How did you tell your kids they are going to Disney?

[Arielle22]

Really?

Really?

Have you never met any kids?

This is exactly the kind of thing kids do. They get all excited and then calm down and think, "Hey! What about my snack?! I want my snack!"

They're kids. And they tend to exaggerate.

Neither my sister or I have perfect DIS children.

I'm sure perfect children would sit quietly in the backseat so delirious with joy over leaving for Disney that they wouldn't even think of their snack, much less become Drama Llamas who state they will die if they aren't fed until dinner.

We don't have those kind of kids. We have the normal, average kids.

So sue us.

I had something happen to me similar when we surprised our daughters when they were younger. I have a video of me waking up our then 3.5 year old at 3am for our flight and telling her we were going to Disney. She got excited then looked at me and asked if we could go later so she could sleep.

We once told DDs that we were driving MIL to the airport as she was visiting Disney with friends. When we got to the airport we told them, we are the friends! That time they were both yelling with happiness.

 

[luckyluch]

Hi all, Im about to turn the original post in kind of the opposite way...we have 3 kids 12-9-and 7.The 12 year old has been to disney 5 times,our 9 year old 4 times and our 7 year old 3 times.Being from canada I do think they have been spoiled a little bit...I wish we would have surprised them on the same day, in some fun way ,but we never have.I think everytime we did tell them though they still had that magical look on their faces.They love disney and so want to go back.We've always gone in september-october always removing them from school.We decided not to do that anymore.So here is our dilema...How do we tell our kids we're going to Disney............ but without them!!...We've been booked for over 2 months now. Please no one hate us we are thinking about doing an end of june 2012 trip with them.The last time we did an adult only Disney trip, our oldest had us sign a contract to no more adult only Disney trips. She forgot to add any small print to the contract so I took it upon myself to do so.

 

[dudelydude]

I'm an avid pin trader and consider it my favorite hobby. I have no issue with people buying pins on ebay. For a real trader like me I spend the time to examine each pin. I did a quick search on the poster you quoted and found that they often post confrontational things.

Out of respect for the O.P. and the P.P.'s staying on topic, I am going to abstain from furhter debate over pins, but thanks for the backup.

On the topic, I think often about whether we are doing the right thing by telling the girls after we arrive in Florida. Not that they are old enough to do any actual, hardcore planning yet, but there's something to be said for surprising them 1-2 weeks ahead of time, so they have time to wrap their head around where they are going and what they can expect.

 

[Beth E. (NJ)]

Last year I surprised my kids. We were already in Florida but hours away from WDW. The morning we were heading from where we were to WDW I woke them really early so we could head out -- I went into their room and told them to get up because we were going to WDW. First they were hard to wake (teenagers!) then they were cutely groggy. After that it was fun because they thought we were just going for the day (they had no idea how far we were) and I had to tell them that we were packing everything up and not coming back to where we were at the time.

The only downside was I had to do so much of the work myself since I didn't want to let them in on why I was getting everything ready.

They were really excited about going to WDW and the trip was lots of fun.

 

[Littlestar2001]

I wish that I could surprise my son but it hasn't happened!I always envision waking him up on the day that we are to leave and surprising him then but I wind up telling him right after I book our trips!For our first Disney trip they had a thing where Mickey would call your house on Christmas day and tell you that he can't wait to see you when you visit so that is how my son knew about our 1st trip(So Mickey told him first-not us!!)..For our second trip last year(it was for his birthday)I told him months before we left because I just can't keep my mouth shut because I talk about Disney all the time!I just booked a trip for this October(another birthday trip for him/1st halloween trip)and I had all intentions on surprising him on the day we leave BUT once again I spilled the beans!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Schleprok]

We left Birmingham at 2am while the kids (3 & 5) were sleeping and when they woke up we told them we were going on vacation at a lake. We drove down the toll way to the west entrance. When we could see the gate we asked them where their favorite place to go on vacaition and told them to look around. It is on you tube.
This year we are not telling them again until right before arrive at the gate.

 

[trinchick]

We're leaving for WDW in three weeks (well, 20 days, but who's counting?). We're going to tell DD6 next Sunday. Like a PP, we're planning a scavenger hunt that will send her through the house looking for clues. At the end of the hunt, we have a basket filled with Disney items (T-shirt, luggage tags, Tinker Bell lip gloss, etc.) that will be the big reveal. I've been trying to write some witty clues but then I started trying to make riddles, and I'm too clever for my own good. I'm making myself crazy and setting myself up for some major disappointment if she doesn't have a huge reaction.

Giving her 2 weeks notice will hopefully strike the right balance between letting her build anticipation for the trip without turning her into an over-excited bundle of nerves.

I'll be glad when the cat's out of the bag and I can talk about the trip in the open. Now that she can read, I can't spell things that I don't want her to hear. I knew we shouldn't have let her learn to read

 

[kaligal]

My favorite, hands down.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UcgNBezKyZQ

 

[TheDonald]

My favorite, hands down.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UcgNBezKyZQ

Sooo funny!

 

[d1gitman]

we will be going to FL on Thanksgiving morning, the boys will think we are going to Auntie's for another boring dinner but when they see the limo pull in our driveway, they will know exactly what that is for...can't wait!

 

[Cheshire Figment]

A few years ago I helped one of my nephews surprise his seven year old daughter. I sent her a greeting card with no return address, but on the envelope clearly marked "Do No Open Until November 29". Because of the contents he let me know when it arrived. This was driving his daughter crazy; especially when on the 29th her mother said she would have to wait until she was home from school to open it.

Anyway, evening comes along and she finally is allowed to open the envelope. Inside she finds a generic card with Mickey on the front. When she opens it three tickets drop out. The inside of the card says: "Dear Emma, I hope you and your parents will come down to visit me" and was signed by Mickey. (It helps to know some people who have been trained to sign Mickey's name.)

And her parents told her to start reading what was on the card (3rd grade). She starts off where it says "Mickey's Very Merry Christmas" and then sees (and reads) where it also says "Valid Only November 30". She looks at her parents, and says in a very anguished tone: "But that's tomorrow!"

And the next day they flew down.

(Side note - I had recorded the numbers of the tickets in case the envelope got lost as there was no return address.)

 

[FlightlessDuck]

We don't bother making it a surprise expect when it's a surprise for a reason. When my son graduated kindergarten we went to Disney and made that a surprise for his present.

If we're going "just cuz", we don't bother with making a show of if. In fact, our kids are old enough now they get involved in planning.

 

[Rland8228]

As much as it kills me inside we are waiting until we get down there and he sees the sign he thinks we are roughing in the woods for a week but wait till he finds out that we are going to Disney for 10 days!!! lol And I know people think you shouldn't surprise them just because, but our DS 4 knows that we need this vacation. From my health issues and being in the hospital for a month and then down another three weeks and almost dying we are just celebrating life on this vacation. Its killing me not telling him we always sit and watch ride videos. But 11 more days! I hope you find a great way to surprise them!!!

 

[bigjrfan88]

I have a trip planned for nextyear. I havent told anyone in the family yet, not even my spouse. I want to tell them at Christmas but I dont know if I can hold it in until then. I really want to come up with a spectacular way to give it to them as a gift on Christmas. Any ideas?