Christmas Cruise Surprise

[erinsmom03]

I can't believe it! I've managed to keep a cruise on the Fantasy a secret from my 9 year old daughter for months now! We are planning to surprise her with a February cruise as a family Christmas present. We are also going to have a short stay at our favorite resort, the Poly, before the cruise.

So, what kind of fun, creative, and crazy ideas are out there for how best to surprise her?

Thanks,

 

[mickeyschickie]

on the disney cruise website, there is an option under planning your cruise to have Mickey or Goofy call you, that is what we are doing to tell our kids on Christmas morning! I can't wait, it has been so hard on me to keep this from them and I'm starting to slip!

 

[Tolson70]

My wife is pretty crafty, we surprised our boys with a cruise last Xmas. She made each boy a mini-scrapbook with pictures from our prior cruises and then the last page was a "ticket" with the dates of our surprise cruise. They were clueless until they read the dates on the fake ticket.

 

[scrapbookmomma74]

3 years ago, I surprised our daughters with a January cruise for Christmas. I got some mylar helium balloons (stars or circles) and put the words "Disney Magic January 8" on them. Then, I attached them to the bottom of a large box and closed and wrapped the box so that the top would open. The balloons flew up when they opened it and they read the words! I did have to play with the balloons a bit, to make them lift up the paper that I attached.

 

[ericalynn1979]

We are actually surprising ours before Christmas with their gift (Fantasy 12/15), so I'm going to have their "Elf on the Shelf" bring them a letter the morning we go to the airport saying that Santa has sent them their Christmas present early.

 

[Kimbo71]

We're doing a "treasure hunt" with the model of the "Magic" as the treasure. Christmas Eve morning. (because they usually open one present Christmas Eve, & I won't be able to STAND it a minute longer, lol!!!!)

 

[skylynx]

We surprised my mom and dad with a cruise on Christmas by wrapping up a sailor Mickey Mouse Christmas ornament in a box. They didn't know what to think or why we would give them a cruise ornament in particular until we told them to look deeper into the box (where we had the printed itinerary).

Mom and dad are gone now, but giving them that cruise and that time with us and their grandchildren was the best $ ever spent!

 

[tobikaye]

I make videos for my sister. I made a video that I was going to have her play on Christmas morning letting her know I had already booked our cruise. I had to show her last weekend because she was about to do the same thing. It was the second time I had used videos to let her know what a gift was. For this one, I had only created what was suppose to be a first draft so it only had music and photos with a few lines about what our staterooms will be and the date of the cruise.

 

[Mommy2Emmy]

Santa is bringing our 1/12/13 Magic cruise to my DD (4)! I've ordered the sailor Minnie from the Disney store, printed some Magic boarding passes from MilliePie's designs, and going to pack those with some new outfits for the cruise in a new suitcase to put under the tree Christmas morning!

 

[gstroop28]

Ooh!! I will be following this thread as we are doing the same thing on Christmas morning for our girls (for our 2/2/13 cruise). Let me preface this by saying they KNOW dad and me are going (for my 40th b-day, but they don't know they are coming too).

First: we asked all our family to give them cruise related stuff (they will open it after our Christmas morning)

Then, when they wake up, we are going to do a couple of treasure hunt things:
1. A replica figurine of the Fantasy (get it on DisneyStore.com)
2. Got personalized Tervis cups for the familly.
3. Putting a gift certificate for a pedicure dated 3 days before we leave.
4. Personalized tshirts with something along the lines "Guess who got surprised with a Disney Cruise on Christmas morning."

I hope other people have great ideas I can totally steal!!

 

[sweetpee_1993]

It's hard to surprise 2 teenage boys at the same time. We've thought of all sorts of things but we know they'll figure out what's going on immediately so we can't really pull things off like scavenger hunts and that sort of thing. That said, we got a model of the Magic off Disneystore.com. I'll wrap that in a box with a little tag tied to it that says something along the lines of, "It was a lovely cruise, wasn't it?", since we sailed on the Magic in May of this year. Then there's going to be a message in a bottle also in the box that starts out, "Here we go again....", with the rest of the itinerary printed on it. They'll love it, I'm sure. The kicker is that we're not going to give them this together gift right away. We're going to open all our other gifts first then continue on like that's the end of it. Maybe later in the day we'll somehow "discover" a missed gift kinda like Ralphie's dad in 'A Christmas Story'. Teenagers are hard to pull anything on. Well, mine are anyway. Up until this point when we talk about cruising it's in the context of the cruise we have booked for May on the Fantasy. They have no idea they'll be sailing on the Magic in January, too.

 

[erinsmom03]

Great ideas so far!
I was already planning to get a personalized t-shirt and a customized fish extender for her to open, and Disney gift cards of course but now I'm getting some bigger, better ideas! Thanks everyone! It's been so hard to keep this a secret, can't wait to tell her!

 

[erinsmom03]

Okay, so DH and I checked out the Disneystore.com site, and came up with an idea. Our DD is a dog fanatic, she loves her stuffed animal puppies. So, we came up with this idea. I ordered a 17 inch plush Pluto. When DD opens a box and finds him in it, he'll be wearing a silver Castaway Cay necklace... I think we'll wrap the other cruise fun stuff separately, to add to the fun throughout the morning...

 

[Acaathome]

We have just booked to be on the Magic for Christmas, and have no idea how to tell our two children, we are flying from the uk a few days prior?
Ideas anyone?
Our children are 3 and 7
Kindest regards Carla

 

[erinsmom03]

Hmmm, it might be easier with your older child, the younger one, ???? I wish you luck! Seems like just about any idea should work for you though.

We've fine-tuned ours somewhat. We're going to have Disney balloons pop out of a large box, and inside the box will be several things. First, a large Pluto dog with the Castaway Cay necklace around it's neck. Also, a replica boarding pass to the Fantasy, a replica room key to the Poly, and a replica ticket to the Magic Kingdom. Last, a countdown calendar for my daughter to know exactly how many days until we are leaving. Hoping this will get her excited!!!!

 

[fluvannaj]

Where did you find a count down calendar or did you make it??

 

[erinsmom03]

I'm just going to make one. I'm pretty good on the computer, but I'm also going to search the boards and web for ideas. That's on the agenda for tomorrow when DD has school and I don't!

 

[goofydisneygal]

We are also surprising the kids for our 2/7 Dream cruise. We are going to do one of two things ... Either wrap nesting boxes (a box in a box in a box) with a clue or note in the last box. Or, some sort of puzzle piece scavenger hunt to have them find and then decipher the pieces. We have also talked about only telling them about part 1 - DW Wilderness and then when they think we are heading home on the last day surprise them with part 2. Sooooooo excited, not sure I can keep the secret much longer!

 

[erinsmom03]

We are also surprising the kids for our 2/7 Dream cruise. We are going to do one of two things ... Either wrap nesting boxes (a box in a box in a box) with a clue or note in the last box. Or, some sort of puzzle piece scavenger hunt to have them find and then decipher the pieces. We have also talked about only telling them about part 1 - DW Wilderness and then when they think we are heading home on the last day surprise them with part 2. Sooooooo excited, not sure I can keep the secret much longer!

I know! I am so excited to tell DD, I'm so afraid that I'll slip and tell her on accident! We're also planning to have a character phone call...I think I saw that I could sent a request for an immediate call????

 

[goofydisneygal]

Good question on the character call ... I am curious if you can request a specific date and time or if it is immediate