To tell or not?

[Mama loves planning]

Well I have a foot in both camps. We surprised our then 8 and 10 year olds with a WDW trip in 2010. They had been receiving letters from the Fairy Godmother telling them something wonderful was about to happen in the holidays and that she was watching their behaviour. They got up that morning, thinking we were going up the coast which is where we go most school holidays and we produced the final letter from the FGM. It contained letters, written in Disney font, that spelled out 'Surprise, you are going to Disneyworld'. It took them about 15 minutes to work it out!! (I'm panicking about having to HURRY UP!) Having been to DL before, so having a vague idea what to expect, the 10 year old burst into tears but the 8 year old was very unsure. It took a fair bit of cajoling to convince him it was OK, and by the time we were headed for the airport he was fine. We have it all on video and I must say it is the most priceless and precious piece of footage we own.
We are also going again in September 2012 and again it is a surprise. However, this time we will let them in on the surprise about 4 weeks out. (So far have a vision of some type of treasure hunt to reveal it) This time I want them to enjoy the excitement of crossing off the calendar and the anticipation. I will also be having a word with them about bragging at school, just in case!
So I would say to you, if your child is OK with surprises and is happy to go with the flow, I say keep it under your hat as long as possible. It really was so special. If your child is a planner and likes to know what's happening after morning tea time and before lunch, you might be best to tell them!
Either way you will enjoy the reveal. Get creative and make it something your kids will remember forever. My kids are constantly playing the video of the surprise, in fact only played it this morning. Happy travels!

 

[dabecs]

My girls will be 5 and 6 when we leave and we haven't told them yet.

Our plan (at this stage) is to tell them in July. My husband's extended family are having a Christmas in July this year and we are thinking of giving our girls a few presents on the day (some Mickey and Minnie clothes I have bought them) and telling them then. It will be just over 3 months before we go which hopefully will give them enough time to settle into the idea but not too long that it becomes tedious.

Miss 6 likes to know what is going on and responds best to new situations once she has had a chance to talk through them so I want to give her time to process the long flight and to watch some videos of dark rides etc and ask about anything that makes her unsure.

 

[Flea]

It's great reading peoples responses/ideas etc.

Our last trip in 2009 (oh man seems so long ago) the girls knew we were going. We are planning on going back next year (they'll be almost 7 and almost 9), and we are planning to surprise them, but not totally.

They know we are going to disneyland again, and will be involved in the planning etc but we aren't telling them when. We'll pick them up from school and head to the airport (well that's the plan). That means they can help plan as they loved planning last time (even though they were only 3 and 5) but they'll still get a surprise.