We did the same thing in buying the tix and planning the whole deal before we told anyone. That was SO nervous a phone call to my parents. We live in Colorado and my mom and dad are in Minnesota, 1000 miles away. We have a great relationship and the first word out of dad's mouth was "cool!" That took the bite out of it. They travel quite a bit anyway and have already asked if they can come for Christmas.
My wife's family is here and we see them all the time, and they are taking it more difficult. They don't have the means to come visit more than once a year maybe, and they will miss us more because of the current proximity.
We are glad to hand off out terrier of 4 years to my brother here, who she knows quite well. That was far better than the torture (and $$) of the vet and the travel and the quarantine and so forth.
Sept 26th we fly, and that LAX 9:40 departure sounds like a good idea to me. Have a sleep and wake up missing a whole day!
More Later,
Cord72