Hi All
Just saw the 'How many sleeps until..' post and it got me thinking that we're actually going in March but we're not telling the kids until nearer the time. Is this just wrong??
When we tell them we want them to be excited, but also to stay excited, so if we announce it too soon, it might just become less special.
What do you guys do?!
Quote from: Sulley's Arms on February 06, 2015, 10:05:46 AM
Hi All
Just saw the 'How many sleeps until..' post and it got me thinking that we're actually going in March but we're not telling the kids until nearer the time. Is this just wrong??
It depends if you're taking them with you or if you're having a sneaky trip on your own!
My 4 year old couldn't have handled more than a 30 sleeps countdown. We do a 60 sleep countdown now he's older and it's one of the most exciting parts - the build up, the discussions about what rides to go on etc. We do a calendar and a paper chain that we rip a link off every day. It's totally up to you how you reveal it and when - I've heard of people who wait until the day!
It's not wrong at all - you know if your kids can cope with knowing and not getting overexcited. We didn't tell ours last year and it didn't affect their enjoyment
There is no right or wrong! Only you know your kids.!
With my daughter, we did both ways. When she was about 6 or 7, we didn`t tell her until the day we travelled. Man, I still remember the look on her face!
When she got older, she loved to be involved in the planning. She is 14 now and we`ll do a trip to WDW. And are picking out and reserving restaurants right now!
having been on both sides of the coin (surprise trips and ones known about months in advance) i think that when they are younger the closer to the trip the better it is, too long and theres a chance they will 'forget' (not quite the right word but what i mean is they could just let slip in their minds of how long there is till they go on holiday) they are going and the excitement will wear off a little but then come back full force when you start packing. but then when they are older and more able to have an input in the planning aspect eg. where to eat, maybe they have a favourite hotel etc. then telling them further in advance is just as exciting because they can have that input.
Its up to you as a family how and when you tell them. I always tell mine in advance- once we have booked up, usually in some kind of interesting way. We went at New Year so I 'got' Olaf to let them know, my nephew came with us and Buzz 'told' him. However my brother did not let us know he was joining us as a surprise on New Years Eve. My sister in law got my 2 nieces (age 4) up at midnight and told them they were going to the park, it didn't dawn on them until they arrived at the Hotel Cheyenne, they thought they were going to one of our local parks haha so got excited then.
Do whatever you feel is right for you.
I am going with my friend and her 4 year old in a couple weeks and we are not telling him anything untill we are 5 mins away. We will tell him we are going on a trip for the day somewhere special and then when we are very close we will reveal to him and get him to look out for the road signs for Disney.
He has been asking to go every time he sees the tv adverts so this will be really special for him! cant wait!! :)
We booked our trip (27th of March) long before Christmas as a present for our daughter. The cost for the 3 of us, tickets, flights and accommodation was the same as the school trip they had planned (coach, ferry, one day in the park) which she really didn't want to go on.
Keeping that a secret until Christmas day was a nightmare, but so worth it. I'm sure that keeping it quiet will pay off in the end. Have a fab trip!
I wish we had kept it secret for a lot longer............now they keep asking every time we speak to them....."when are we going to Disney?"...... We aren't going until July!!!!
Making an advent type Disney calendar for the 24 days leading up to when we go
I booked my next trip over a year ago but didn't tell the 2 youngest until xmas, i made them a four week countdown each with a disney character on each day so they know when we are going and get to cross it off each day.
I told my daughter who is 4 because I needed to be excited with someone haha! My husband is excited but not like me and our daughter haha!!
1st visit i booked it in the june and we went in the december, i stupidly told my 2 year old boy and every single day he asked if we were going!
2nd visit we didnt tell him til we were 20 mins away from arriving, he squealed the entire 20 mins until we pulled on to the santa fe car park
3rd visit booked for 23-27 december this year .... not telling him!! my best friend and her partner are coming with us this time, i think having them in the car will throw him off the scent .... we are planning to give him a present in the car from santa,saying that santa left it at their house .... he'll open it to be told hes going to disney as santa knows how much he has wanted to go again
We travel on Easter Monday. We are gonna do an easter Egg hunt at home on Easter Sunday with disney clues which will lead to a big announcement that we are going to Disney and some disney goodies each - ears, notebook, drink bottle. Kids are ages 6, 3, 2 & 1. Hoping they love it!
Quote from: disneymagic006 on February 08, 2015, 02:53:07 PM
We travel on Easter Monday. We are gonna do an easter Egg hunt at home on Easter Sunday with disney clues which will lead to a big announcement that we are going to Disney and some disney goodies each - ears, notebook, drink bottle. Kids are ages 6, 3, 2 & 1. Hoping they love it!
That sounds great - our youngest was nearly 2 but we thought our eldest (nearly 4 at the time) might realise what was going on. Despite them both being dressed head to toe in Mickey and Minnie Mouse on the day we left, and a lady at St Pancras nearly putting her foot in it, there was no realisation until we got the luggage tags on the train and she recognised the logo.
We told our daughter last time and she was nearly 4! She was not that excited as she didn't really understand where we were going and what it's all about! She will be just turned 5 next time and will be fully aware of what we are doing and where we are going and be very excited! Baring this in mind, we are keeping it a secret as long as we can! Hoping it's when we arrive at the hotel!!!!! Xx
I think not telling them's a great idea! You always get brilliant reactions "What, you mean NOW?!" I've always been told by my parents that we're going, but when I was a lot younger, not until maybe a month or so before the trip? But one time we had friends going (we were probably all around 8/9 years old) and my sister and I knew, but we had to keep quiet and it was so hard! They turned up at our house at about 2 AM and we got in the car and grinned until we were told we could tell them. There was a lot of screaming... :D
my daughter knows were going (shes 5) but what her and my husband dont know is that ive upgraded the hotel to the disneyland and they wont find out till we get there as ive booked a private transfer :D shes so excited we're picking her up straight from school and going to the airport tomorrow
We have booked our first trip in August, we haven't told our 12 and 9 year old girls yet, and going to see how long we can keep it secret for. :-X
We're going back to Dlp in August. I booked it back in January and still haven't told the girls (aged 4 and 3) - wife doesn't even know ha ha
First time we went i told my daughter, she was nearly 3, she drove me insane everyday asking if it was today we was going for 4 months. Last time we booked it in the May and got father Christmas at the trafford centre to tell her she was going on monday, she was so excited and only had to wait 4 sleeps till we went. She has asked to go again on her birthday this october, we booked it last september, its been so hard to keep it a secret, we are going 3 days before her birthday, just going to put her in the car in the middle of the night ( we drive) and say we are going on a trip - I think she will know where as soon as we get to the tunnel as we only ever go on it to get to disney but we will see. hopefully with us buying merlin cards and doing lots of trips will make her forget about it until we get there.
We have done it a couple of times. The first time we did it we filmed it although they had been before it was still nice to surprise them. We did it last Nov as well we picked then up from school and told them we where going that night . We love seeing their faces.
https://youtu.be/dVvwqgAGp-Y