Vacation surprise--yes or no? If yes, suggestions please!

[lalasmama]

Putting this in a lounge, because, while it mentions Disney, the question itself isn't Disney-specific.

We're heading to Disneyland in December. DD isn't aware of this yet. She thought we were going in August, but finances made it difficult... as did the fact I have MS (including significant heat intolerance), and DH will be 3 months post knee surgery. So, DH and I decided December would work better. I asked DD if she wanted to be surprised or aware of our next trip to Disneyland, since we had to reschedule it. She said she wanted it to be a surprise.

I've been trying to come up with ways to surprise her closer to the time we're going. DH is dead-set against surprising her. He thinks a significant amount of the fun of vacation comes from the anticipation leading up to it.

So, tell her, or don't? And if you're voting for surprise, any ideas of how to eventually tell her?

[twowhat?]

Well, she wants to be surprised. So I'd surprise her!

Maybe you can compromise on revealing the surprise a month or two in advance of the trip - your DD will get her surprise and your DH will get to watch her "anticipate" for some period of time.

As for how, I am sure others will have good ideas:)

[Gracemom]

Well, she wants to be surprised. So I'd surprise her!

Maybe you can compromise on revealing the surprise a month or two in advance of the trip - your DD will get her surprise and your DH will get to watch her "anticipate" for some period of time.

As for how, I am sure others will have good ideas:)

That's exactly what I would do. Does she have a birthday or some other event before December? I would wrap up a Disney related gift and surprise her then. Maybe at Thanksgiving? She will still be surprised, then have some time to plan, read guidebooks, look at websites, etc. in preparation for the trip. I am not a fan of the "Surpise! We're going to the airport right now!" types of trips. I have seen it go badly with kids who are overwhelmed. Have fun!!!

[kdeunc]

We have done it both ways. The first time we got everyone up, told them we were going on a trip and handed them Mickey ears when we got in the car. Great reaction! They were 8,6 and 3. This year my parents did a trip for Christmas. We went in January and for Christmas the kids opened "themed" Disney gifts, books, etc. from my parents. The last gift was the reveal. It was nice having several weeks for the kids to plan what they would like to do most during our trip. They are now 11,9 and 5. At your daughter's age I might go with the "early" surprise so she can take part in the plans. My boys especially loved looking through the tour books and thinking about rides and other things to do. Happy planning!!

[egoldber]

Well, as someone who hates surprises, I would vote no. But I think the idea of a mini-surprise a few weeks ahead is a good one.

I'm with your DH in that for me a lot of the fun of a vacation is the planning. On our last few trips, my older DD has really enjoyed doing research ahead of time. She was actually more knowledgeable about some things than I was on our last trip to WDW LOL!

[Rainbows&Roses]

Well I normally agree with your DH and never understand why people keep it a secret as my DD had lots of fun planning for our DW trip and I think the anticipation is part of the fun, but in this case since your DD wanted it to be a surprise, I say keep it that way. I bet if you google this, you will find ideas. I have seen lots of moms on other message boards talking about how they surprised their kids.

[specialp]

You asked her, she told you, so I would do it a surprise at about a month before you are going.

[azzeps]

We are surprising the kids with a trip in June. I hope it doesn't go badly when we wake them up SO early! I'm not sure what we'll do... just tell them "get dressed, we're going to Disneyland right now!!!"

[TwinFoxes]

You asked her, she told you, so I would do it a surprise at about a month before you are going.


:yeahthat: I'd do some sort of reveal.

[queenmama]

We are surprising the kids with a trip in June. I hope it doesn't go badly when we wake them up SO early! I'm not sure what we'll do... just tell them "get dressed, we're going to Disneyland right now!!!"

I probably wouldn't tell them. Can you move them to the car after they're asleep? We always drove down at night because my dad preferred it that way, and now that I'm a parent I can see why. I just can't imagine getting up early and then having wound-up kids in the car all day! haha! I'm sure it depends on the length of your drive, though! It took us about 5 hours, which is interminable to young kids and their parents! ;)

To the OP, you know her best. Will she enjoy planning with you? Or would it be more fun for her to see the parks over the horizon in December?

Lara

[Twoboos]

Another vote for telling her in some way, but much closer to the trip. Maybe a month out if she won't harass you too much?

When I was young my parents did a scavenger hunt for me and my brother to tell us we were going to Disney. The final clue led us to the airline tix in the fridge, LOL! We did the same for our girls when we went to DL a couple of years ago (7 & 5 at the time). Of course we didn't tell them until a week before we were leaving b/c I couldn't deal with the "how many more days" questions for months beforehand. ;)

[R2sweetboys]

I would surprise her since that's what she wants. Like PP's said, I'd maybe tell her a month ahead so she can enjoy the planning and anticipation because that really is a big part of the fun. Once the trip is happening, it goes by so fast! We are leaving this Tuesday evening(woo hoo!) and the boys have known since we started planning BUT, they think we are leaving on Wed after school. So they will still get a bit of a surprise! Maybe you could do that?

[lalasmama]

After much discussion, DH and I agreed for a reveal a few days before the trip.... It's the first week of December, so we've decided we'll do some kind of typical "I'm thankful for..." and DH or I will say "... for going to Disneyland this week!" Or we may totally say something that will go right over her head, like "I'm thankful for... a Dole Whip this week!"

She's gone several times before, and she's had lots of advance notice for one trip, and a night's notice before the first trip. I think she was equally excited both ways. She knows the place inside out, so she's always excited, but not to the point where she wants to plan everything out, since she already knows where things are, and what things she wants to do.

Thanks for all the input!

[Jen841]

We gave the kids a month notice for our parks trip. For Friday Might Movie Night we watched the planning trip DVD and told them. For the cruise we did a character call on Christmas Day.

A little notice made it fun for us, we watched any attraction related movie we could get our hands on as "homework." The kids did various chores to earn spending money and picked out some shirts at the Disney store.