To tell or Not to tell..

[lnuss1988]

I am currently planning our trip for Sept 2015. This will be my DD first trip. She will be 4 when we go. I am debating on whether or not to tell her. Right now she doesn't really get what WDW is or that you can go there.

Who out there has told their kids before hand and who has waited till the moment you load up in the car to go? Which do you think has a better reaction.

I feel if I tell her, I can prepare her, but on the other hand I want to wait till the moment we leave for an even better reaction!

 

[Canooknic]

It all depends on your DD I think.

We surprised our boys after breakfast on the morning we were leaving and it was a wonderful experience (they have asked that we surprise them again 'if' we ever go again.....which we are in 3 weeks!!!)
My friend tried the same approach with her girls and they had a complete meltdown. One didn't want to leave her friends for 2 weeks, the other doesn't do well with any sort of change in routine and couldn't cope at all!!

If you aren't going until 2015 I would wait until maybe a month or so out if you do decide to tell her just because anything more seems sooooo long for kids but it still gives you enough time to build the excitement and she can get involved in planning activities. (My boys would drive me insane if they had to countdown, they are unfortunately very impatient like DH & I )

 

[wallskm]

We talked about it in a "maybe some day we can go to Disney World" way so he could learn about it a little bit and talk about what he would do there. Then we didn't tell him until we pulled up to the Airport that we were going. Now we talk about "next time we go to Disney" but we haven't told him that we are going at the end of April! We will probably tell him we are going to visit his grandparents (which is true as we will spend the night there the night before our flight) and then surprise him the morning of the flight.

We are also doing a Disney cruise in 3 weeks and we told him we are going on vacation to a beach. He just doesn't know that it is going to involve going on a big ship to get to the beach . We are going to have Mickey call him (we can set it up via the Disney cruise web site) and invite him to come

Edited to add: We do the surprises because we know he will be excited about them, if I thought he would be apprehensive I wouldn't surprise him. To be honest I am a little worried he will be afraid of the Ship but I don't think he will.

 

[Aries14]

My daughter is 4 and we are going for the first time in august. We talk about "one day" going to disney bc I wanted her to know what it is so she can be excited about it. I just tell her that I have to talk to Mickey and found out when we can go to visit. We will surprise her the day of either by just going to the airport or we also talked about telling her we are going to see grandma in south Carolina and tell her once we get on the magical express

 

[abinormal]

My almost four year old overheard us discussing our November trip and I wasn't able to redirect her attention. So she knows we're going "after Halloween." She seems pretty ok waiting.

 

[lnuss1988]

Great responses guys!!

I am trying to plant the "WDW is a real place" in her ear now, she is 2 1/2. She watches Disney Junior ALL THE TIME and Disney movies are a constant in our house!! So she knows all the characters, just doesn't know that they all "live" in WDW. I have been asking her if she wants to go meet Mickey, or go see Mickey, and she says "OK".

I will get her to be a WDW FANATIC, she's over half way there, then I can tell her to ask my DH when we can go again!!

 

[Fantastic4]

When my kids were 2 and 4 we told them. It was our celebration for daddy's return from deployment. It was so fun to watch the planning DVD with them and get so excited. We went last Sept now 8 and 6. They wanted us to surprise them so we took them to the Disney Store on our way to the airport. Talk about a let down in their reaction. They didn't believe us! To top it off our flight ended up 5 hrs delayed in a tiny airport. They thought we were flying to gma's despite the mickey/minnie ears we got them. Needless to say it was very disappointing. We will be telling them next time so they can join the excitement in planning and just having fun talking about it before we go.

All that said you know her best. Just be prepared for her to not "get it" right away to ease your disappointment if she isn't jumping up and down squealing like they show in commercials.

 

[ReluctantDisaholic]

All that said you know her best. Just be prepared for her to not "get it" right away to ease your disappointment if she isn't jumping up and down squealing like they show in commercials.

That was us - our first trip we surprised our kids (6 & 8 at the time) - woke up at 4:30 to head to the airport, when we got there we gave them a picture of the castle with "Surprise! We're going to Disney World!" on it...and my daughter actually said, "I don't get it..." By the time we were in the air, they had woken up a little more and were excited, but it definitely wasn't one of the initial reactions like you see on youtube!

Now they know we go every year, so they help plan, which is also fun.

 

[MSSANDRA]

Im not a fan of last minute surprise trips.... they don't always go as planned, but I would not tell her for a long time! When you start to plan, if she sees or hears you, maybe mention you might go there someday and ask her what she thinks about certain details. I would plan a fun way to tell her about a month before the trip. Make a count down chain and maybe purchase a kids guide book. We told our 7 year old about 3 weeks out last time but we only planned the trip about a month out. We have never done a surprise trip but we MIGHT hit the parks for a day or two later this month while visiting family and it will be a last minute decision so might not tell him until we pull through the gates. He has been enough however he will know immediately where he is and no doubt he will be ecstatic.

 

[ChitownFamily]

I feel if I tell her, I can prepare her, but on the other hand I want to wait till the moment we leave for an even better reaction!

coming from an early childhood educators point of view- i think this sentence carries a lot of weight above. It is about preparing her or you watching her reaction.

you know your child best.

I bet you can guess which way i lean- i think surprises are awesome, but i think they are best when they are a couple days/weeks ahead of the trip. Allows kids to watch youtube videos about rides, allows you to talk about what to expect (long lines, characters that might be scary etc)

 

[Happyjen27]

I told my pair for their first trip because they would otherwise have no concept of Disney, and the things that one can do there. Also because that was their first plane ride, and that's something to prepare ahead for sure.

For their second trip a month ago, we completely surprised them, and it was awesome. The surprise was a happy one, and they did great transitioning from what was supposed to be a dentist appointment to a flight to Disney.

If I had it to do over again, I would have done the same thing, allowing them to be involved in the planning of the first trip and getting mentally ready for a plane ride. And then allowing my evil genius some fun and surprising them on the second trip.

 

[cjbcam]

When my kids were 2 and 4 we told them. It was our celebration for daddy's return from deployment. It was so fun to watch the planning DVD with them and get so excited. We went last Sept now 8 and 6. They wanted us to surprise them so we took them to the Disney Store on our way to the airport. Talk about a let down in their reaction. They didn't believe us! To top it off our flight ended up 5 hrs delayed in a tiny airport. They thought we were flying to gma's despite the mickey/minnie ears we got them. Needless to say it was very disappointing. We will be telling them next time so they can join the excitement in planning and just having fun talking about it before we go.

All that said you know her best. Just be prepared for her to not "get it" right away to ease your disappointment if she isn't jumping up and down squealing like they show in commercials.

That's how it was with our kids. We surprised them with a trip and gave it to them Christmas morning, was video taping and everything and got no reaction. They had never been there but had seen pictures and we had talk about going one day. I don't think they really understood the whole thing.
Well we just surprised them again this weekend telling them we leave next Wednesday, the reaction was priceless. Screaming and my oldest even cried . The reaction I was expecting the first time.

 

[lnuss1988]

I told my pair for their first trip because they would otherwise have no concept of Disney, and the things that one can do there.
If I had it to do over again, I would have done the same thing, allowing them to be involved in the planning of the first trip and getting mentally ready for a plane ride. And then allowing my evil genius some fun and surprising them on the second trip.

GREAT IDEA!!! I am trying to show her videos online of WDW, but she isn't to interested right now. Only 2 1/2. She LOVES LOVES LOVES Disney movies and Disney Junior, so she will know the characters.

Saving the surprise for the 2nd trip is a great idea too, because then she will already know what WDW is, she will have been there and know how GREAT it is!!

 

[dalyes]

My kids are 4 and 2.5. The first year my daughter was 2.5 and we told her but she obviously had no idea what it all meant. The next year my DH wanted to surprise her but got so excited that he told her as soon as he booked the room. Ha ha! We're going again in 2 weeks and we've told the kids. They look so forward to it and talk about what they want to see and do that I would hate to keep that from all of us - the planning together part. We couldn't even keep the fact that we were booking a character breakfast a secret.

We had friends just surprise their sons...packed them up and took them to the airport and gave them Mickey stuffed animals. They cared more for the stuffed animals then actually getting excited for the trip they were about to take. My friend was a little disappointed. (Her son had been 2 previous times too).

Someday we might surprise them - if we can hold it in ourselves - but at this point we like the lead up to the trip with talking about it and planning it.

 

[flipflops]

I think both ways are great, just depends on the kids. I took my niece (5) last May and I told her ahead of time. I wanted her to ride everything she was tall enough for without crying or refusing to ride; I know some people think that is horrible to make them ride but I know my niece, once she tries something she is hooked and loves it if she is willing to give it a chance. So, every week we talked about Disney, watched videos of the rides and I told her, "Try everything once. If you don't like it, you don't have to ride it again. If it scares you, close your eyes and hold Auntie Da's hand." It worked! She tried everything except Splash Mountain (she's not a fan of walking around wet). Most things we had to ride to twice because she loved them. Tower of Terror was not her favorite but she did it with a smile...and eyes closed holding my hand! If we would have surprised her, I don't think she would have gone on many rides but now she tells her younger brother all about them and to try it once and just close your eyes if you get scared and hold her hand. We're going back when he is 4!

 

[mi*vida*loca]

When we went in 2003 DS was only 3 and really didn't care too much. He was all about the water park.

In 2008 we told him ahead of time to prepare him. We wanted him to see the youtube video rides. DD was only 2.

In 2009 we told them again. DS was excited but he's very much a free spirit so it wasn't a huge deal to him. DD was 3 and excited to be a princess since I prepped her by getting her into Disney Princesses.

In 2011 we told them the morning we left. They were estatic!!! Only thing was when I woke them up at 4 am they thought something bad happened. I heard DS11 whispering to DD5 "hurry get dressed. Mom said to get dressed. I don't know what's going on." I quickly gave them the gift bag with their Mickey ears and they went crazy jumping around and hugging and screaming with joy.

I think next time I will tell them a few days ahead so they can prepare themselves, pack special things they want and HELP pack this time!

 

[maplevale]

We told our kids on Christmas for our Feb 3 trip.

DD1 is 6 - she get's it pretty good. Though she says the 3 weeks left will take FOREVER! (And I am thinking how will I get us ready!?!?)

DD2 is 2.5... EVERY DAY she asks "We going to Disney World today?" and when I tell her no, you are going to daycare, she collapses on the floor in a fit of tears. On the flip it is SUPER cute how she tells EVERYONE that we are going and was ecstatic seeing the Disney commercial on TV last night!


I would LOVE LOVE to do a trip where we wake up in the morning and go/tell them/show up at the airport (Disney or other) - I just don't know if I could keep the secret!

 

[mi*vida*loca]

I would LOVE LOVE to do a trip where we wake up in the morning and go/tell them/show up at the airport (Disney or other) - I just don't know if I could keep the secret!

The hard part was packing without the kids knowing! My DS is oblivious to most things. DD is into everything. Asks a lot of questions. Very curious.

We left Sunday at 4 am. Friday night I had the kids stay at grandma's overnight and packed and then hid the luggage. Saturday night after they went to bed I brought them out and did the last minute stuff. Took a shower and dressed and packed the really last minute stuff. Then woke them up.

It was playing a lot of hide and seek. Trying to pack their clothes without them seeing some of their faves missing.

Next time I will do at least the day before. That way they are up all night with excitement and sleep in the car more of the way.

 

[Minnesota!]

For a first trip, I would say tell. But not for a LONG time....you are looking at 20 months of her asking about it. Maybe July 2015 bring it up to her and do a countdown.

For subsequent trips, when she knows what to expect at WDW, I would say surprise all day long.... it's how we do it these days

 

[jj1403]

My only advice is try not to put too much expectation on the reaction. We were a bit disappointed because we expected a big reaction and didn't get it.