Would you?

[jeepgirl30]

When i took DD I told her well in advance and bought kids guide book for her. We read bits and pieces for weeks ahead. We also made a calendar and counted down. I actually used the trip to help her with counting, reading and writing! I designed little notecards and had her write a princess's name and how many days out. Each day I would stick one of the cards in her lunch box for her.

When we got to disney she was prepared for different rides because we had read about them. There were still plenty of surprises for her and unexpected attractions. I did the Tinkerbell gifts for her each morning.

I feel part of the fun of the trip is researching and planning but I'm an event planner so that is just in my blood! When we go back and take DS this time I plan on telling them and sharing the planning fun with them.

 

[leagirl12]

We wanted to surprise ours this last time but I thought about how much fun goes into the planning of the trip that I didn't want to take that away from them. So we told them about 2 months before we left.

I asked them afterwards if they would want to ever be surprised and not told until the day we left and they thought that sounded really cool. So next time we go (probably 2010) I am going to TRY to keep the secret until we are at the airport.

 

[RMulieri]

A big vote to surprise them. I don't get the reasons for not doing so. Kids need time to plan? The adults do all the planning. Kids get too excited? No such vocabulary in my book, the more excited the better. How a person can react negatively to a surprise always confounded me, seems like a glass half empty outlook. I understand that part of the fun can be the waiting and planning but it is also a pain because it seems to take so long.

To me surprises are something that you experience mostly as a child, I'm willing to bet that those kids who were by a trip to WDW will never forget it.

My parents never surprised us to a trip to WDW we all planned together, made countdown calendars etc.IMHO Planning and anticipating is half the fun anyway.I remember eachand every single one of those trips fondly.I would never ,ever surprise DD.i know my kid and she does better when she knows what is coming.A surprise trip to the local themepark, or surprise bday gift is a different story. 7 days in a hotel room with Mom and Dad, eating out every night, and going non-stop during the day as a surprise with no forewarning fora 4year old...not a smart move for me.I know when we surprised my then 3 yr old niece with a trip to Wdw, we were devastated because she was not as excited about it as us, and she flat out flipped out about the characters,rides,and anything scary .You know your kids best.many small kids can react negatively to a surprise and that does not mean they are going to be subject to"glass is half empty" personality traits.

 

[crisi]

I wouldn't for a number of reasons.

1) The planning and talking about our trip is part of the fun - and a topic to change dinner conversation to.

2) My kids are funny, my daughter in particular doesn't always adjust to change really well - even if its a good change (my son, no problem). There is no guarentee she'd be delighted about a trip to WDW sprung on her.

3) Logistically, its hard to pull off. If your kids are old enough to read, you can only hold the secret until the gate - even if they aren't if they are aware of WDW, they'll figure it out by the people boarding. Then you have excited kids on the plane. If they aren't WDW aware, the surprise may be more disappointing for YOU than you anticipate (we took friends whose kids had not been prepared and were Not Impressed - like the three year old mentioned above). You also have to do a lot of prep work in secret - laundry, packing....

4) This seems silly, but we involve them in major family decisions like vacations - and we respect THEIR time - the time they give us to go. A vacation as a surprise is a little like a puppy as a gift - some people are delighted, others find it a burden. For my kids, knowing when vacation is going to happen (and mine are third and forth graders) respects their schedules and allows them to make plans around vacation. This isn't such a big deal when your kids are little and you control their time - but when they start heading into tween age, it can be a point of contention.

 

[perriwinkleblue]

If you think the kids would love the surprise, then you're most likely right. You know your kids. The only thing I'd be concerned about is that your daughter may have special things/outfits she wants to bring. At that age girls can be very concerned over little things. Maybe give her a little notice - like "What do you want to do this weekend? I thought we'd go to Disney. --- Or, "wouldn't it be great if we could just wake up tomorrow and go to Disney? Guess what... " Or tell her you're going somewhere else for the same time frame. Someplace sort of dull but with the same climate. Then in the car - Surprise!! The six year old - I say go for the surprise!

 

[Fintastic]

I like the IDEA of a surprise, but I'm not sure I would every try it. Part of the fun is the anticipation!

 

[zoemurr]

A big vote to surprise them. I don't get the reasons for not doing so. Kids need time to plan? The adults do all the planning. Kids get too excited? No such vocabulary in my book, the more excited the better. How a person can react negatively to a surprise always confounded me, seems like a glass half empty outlook. I understand that part of the fun can be the waiting and planning but it is also a pain because it seems to take so long.

To me surprises are something that you experience mostly as a child, I'm willing to bet that those kids who were by a trip to WDW will never forget it.

We've been planning our 2nd trip for months. My kids plan tons of things (of course we don't do them all..) They were 5/8 last time and 7/9 this time. My DD spends hours and hours with the UG and tells me things I didn't know. We look at restaurant menus and youtube videos of rides. Would I stay at GF 'cause they wanted to? No.. but I will make an appt. for my DS at the BBB with his sister 'cause he saw the "cool dude" hairdo and liked it. I never thought he would ask to do something like that. And some kids definitely need time to plan, and need to know what is going on. My son does not thrive in new situations and needs a lot of details before jumping in. Other kids maybe not.

Last time my kids knew about the trip, but they received a big surprise bag from Mickey and Minnie when they arrived, a personalized letter from Alice inviting them to her tea party, and a surprise trip to BBB for DD. Maybe you could put the surprises in the trip instead?

Have fun.. we're leaving in 3 days!

 

[sherreis]

We're surprising our boys in October with their 2nd trip. Our last was November 2006. I figure this is the only time we'll be able to pull this off and we look forward to it. We know they'll be surprised cause they don't think we're going on a vacation this year and we have a cruise booked for the end of next year.

Every once in awhile I get concerned about DS12's reaction because he had so much fun planning for our 1st trip, but, I truly think he'll love being surprised as will DS8. I won't have to worry about them losing concentration in school prior to the trip as we're taking them out of school for the trip - that'll be a huge surprise by itself.

I do have to say I miss their excitement now that it's getting closer. We have 56 more days and I'm the only one doing a countdown.

 

[Mickeysears]

Our children know we are going, but they think its a week later than it really is

so we have been able to involve them on the planning and wathing disney movies ect so they know characters when they see them, but it will be a surprise also when we wake them on the morning, and tell them we are going that day and not in a weeks time

that way you get the best of both worlds, we do have surprises planed on the trip too

 

[I_Know_You2!]

I wouldn't for a number of reasons.
4) This seems silly, but we involve them in major family decisions like vacations - and we respect THEIR time - the time they give us to go. A vacation as a surprise is a little like a puppy as a gift - some people are delighted, others find it a burden. For my kids, knowing when vacation is going to happen (and mine are third and forth graders) respects their schedules and allows them to make plans around vacation. This isn't such a big deal when your kids are little and you control their time - but when they start heading into tween age, it can be a point of contention.

This is a really good point, especially for older kids. Mine have their own social lives, sports, school work, etc.

 

[::Snow_White::]

I'm 15, and I'd love that suprise!
I think it just depends on your kids wether it's a good idea or not.
The only problem I would have is I have school and would need to get work in advance before we left.

Then again I do love being able to count down the days and help plan things as well as think about everything I'm gonna buy and want to do while there.

Good luck with whatever you choose!

 

[disneyfan4u]

My kids do know we are going, just not the exact date. I also asked them if they would like to be surprised and to me surprise they said yes. Then I asked if they minded that I would have to do all the planning and then my DD14 said well...can I get back to you. So I think I will leave it up to them. If they want to be surprised then I will. I have everything going through my mind to surprise them properly from packing to renting a car to the airport. There is just so much in theor lives that they have top plan and that they have to expect sometimes I think the unexpected is nice to change things up and make a memory to last.

Keep the opinions coming, I appreciate them all.

 

[Aristomommy]

I surprised DD9 last November and she didn't know where we were going until she saw the sign at the departure gate said Orlando. This was her 9th birthday trip and my mom flew in to surprise her as well.

While we had fun keeping it a secret, DH and I will not do this again. DD is very sensitive and by the end of day 1, she was very emotional and teary eyed. She was on sensory overload I think and would have been better off knowing. Not that it didn't go away, but I didn't expect her to react that way.

Also DH and I love to plan and talk about the trip months before and we really didn't get to do this at all. We couldn't mention it in front of kids and felt like we (kids and us) missed out on one of our favorite pre-trip rituals.

 

[mdsouth]

What I did with my kids was make a scavenger hunt for them to reveal the fact that we were going to WDW. I did this a week in advance. I would suggest filling them in on the surprise at least one to two weeks in advance. That way they can share in the anticipation of the trip with you and their friends but it is not too long of an advance that the pestering is endless!

The scavenger hunt was lots of fun for me to plan and for them to do! Each clue took them somewhere else in the house and had a small item that they would get to use on the trip. They really had fun with it and I was able to capture the big surprise on the video camera when they realized where we were going.

I still have a copy of the clues if anyone wants to PM me for details. You could modify the clues to fit your family.


The kids also got the chance to prepare for the trip and share with their friends. Remember kids has just as much fun sharing with others about their anticipated trip as we do!

 

[cheerforchelsea]

I say surprise them!!! I wish somebody would surprise ME with a trip to Disney!!!!!

 

[disneyfan4u]

What I did with my kids was make a scavenger hunt for them to reveal the fact that we were going to WDW. I did this a week in advance. I would suggest filling them in on the surprise at least one to two weeks in advance. That way they can share in the anticipation of the trip with you and their friends but it is not too long of an advance that the pestering is endless!

The scavenger hunt was lots of fun for me to plan and for them to do! Each clue took them somewhere else in the house and had a small item that they would get to use on the trip. They really had fun with it and I was able to capture the big surprise on the video camera when they realized where we were going.

I still have a copy of the clues if anyone wants to PM me for details. You could modify the clues to fit your family.


The kids also got the chance to prepare for the trip and share with their friends. Remember kids has just as much fun sharing with others about their anticipated trip as we do!

That is such a great idea. Please PM the ideas. That is a good idea no matter where you are going.

 

[shazen]

No, I wouldn't. But that's me. My kids are 6 and 4 and you can never tell how they'll react to a change in plans if they're expecting/hoping for something else.

I DO like to surprise them with a special Disney activity, however. On our next trip it will be the Wonderland Tea Party! Past surprises have included the Hoop Dee Doo Revue, the Pirate & Princess Party, and lunch with the princesses (Akershus).

 

[tlbwriter]

A big vote to surprise them. I don't get the reasons for not doing so. Kids need time to plan? The adults do all the planning.

Not in this family. My DD loves to plan, and she gets a big kick out of helping pick out the resort and restaurants, deciding what she's going to wear every day, etc. Now, if your child doesn't have the "planning gene," this won't matter. But mine does, and it would be selfish of me take that experience away from her just so I can yell "surprise!" (No, I'm NOT saying it's selfish to surprise your kids - some kids prefer surprises and would get a huge kick out of that.)

 

[SweetPeasMom2]

I say surprise them. We haven't done Disney yet but I got the surprise idea from here. We had planned a beach trip for the end of this past July. We didn't want to deal with the how many days drama plus the idea of surprising them was exciting to us. We woke up that Sunday morning. I told the kids I was exhausted from working an expo the day before and that we weren't going to church. What did they want to do as a family today. DS asked if we could go somewhere. I said sure. DH asked if he wanted to go somewhere with water. DS asked if we could go to the beach. We said sure. They were so excited. The looks on their faces were priceless. I can't wait to do the same with Disney

 

[mom_of_3_70737]

We are surprising our kids for the first time this trip! We will be making out "Big Reveal" in 16 days!!! They have no idea that we are going. It has beem hard to keep it a surprise, but I can't wait to see their faces Check out my PTR for out story! Good luck!