Tell him or not?

[LIMA TIME]

So we are planning out next Disney trip for next May, so we are a year and a few days away. My wife and I have been kicking around the idea of not telling out son (he is almost 4, will be almost 5 at the time of the trip) and surprising it on him, when we are getting ready to leave. My thought: Is that one moment of shear excitment better than the building of excitement and the count down to going? Would love to hear peoples thoughts and past experiances.

 

[LIMA TIME]

We told him we were going the last two times went, about 6 months out both times and he was fine. Excited, but fine. I love the feed back and to hear everyone's stories. You guys are the best and thank you for sharing.

 

[JillC LI]

Whatever you decide to do, I would wait until at least 3 months beforehand to tell him because he's awfully young to have to deal with a year of anticipation. Our kids were 5 and 7 for their first trip and we told them 6 weeks in advance, and they loved the limited anticipation. We've been there several times since, and for our most recent trip (now ages 11 and 13), we surprised them 4 days beforehand which was fantastic.

 

[JTT]

I'd wait. Maybe tell him 60 days out. If you tell him now, he will wear you out.

 

[disneygirl1]

I surprised my DS in 2010 for this birthday. It was so worth it!! But I told him about a week before we actually left, that way he was able to build up at least SOME excitement for the trip.

I am in the middle of another trip surprise right now too! DS knows we are going to Disney in June, BUT what he doesn't know is that we are actually leaving a full day earlier!! He really wanted to stay at AoA this trip, but I didn't want to spend the full 9 days there so I decided to add a night to our trip and stay one night at AoA before we check into AKV as a surprise!!

So... He is really big into Instagram right now so what i plan to do is post a picture of my Trip Countdown with 0 Days till Disney right as I get to my parents to pick him up to head to the airport, The following caption will be under the picture. " Shhhhh don't tell Devon but we are going to Disney World RIGHT NOW!!!" When I walk in the house, I'll say my hellos to the family, and then I'll say "Devon, did you see my post on instagram? You have got to check it out!!!" And there you have it surprised revealed, time to head to the airport!!!

 

[NewtoDisney2009]

We did both. For the first trip (she was 5) we told her and enjoyed all the anticipation. For the second trip, we just put her in the car on a Saturday and said, "let's have an adventure!" Both we're awesome!

 

[Bparso87]

Don't tell them told my kids at 3am when we woke them up for the airport my son jumped up and was so excited.

 

[Jo DeVil]

The main thing is can you keep a secret? We are going to WDW Oct 13 I booked it back in Nov 12, DS8 kows he will be there for his 9th birthday, he has celebrated 4 birthdays at WDW. We are keeping from him that we are going on the Dream for 4 nights first, as a birthday present. He has gone on about doing this for ages. It is killing me not being able to say anything. Good Luck what ever you decide. TTFN Jo

 

[HouCuseChickie]

Ok- I've surprised my girls twice...and am working on a 3rd. The 2nd surprise (this past fall) was a dud...but I think it fell flat for two reasons...
1. I had the wrong "cheerleaders" present to help- i.e. they weren't really into the surprise.
2. There was too much lag time between the surprise reveal and the trip (about a week). The girls, while happy, weren't too into it once they realized we weren't leaving then and there...or next morning.

The first surprise- the one that went well, we managed to drive from TX to FL and the girls had no clue what was going on or where we were until we were driving through the Maingate. The trip was also laced with surprises... from waking up from their naps to find their princess dresses ready for CRT...to special bday outfits and a cake... to dinner at Cali Grill during fireworks, etc.

I'm using the success of the surprises in that trip to plan for our next trip. Not that the last trip was bad...just want to get that surprise excitement back into it. So, the girls won't know we're going until we're on our way to the airport...the girls won't see their MNSSHP costumes until we're there...they won't know that grandma and grandpa are meeting us on day 3...and so on.

So, in a nutshell-- not too much lag time between the main surprise and the trip itself and other surprises embedded in the trip.

 

[bsiev1977]

I agree about waiting a while at least before telling him, if that's what you decide.
I booked my December 2013 trip on November 30 last year, and I can barely handle the wait. And I'm 35.

 

[englanddg]

This may be a bit long winded, but I'm rather fond of the "reveal", and when I'm fond of something, I tend to ramble, so apologies in advance...

The first year, I didn't tell her squat. She was 5 at the time, and I flew up to DC to pick her up. She thought she was flying back to Atlanta to spend a few weeks with me. I made sure to book a window seat for her (as I always do) and as we were landing, she made the comment (which I thought very observant for a 5 year old) that "Atlanta doesn't have this many pools and lakes.") I continued to play dumb.

A bit of back story, it was my first trip back to Disney in many, many years, and my first trip as a parent. My theory was that she wouldn't figure it out until we got to the TTC and I'd get the big "reveal" when we got to TTC and boarded the Ferry and she first saw the Castle.

Boy, was I wrong.

We got off the airport, and she obviously couldn't tell the difference between MCO and ATL (there is a HUGE difference)...and she griped about how heavy her bag was to pull (it wasn't heavy, most of her clothes were packed in my bag, her bag consisted of mostly stuffed animals, her favorite blanket, and toys, but...she was 5...)

We made it all the way to the sign, and she saw the logo sign they used in 2010 for the Magical Express, and froze and squeaked out...

"Disney...DISNEY! THE MAGIC CASTLE!"...I don't know the exact words outside of fading memories, but it was sheer excitement, and I certainly didn't have my camera ready! Then she noticed the busses and started to ask me if we could go. I continued to play dumb (figuring I could drag it out)...and told her to ask the attendant who checks your ME tickets if we could go.

The CM had caught on, and played along. She said "Only if you have tickets", which of course resulted in a query from the kid, and I pulled out the ME tickets and said "ask her if these will work". Of course they did, and our trip was on.

In 2011, having learned my lesson from the year before, I had the camera out. She again noted that something wasn't right, but didn't connect the dots, and didn't recognize MCO.

She thought we had flown to DC, because I said "We are going to meet Mommy." Technically we were...so I didn't lie! (her mother joined us later in the trip).

But, THIS time I had my camera ready!



Skip to 1 minute in to see the "reveal"...

Oh, and as a side note, her mother and I were trying to work on her "whining" at the time, and we used the "We are the Knights" joke to chide her in a playful manner (at other times she got actual lectures on it)...seems to have worked, because she doesn't do it now, but as any parent knows, this is a phase.

Anyhow, when she screams "Mickey Mouse!" is one of my favorite things to see, she realized EXACTLY where we were, and what was coming.

So, fast forward to trip 3, in 2012. For this trip, I told her in advance (about 2 weeks in advance) thinking that we would plan out the trip together. However, while she was excited, it wasn't the same. Since she knew, there was no reveal when we got there, and at 7, she wasn't ready to really start planning anything. I jumped the gun. It didn't sully the trip for either one of us, but I only have a few more years left where I get to see her so physically and emotionally excited about the Mouse in that way. My little girl is growing up...

This year she is 8, and her mother and I have kept the trip a huge secret from her (even when she had to go get a Passport)...we'll see what happens.

I think...keeping it a secret, or misrepresenting...is the way to go.

My opine.

 

[LIMA TIME]

I surprised my DS in 2010 for this birthday. It was so worth it!! But I told him about a week before we actually left, that way he was able to build up at least SOME excitement for the trip.

I am in the middle of another trip surprise right now too! DS knows we are going to Disney in June, BUT what he doesn't know is that we are actually leaving a full day earlier!! He really wanted to stay at AoA this trip, but I didn't want to spend the full 9 days there so I decided to add a night to our trip and stay one night at AoA before we check into AKV as a surprise!!

So... He is really big into Instagram right now so what i plan to do is post a picture of my Trip Countdown with 0 Days till Disney right as I get to my parents to pick him up to head to the airport, The following caption will be under the picture. " Shhhhh don't tell Devon but we are going to Disney World RIGHT NOW!!!" When I walk in the house, I'll say my hellos to the family, and then I'll say "Devon, did you see my post on instagram? You have got to check it out!!!" And there you have it surprised revealed, time to head to the airport!!!

this is awesome!!! Love it.

 

[LIMA TIME]

This may be a bit long winded, but I'm rather fond of the "reveal", and when I'm fond of something, I tend to ramble, so apologies in advance...

The first year, I didn't tell her squat. She was 5 at the time, and I flew up to DC to pick her up. She thought she was flying back to Atlanta to spend a few weeks with me. I made sure to book a window seat for her (as I always do) and as we were landing, she made the comment (which I thought very observant for a 5 year old) that "Atlanta doesn't have this many pools and lakes.") I continued to play dumb.

A bit of back story, it was my first trip back to Disney in many, many years, and my first trip as a parent. My theory was that she wouldn't figure it out until we got to the TTC and I'd get the big "reveal" when we got to TTC and boarded the Ferry and she first saw the Castle.

Boy, was I wrong.

We got off the airport, and she obviously couldn't tell the difference between MCO and ATL (there is a HUGE difference)...and she griped about how heavy her bag was to pull (it wasn't heavy, most of her clothes were packed in my bag, her bag consisted of mostly stuffed animals, her favorite blanket, and toys, but...she was 5...)

We made it all the way to the sign, and she saw the logo sign they used in 2010 for the Magical Express, and froze and squeaked out...

"Disney...DISNEY! THE MAGIC CASTLE!"...I don't know the exact words outside of fading memories, but it was sheer excitement, and I certainly didn't have my camera ready! Then she noticed the busses and started to ask me if we could go. I continued to play dumb (figuring I could drag it out)...and told her to ask the attendant who checks your ME tickets if we could go.

The CM had caught on, and played along. She said "Only if you have tickets", which of course resulted in a query from the kid, and I pulled out the ME tickets and said "ask her if these will work". Of course they did, and our trip was on.

In 2011, having learned my lesson from the year before, I had the camera out. She again noted that something wasn't right, but didn't connect the dots, and didn't recognize MCO.

She thought we had flown to DC, because I said "We are going to meet Mommy." Technically we were...so I didn't lie! (her mother joined us later in the trip).

But, THIS time I had my camera ready!



Skip to 1 minute in to see the "reveal"...

Oh, and as a side note, her mother and I were trying to work on her "whining" at the time, and we used the "We are the Knights" joke to chide her in a playful manner (at other times she got actual lectures on it)...seems to have worked, because she doesn't do it now, but as any parent knows, this is a phase.

Anyhow, when she screams "Mickey Mouse!" is one of my favorite things to see, she realized EXACTLY where we were, and what was coming.

So, fast forward to trip 3, in 2012. For this trip, I told her in advance (about 2 weeks in advance) thinking that we would plan out the trip together. However, while she was excited, it wasn't the same. Since she knew, there was no reveal when we got there, and at 7, she wasn't ready to really start planning anything. I jumped the gun. It didn't sully the trip for either one of us, but I only have a few more years left where I get to see her so physically and emotionally excited about the Mouse in that way. My little girl is growing up...

This year she is 8, and her mother and I have kept the trip a huge secret from her (even when she had to go get a Passport)...we'll see what happens.

I think...keeping it a secret, or misrepresenting...is the way to go.

My opine.

this is great. Nice Job

 

[bethram]

We are working on a surprise trip right now for December, our kids will be 10 and 6 at the time.

DH and I are going on an adults only trip on October and it's killing the kids that we get to go and they don't. We have a TA working on both trips for us so it's been fairly easy to keep things a secret so far. We're not planning on telling the kids until we are on the drive there, I'm wondering how long it will take them to figure it out after we throw them in the car at 4am for the drive to Florida. I "think" I will be able to keep the packing from them because it will be off season for most of the clothes they will need and I can stage everything in the guest room which is off limits to them and usually kept locked.