How did you surprise your kids with a DC?

[jbugeye22]

I was just interested in hearing any stories about how people have surprised their families with a Disney Cruise? I tried to surprise my kids with a trip to WDW, but my DD (8) caught sight of my facebook status 1 week before our trip!

[alamere1496]

This is how we surprised our kids with a WDW trip. We made up t-shirts that said "Surprise, We are Going To Disney World". We put them in a gift bag with other little Disney trinkets. We put them out in the living room like it was Christmas morning. They were so surprised!! They couldn't believe that we were really waking them up to get on a plane to go to WDW. It was the best surprise ever!!

[KBT35]

After a year of secrets, I told my DS 10 that he was coming to work in Orlando with me for a week. This wasn't too far fetched as I tried to take him anytime I went to Florida for work. I told him it would be a long boring week but that I would TRY to squeeze in something fun for him!
During my planning process I stalked this board for different ideas. I found the thread where you can have a postcard sent from Castaway Cay. I had one sent from Mickey saying "Can't wait to meet you onboard!"
I told everyone from the hotel staff to our shuttle company that I was surprising him! They all played their parts! The shuttle driver even picked us up last so that she could tell the other passengers about the surprise!
We flew in the day prior and Sunday morning I told him we had to change hotels to be closer to my work. As we approached port the driver told him to look out the window. You could see the Fantasy! At the same time I took out the postcard and handed it to him! It took a bit for it to set in.....watch the video in my signature to see the rest! My child was stunned into silence! I loved it! The next morning when we arrived in Atlantis he squealed all over again since I told him nothing about that either!

[LoriABil]

We surprised DS for his 8th birthday. We rode with a friend and all picked him up from school. Of course, right away, he knew something was up! I gave him a treasure map with clues at each point (School - that we were going to the airport; Airport, that we were going to Houston; Houston that we were going to Orlando, and then that we were...staying at the Hyatt at the airport!) There were 8 maps in all.

It almost backfired as we went to the Disney Welcome Center and...he thought we were getting on the ME (we had 2 times before). He almost bolted when I gave him his final clue downstairs! "I don't want to get on a big ship."

So surprises aren't ALWAYS good, but he warmed up to it thanks to a great cast member (Carla or Charlotte?) and mom and dad explaining they had never been on a ship either, but it would be fun!

Now we have a kid addicted to cruising!

[jbugeye22]

These are all wonderful stories! I wish I could keep secrets I am terrible! I I didn't even try to keep our upcoming cruise a secret, but I love hearing the stories and seeing the videos!

[FergusBC]

We waited until it was only 2 weeks until the cruise. I printed up a pirate letter from Capt. Mickey welcoming them aboard. Dh sealed it with a red wax seal and everything! We tied it to a helium Snow White balloon (no reason for Snow White...was the only Disney balloon dh could find ) and sealed it all in a box. Then it was 'delivered' one day addressed to our kids while they were at school. Dh told the kids that some Goofy guy had dropped it off earlier.

You can see their reaction here.

[EPCOTatNight]

Last Sunday at this time, we were on the Dream. Last Sunday morning, my ds14 (then 13) had no idea that we would be. We told him on Christmas that we were going on a Royal Carribean cruise on Jan. 20th. Then last week on the 12th, we told him that we were leaving at that moment and I gave him fake RCI cruise documents that I made online. We then drove to WDW and spent the night on property. The next morning we drove to the port, oohed and Ahhed when we saw the Dream and spoke about how much we wish we were cruising with Disney. I then pulled up to the Dream's unloading area "to get a better look" and told him that we were in deed cruising on the Dream. He was genuinely surprised. He should have known something was up. We surprised him last year with a BDay trip to WDW. We woke him up and told him to get dressed, we're on our way to WDW. So, last year he spent his BDay in the Magic Kingdom and the Wilderness Lodge and this year, he spent it on the Dream.

[bitlerzx4]

Our kids (12 & 5) thought we (DH & myself) were going on a cruise. They were going to stay with their pop pop. We got all the way down to PC and had breakfast at Ihop then walked around Ron Jons until the phone call came in from Mickey.

They still didn't believe us until I showed them the tags.

So funny because they got travel bags packed with Disney coloring books, disney movies, anything I could find disney related.

[natandscott]

Our kids are still pretty young (they will be 2 and 4 at the time of our cruise), so I think I'm just going to try and get a hold of a postcard with a picture of the ship on it and maybe one of Mickey to mail them about a month before we go.

[Four Swampers]

For our first, we went to visit my daughters' aunt, uncle, and cousins in Florida. I decided we should "go see Kennedy Space Center." After touring KSC, I said we should head south for a lunch place I wanted to try. As we drove, we noticed the Wonder, and I suggested we go get a closer look since we had seen it on t.v. The girls said they didn't want to bother, but I insisted. Pulled up next to the ship. The porter welcomed us, and the girls said we weren't cruising, just looking. I said I'll grab the bags from the car, where can I park?

For our trip on the Fantasy, we gave them hot chocolate. In black mugs that change color to show the Fantasy when the mug becomes warm.

[JimGA]

We jsut surprised our kids Christmas morning, we had a box filled with Disney Cruise Tickets that I made that will be door magnets and plush dolls and DCL T-shirts, here is the video link;

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oeqJAiuc1Qs

Two years ago we surprised the kids when we picked them up at school when it was time to go home. They had no idea until they saw the car packed and we tossed them their Mickey plush dolls and surprise we are going to Disney!

Love keeping trips a surprise, so much fun.

[JackieO]

I wanted to surprise the kids but they so enjoy the excitement of planning and being excited for the trip too. This trip is for my DS birthday so we planned the trip for a while after his birthday (it's really close to Thanksgiving, not when we wanted to sail). I made this "mickey" countdown: http://www.getawaytoday.com/blogs/20...ountdown-Begin with a Disney Cruise post card as the top, and wrapped it up for this birthday. He was surprised and we've been able to enjoy the planning (I let the kids help choose our excursions) and counting down together!

[Musicalmommy]

We considered a secret, but feared backfire of kids not being prepaired to get on planes etc. They are 3, 5 and 7.

We wrapped up three presents.

1. Pirate outfits.
2. Mickey Mouse Wall Calendar with date of trip marked and count down numbers to current date.
3. The DC planning DVD that when you open it, it has the words> Welcome Aboard Weber Family!

Let's just say there was 45 minutes of:bana na:

And the only thing that saved us from the pandamonium was bedtime.

Way more excited than I expected and much better than the stress of keeping all the other Disney packing, and making magnets, and making outfits, and buying things we need all a secret. Now they get the joy of anticipation. Countdown for us was 38 days, and we now have 19 to go. They ask about what they get to do on the ship, so now they are prepaired for what things will be like and will be a bit less overwhelmed with how things work.

[mrsaunders]

We tried to surprise my kids (then 10 and 12) with a last minute trip to WDW that we booked two weeks in advance. They are so used to us planning things well in advance that they got upset and kept saying "but you CANT just go to Disney....you have to plan it" and "two weeks isnt enough time. Do we even have tickets?"

Eventually they got excited and it was a great trip, but my husband and I never imagined that would be the reaction. After that we went back to including them in all the planning

[sweetlovin']

I took my 8yo to Disney World and then told her we had to head to the airport. She was shocked as I drove right up to the cruise. I had surprised my 10 year old with a Disneyland trip as well as a surprise puppy at the end of that trip. My 12yo I surprised with a trip to London. He packed for Disney World and thought we were flying there. So I had him grab out a folder with a list of everything at the airport while video taping. He was so excited and thankful that I had secret packed him. LOL