When to tell the kids?

[laura12581]

We are taking our 4 and 6 year olds on their first trip in Oct. I am so excited to tell them that I could burst. I plan on telling them ahead of time (I want to tell them soon!) but it is still over 6 months away and I am afraid to tell them too soon!

I have a Mickey and Minnie t-shirt for each and am getting them the WDW for kids picture guide book and autograph books and plan to wrap them up in a box to tell them!

 

[emksmama]

We booked our trip in January, and weren't going to tell our girls (will be 11 & 10) until we started seeing the signs on the way. However, DH caved on Friday and told them. We had a very low key spring break because of our upcoming trip, and he was apologizing to them for not doing more, and asked if they'd like to go somewhere warmer over our fall break (we get a full week in October for the first time!). Our oldest said "well, it's a dream, but DISNEY!" and our youngest suggested Hawaii. Um, no. They tossed around a few more ideas, and then he told them we were going to Disney! They didn't believe him at first, and kept saying "no, look at their faces. They're joking."

I had to show them the countdown app on my phone and they finally realized we're going! They are super excited.

When you do tell your kids, you could make a countdown chain to help them get through the next six months! Mine are old enough they understand just how long six months is to wait, but at 4 & 6, they wouldn't have grasped it.

 

[imthemamahere]

We did a countdown chain (with a Disney-ish activity written inside each link) for the last 14 days before our last trip, when my son was 3 1/2. That was about as long as he could handle at that point. Every morning, he'd rush to the chain and ask if it was time to tear off a new link, and he was SO excited when we got down to the final one!

I'm wary of telling him too soon about our upcoming trip, as much as I know he'd enjoy the anticipation, because he'd drive me NUTS asking whether it was time yet! He already asks to return to Disney World frequently enough! So I'll wait a bit before I share the good news. He can handle a longer countdown at this age (he'll be 5 when we go), so we'll probably do a weekly countdown - with a Friday night Disney movie night to mark off each finished week? - for a month or two, then switch to a daily chain or something similar for the last 2 weeks.

Unless I come up with another idea between now and then!

 

[ancestry]

With 4 and 6 year olds I would wait until 1 or 2 months out. 6 months is a really long time for them to "countdown."

If they were older then 6 months might be more doable.

 

[jezebel73]

We do our countdown chain about 10-20 days prior to the trip, but my daughter knows when we're going about as early as I do, which can be almost a year in advance. I do a lot of the planning but she's 9 and likes to have a say in dining, hotel, etc., so that keeps her occupied up until the actual booking, which is usually only 3-4 months out (although this year it's 6 months away and we're booking tomorrow - yayayayay!!!). After that, we talk packing and park strategies and menus.

For younger kids, if you just can't help yourself, go ahead and tell them. Fair warning - you will likely get to a lull in the excitement after a month or so, but it comes back with a vengeance as the trip approaches!! A weekly Disney moment helps it along. You can watch a movie, go online and watch attraction videos, look at park maps or dining menus, check out room pictures, theme a meal to a Disney character/movie, put Mickey stickers on their lunch - just enough to tease and keep them in the loop.

 

[laura12581]

We do our countdown chain about 10-20 days prior to the trip, but my daughter knows when we're going about as early as I do, which can be almost a year in advance. I do a lot of the planning but she's 9 and likes to have a say in dining, hotel, etc., so that keeps her occupied up until the actual booking, which is usually only 3-4 months out (although this year it's 6 months away and we're booking tomorrow - yayayayay!!!). After that, we talk packing and park strategies and menus.

For younger kids, if you just can't help yourself, go ahead and tell them. Fair warning - you will likely get to a lull in the excitement after a month or so, but it comes back with a vengeance as the trip approaches!! A weekly Disney moment helps it along. You can watch a movie, go online and watch attraction videos, look at park maps or dining menus, check out room pictures, theme a meal to a Disney character/movie, put Mickey stickers on their lunch - just enough to tease and keep them in the loop.

Thanks, I think I will do that! I find myself holding my tongue talking about it all the time!! I am going to keep certain things a surprise like dinner at CRT on arrival day, but I think they can handle knowing soon! We are going the week after DD's 5th bday and she talks to me all the time about that. They know it is after school starts again and it will be after her bday so I think we will be telling them in the next month or so!! I got an adorable countdown on Etsy that they will be able to write the count down number on each day!

 

[OasterP]

I think it just depends on the kids. My son is 3 (will be 4 on our September trip) and he already knows. but I'm lucky b/c he's just excited - not being a pain. We'll start a countdown at 100 days, b/c I'm just as (actually more) excited than he is! I don't even care if he asks how many days every day

I also do what Laura does somewhat. We break out the Disney books pretty often, or movies, or his shirt. And it's funny - whenever he sees a commercial for Disney, or the start of a movie with the castle he gets so excited and says THAT'S CINDERELLA'S CASTLE!!! But he's never even seen the movie Cinderella. I absolutely love it.

Kind of like holidays - I want to capture the excitement as long as I can

 

[wreckdiva]

I wont tell our DD 7 until her birthday. 18 days before our travel date. She wants to go back so bad! Anytime we see the commercials for WDW she says. "maybe one day Mommy"! Well, mommy and daddy have a secret to keep for a while. I'm sure when she gets older she will enjoy planning meals, parks, etc., but not right now. Her 1st trip she was 5 and remembers every little step(or stroller push) she took!