How far in advance have you told your kids about an upcoming trip?

[LizD]

We're not doing a surprise. My kids tend to do better when they have time to process. I'm chomping at the bit to tell them, and there are some logistical things that would work better if they knew, but I also don't want to torture them with an unreasonably long wait! We go Oct 10. I was thinking of telling them when we reach the 100 day mark. Just wondering when other folks told their kiddos?

[jandeeah]

We did 99 days last year when we told her we gave her a countdown calendar so she could see the time pass herself.

[CJUERS]

I want to do a suprise trip so badly but my DS7 likes to help me plan. Poses a problem for me huh??? I would just wait as longwell as you can. It really is torture. For the planner as well! Good luck!

[pfalcioni]

Totally depends on your kids. How are they about Christmas, do they get all nervous and worried at the 30-day mark or do they just go with the flow?

How much of the planning will they be involved in? If they're not making dining decisions, then 30-60 days seems like enough. If you want their input on the big things like where you're staying and where you'll be dining, then you'll need to push it out further.

[Claire]

I think it depends on the age. We told my 2 1/2 year old a week ahead last time. One we didn't want to scare him when we woke him up very early for the airport. Second, it gave us enough time to prep the who,e flight thing. Lastly, it wasn't TOO long to drive us nuts!

[drischar]

For our DS7 and DD 4, at the time, we did a 30 days notice with countdown calendar and that worked really well for us. For our second trip with then ages DS8, DD5, and DS3 we did the We Are Going Today surprise after arriving at their cousins house. It was somewhat anticlimatic, but still fun. Logistically it worked for us because the cousins' house is halfway between our house and WDW, so the whole packing up, car ride, etc part was familiar to them. My oldest is a planner and so we would have "next time" conversations frequently because I knew how much he wanted to help plan our next trip.

Our next Disney vacation will be DCL in May 2013, so I've been thinking about when to tell them. Probably around Spring Break 2013 which would be about 45-60 days out. Any more than that and they will drive me crazy with the 'How much longer?' questions.

[speake]

Last year was my kids 1st trip (ages 2, 2, 5). We told them weeks ahead of time. Showed them some you tube videos of some of the rides, the pool, hotel, etc. This year they are all a year older, and we are going to surprise them. My 6 yo does not do well with waiting. If we tell him early, he will just fuss each day we tell him "today is not the day" - like he did leading up to Christmas. So we are telling them the morning we wake up. We will have all the bags packed, get them up at 6:45am - normal wake up time for school (leaving on 5/31 the day after the last day of school) and tell them we are leaving - now! (Might help them get up and moving quickly too!) I think this will work best for our family. If ours were more patient we would tell them earlier.

[nolarookie]

Since I booked the trip in January, we've been vaguely discussing it, and saying we'll go when school gets out. Now that school ends this week, they know when we're going. Mine are 6 and 4. The six year old can point to the day on the calendar, not really sure how its registering with the four year old. BUt it's cute that they know they're talking about what they want to do and who they want to meet (and what they want to buy)...

[JulieC]

I think I told them about the time I booked the townhouse, about 8 months ago. LOL I am pretty sure I couldn't do the surprise trip thing!

[nobie47]

My kids are spoiled and know we are going every summer....haha! Just because Mommy & Daddy can't stay away .... SO they knew we were going just not when... we told the dates as soon as we booked it in December :RpS_biggrin:

[LizD]

Julie--wow! 8 months didn't torture them, huh? I like it.

Andrea--After it was done did you feel like 99 days was a good amount of time, not too long or short? I may stick with the 100 days, which puts us at somewhere around August 1. I would have to be strong until then!

[JulieC]

Oh yes. Sydney and I have surfed pictures and videos of things she could ride for months! They are excited, but they haven't been a pain about it.

[xipotec]

We are planning on the "night before" surprise. Anyone every did this? My son is a bit of a worry wort, and I know he will blurt out," Whats about my school work??" So I am not sure about it.
Last time they knew months ahead of time.
But I just want to film the surprise ont heir faces...yes just like on TV....
:)
BTW anyone know where I can get a nice countdown siggie?

[BlountFam5]

We gave our kids a countdown calendar too. One of the kids added a sticker each day as we counted down -kinda like an advent calendar. Some people I know have done paper chains that you break apart. My friend did a 3 month countdown and it was too long for her kids - they forgot to tear the chain each day.

Because I wanted to sleep the night before we left...I told the kids we were leaving one day later than we actually were. The day we left they awoke and got ready for school and then I told them we were picking them up before lunch. We were actually leaving TODAY. Worked well for us. I don't have kids who would handle surprise well - my kids would be the ones you see in videos crying b/c they have to do something else.

[Janine]

I told DD5 about the specifics of her first trip when I started doing the heavy planning (6 months). I figured that getting excited, talking about and planning it was part of the fun. It is fun for me, so why not for her too. I don't think the date actually registered until about 100 days out and we started marking it on the calendar and doing a countdown candy jar.

[roamma]

I just told DS7 & DS9 about 15 minutes ago. We leave in 12 days. They were a little shocked, but not freaking out/jumping up and down. The response was more underwhelming than I had hoped for. LOL

I videoed it; I'll see if I can figure out how to upload it. I made a Mickey-shaped cookie cake, decorated it with chocolate icing, and wrote "Disney 2012" beside it. (My cookie decorating looks much like that of an 8-year old!)

"Wow, really? This summer? Can I have some cookie cake?" That was the entire response. :RpS_flapper:

[LizD]

LOL! Upload a video if you can. :)

[Jenn M]

We told our DS6 (then 5) last August that we were going this August. He has enjoyed the planning part too. We've been on YouTube checking out the rides, Jedi Training, stores, etc. He loves it! We do talk about all we want to do just about everyday. Okay, I am obsessed! He seems to be doing okay with it, but he did just ask yesterday how many more days... It could be a long three months! I am going to do the countdown calendar though. Great idea!

[Grumpy]

Ours are 12 & 10 now, so they're involved in the planning from the start. We still make a countdown calendar, though. When they were 5 and 3, I made the mistake of telling them as soon as I booked their first trip. Longest six months of my life.