We’re eagerly planning (ok well, I’m doing most of the planning, but we’re both excited about) a trip to Disney World in February. It’ll be Lil’ J’s (and of course Big T’s) first time there, and my first time in about 20 years. Ever since we locked in the dates of our trip I’ve been thinking non-stop about what we’re going to do, where we’ll eat, what rides we’ll go on and what Princesses to meet.

I’m wise enough to know I need to keep a “loose plan” because hello!… We’ll be traveling with two young kids. But I want to be aware of the big things we won’t want to miss.

The challenge with all this is trying to plan in secret. Lil’ J has no idea we’re going to Disney World, even though her daddy promised her we would go after she turned four. We’ve been debating when to tell her and came to a bit of a disagreement.

She says: We should make this their Christmas present!
He says: What? No, they’ve gotta get more than that for Christmas.
She says: Well of course! I mean Santa will bring them the rest, and we’ll gift them a surprise announcing our Disney trip.
He says: Ok. Well, I was thinking we should just tell her right before we left to get on the plane.
She says: But that’s no fun, she may want to be involved with the planning process, and the surprise and excitement can build up for months.
He says: Ok Sure.

Now I don’t do this often enough. But the truth is, after that conversation I went back to my husband and told him he was right. There’s no way we can surprise out daughter with news of an upcoming Disney World trip and she not nag us with, “ARE WE GOING YET???!” for two months. Heck, I told her we were going to one of her friend’s birthday parties three weeks before the event and she asked me every day, multiple times a day up until we went. And she still asks me when we can go visit her again more than a week after that party. Maybe it would be best to surprise her right before we go so when she asks when we’re going we can proudly exclaim “TODAY!”

I am eager to still build up a little excitement, hopefully without ruining the surprise. Watching old Disney movies, getting refreshers on other Disney characters like Pooh Bear and Mickey Mouse. I may even get one of those free Disney World DVDs to watch and talk about maybe going someday. That way when she hears the news of where we’re going, she’ll actually know what it is.

You know me, I can’t plan this whole surprise without planning a big reveal for the kids. No idea how we’ll do it yet, but I’m working on it. Have any ideas you’d like to share? So far I’ve loved the “Mickey call” idea where he calls and tells the news on the phone. It would be easier to have an audio or video explanation in case she can’t read it yet.

Have you ever surprised your kids with a trip to Disney, or were you surprised as a kid? How did it go?

Tags: disney, Disney World, family, He says she says, he says/ she says, travel