When do you tell the kids?

[EvilQueen2018]

We're telling ours and then sending them to pack. We'll leave when they're ready. Mine will love the surprise and there is still a lot of decisions for them to make when we get there.

 

[henry72]

We don't surprise the kids. I think part of the fun is in the planning and DS is the same way. He wants to pack his own things and study the maps. (He loves maps.) DD would probably be fine with a surprise but I can't keep it to myself for that long anyway!

 

[Jhondy210]

We told my 6 year old niece as soon as it was planned but we have not told her all the things we are doing at Disney. She has never been so she doesn't quite know what to expect. It has been hard keeping some of the special things a secret but I think if she knew everything we were doing she would be overwhelmed with everything going on.

 

[Alexis Gallati]

We tell our kids early so that we can use it as leverage to be good! Lol. Works pretty well!

 

[mjo]

One time we didn't tell the kids until we were in the car driving to the Airport but all the other times, we always let the cat out of the bag. I just booked our next trip for this Jan.. and am wondering when the cat gets let out of the bag.. we'll see.

 

[mco65]

I told my kids just last week.
"Hey kids, me and mom are going to Disney in Jan. We will miss you"!

 

[cyneswith]

The countdown thing? It's not working so well. DS keeps saying "I don't WANT to go to Disney World. I want to go to CAT World!" "Cat World... Cat World isn't a real thing, sweetheart." "Yes it IIIIIS!"

smh

 

[Meeko5]

First trip we told them when we booked 6+ months out. It was awesome planning, watching YouTube videos and reading websites together. Now that I know what the kids like this year is a total surprise. My 7yo constantly talks about our trip last fall. Says he wishes we could go to Disney again all the time. Tells me what he wants to do next time we go to Disney, etc. That has helped shape our plans, but since we are leaving the day after thanksgiving I plan to tell him in the car on our way to the airport. Maybe hand him the stack of park maps we saved from last trip and ask if he can be the navigator for the trip.

I love surprises but generally end up spoiling them because I'm so excited. So far so good on This big one though

 

[TeachrRay]

We've done both...surprising them in the car as we left, and including them from the day we booked. Each has its advantages and disadvantages. It truly depends upon your kids and how you think they will react. Each one has been fun for us as parents; I do think my kids prefer to have more control about what we choose to do...

 

[kjw42]

We involved our kids early on in a very vague way. Reading books, watching travel video,etc with the idea we were going "someday". That way I could get reservations made without keeping them on edge for 6 months. About 60 days out we told them the dates and then made countdown chains with red, black and yellow paper. That way they had a visual and ended the daily " how much longer?"

This time around I think we'll tell them a little sooner to encourage them to save more of their own money for souvenirs. Our older daughter really liked the independence but didn't get a whole lot of saving time on a 7 year olds income.

 

[BoatDriver]

If the kids are really little, then don't tell them more than 2 weeks out, unless you want to hear, "are we going today? When are we going?" Every day.

Same here. If my 4yo son knows it's coming, that's all we hear about for months. I figure we'll tell him about this trip about a week out. Until then, we're building up to it.

We have a sticker system in our house. When he eats his fruits and vegetables, he gets a sticker for the day on a calendar. After ten stickers, he gets a prize.

We put up a picture of Mickey in his room. Every night, we count the number of good choices he made, and he gets a "Good Choice" sticker for each one (with a corresponding loss for bad choices). He knows that when Mickey gets filled with stickers he gets a Super BIG Prize. With a little bit of creative spacing and varying sticker sizes, he'll fill it up around the first week of November and then we'll tell him he gets to go to Disney next week.

 

[vratiana]

We leave in 3 days and haven't told them. My kids love watching surprise YouTube videos and have said many times how cool that would be, so we decided to go for it. Planning hasn't been bad at all. I asked everything in hypotheticals, like "what color magic band would you guys want on our next trip?" As we get closer, it has gotten SO hard not to tell. I am counting down the seconds. The surprise has definitely made the trip more exciting for ME! However, this is a one & done thing, no more surprises after this. It helps that my boys are young and clueless. My husband & my dad have almost blown it several times!

We tell our kids early so that we can use it as leverage to be good! Lol. Works pretty well!

Ha! I keep telling my husband this is the one disadvantage of our surprise trip!

 

[Fintastic]

Our trip isn't until next fall, and I haven't said a word to the kids because A) it's still so far away and B) if Heaven forbid something happens and we have to cancel, there isn't the disappointment. As we get closer I'll feel more secure that we're actually going. I think I'll tell them when we're about a month out.

 

[megster1123]

I've been planning since February for our October trip, but just told the kiddos a couple of days ago, right around the 3 week mark. I want them to be excited about it, ask questions...I think the anticipation of something is part of the fun. Also they get to help pick out their disney-wear, my daughter can chose the perfect princess dresses...and now I only have 3 weeks of fielding the "is it today?" question.

 

[JanBlessed]

This summer, I told my 9yr old that we were going "in one month, on a Monday" and use that as leverage for good behavior! It worked like a charm! He even packed a few days early " just to make sure that we didn't forget anything ) Then the actual day of the trip: "Sunday", the magic bands were "in the mailbox". He was soooo excited! When he said " I can't wait until tomorrow, I said: then let's leave today! He was ecstatic ! It was , for me, the best of both worlds for a surprise trip

 

[JanBlessed]

For the upcoming cruise, I plan on doing something different for the surprise ... and now my DD3 will be old enough to participate! Just don't know how to surprise them yet....

She has No idea what a cruise is, anyway

 

[eyeblaura]

We've told our kids. They are 6 and 9, last trip at 3 and 6 we only told them 2 weeks ahead of time but my 6 year old devoured the little family booklet they send when staying on property and the park maps. This time my 9 year old really wanted to help plan, so they have known for months, we are down to 4 sleeps and they are so excited and counting down the days. For use a lot of their fun comes from planning and the excitement of knowing it is coming.

 

[Disdogmom]

My parents always told me right after they booked the trip. I loved helping my mom plan out what we were going to do, but I was a strangely organized child.

 

[babyruth]

countdown as a family! everyone loves to have their input on food and rides and all that.

 

[scrapquitler]

Are you the "countdown as a family" type or the "surprise them the morning of" type? What have you done in the past?

We tell them the minute we decide to start planning.

However, I have kids that do NOT do surprises. At all. We constantly need to talk about "don't forget, we are going to Aunt Mary's on Sunday", "We're leaving for the grocery store in 30 minutes", etc. to avoid having meltdowns.