To tell or to surprise

[stemikger]

We did that to my daughter a year ago. It was great.

 

[MazdaUK]

I couldn't keep it a secret as I'd be too excited! But also younger DS was only 5 and I wanted him to be well prepared for the size of everything compared to DLP (where we went when he was 3 1/2). And I wanted everyone to help choose character meals and where we would go in each park, as I didn't want anyone to say when we got home "I didn't know we could...."

 

[DreaminDisney]

Our trips to Disney and Disney Cruise have never been a surprise.
This year they'll be 7 & 10 and we are surprising them with a Disney vacation. I think closer to date we're telling them we're going to Disney but at a much later date than we actually are. This way they can have fun planning/anticipating the trip and then we'll surprise them by going much sooner.

I agree with previous poster
"Bottom line, you can't go wrong either way"

 

[pezpam]

Agreed. You really can't go wrong here. I've taken DD several times over the past few years. Sometimes she knew, sometimes it was a surprise. Both ways are great.

My thing now is I need more creative ways to make the secret work if I try that again. I've done:

"We're going to visit Grammie" and then pulled up at the Disney hotel saying "Oh, yeah, we're also going to Disney."

I used dear Grammie one other time and told DD about the WDW part by pulling out some Disney stuff on the plane.

"You know that restaurant at the airport you like so much? I thought we'd go there for dinner." and the pulling the suitcase out of the car once we'd parked. (She was younger and really did like the restaurant - one of the waitresses remembers her every time and talks to her a lot.)

When I picked her up after school, I told her I'd have a really rough day and just wanted to drive around a bit. We 'just happened' to wind up at the airport. (Works if your airport is close like ours)

I really thought our 1st trip would be our only trip. Little did I know. <grin> For our secnd trip, I told DD that a friend of mine wanted to take her DD to WDW and wanted to know what a kid her age would really like to do. In that great kid-scrawl, DD made out a list of everything she had really loved doing. When it got close to time for the trip, I asked if she remembered it and how would she like going back to do all those things.


Upshot is that planning with the kids is fun and surprising the kids is fun. I admit that, while I do plan most trips with her, I love the look of surprise and sheer delight she gets when I surprise her.

 

[INdisneyfamily]

There is a way to do both...we told our daughter we were going but told her the wrong date. I made up some excuse as to why we had to pack a couple of days early. We picked her up at school for an "orthodontist appointment" and when she saw all of us in the car with suitcases she was shocked! She thought we were leaving the next day. It worked out great because she is always so excited she can't sleep the night before (reminds me of a commercial ). She slept like a baby the night before this trip and was rested and ready to go!
When our girls were little we did surprise them the day of by waking them up and telling them we were having breakfast on an airplane. We were already dressed in our Disney tshirts. It was priceless but I don't think it would work now that they are teenagers and have to pack for themselves.

 

[Goosie Lucy]

We've managed to keep it a secret and I think the kids are going to be thrilled. We live about an hour from the airport, so the night before we're staying in a hotel that has shuttle service to the airport. That's also a good cover as to why we have our bags packed. I laugh every time we see a YOAMD commercial because the kids beg to go and we tell them, not until they're older.
This is a total dream vacation. We're staying concierge at AKL and have a bunch of surprises planned for them. I can't wait to see the look on their faces when we tell them that we're going to Disney!

 

[tnkr mom]

I posted on another board about my planned surprise that didn't go over to well, (DS was worried about the dog and tree watering, augh)! That was more exciting for me, seemed to overwhelm the kids! BUT I have an idea for younger kids that have no concept of time yet, Just yesterday we cut strips of red,black & yellow (Mickey colors but any will do maybe pastel for the little princesses out there) construction paper and made a paper chain, each loop representing a day until your trip. This way each morning/@ dinner whatever your schedule, son can rip off one loop and see chain getting shorter. Explain when we get to the end we can get on the plane and go to Disney! Last night we had a really nice dinner talking about what we wanted to do while there (we try to make each trip different)! I even found out they always wanted to eat at Epcot's; LeCellier..needless to say I made a ADR last night!

 

[tnkr mom]

I posted on another board about my planned surprise that didn't go over to well, (DS was worried about the dog and tree watering, augh)! That was more exciting for me, seemed to overwhelm the kids! BUT I have an idea for younger kids that have no concept of time yet, Just yesterday we cut strips of red,black & yellow (Mickey colors but any will do maybe pastel for the little princesses out there) construction paper and made a paper chain, each loop representing a day until your trip. This way each morning/@ dinner whatever your schedule, son can rip off one loop and see chain getting shorter. Explain when we get to the end we can get on the plane and go to Disney! Last night we had a really nice dinner talking about what we wanted to do while there (we try to make each trip different)! I even found out they always wanted to eat at Epcot's; LeCellier..needless to say I made a ADR last night!

 

[quiltymom]

Last trip the kids were 4 & 6, and we didn't tell them until we were at the ariport. We wanted them to sleep the night before AND I didn't want the incessant: "When are we going to WDW?"

Well, it was a big mistake.

This time we're going to tell them - they will be 7 & 9 - and let them help out with the planning: where to eat, what rides to do/not to do, etc. For example, they were both terrified of Space Mountain at DL last summer, and I want to know if they want to try it at WDW (it's more tame) or not. I'd rather know before than trying to figure it out in the park.

Also, they can "help" save money. Every time they ask to go out to eat, we can honestly tell them that we will eat at home so we can save for our Disney trip. They can also help pack their own clothes (i.e., which princess dresses to bring - DD didn't want to wear all the ones I brought last time).

Good luck figuring it out!

 

[swillis]

Last trip the kids were 4 & 6, and we didn't tell them until we were at the ariport. We wanted them to sleep the night before AND I didn't want the incessant: "When are we going to WDW?"

Well, it was a big mistake.

This time we're going to tell them - they will be 7 & 9 - and let them help out with the planning: where to eat, what rides to do/not to do, etc. For example, they were both terrified of Space Mountain at DL last summer, and I want to know if they want to try it at WDW (it's more tame) or not. I'd rather know before than trying to figure it out in the park.

Also, they can "help" save money. Every time they ask to go out to eat, we can honestly tell them that we will eat at home so we can save for our Disney trip. They can also help pack their own clothes (i.e., which princess dresses to bring - DD didn't want to wear all the ones I brought last time).

Good luck figuring it out!

Why was it a mistake? I'm planning a surprise trip, so I'm anxious to hear the "bad" outcomes so I can hopefully avoid them.

 

[jillyjoey]

Why was it a mistake? I'm planning a surprise trip, so I'm anxious to hear the "bad" outcomes so I can hopefully avoid them.

I want to hear too. We are also surprising next year. This past December we didn't surprise. All went well until kids returned to school and I talked to DS's teacher. She told me that the weeks before the trip DS had Disney on the brain and wasn't doing his work in the classroom.

So -- we decided to surprise them this year. It's already hard -- I'm about to bust and I still have a LONG way to go.....

 

[quiltymom]

I probably should have prefaced that phrase by, it was a mistake for my kids.

Looking back, I think that they would have been even more excited about the trip if they had known beforehand. We bring them to Disneyland almost every summer when we're out visiting family, and they LOVE it. We're talking from rope drop 'till park closing without any breaks! It is just so much more fun to watch them anticipate the trip.

It boiled down to preparation (excuse me here while I watch a Disney commerical on TV!).

DD was terrified of the characters, but if we could have told her ahead of time just how large they were, and that they weren't small like on TV, she would've loved the character breakfasts much better. It took 3 meals for her to get near the princesses, let alone mask characters. And she would've been more excited about wearing her princess dresses - and I would've remembered to bring along her slip so they wouldn't itch!

DS adapted much better, but it would've been more fun for him if he knew ahead of time. We could've made sure to plan the rides he most wanted to do, etc.

Overall, it was a wonderful trip. I just think that it would've been more magical if they knew ahead of time. I just can't wait to see their faces when we tell them we're going back!

 

[emerymt]

Surprise! Oh most definitely! I surprised my DH & all the kids with a trip to Hawaii on our 10th anniversary. Had to set up a secret bank account, get him time off from work, the whole deal. So many people were in on it, I was sure it wouldn't work. But it did! They were so clueless! We were on the beach in Kauai by 3 pm and the look on their faces while the ocean rolled in is NEVER to be forgotten!

The only bad part was, I lost weight, got a tan & pedicure- and all DH thought was I was having a mid-life crisis! Geez- couldn't he have at least thought I had a guy on the side

Well, I guess it's a good thing that he knows that's not in my nature.

 

[gigi1313]

For myself, the anticipation of a big event is just about as delicious as the event itself. I can't imagine depriving my kids of a joy that I love so much.

Also, you know how those of us on the DIS enjoy planning? Well, my 6.5 year old son loves planning, too -- we must be related!!! He puts in the WDW planning DVD most days, and we talk about what he wants to do and what he doesn;t want to do and why.

i agree wholeheartedly... my 10yo LOVES planning and even helps others plan their trips and has a whole fictional leave mom/dad at home, take their credit card and stay at the Contemporary trip planned in his head... he knows where he'll eat (caseys and chef mickeys, of course!), how he'll get around, what souvies he'll buy me, etc... he even plans to get a haircut on Main Street!

but, we also like to surprise our kids... so we do a sorta-surprise... we tell them a month or three before we're going, but never give them the exact dates... "the end of january" (when we really left on the 12th)... "after camp is over" (and we really left on the last day of camp)... "for daddy's bday" (came home on dh's bday)... etc... in our opinions (kids too) it's the best of both worlds... esp our way of telling them... treasure hunts, showing up at school w/sweat shirt that says "We're Going to Disney World" and insisting that they put it on RIGHT THERE IN THE PRINCIPAL'S OFFICE!

we typically give them an hour or two to pack their own carryons and anything special we may have forgotten...

to the OP: whatever you decide... ENJOY

 

[billcsho]

We are going to WDW tomorrow with my 2 DD (6 and 11). We kept it a secret until we had everything booked right before Christmas. We wrapped the DW vacation planning DVD and put under the tree and make sure it was the last gift they opened. It is always a surprise when you tell the kids a DW vacation, so why wait for the last minute. I just love to see them counting down the days and prepare for the trip. I really don't see more excitement by keeping the secret longer unless it is way above the air and no solid plan has been laid out.

 

[LizzySwan1022]

I've gone both ways (my parents surprised me when I was 10), I absolutly loved being surprised!

 

[Ellasgirls]

We surprised our kids (then 3 & 6) with a disney cruise by telling them we were going with daddy to a seminar. They knew we were taking an airplane ride and staying in a hotel but NOT a disney cruise! We got all the way to Florida and my ds (6) says "I wish we were going to Orlando to see Mickey"...not hearing the pilot saying "welcome to Orlando, ect..". We stayed in an airport hotel that night so we could get up bright and early to tell them and get on the bus to the cruise. With the camera rolling dh said "we have a surprise (ds starts bouncing up and down & dd copies)....daddy doesn't have a seminar (ds starts giggling and getting excited that daddy can swim with us at the hotel )....dh continues "Mickey called and wondered if we could come on his big boat with him!" Ds then says "we are going to disney?" and dh says "YES"...ds thinks Disney World (rides) not CRUISE and starts rattling off all the rides he wants to do with dh...when we calmed him down and explained not DW but Cruise he got really quiet and then started screaming and jumping around and dd (3) did the same! The only downfall to this is: the next month we did have to go to a seminar and the kids were all giddy with excitement that we weren't REALLY going to a seminar...oops! We are going back to disney world Aug 25-Sept 1 and they know all about it but I think they are spoiled because they aren't all excited (like me!) and wanting to talk about it (like me!). I know we will have a FABULOUS TIME!

 

[stemikger]

I did this with my daughter two years ago and it was priceless. We didn't tell her until we got to the airport and she started to cry. Her reaction was priceless.

However, this can back fire, because the next year we really weren't going to Disney and she thought we might surprise her again, so she was a little disappointed.