Is it a good idea to make the trip a surprise?

[aahern]

We are considering surprising our 4 1/2 year old daughter. We leave in less than two weeks. We were thinking of telling her the day that we leave, but I have heard that it might be a better idea to tell her more in advance so she can process what is going on and enjoy it more. I love the idea of the surprise and excitement telling her the day of, but I don't want it to be stressful or backfire. Thoughts? I definitely don't want to tell her TOO early because I'll be hearing "When do we leave for Disney?" every 15 minutes until we get there!

[ledudes]

I don't think anything bad would happen by waiting to tell her, but I would definitley tell her in advance so she can be excited about it. For us, the planning leading up to the trip is almost as much fun as being there. We go online and I show the kids ride videos and stuff and talk about everything we will do there. We don't go until September, but we have already been talking about it and planning the fun. My kids are 1,4 and 7 and they love it.

[WRWDisney]

We've had trips where we did not tell the kids till we were on the plane (didn't even know we were going to the airport when we picked the older one up from kindergarden), and one trip when we told them we were going on place and then when they woke up (drove all night), we were in Orlando and they were seeing the signs.

Both were awesome surprises and neither traumatizing. Go for the surprise:thumbsup:

[disneymom15]

I would go for the surprise also. However, you know your daughter best, does she handle surprises well?

[TiggerDeb]

I think it is a great idea to surprise them. We did that with our 2 dgrandsons. The older one got home from school and had received mail. It was from Mickey telling him that he missed seeing him and his little brother. My grandson thought they were planning a trip and when my DIL informed him that they were leaving tghe next morning, both he and his brother were so excited. They then asked if Mimi and Papa were going too as we have been on every trip with them and were told no not this time but we were already in Disney and when they arrived we were waiting for them and the look on my grandsons faces was something I will cherish forever. They got 2 surprises. Heading back in 122 days but this time they know.:mickey:

[NJGIRL]

My opinion is to tell her when you get to the airport or get into the car to drive, which ever you are doing. I think that would be alot of fun for her and you!

BTW :welcome:to INTERCOT!

[joonyer]

We used to go camping a lot when our boys were little. On one particular trip we told them we were going camping to the beach (in Florida) and then drove until late at night. When we arrived at Wilderness Lodge in WDW instead of a campground at the beach, they were thrilled. It was a great surprise. Note: they had been to WDW before, so they knew what they were in for.

[Hog]

We are going in October for my dd5 birthday. This will be her 3rd trip so we decided to surprise her. She has no Idea, I told her we have to go on a long drive for my work and we will make up not having a birthday party for her by taking her to chuckie cheese or something while we are gone. We are driving so I thought I would just wait until she starts asking questions or until we get on the bus to the park the first day...which ever comes first.

Excuse my iPad typing it's hard to get out a whole paragraph

[Disney-4-Me]

I always planned the vacations with my boys. We had a lot of fun planning, but I love the idea of the surprise announcement on the Disney commercials.

If you do make it a surprise be sure to have the video camera ready for the reaction!

[natedog24]

I think the anticipation is part of the fun - Just my opinion. You could have a countdown and get her psyched up for what to expect and all the princesses she will meet, etc.

Maybe it's just me, but I would be afraid something would backfire. It depends on your kids. It could be like the commercials, or it could not. I saw a video online a little while ago where a mom tried to surprise her kids and it went horribly wrong. The kids thought they were going to "Dick's house" and were looking forward to that and were really disappointed to find out that they were not going to Dick's House. One could probably search for it online if they so desired by searching for Disney Surprise Dick's House.

At the end of the day, you know your family best. I'm sure you'll have an amazing time, no matter what you end up doing. Be sure to let us know what you do and how it goes!

[NJGIRL]

:D:D
I saw a video online a little while ago where a mom tried to surprise her kids and it went horribly wrong. The kids thought they were going to "Dick's house" and were looking forward to that and were really disappointed to find out that they were not going to Dick's House. One could probably search for it online if they so desired by searching for Disney Surprise Dick's House.


I saw that too! It was so funny :silly: I guess they really liked Dick. :D

I did opt for the surprise because I think that is fun, but I wouldn't do it myself for my son because I know he wouldn't give me the reaction that I was looking for either.:(