them up at daycare and told them we were going on a surprise trip to the beach, only far, far away. We drove for 7 hours making stops as needed. The kids watched movies and slept. The next morning we drove 1 1/2 hrs into Orlando and when we got to the Welcome to Walt Disney World arch, we pulled over and asked them where they thought they were. We then handed them a box containing mouse ears, a WDW autograph book and WDW Mickey pens. They just about died!

They would have driven me crazy with the "are we going to Mickey's today" stuff for 6 months. We enjoyed surprising them.

 

[AnaheimGirl]

I've also been trying to decide whether to surprise or not. We'll be there on dd's 8th birthday, and here's what we've decided to do:

Assuming we can get CRT breakfast or lunch, or at least the other Princess breakfast in Norway on or close to her birthday... A week or two before the trip, we'll send her a fancy "invitation" from the princesses, inviting her to celebrate her birthday with them. HOPEFULLY she'll ask if she can go, and dh and I will confer briefly and say "OK, let's go!" So she'll be a little surprised, but still able to help plan and pack during that last week or two.

Good luck. Whatever you decide, it'll be great!

 

[scoutsmom99]

I would suprise them! I would have loved it if my parents suprised me with a trip to Disney heck I would still love it if someone woke me up and took me there If you want thier advice on planning say you are planning a trip there for another time period and ask what they think you should do (give them the line that you have to book/plan early). I wouldn't worry too much about thier schedules at 13 I was mostly just babysitting and hanging out with friends and playing fall and summer soccer. You probably have a good gage on what they are up to (sports, friends, etc) and whether or not suprising them will make a large impact.

 

[mrslur]

Growing up near Disneyland my parents always surprised us when we went. My twin brothers were hyper about going and no one would have gotten sleep the night before if they knew.

 

[JESW]

You would know best how your boys would react to a surprise - would they be upset that they didn't have any part of the planning? My family does NOT like surprises so that would not be an option for me. BUT...having said that, we do have a trip planned for august that I have not told the kids (6 & 10 ) about yet....we will tell them about a week before we leave. My reasoning is that it is during their last week of vacation (we get back on 8/28 and they go back to school 8/30) and I don't want them wishing their entire summer away so it will be time to go to Disney..

Jill

 

[threeboysmom]

Thank you! You have all brought up some very good points. I am the main "scheduler" of the house, and my boys are still young enough that they don't make plans without my being in on it, so I don't have to worry about that.

I didn't think of the packing aspect. Hmmm.... my boys usually pack their own stuff. It'll be very difficult I think to pack all their clothes without their knowing it (I homeschool so they are home during the day). Even if I arranged for them to be at a friends' house the day before we leave so I could pack, I could see them in the evening opening their drawers and yelling "hey! where are all my clothes?" Plus, I'd have to pack their carry-on bags too - which means sneaking from their beds their current reading book and hunting around their room for their gameboys and games...

I think I will let them know we are going to WDW, but not commit to a specific date, as some of you suggested. That way I can still wake them up early (4:30 a.m.!!!) on the morning we fly out and surprise them totally, but yet they can be in on the planning. And this way, they will be able to get a good night's sleep the night before (unlike Mom!)

Thank you! Can't wait!!!

 

[Lizzybee]

I LOVE the Extreme Home Makeover/We're going to WDW idea. LOVE IT! My kids love planning, but they also love surprises. Maybe next time we go I'll try to surprise them. The problem...my Dad, the 65 yr old Bean Spiller himself. He can't keep ANY secrets. I guess I just can't tell him either

 

[mill4023]

I think the idea of surprising them is great. I would love to see the look on my kids faces if we woke them up and told them to get in the car because we were going to WDW.
But on the other hand, the anticipation of the trip is half the fun. Telling my kids about it when we first booked about 3 months beforehand was great because we had fun watching the planning DVD and talking about all the rides and what things they would like to go on. Once we left, it seemed like the trip was over way too soon so I was really glad we got to enjoy those 3 months of anticipation and excitement.

This was our first trip, so maybe it's different if your kids have already been several times, but for now, my vote would be to not make it a surprise.

 

[disneyeveryyear]

We did this last year (04) for Easter. We didn't decide until 3 weeks before to go, so we thought we would make a surprise of it.

Told kids we were going to St. Louis for a few day, thus the suitcases. STL is no big deal to them. Drove down late on Saturday night and slept at park 'n fly hotel. Late to bed, spring ahead time change, up at 5:00 a.m. for early flight. UGH!

Woke them up with "Wake up, we're going to Disney World!"

DS9 was up and going and so excited. DD4 was distraught. She was overtired, and we have since come to understand that a surprise is not a good thing for her.

So, if your kids can handle the surprise, I say go for it, it was a lot of fun for our son, and he still tells people about it. As for DD, however, I will never do that to her again!