When planning a family vacation to Walt Disney World, do you like to surprise your kids at the last minute or let them know well in advance of the trip? We’ve done both and there are definitely advantages and disadvantages to both. I’ll share a few of those with you, plus some thoughts from a thread on the DISboards.
sahm2two – “So, which is better? Building the anticipation with themed movie nights, giving gift certificates for park shopping for Christmas/birthdays and things like that? Or having it be a total surprise and driving onto the property/videoing their response.”
We love surprising our kids with a Disney trip. It’s just fun! We’ve done it several times and in several different ways.
- We’ve told the kids we were driving to Grandma’s house and then drove to the airport instead (this one slightly backfired, because for a few minutes our son decided he would rather go to Grandma’s. Oops.).
- We’ve had them check voicemail and there’s been a message from “Mickey” telling them to come visit (My husband does a great impersonation!)
- We’ve done solo birthday trips with each of our boys and for those, we’ve told them about the trip right when it was time to walk out the door.
- We’ve had them open MagicBands in a Christmas present and then told them we’re leaving that afternoon.
- We’ve given them photos of different parts of the trip for them to put together and figure out where we’re going.
- We’ve been at Disney World and told them we were driving to the airport to go home, and instead, drove to the port for a Disney cruise. That was a fun one! They were crying as we left our hotel, because they weren’t ready to leave. We kept them busy as we passed the airport signs on the highway and when they noticed the ship docked at Port Canaveral, they just started screaming!
- We’ve played a “Blues Clues” game where we hid a clue on three objects – a suitcase, an airplane and our toy castle) – and they had to figure out the clues.
HCinKC – “We are going in May, so I am going to have ODS’s Easter egg hunt be a scavenger hunt. There will be clues in each egg leading him to his basket. His basket will be filled with trip items and the news that we are going.”
All of these have been fun and certainly gave us that “aha” moment with the reveal! Surprising your kids also takes away all of those “when are we going?” and “is it time yet?” questions, which can get rather tedious if you tell too early.
Julylady – “I think most times the “surprise” is more for the parent’s benefit than the kids. And often, when surprised, the kids don’t give parent the type of reaction they were anticipating. I would never surprise a child who is going on their first trip to Disney World.”
PhillyCruiser – “I’m sure the motivation for all surprise-planning parents (as well as those that choose to include their kids in the planning) is simple: Do something special & memorable for the kids. Our kids are school-age and the only “plan” they have is school. But, somehow, I don’t think they’ll mind missing a day or two.”
But, as fun as the surprise can be, there are potentially a few downsides to planning a surprise trip. One worry is that, like our son, your child may get upset if they were really looking forward to where they thought they were going.
HockeyIsLife – “When my kids noticed me packing for the trip a few weeks before, we told them we were going to visit my Grandmother, who lives on a lake. When I woke them up to leave, and my youngest came to, and I told her where we were actually going, she BURST into tears and cried “I want to see Gram instead!!!” Oops.”
We always worry that someone else will accidentally give away our secret! We normally travel during the school year, so we have to get trips arranged with the teachers and make plans for homework. It’s always a concern that someone will mention something happening “while you’re gone” or that they’ll overhear us making plans on the phone. And, I have to admit, it’s hard for us to keep the secret! We’re so excited about our trip, that it’s often my husband and I who almost ruin the surprise!
4under4 – “I’ve done both, and I have to say I love the surprise! It’s hard to find ways to get all the planning done without them catching on, but the payoff is EPIC. I’m not sure I will ever be able to surprise my bunch again, but it was completely worth the stress to make it happen. And it is one of their favorite stories to tell others.”
So, what about the other way? Is it easier to tell them further in advance? One great thing about this is obvious – you don’t have to hide. You can call Disney from the living room, you can get on the My Disney Experience website on your computer any time you want and even better – you don’t have to pack in secret!
MandiC – “Knowing my kids, a surprise would not be a good thing. They would be stressed out/anxious kids, they are planners like their mom My husband surprised me with a trip on my birthday last month (not Disney), he told me Monday and we left Thursday and I thought we were going to have to go to the ER on Friday I had such bad stomach pain from the stress (couldn’t even stand up straight).”
Our kids do like to help plan Disney trips, so when they know in advance, it’s really fun to work together as a family to plan our FastPasses, our meal reservations and what we’d like to do on our trip. This alleviates any worry that you won’t book the FastPasses they would want, because they’ll be right there giving you their input. In the past, we’ve had to find some clever ways to get their opinions without letting them know that we’re actually planning a trip for our family. We’ve talked about our next Disney trip and asked what they’d like to do when we go in the “next couple of years”. My husband also conveniently always has a “friend” who is planning a trip for their kids, who happen to be the same age as ours, so we need our kids’ help to figure out what those kids would like.
awalker1015 – “Telling them in advance has been fun. They turn 8 & 10 the week after we get home and they have loved having an active role in planning. And we have included things I would not have thought to include and are skipping things I would have assumed they would have wanted but don’t, like the pricey princess meal.”
A lot of families really like to get in the Disney spirit before their trips by listening to Disney music, reading guidebooks and watching YouTube videos like our Park Bench series. They might want to work on making matching shirts or homemade autograph books. We once used Disney scrapbook paper to make a countdown chain so we’d have a visible reminder of how close we were getting to vacation. It was really fun to pull off that last link!
disneybliss2 – “I think half the fun is planning together and getting my girls’ input on what we’ll do while there. It would be sad if we missed out on countdown calendars, Disney movie nights, etc.”
So, what does your family do? Have you pulled off any great surprises? Or do you like to let your kids know about your trip in advance? Let us know in the comments below!
