To tell or not to tell?

[TChappy]

We have abstractly given the children (dd2, ds6, ds8) the idea that we are going to Disney next year (since we aren't taking a vacation this summer). We are actually going this October, for my husband and I's 10th anniversary. We are going to arrive in FL on a Wednesday, go to Legoland Thursday, then head to St. Pete's beach until Sunday morning. When we will get up and head to Disney for 6 days. We originally planned to do Disney, then legoland and the beach, but changed it because I figure after Disney the kids won't want to go to another park.

So we told them yesterday we are thinking about taking a short trip to the beach in October bc sometimes we take fall trips. This morning I am working on organizing some things for the trip and I need to customize our Magicbands. It got me wondering if I should just go ahead and tell the kids we are going to Disney, or should we keep that part a surprise?

We are thinking the reason not to tell them is that we want them to enjoy the time are Legoland and their first trip to the ocean, and not constantly ask when are we going to Disney? Our thought is to tell them the last night in St. Pete's that we are going to stop at Disney for a little while on the way home. What do you think? We have talked about Disney some, but I am so excited (I've never been either), I am about bursting at the seams to tell them, lol.

 

[Mrs Green]

I think surprise them! I am surprising my dd on her 6th birthday, which is the day we arrive! Of course there are kids who don't take well to the surprise so this would be a reason to tell ahead. However, by keeping the surprise you don't have to deal with the constant when are we going to be there!

My dd doesn't know about magic bands, fp+, etc etc so I figure that I can make the choices and she won't know the difference....she'll just enjoy. My only concern is that she is now tall enough for all the thrill rides, but may or may not be brave enough for them. Do I get the fp+ for them or not....
What I think I'm going to do is show her YouTube clips of some to gauge her interest.
Anyway, whatever you decide is going to be awesome. Have a great trip!

 

[BellsFam]

I'm going to do some type of surprise...you should too!!!

DD turns 5 at the end of May and we are traveling at the end of August... so I was hoping to find some type of video that's like a Mickey Call, and record it so it "calls my phone", and tells her about Disney on her birthday... then we have some time to shop and plan for it before we go...

But...it's tough because it means June, July and part of August to count down... so I'm trying to think of something else.

 

[KeKy4]

Definitely surprise! We are going in 4 weeks and my kids have no idea. We're going to tell them that morning and have everything all packed!

I agree for all the reasons you posted! Let them enjoy each thing at a time!

 

[Kristian]

I would surprise them!! I know that sometimes surprise Disney trips don't always work out...especially some of those trips where parents tell their children that they are going to say grandma's house for a week to visit and then tell the kids last minute that they are really going to Disney instead. Kids get their hopes up and have anticipation and expectations about things and even sometimes throwing in a Disney trip won't change that. However; if your kids start thinking that the beach trip is over and that they are heading back home and then you surprise them with a week at Disney, best bets are that they will be ecstatic or at least I would be

In the meantime, maybe you could start talking with your kids about possible things that they would like to do when they go to Disney next year. For instance, discuss the rides at Disney and see which one's interest them and then try to incorporate them into your FP+ planning. Maybe see if your DD would be interested in BBB and your DS's the Pirates League and then reserve appointments for those as well. Discuss Magic Bands with them or try to explain it to the older kids somehow and ask them which color they would prefer for next year when you go. Let them plan for next year's trip without them knowing that they are really planning for a much sooner trip this fall. Just tell them that you are planning ahead of time and taking notes for your upcoming trip next year. Just make sure to try to initiate plenty of rest time into the days that you are vacationing before Disney so that they aren't completely wore out beforehand

 

[SEA333]

We have abstractly given the children (dd2, ds6, ds8) the idea that we are going to Disney next year (since we aren't taking a vacation this summer). We are actually going this October, for my husband and I's 10th anniversary. We are going to arrive in FL on a Wednesday, go to Legoland Thursday, then head to St. Pete's beach until Sunday morning. When we will get up and head to Disney for 6 days. We originally planned to do Disney, then legoland and the beach, but changed it because I figure after Disney the kids won't want to go to another park.

So we told them yesterday we are thinking about taking a short trip to the beach in October bc sometimes we take fall trips. This morning I am working on organizing some things for the trip and I need to customize our Magicbands. It got me wondering if I should just go ahead and tell the kids we are going to Disney, or should we keep that part a surprise?

We are thinking the reason not to tell them is that we want them to enjoy the time are Legoland and their first trip to the ocean, and not constantly ask when are we going to Disney? Our thought is to tell them the last night in St. Pete's that we are going to stop at Disney for a little while on the way home. What do you think? We have talked about Disney some, but I am so excited (I've never been either), I am about bursting at the seams to tell them, lol.

For some reason on this board, there are people who have kids who are actually MAD that their parents surprised them with a really fun trip to a really fun place, and they will be here shortly (I assume LOL) to tell you how awful it is to even *think* about surprising your kids with a trip and will have all kinds of reasons why it won't work, and may even tell you that it is disrespectful of a parent to not let their kids help pack and plan.



But I am not one of them!!!!

We surprised our kids (ages 13, 9, and 7 1/2) last November and it was the most amazing trip/surprise ever. My kids all loved it, I went into the surprise prepared to pack everything myself, make all of the plans (if I pay for the trip, I get to make the plans LOL...when my kids are older and want to pay for ME to go to Disney, I will gladly leave the planning to them!!), and made sure that all activities/school/homework, etc was taken care of. We never once lied to our kids about any part of our plan and as a matter of fact, they had a blast hearing about all of the clues we gave them, the people who knew we were surprising them, the teachers who were all in on the plan, etc.

We just got out the video of the reveal last night as a matter of fact LOL I had lined up three salad dressing bottles in a row at the dinner table last night for no particular reason, but DS13 thought that maybe it was for another surprise LOL, so he started checking under the lids saying that it looked like it could have been another surprise We pulled up the videos and rewatched them and talked about how they felt and what they were thinking at those moments. Everything they said were positive and good memories.

I would recommend, other than the rest of what I have said above, to make sure that the way you do the reveal is consistent with their ages and level of understanding...it took our kids a couple minutes to "get it" that we were leaving in 15 minutes!


Here are the reveal videos - the first is the reveal that we were going to Disney (ignore the messy house, the obnoxious teen that cannot follow simple directions LOL, and the awful editing job on my part!):

The 2nd is the reveal of the limo that we hired to take us to the airport. I think they were more excited by that than the actual trip!!:

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10202059240979133&l=5932031274999430265

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10201182820789176&l=995630679739190172

 

[laura12581]

We are going to take our kids 4 and 6 for their first trip for our 10 anniversary in Oct also We are planning on telling them just not yet.

I think surprising your kiddos will be awesome, I just know that I want mine to join in the excitement of planning, but I don't want them to nag me every day either!

 

[imthemamahere]

Some kids love surprises. Some don't handle them well. You know your kids best - do what you think is right!

We're planning a trip for October as well, and I'm not sure yet exactly when we'll tell my little guy, who'll be 5 by then.

He has been BEGGING to go back to DisneyWorld since we got to the Orlando airport to return home from our last trip (December 2012). Seriously, he brings it up at least once a week, if not more, and it's been a year and a half! He handles surprises pretty well, but actually enjoys the anticipation of knowing a trip is coming up... at least for a little while! I know if I tell him too early, he won't really be able to process the time frame too well, and he'll drive us both nuts with "are we going TODAY?" type questions. So I figure when we get somewhat closer, I'll do a fun reveal, and then we can do a countdown of little Disneyish activities together - watch some Disney flicks, order personalized park maps, make Mickey pancakes, pick out a new autograph book, etc...

But again, that's what works best for us. YMMV.

 

[TChappy]

We are going to take our kids 4 and 6 for their first trip for our 10 anniversary in Oct also We are planning on telling them just not yet.

I think surprising your kiddos will be awesome, I just know that I want mine to join in the excitement of planning, but I don't want them to nag me every day either!

Happy early anniversary! When will you be there? Our anniversary is October 12th

 

[TChappy]

Some kids love surprises. Some don't handle them well. You know your kids best - do what you think is right!

We're planning a trip for October as well, and I'm not sure yet exactly when we'll tell my little guy, who'll be 5 by then.

He has been BEGGING to go back to DisneyWorld since we got to the Orlando airport to return home from our last trip (December 2012). Seriously, he brings it up at least once a week, if not more, and it's been a year and a half! He handles surprises pretty well, but actually enjoys the anticipation of knowing a trip is coming up... at least for a little while! I know if I tell him too early, he won't really be able to process the time frame too well, and he'll drive us both nuts with "are we going TODAY?" type questions. So I figure when we get somewhat closer, I'll do a fun reveal, and then we can do a countdown of little Disneyish activities together - watch some Disney flicks, order personalized park maps, make Mickey pancakes, pick out a new autograph book, etc...

But again, that's what works best for us. YMMV.

We have never been a big Disney family, the kids have watched a few movies but we never were into Mickey or anything. My husband and I got married youngish and had just bought our first house and didn't have a wedding or honeymoon. So our plan was hey we will go to Disney for our 10th anniversary, it was one of those things we always said and when 2014 got here I was like OMG we need to go to Disney. So after I booked in January they sent the video about the park and we watched it with the kids, they got super excited.

Now each night we do a movie night, hubs and I are picking Disney movies. The kids have no idea why we are suddenly watching 3 or 4 Disney movies a month, lol. They are also getting autograph books in their Easter baskets.

 

[TChappy]

Definitely surprise! We are going in 4 weeks and my kids have no idea. We're going to tell them that morning and have everything all packed!

I agree for all the reasons you posted! Let them enjoy each thing at a time!

We are planning on picking them up early from school to surprise them and have the car packed. I will probably let them help pick out clothes and swim stuff to take to the beach, but I will pack everything otherwise. It will actually be easy-ish because by October the kids are usually in pants and long sleeves here in Ohio, so I will have already put their summer clothes away. I plan on actually putting clothes aside in our craft room that we will take.

 

[Gracie09]

We told our girls they are going after they turn five. It allows us to have them help plan the trip (adrs and they picked their magic band) but since they don't know exactly when they are going we can suprise them that morning

 

[jcmaro]

Have they ever gone before? If not, I would tell them and let them help with the planning (places to eat, rides, etc.) If they have gone before then surprise them! We are surprising our kids on Sunday and we leave 4 days later. But they've all been before so I know the meals they enjoy, the rides they would want to ride, etc. But whatever you decide I'm sure your kids will be ecstatic!

 

[mks18412]

We have abstractly given the children (dd2, ds6, ds8) the idea that we are going to Disney next year (since we aren't taking a vacation this summer). We are actually going this October, for my husband and I's 10th anniversary. We are going to arrive in FL on a Wednesday, go to Legoland Thursday, then head to St. Pete's beach until Sunday morning. When we will get up and head to Disney for 6 days. We originally planned to do Disney, then legoland and the beach, but changed it because I figure after Disney the kids won't want to go to another park.

So we told them yesterday we are thinking about taking a short trip to the beach in October bc sometimes we take fall trips. This morning I am working on organizing some things for the trip and I need to customize our Magicbands. It got me wondering if I should just go ahead and tell the kids we are going to Disney, or should we keep that part a surprise?

We are thinking the reason not to tell them is that we want them to enjoy the time are Legoland and their first trip to the ocean, and not constantly ask when are we going to Disney? Our thought is to tell them the last night in St. Pete's that we are going to stop at Disney for a little while on the way home. What do you think? We have talked about Disney some, but I am so excited (I've never been either), I am about bursting at the seams to tell them, lol.

Surprise them! We are going Wed and my kids (Dd11 & Ds3) have no idea.

 

[tbone00]

We are surprising ours DDs with our trip in November, they will be 7 & 5, my in-laws are going and renting a limo for the trip to the airport. We will probably wait to tell them the morning we leave, right now I'm thinking of getting T-shirts printed up that says 'I'm going to disney!' And have them setting out for that morning, but I'm sure I'll have lots of ideas before November gets here! Lol!

 

[Aliceacc]

I guess I'm in the minority, but I think the planning is a big part of the fun.

My kids love those "let's talk Disney, mom" conversations.

I would let the Easter Bunny get them a book on Disney for Kids, so they would have a more concrete idea of what's there.

 

[laura12581]

I guess I'm in the minority, but I think the planning is a big part of the fun.

My kids love those "let's talk Disney, mom" conversations.

I would let the Easter Bunny get them a book on Disney for Kids, so they would have a more concrete idea of what's there.

How far in advance would you tell a 4& 6 year old?

 

[Diss Knee Pete]

We've done both in the past. We did a treasure hunt for our daughter where she had to find words which finally spelt out "On Thursday we are going here" and pointed to a hole in an envelope which had the resort lined up. This gave her a few days to plan.

Last year we went on a Disney Cruise from Vancouver, and covered her eyes as we walked around the cruise terminal corner to reveal the ship in dock the week before we boarded. She thought we were just going to be in Vancouver for a week. We were officially the best parents ever.

 

[TChappy]

We've done both in the past. We did a treasure hunt for our daughter where she had to find words which finally spelt out "On Thursday we are going here" and pointed to a hole in an envelope which had the resort lined up. This gave her a few days to plan.

Last year we went on a Disney Cruise from Vancouver, and covered her eyes as we walked around the cruise terminal corner to reveal the ship in dock the week before we boarded. She thought we were just going to be in Vancouver for a week. We were officially the best parents ever.

I think we are definitely going to leave it that we are going "next year", but still discuss things they may want to do and see.