KV
2) you want planning to be necessary because it’s better to talk out in advance roughly what the biggest hopes/dreams are, so everyone goes into it with a rough idea of what to expect and you can smooth out major logistical questions ahead of time
3) put restrictions on distance traveled, and have a budget per kid. kids spent their budget on physical stuff they wanted; we were fine to provide some additional experience-based costs like movie, arcade, food
KV