when to tell the kids?

[mastrolang]

We're planning a trip back to Walt Disney World next spring. This will be DD's third trip, DS's second, and my sixth. We're wondering when we should tell them the Big News!

Originally, we were going to tell them about three months out, on Christmas. Then we pondered the idea of not telling them until the morning we leave. But just recently, the news almost slipped out at an extended family dinner and I've been considering telling them now - or at least six months out.

I'm concerned that once we really start planning, it might be tougher for everyone to keep it a secret, and rather than spoil the surprise maybe we ought to just tell them.

DH disagrees. He thinks I'm being an impatient child and am incapable of keeping a secret... he's not entirely wrong but...

Advice?

 

[MandiC]

How old are they?
I'm not a huge surprise lover personally. Actually if someone surprised me with something big I would probably be upset with them for a little bit and I feel like my kids are the same way. They need some time to process We told our kids a month before out trip (at Christmas, we left Jan 31) and I thought that was a pretty great length of time. It wasn't *forever* away for them and they had the fun of doing a countdown and looking at their guidebook and planning what they wanted to do. We are already talking about our next trip so I can get ideas of things they want to do. I am not sure when we will tell them we are actually going? We are going before Christmas so that option is out. I could tell on one of the kids birthdays but then will it feel less special for the other kids...or even the birthday kid feeling like their birthday is being forgotten in the excitement.

 

[SEA333]

We're planning a trip back to Walt Disney World next spring. This will be DD's third trip, DS's second, and my sixth. We're wondering when we should tell them the Big News!

Originally, we were going to tell them about three months out, on Christmas. Then we pondered the idea of not telling them until the morning we leave. But just recently, the news almost slipped out at an extended family dinner and I've been considering telling them now - or at least six months out.

I'm concerned that once we really start planning, it might be tougher for everyone to keep it a secret, and rather than spoil the surprise maybe we ought to just tell them.

DH disagrees. He thinks I'm being an impatient child and am incapable of keeping a secret... he's not entirely wrong but...

Advice?

We told ours who were 13, 9, and 8, and had been to magic kingdom once before, 15 minutes before the limo arrived to take us to the airport. They loved it and ask all the time for us to do it again.

Some kids, like mine, LOVE to be surprised and were grateful and thankful to go on a surprise trip. Other kids, from what I hear, either don't cope well with surprises or like to be in on the planning aspect, or simply don't appreciate being surprised with a very fun trip just for them. Whatever your case may be, keep in mind that with a surprise you are solely in charge of making sure everything is packed (I didn't mind), every logistical item is dealt with (sports, school, family, the cat, etc...again, I didn't mind), and telling a LIMITED number of people ahead of time so someone doesn't inadvertently spill the secret to the kids.

We have our kids reaction to the trip and to the limo on video and it is a family treasure for sure. My kids will never forget that morning!

 

[lizard1]

Let me start by saying that I don't like surprises, so I would never wait and surprise my kids with a trip to Disney.

If it were me, I would tell them now. Since they have been before, they may have some input on things they would like to do and places they would like to eat. Some of it may come as a surprise to you and you may not allow enough time for the things that are important to them. For instance, I booked many character meals for our trip, including the princess ones. When we went back, where do you think my kids wanted to eat again??? Nope, not any character meals, but SciFi. Did they really care about the coveted FPs we got for 7DMT? Nope, they REALLY wanted to ride BTMRR and Splash. I would definitely tell them and let them be involved in the planning.

 

[FlightlessDuck]

How old are your children? Maybe they'd be interested in helping to plan. They can help plan.

My children are 17 and 14. They've helped plan since then were 12 and 9. We only ever surprised them once; it's not something we'd do on a consistent basis.

 

[mastrolang]

My kids will be eight and five when we go. My DD (8) would probably love the surprise but my DS (4 now, 5 then) may not appreciate the short notice, as he's quite sensitive.

As for planning, they've been talking about what they want to do "next time" since we got back last time! But they really have no input - LOL! They don't really know what they want. My DS, the sensitive one, seems to think he wants to ride Dinosaur. There's no way he'd survive it.

So... now or maybe Christmas then???

 

[JoeyEmmaMomma]

When we did a surprise trip we told the kids about a month before we went. They were able to help us with the final planning stages and they had plenty of time to get excited.

 

[MSSANDRA]

We are NOT surprise folks. We tell our little guy as soon as we are ready to book and are pretty sure that nothing is going to change our plans. My family has been enough times that he knows which places he really would like to eat each trip and I value his input and he loves to help plan. I also like his input on which FP he wants to make. We have told him in a fun way a couple times. One trip, His Christmas elf brought a WDW book and some disney shirts. It was a last minute trip and we told him the day after we booked the resort to be sure we could get a room, but before we made any ADRs.

 

[Jenn55]

Took my son January 2-11th this year and I surprised him with a Mickey stuffie and a guide book and universal tickets on Xmas day. We were watching the parade at my sisters and only a few ppl knew (husband, sisters).. I think my dad was more shocked then anyone cause he had no idea. My son didn't seem to understand at first, he was almost 8 at the time. But once I explained it he was super happy. I did all the planning and it was hard to keep it a secret. I promised him he would go before he was 10 so I could talk to hi about it without really giving it away. Our next trip is dec 2015. I probably won't tell him until it's all paid for just incase there are financial issues that cause us to back out between now and then. My main this with the first trip was it was his very first time and it was supposed to be a once in a lifetime trip so I wanted the added bonus of surprising him with it. And since it happened dec 25th and we flew our jan 2nd it didn't feel like a long time of 'is it time yet' kinda annoyances! Lol

 

[Lumish family]

keep it a secret till the airport!!!

 

[Wishing4magic]

We are surprising DD5 with our upcoming trip this month. She has no idea but keeps asking when we can go back (she's been once before). I was thinking on telling her on the way to the airport. However, after some thought I've changed my mind. Although she loves surprises I think she needs a couple of days to process it all. So we will tell her when its time to pack so she can feel like she's part of the process. DH thinks we should wait like it was originally planned. I just think it will work out better this way... or she might be bouncing off the walls with excitment all the way to Disney

 

[Disney Khaleesi]

I'm a person who HATES surprised. I do not like them. Which is also why I hate magic and magicians, too. Because I don't like not knowing how they do it.

I would tell them three months before you leave. That way they have time to be excited about it and really get to be amped up before they go. That way, actually being there is so much more exciting because of the anticipation.