When Would You Tell Your Kids ?

[JungleCruiser]

When our kids were small, we told them we were going to a relatively lame vacation spot near our home. We thought it would blow their minds that we were REALLY going to Disney. We chuckled as we told them all the things we would do on this lame vacation.

Then, the morning of our fabulous Disney vacation to the Animal Kindgdom Lodge, we woke them up and said we were leaving today on a plane to Florida. Can you believe it???

My daughter started to cry and said she wanted to go to the super lame vacation spot. My Son concurred that he was looking forward to that too. After we wiped the tears and got them dressed for the airplane...we (my husband and I) just stood there thinking "do you have any other good ideas Mom and Dad?".

We had a fabulous Disney Vacation but it just goes to show...your kids just want to do something out of the ordinary..together as a family.

 

[Disneyforus]

We are taking our kids on their first Disney trip and first plane ride. Initially I wanted to keep it a surprise all the way up to going to the airport. But, my DH pointed out that at their age (7,5,3,18 mos) we might want to tell them a little bit ahead of time so they can get used to the idea and relieve any of their concerns about flying etc...so we are still keeping it a surprise until a week or so before and then we are doing a treasure hunt where they will find pieces to a Disney puzzle that will tell them the good news when they put it together. It will be fun to have a few days to ponder everything and get excited with them!!

 

[JJ&JSMOM]

We're going to tell our kids ages 7, 4 & 2 about a month before we leave. We're going in May so for Easter we're going to have a treasure hunt and in treasure chest I'll have disney dollars and other disney stuff and a pic of our resort. Can't wait - I've had a difficult time not telling them but I know it will be worth it and for them I think 30 days to wait is doable. I wouldn't want to tell our kids too far in advance especially at their ages. Plus it will be their first time flying so I want to talk to them about the plane, play a game about what happens at the airport/security, etc.

We'll watch the planning dvd and they can help plan our days. I've scheduled our adrs and asked them questions already about their favorite characters so I made sure to get those character meals. Good luck and have fun!

I wrote the above and things have changed! My DH and I have decided to tell them at St. Patricks Day - that should be about 55 days prior to our trip. We'll do the treasure hunt or should I say "pot of gold" hunt. I think the kids really need something exciting to look forward too. This is the time of year we usually go away for a couple days - the hotel, pool & shopping thing and we're not doing it this year because of our WDW trip. Plus we want to talk about it - our family wants to talk about it. Everyone is just so excited for them and their first trip.

Hopefully it won't be too far out for them to wait. And for Easter the Easter Bunny will be very busy w/Disney themed easter baskets. He was wondering what to put in them so now he has an idea.

Have fun w/it!
Joanne

 

[eyeheartgoofy]

My kids (5 and 2 at the time) knew about our last trip for about 6 months prior to our departure. I think that was a little too far in advance for them.

However, I didn't tell them exactly when we were leaving on our trip until the morning of the trip - I led my older daughter to believe that we were leaving on Sunday, when we were actually leaving that Saturday - otherwise, I knew she would not sleep Friday night (and neither would the rest of us!). We told her in the car on the way to the airport Saturday morning - the expression on her face was priceless.

 

[Sandi12404]

I have absolutly no secret keeping ability, especially when it comes to Disney. My kids (9 and 3) knew about our next Disney vacation the day we got back from our last one (I was already planning it). We leave in 577 days and it's safe to say I drive them nuts talking about going. I can't wait.

 

[DisneyMama27]

DH is the bigmouth in our family (loves the anticipation) so we are doing 2 trips this year, so we're both happy! Kids know about the July trip, but I told him he is not allowed to tell about Christmas! They will be in school, busy time of year, so it won't be hard to surprise them anyway then. In July, it would be pretty hard with them home. Plus, we let them earn Disney Dollars beforehand, so they will be good little helpers this summer for me! At Christmas, we can give them Disney Dollars in their stockings! I have it all figured out, of course!

Be careful about expecting a big reaction, though - usually takes our kids a while to let it sink in - and they LOVE WDW! DH tends to want a huge reaction and is sometimes disappointed - I think he'd get a bigger one with a surprise, but I am going to have to prove it,I'm sure!

 

[mouseketeer_mom]

We leave in just 5 hours and my kids still don't know!