When to tell my Nephew

[15isto2]

Next year I am taking my nephew (will be 12) to Disney for his first trip in the October holiday.
My dilemma is when do I tell him... do I tell him at Christmas... his birthday (August) or wait until the day we fly..
I am so excited..
I need your advice

 

[mikelan6]

The earlier the better. That way you can both plan in advance. For me, some of the most excitement is the planning.

 

[Marty Joe]

I agree. Half of a Disney trip is the anticipation.

 

[rpcwjr]

I'm thinking Christmas is too early. It will seem so far away to him. I think his birthday would be a good time and still give him time to plan. August should give you enough time to make your dining and activity plans and there will be plenty of anticipation time. This is a VERY nice birthday gift!!!!!!

 

[WaltD4Me]

I am trying to figure out the exact same thing! I'm taking my nephew (he's seven though) to Disney this November. He has absolutely no clue and we are trying to decide how to tell him. One plan is that my brother and SIL say they have to pick up her brother at the airport, he travels alot, and then when they get there, I would be waiting outside with a suitcase and a huge Mickey balloon. The second plan is to give it to him for his birthday, which is October 7th. My SIL, sister and mom want to wrap a big box with a bunch of smaller and smaller boxes inside until he gets to a tiny package with a Disney ticket in it. My brother and I like the first plan for the sheer shock value, but my SIL, sister and mom say the anticipation and pre-excitement is half the fun and want the birthday box way.

I'm interested to see what people say. We should do a poll!

 

[IHeartTink04]

The earlier the better. That way you can both plan in advance. For me, some of the most excitement is the planning.

Totally agree!

 

[roomthreeseventeen]

I think it depends on the kid. Some kids are planners, and enjoy thinking about future vacations. Other kids don't necessarily have the patience for it, and it might just be frurstrating. You know your nephew best!

 

[aggielawyer]

Y'all are all more disciplined than my sister. We'd been talking about taking our nephew before he started school. A couple of weeks ago we were all together and they had seen the World of Color show on the Disney channel, so we were talking about that. I intentionally waited until my nephew was out of the room, then mentioned to my sister that he'd be starting Kindergarten next year, so if we were going to take him we'd have to do it soon. He comes back in the room and my sister says, "Sam,do you want to go to Disneyland with me and Aunt Courtney?"

So, it looks like we'll be going in February. He doesn't talk about it all the time, but he does mention it occasionally and ask me if I've started making the plans yet. We are getting him used to spending the night away from his parents a little at a time.

 

[MinnieGarden]

It depends on the child...... our 7 yo planned the last trip with me, however my BIL and SIL told their kids 2 days before we all left. There isn't a "right" answer, it all depends upon the child. Good luck!

 

[disneym2m]

I think what everyone has suggested is a good idea. But I am going to throw in another thought. Are you going in October 2010 or October 2011? If it is October 2011, I think I would wait. What if something happens and you have to cancel the trip. Your nephew might understand but be very disappointed. OR he might not understand and be very angry.


In the end it is up to you. But just remember how you might feel if you were going to WDW for the first time and something happens and it has to be postponed or canceled.

Anyway, have a great time and what a wonderful gift.

 

[dmccarty]

Our kids were 4 and 7 for their first trip to WDW.

The destination of the trip was a TOTAL surprise to them. We took two half days to drive down to WDW and they did not know we were going to WDW until we pulled off I4 into Disney property and they saw the gates!

Then the hooting and hollering started.

You can ONLY do this once.

The kids can help plan every trip ever after. My kids don't really plan the trip. We do count down the days. And the countdowns are fun and give us something to look forward too. But the first trip can only be a surprise once. Then they know the destination.

We just surprised the kids a few weeks back. Long story short we took a short trip to the mountains. The kids did not know we were going until the night before. They were already packed though and ready to go. Why? They saw DW pull out the suit case and thought it was to pack for our WDW trip which is getting close. But not that close. So they packed for WDW.

We told them about the mountian trip the night before because we knew they needed to pack a few more things and we would be short on time the day of the trip.

But they did not know that Grandma and PaPa would be at the hotel in the mountains. Which was the second surprise.

Now the oldest kid is getting smart. Real smart. On the trip to the mountains she kept asking if there were going to be other surprises. I never said yes or no but asked why she thought there would be surprises. She would not answer. Eventually she did answer. She said that on our first trip to WDW one of the other surprises was Grandma and Papa being at the resort.

She has me figured out.

We got to the hotel in the mountains and I had to be real careful parking since I could see my parents car so I parked in front of the lobby to unload and not ruin the surprise. The grandparents were waiting in the lobby according to plan. We hopped out of the car and walked into the lobby. I see the grandparents sitting right up front. The kids walked in and were kinda dazed at everything in the hotel....

Eventually, after 30 seconds or so and walking halfway to where the grandparents where sitting the kids FINALLY see the surprise aka the grandparents.

Much hooting and hollering.

Later on they had a third surprise of going off with the grandparents to a water park resort at the end of the weekend.

Surprise Surprise Surprise

Surprise the kids when you can.

An 11 year old could be hard to surprise. But there are LOTS of attractions in Orlando. If the Nephew knows you are Disney Fanatics a surprise is going to be hard. Unless you blindfold him for the trip down. Of course you could surprise him on the day of the trip or the day before. If you can surprise him I would.

Having said that it is not always possible to surprise. We took a nephew to WDW a few trips back and we just could not surprise him for a variety of reasons. He would have known our destination even if our kids would keep quiet.

While we did not surprise the nephew with the trip. We did surprise him along with my mom and the kids with a Illumination Cruise and other events. So if you cannot surprise him about the trip throw in some surprises AT WDW.

We have one surprise for our next WDW trip. Not a big deal but a character breakfast the kids wanted but we could not book in time. But in the end we managed to get a reservation. But they do not know it.

Later,
Dan

 

[reeveha]

We've taken two sets of grandkids by air and didn't tell them until we were in the air.

The first set were 10 & 8. We didn't tell them until we were airbourne on the first leg of our outbound flight. They kept saying "no way" until we arrived at the Poly.

The second set, we told them that we where just going to Dallas to visit relatives (because our flight connected at DFW). When we got onto the connecting flight, they got so disappointed because thought they were going back home. Once we got into the air, we sprung the truth. They couldn't set still so the whole plane knew something was up by their excitement .

If everyone can keep a secret and you're travelling by air, I think waiting until you're travelling to the World adds to the surprise and the excitement!!!!