When to Tell the Kids

[Reese]

We were originally planning a trip in late Feb and that got all changed around when the kids decided they would rather have a new puppy than go on vacation ( I have no idea why maybe they were switched at birth cause Mom and Dad both definately wanted the vacation). So they think that we are going in Oct. and we've never been before. We actually leave Feb 6th for a week. Our flight is about a two hour drive and it doesn't leave until 5:00pm. I have done up Disney boxes for each one of them and want them to open them with the grandparents here and tell them that day before we leave. Dh wants to hold off and tell them at the airport. We routinely go on long road trips so they won't question the car ride. I just thought if we told them before we leave the grandparents all get to see the reaction, also we have a couple of hours to answer any questions and they have a couple hours to be super happy before we get there. Dh thinks it would be better to not let them know until the last minute because he loves the suspense and he thinks they'de be more surprised at the airport.
Any opinions?

 

[Leah and Emily's mom]

We just got back from a suprise Christmas trip. We told the girls the morning we left to get up and get ready - we had a plane to catch. My 8 year old asked if she could go back to bed...Months before I thought we would never be able to hold out from telling our daughters- but the closer it got to our trip the more exciting it was to keep the secret. I have heard several parents say their children did not get as excited as the parents had imagined or dreamed they would react. Most of the fun is getting there...

 

[BarbWB]

for our trip in April, we kept it a surprise until we got there!!! And they were still clueless!! We told them while we were waiting for our table at Ohana. They thought we were at a restaurant in New Jersey (we told them we were going to see their cousins, who happen to live in NJ . . . we didn't lie, they were going to see the cousins, only the cousins were meeting us at WDW the next day!!).
When we let them in on the secret, they COULD NOT believe it (we flew from Austin to Orlando, rented a car, drove to WDW and still they did not clue in . . . and one could totally read signs and another could defintely read anything WDW .... kids are just clueless and trusting!)
I sooooooo wish I could pull it off again!!

 

[sara74]

We told DD3.5 today that we are really going to WDW. We have been telling her that we couldn't go until we saved enough money up. I cried when we told her and she didn't notice that but she did jump up and down and cover her mouth with her hands saying "really? for real?" I think at her young age we need to talk it up and give her some expectations about the trip. But I can't wait until our kids are older to trick them!