Can You Keep a Secret?

So you are taking the family to Walt Disney World.  You have made all the decisions and all the reservations are set.  But, there is one burning question — Do you tell the children you’re going or keep it a surprise?

On one hand, if you tell the children, they can help in the planning and really feel apart of the trip.  They can help select the dining options - which characters do they really want to see at a meal? They can help choose what theme parks to attend and even help design a plan of the attractions they wish to visit.

On the other hand, if you keep the trip a surprise just picture the look on their faces when the secret is revealed.  A trip to Disney World is such an amazing and exciting adventure, can you imagine the extra thrill of the trip being a surprise?

I am a person who loves surprises so you can probably guess which way we have gone many times with our children.  Each trip has had a unique set of circumstances that added to the element of surprise.

Let me let you in on one of our schemes. We met the children at the bus stop one day after school.  The van was packed with everything from snacks to suitcases.  “Are we going to see Grandma?” they asked.  We told them yes and were not lying as Grandma was meeting us there.

Our plan was unfolding like clockwork as we whisked our sleeping angels into their bed at Walt Disney World Dolphin hotel. They still had no idea where we were until we opened the curtains the next morning revealing a huge clue – The water tower at Disney’s Hollywood Studios wearing Mickey Mouse ears!  With eyes as wide and bright as the Florida sky they took a deep breath and squealed “We’re at Disney World!”

At that moment I knew.  The surprise had been the way to go.  How about you?  Have you kept your trip a secret —  do tell us the details!

Photo: WDW News, Garth Vaughan photographer