When to tell 4 year old?

[sunnydays28]

No matter how we tell her, what kind of time frame do you suggest? We just booked today for mid-May and I know I am going to have a hard time keeping myself from telling but def know it is best to wait until much closer. I know I don't want to wait until the very last minute or in the car. We do plan to start some king of countdown when we tell her.

We have talked in vague terms about it like "if we ever go back" (we did one day at MK when she was 2.5, she still talks about it several times a week) and "sometime would you like to go" so she will def get it when we tell her.

I know I know my child best, but would love to hear input from others.

 

[TeamH5]

We told our kids about our cruise starting at 6 months out. They were 3 & 4 when we told them, 3 & 5 when we cruised. The only reason we started so far out was because my DD does NOT like surprises, & we wanted her to be able to actually enjoy the cruise. She ended up being so excited when she saw the 'Mickey boat' up close and personal that she almost hyperventilated! Lol.

Being that your daughter has already been and knows, I would maybe wait till like 2 or 3 weeks out. Kids have no concept of time if you tell her any earlier you might run the risk of getting the 10th degree every day about why you're not going yet.
Good luck and enjoy!

 

[my3boys511]

Tough call. We are also going in May and we just told our kids a few days ago. (Though they are a bit older...7 & 8 yrs old). We couldn't decide but this is our first time going and we realized that one of the best things about vacation is the anticipation leading up to it! The vacation goes fast enough...might as well enjoy the wait with them as well! Whatever you choose will be right for you though! Enjoy!!!

 

[trewin]

I told my 5 year old son at 100 days before- I wanted to wait, but my husband couldn't wait anymore! Now we are doing a Disney movie night Once a week. I also order little things here n there from the disney store online - he thinks Mickey Mouse is sending it to him for his trip! I did save some surprises for at the park like the character meal, and the pirates league.

 

[sunnydays28]

I told my 5 year old son at 100 days before-

That is the kinda idea I need!! Although we did book and deposit yesterday, there are a couple of loose ends that we have to be absolutely positive of before it is really real that we are going (vacation time in the system, contractor working on our house to be paid, etc.) and I can get that done this week. Then next Monday is 100 days from our trip, and I have been wanting to work more on high-level counting skills with her, so this perfect!! I think we will do a "count up" instead of a countdown.

She does have a pretty good sense of future time, the calendar, and is not overly anxious or impatient, so maybe it will be OK to tell her this early. I know I can't wait to tell her!

 

[nchulka]

I say tell her now, let the excitement build! I told DS and DD when they were 4 & 6 about our Disney trip that was 2 1/2 years away at the time! We took the trip over DSs 7th birthday and DD was 8. Right away, the first day, we got mason jars and decorated them turning them into Disney jars. For 2 1/2 years they sat on our counter and the kids put their money in them. They always knew it was a long time away, but they were excited anyway! When we got down to about 9 months to go I made a construction paper chain out of several different colors. Everyday the kids pulled one off. About once every ten days there was a special link that gave the kids each 1 dollar that they got to add to their jars. The excitement was so much fun during those 2 years

That said surprises are fun too! In Feb. my mom is taking DD now 10 to Colorado to ski and she has no idea. Their plane leaves at 2:45 on a Tuesday so we are sending DD to school as usual. Then we will surprise her by coming to lunch at school and after lunch tell her she needs to come with us to the airport right away!

Both ways are fun! I wouldn't worry about her not being able to handle it being a long time away, to me that's a non-issue. Just decide whether it would be more fun to surprise or anticipate

 

[msmama]

I told my son (asked if he wanted to go) before I ever started planning. We go in April but I just booked a couple of days ago.

That said, when it gets closer, we do either a countdown chain or (now that he's older and interested in dates) a calendar that he can cross off the days. It's an easy way for them to "see" how much time is left.

 

[crisi]

I think earlier is better.

1) Kids who don't adapt easily need plenty of time to think it through. We took friends with kids on the autism spectrum who hadn't been prepped and it was our worse trip ever. We took my nephew - a tentative kid, he rode very little - he rode a lot of the stuff the following year once he had time to adapt to the idea.

2) Kids who adapt easy and are bright at four can give input into planning. They can let you know what characters they "need" to see you you can plan meals or character greets. They can understand what rides are available, and give you a read on whether you'll be making time for Tower or Terror or if you'll be riding Small World more than once.

But nothing until its definite.

 

[Baliezer]

We told our kids about our cruise starting at 6 months out. They were 3 & 4 when we told them, 3 & 5 when we cruised. The only reason we started so far out was because my DD does NOT like surprises, & we wanted her to be able to actually enjoy the cruise. She ended up being so excited when she saw the 'Mickey boat' up close and personal that she almost hyperventilated! Lol.

Being that your daughter has already been and knows, I would maybe wait till like 2 or 3 weeks out. Kids have no concept of time if you tell her any earlier you might run the risk of getting the 10th degree every day about why you're not going yet.
Good luck and enjoy!

I agree with this. After going through months of my four year old asking when Christmas is coming, I would wait until 2 weeks before to tell her. My four year old just could not grasp time and it was not fun having to tell her over and over again how much time was left.

 

[Canooknic]

Our boys know we are going 'one day', but we aren't telling them until the day we leave.
We talk about going all the time so they know what to expect, that we will have to go on 2 planes to get there, what restaurants we can go to etc but if we tell them that we're going in 2.5 weeks cheer2 it will be unbearable!!
It's going to be a long day travelling and a very late night for them so I want to make sure they sleep well the night before and get some breakfast in them before the excitement starts!

 

[Serra]

We are going in February with a 2.5 and 10 mo old. My 2 year old is in love with Mickey, so we haven't told yet. I was wondering the same timeframe question. I was planning about 2 weeks out, but its getting harder and harder not to tell him. I also haven't told him because he desperately wants on an airplane. I thought about telling sooner so we can practice airplane behavior, but I'm still so undecided.

 

[sachilles]

Also going early may, and our son turns 4 this week. We told him when we booked the trip a week or two ago. He's not big on surprises so take it with a grain of salt. We tell him a day or two before seeing the doctor for shots so he can be prepared.
Since he has never been, I don't think he fully understands, and isn't overly excited. Not nearly as excited as mom and dad.

 

[Aliceacc]

If the Easter Bunny visits your house, could he bring some Disney stuff? Maybe the "Disney for Kids" book so your daughter could take a look at some of the pictures?

Easter this year is March 31, so it would be about 6 weeks before your trip.

 

[OKW Lover]

I'm having a hard time understanding the question. Why wouldn't you tell her now? About the only reason I'd hold off is if you wanted to surprise her for a special occasion.

 

[Darcy03231]

I took my niece when she was 4, almost 5. We told her the week before and thought it worked out very well. It was enough time for her to get excited about it and have a "count-down," but not too far out so that she drove us crazy.

 

[thelobstershanty]

I do Disney trip planning for guests with upcoming WDW trips; for families with children, I send the kids post cards, emails w/coloring pages & puzzles, count down chains etc. before their trips. I always ask the parents when they would like the corresponence to start between their kids and Mickey and the Gang-- the vast majority of parents pick the 30 day mark--which seems to work out well.

 

[sunnydays28]

I'm having a hard time understanding the question. Why wouldn't you tell her now? About the only reason I'd hold off is if you wanted to surprise her for a special occasion.

Several reasons:
~While she does have a decent grasp of time and future planning, she is still a 4 year old, and almost 5 months is a long time to a little kid.
~My husband wants to wait because he doesn't want to hear about it every single day for the next 5 months (sorry dude, you will be hearing about it from me!).
~I don't want the long time frame of the trip to wear on her excitement.
~There are going to be a lot of surprises, like she doesn't know we are doing the Pirate Cruise until she sees Captain Hook and Smee, she doesn't know she is going to get to go inside the castle for her birthday, she doesn't know we are going to the beach after WDW, so there will still be lots of surprises.

I want to tell her next Monday, I have several ideas for things to do like a money-saving jar, helping me pick out Ts, planning which rides and characters to see, getting fun stuff in the mail, that is all part of the excitement and can't be done on a very short time-frame.

Short of telling her as we are in the car driving down there, dad wants to wait a long time to tell her.

And if we wait too much longer, she is going to figure it out or I am going to slip and then I think that takes some of the excitement away. From her and ME!

 

[elittleton]

My DD does not handle suprises or changes every well so she already knows we are going in May. She has know we were going after she gets our of Kindergarden since shortly after school started but I just told her exactly when we are going. To help her with the time before going on our last trip I created a calender with a count down with the day before we leave being '1'. She gets to make the day off each morning. She has already asked if we can create her calendar for this trip. She loves to help plan the trip. With the calendar she does not ask when we are going because she has a visual reminder.

 

[nat8199]

We are going in Oct and my DD (3) has known about it since before Christmas. Technically, my boys know too, but they are too young to get it.

 

[bear_mom]

3 of our 5 trips we told dds at 45 days out and told them doing a scavenger hunt with a count down calendar as the final "prize".

Once we told them at Christmas for an end of April trip.

This year I told them at 100 days out and am texting them everyday (along with my parents who are going with us - first trip for them) with a tip, hint, quote, etc. as a countdown.

Emily