My wife has zero interest in planning. Her favorite thing from our last trip was that I just told her what to do when. I sort of got kid input but they didn’t know what was there so it was really up to me. Now it is harder because they don’t want to kiss anything we did on our last trip but I want to do some new things and we can’t fit everything in! I asked my 7 year old if she would like to ride space mountain while her little brother rode Tomorrowland speedway and she teared up at the thought of missing those darn cars. Guess we are doing both while brother waits during our SM FP…
I am 2 minutes into these videos and am already hooked. Maybe it is because I know that is exactly how DD would react.
Maybe I should also watch videos of small children refusing to meet the characters 
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I’m pretty sure mine will be okay with my current surprise plan, but now I’m going to think it out a little more.
Bottom line is anytime they first hear it is a surprise… it’s part timing and part presentation.
If it’s casually shared as just info vs high-stakes presentation…
I would never surprise my kids! They’re not really “surprise” people. They like to know about things in advance, know what to expect, weigh in on plans, etc. That goes for everything, not just Disney. I think having big things be “surprises” makes them feel not in control, and that upsets them. Not saying that about kids and surprises in general, but it’s definitely true for my kids. My youngest, who’s 10 now, is the only one who might enjoy a big surprise like a trip. But I’d definitely get wrong some of what she wanted to do without her input.
We usually tell them a few weeks before our FP day so that they can do some research and weigh in on plans before we book FPs. That’s the perfect time frame for my kids–early enough that they can shape how we spend our time, but not so early that the waiting feels endless.
Our first trip was when our kids were 7, 10, and 12. When we told them we were going to Disney, the 7 year old and 12 year old thought that was the worst idea ever–isn’t Disney all princesses and baby characters? Having that few months gave them some time to research and realize there were things they’d like, too. When I saw their initial reaction, my first thought was, “Thank goodness we didn’t try to surprise them!”
I’m generally a planner and love the months of anticipation and research for Disney. But as an adult who knows Disney trips are expensive and occasional, I’m with everyone else saying that I’d take a surprise trip over no trip anyday!
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We usually don’t tell the kids until we’re on the way to the airport. Our 6 year old gets over excited and anxious about things and doesn’t sleep. The whole month before her birthday she was exhausted but still getting up at 3 or 4am every day because she was too excited to sleep since it would be her birthday soon. Yep, a whole month.
She won’t find out until the morning of for our August trip, probably not until we’re at the airport. So our trips are always surprises because I value my sleep and sanity 
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Having done a few surprise trips myself, I would agree that the surprise was as much for me, if not more, than for the kids. However for me (I cannot speak for others) it was not to feel like a big deal, but rather to carry on/relive a family tradition, not unlike many of the things I do for holidays and birthdays. I can assure you though, when I was jumping on my kids’ beds at 4:30 am singing in my pjs, there were no cameras rolling, cause nobody wants to see (or hear) that!
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I hate surprises and might actually be pissed if someone surprised me. With my kids, they knew well in advance. In hindsight I might not tell them until a month or 2 b/c 9 months is interminable for young kids. She kept asking when we are going.
I had my kids pack their suitcases a few days before and told them we were going soon. Then, we did pick them up from daycare and told them we were going. So it was a bit of surprise as to what day. We thought it would be fun and also allow for a good night sleep the night before.
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I would personally never do a surprise trip. DD5 loves the excitement leading up to the trip - changing the countdown on the whiteboard in the kitchen, making lists of what she wants to pack, lists of what park snacks to order from Prime Now, lists of rides, lists of restaurants… The girl is a true Liner in the making! DH on the other hand would probably love a surprise trip, as long as he didn’t have a pack his own suitcase (this is a drawn out, agonizing process which somehow takes several days). 
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I surprised my daughter the first time we went and it was great!!! She was 5 and we were only going for 2 nights. My thinking was that it would be hard to wait at that age and that we could only do some things with such a short trip. We watched a lot of movies (Dumbo, Swiss Family Robinson, Cinderella, Tangled) listened to music, and read books. I had so much fun researching, packing, etc. the surprise itself was so great!!! We had a 6am flight and I told her when we got in the car. My parents drove us to the airport so they got to be part of the surprise! we had only flown once before when she was 2 so EVERYTHING was exciting!!! We had the best time just at the airport! Plus we were in matching outfits! The one thing that might have been better if I had asked ahead of time was the BBB was too much of a time waster. they were running super behind and she would have preferred being on rides. (I had no idea she would love all the rides so much) The best advantage was she didn’t even know until later trips that there are tea cups in MK (I hate spinning) For us it could not have gone better! The trip was a dream come true and we still talk about it! Every single minute was a magical adventure! She had no idea what to expect so there were no disappointments. She has been part of the planning for subsequent trips and although she likes to plan she does not enjoy my obsessive planning. She would happily roll with being surprised any day! Even being at the airport when we were leaving was fun because she couldn’t wait to see her gradndparents and tell them about her adventures!
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He thought we were driving up to spend a week with my brother, so he did take the time off.
The one trip my older niece talks about more than any others is the time I surprised her with a weekend trip for her birthday when she was 7. We left an amusement park the day before, under the guise that she was going to ride home with me so we could ride one more ride.
When we left we went to a hotel by the airport 2 hours away. The next morning we got on a plane, and while she recognized the airport in Orlando, she’d flown in there to go to our cousin’s house at the beach a few times so she wasn’t sure we were going to WDW until we got to Magical Express.
We arrived at Contemporary and had birthday dinner at Chef Mickey’s, but the biggest surprise was yet to come because it was a 24 hour Magic Kingdom day so she was shocked when we got on the monorail at 8pm. I was shocked that she stayed up until 3:30am, and then was ready to get up and go at 7:30 the next morning.
I think one of the reasons it was so memorable was because she was already used to my planned trips, where there’s always an answer to “What’s next?” I didn’t even book that trip until 3 days prior, so it was 100% off the cuff and that made it stand out among all the other trips before and since.
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The adults in my family planned a Disneyland trip about 8 months out in 2017, and we didn’t initially tell my nieces about it because the older one has some obsessive tendencies and it was agreed that telling her that far out would not end well. She was told about a month or so out, and watched lots of ride videos to prepare. It ended up working out well, but telling her much farther than a month wouldn’t have been good. As it is, she keeps asking about the next trip, which with them is not for a couple of years.
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My 4 y/o loves the planning and talking about the trip we are taking when she is 4.5. It’s part of the fun! Last year we did a 30 day countdown calendar when she put a Disney sticker on the calendar for each of the last 30 days. But that was when she was young at age 3 … now that she is a “big girl” she likes to help plan the trip. She is a future liner … name an attraction and she can tell you which park it is in. She also asked me if she could get up early with me to help on the day we “sign up for restaurants”.
With a surprise trip, she would miss out on all the planning/discussing fun!
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Wow, this is very judgey!
We surprised our 3 and 5 year old - we told them the night before we left - we picked them up from daycare and said “So, what should we do this weekend? Go to the zoo? Play soccer? Go to Disneyworld?” We had told them we would go some day, so we had done a bit of talking about “what would you like to do” and “who would you like to meet” but knew the anticipation would be more stressful than enjoyable for them. So it was, in a way, for us, but it had nothing to do with feeling like a big deal and everything to do with not wanting to answer “how many more days” every day for a year.
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That’s exactly what I am doing, as far as “planning” a trip farther out, but actually getting input for this upcoming surprise trip. (It’s very helpful to have another trip on the books in that way).
To answer the original question, I, too, am a planner and LOVE the excitement of a trip, the planning, etc., and totally agree with that premise. However, DD8 actually mentioned that she wanted to be surprised for our next trip (!). So, we are obliging. I agree with some of the other posts that the moment of “surprise, we’re going today!” can be as joyous and memorable as all the weeks of planning.
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Eh, I can see this both ways. This is a real know your kids / spouse / travel partner(s) situation. I would personally melt down if someone surprised me with anything. Let’s just say that my 30th birthday surprise - well, I’m glad YouTube didn’t exist back then - it wasn’t pretty and was not repeated for my 40th.
OMG - edit - I didn’t mean to write an entire novel. Sometimes I surprise, sometimes I don’t. Don’t surprise me and we’ll be all good.
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We have kids just slightly younger than yours, and I feel the same way. A month, or even a week, might as well be 15 years to them. It’s much easier and more exciting to discuss things in the moment with kids of that age.
I’ll be the first to admit, I love the planning. Having young kids gives me a reason to plan a Disney trip that’s fun for us and them. That’s pretty much the extent of it, with no ulterior motives.
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Because people think everything has to be a BIG SURPRISE! I’m looking at you, Gender Reveal Parties! (And “Promposals”!)
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It’s fine to write a novel! I read the unedited version and I have to agree that it would be awful to tell your kids and then have to cancel. But I think it depends on your circumstances. My youngest is 14, he’d be disappointed but he understands that life happens. A 4yo doesn’t.
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Call it what you want. Maybe you’re in that 5%? If so, good on you. If it makes your kids happy, great. If it makes you happy, whatever your motives, also great. But: when so many of these surprises are elaborately staged, recorded, and shared on Youtube, Facebook, et cetera, my dim perception keeps me from grasping what’s in it for the children.
I’ve also seen way too many (strangers’) family arguments start over the children wanting to do some un-themed activity like swimming in the hotel pool, or going to the arcade, and one parent having a very showy meltdown over having traveled to an expensive destination only to have the children do something which could’ve been done much more cheaply at home.
And it’s personal, also. The idea of my parents making any expression that the vacation was in any way about my entertainment is so foreign that I would’ve been less surprised if they’d flapped their arms and flown under their own power.
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