Can you help me with our surprise?

[wrighter]

We will be taking our first ever Disney cruise (well, first ever cruise, period!) in April. We've decided to surprise our kids (DS11 and DD9) with the news on Christmas morning with a scavenger hunt.

First let me say that it is very hard to surprise my kids! My daughter, in particular, is an infamous snoop and eavesdropper. And they are both very smart. We've surprised them with Disney trips in the past with mixed results. So I really want to go out of my way to preserve that big "WHAT?!" moment, if at all possible. We'll see.

What I'd LIKE to do is have them assemble a puzzle with some sort of GPS coordinates or a link to a website that they will then have to plug into the computer, and up will pop a photo of the ship or something that would then give it away. The only problem is, I don't know what they would be! Lol! I was thinking about something like a live cam at PC or CC, but my early research on that has proven unfruitful. Even just a picture of the Magic would work - the only problem there is that the website address would give it away. I was wondering if any of the DCL vets out there might have some suggestions that would work.

There has to be something out there that would work, right?

 

[levenhopper]

"Tiny url .com" is a free URL shortener (it's all one word but The DIS won't allow me to post the link from my iPhone). You'll put in the web address to whatever page you want and it creates a different address that is much shorter. The nice thing is it will mask whatever website name you want to choose so they won't be able to guess what they're going to until it appears on the website.

Is that what you're looking for?

 

[wrighter]

Oh, wow! That might actually be fantastic! I will check it out. Thanks!

 

[Mickey4me!]

You could also try using one of those free website service like WordPress to make your own page and name it what you want. Then you could make your own message and photo.

 

[wrighter]

Another great idea! Thank you, both!

Clearly I am not "web-inclined." Very grateful to my fellow DISers who are.

 

[JimGA]

We will be taking our first ever Disney cruise (well, first ever cruise, period!) in April. We've decided to surprise our kids (DS11 and DD9) with the news on Christmas morning with a scavenger hunt.

First let me say that it is very hard to surprise my kids! My daughter, in particular, is an infamous snoop and eavesdropper. And they are both very smart. We've surprised them with Disney trips in the past with mixed results. So I really want to go out of my way to preserve that big "WHAT?!" moment, if at all possible. We'll see.

What I'd LIKE to do is have them assemble a puzzle with some sort of GPS coordinates or a link to a website that they will then have to plug into the computer, and up will pop a photo of the ship or something that would then give it away. The only problem is, I don't know what they would be! Lol! I was thinking about something like a live cam at PC or CC, but my early research on that has proven unfruitful. Even just a picture of the Magic would work - the only problem there is that the website address would give it away. I was wondering if any of the DCL vets out there might have some suggestions that would work.

There has to be something out there that would work, right?

We surprised our kids on Christmas morning as well. We did not do a scavenger hunt, I have not been impressed with those video clips of people doing those.

So we wrapped a big box with a lid and I had gotten the DCL plush animals and made some door magnets with a picture of the characters at CC with "Welcome Aboard" with our family name on top.

I also made some "tickets" that double as door magnets and also we put them on the fridge as a constant reminder of our cruise. The tickets had their names on it, date of the cruise, room number, etc.

Also t shirts from the DCL were in the box. I think we had great success.

You can se our video, I have a link in my signature below. Have fun! If you need to see my tickets or picture I made, let me know, I can send them to you.

 

[BGHindman]

We will be taking our first ever Disney cruise (well, first ever cruise, period!) in April. We've decided to surprise our kids (DS11 and DD9) with the news on Christmas morning with a scavenger hunt.

First let me say that it is very hard to surprise my kids! My daughter, in particular, is an infamous snoop and eavesdropper. And they are both very smart. We've surprised them with Disney trips in the past with mixed results. So I really want to go out of my way to preserve that big "WHAT?!" moment, if at all possible. We'll see.

What I'd LIKE to do is have them assemble a puzzle with some sort of GPS coordinates or a link to a website that they will then have to plug into the computer, and up will pop a photo of the ship or something that would then give it away. The only problem is, I don't know what they would be! Lol! I was thinking about something like a live cam at PC or CC, but my early research on that has proven unfruitful. Even just a picture of the Magic would work - the only problem there is that the website address would give it away. I was wondering if any of the DCL vets out there might have some suggestions that would work.

There has to be something out there that would work, right?

Sounds like an exciting Christmas morning! We did our first surprise cruise announcement with the scheduled character call, which was amazing! Your scavenger hunt sounds like lots of fun (I too am not tech savvy!). We are sailing on the Magic in April of 2015 as well - which sailing are you and your family on?

Good luck!

 

[shericakes]

You can buy little replicas of the ship you are going on. We sailed the Magic in February. So I had my kids open a little replica of the boat!

 

[wrighter]

We surprised our kids on Christmas morning as well. We did not do a scavenger hunt, I have not been impressed with those video clips of people doing those.

So we wrapped a big box with a lid and I had gotten the DCL plush animals and made some door magnets with a picture of the characters at CC with "Welcome Aboard" with our family name on top.

I also made some "tickets" that double as door magnets and also we put them on the fridge as a constant reminder of our cruise. The tickets had their names on it, date of the cruise, room number, etc.

Also t shirts from the DCL were in the box. I think we had great success.

You can se our video, I have a link in my signature below. Have fun! If you need to see my tickets or picture I made, let me know, I can send them to you.

Love the ticket idea! Very cute!

We started doing Christmas morning scavenger hunts this past Christmas - merely as a way to extend the amount of time our kids were actively in "unwrapping" mode. DH and I decided that we wanted to give our kids less "stuff," but "make more memories." Only problem is, when there's not as much to unwrap, the fun anticipation time is greatly shortened. So the scavenger hunts began. My kids love them.

Last year at each location they got a Mickey Christmas ornament and a clue to the next location. At the end of the clues they found new suitcases - each all packed and ready to leave for WDW - right then! It was a confusing but wonderful reveal.

This year at each location they'll get a few pieces of a puzzle. Then they'll have to assemble the puzzle. On the puzzle will be a web address. Then they'll have to use the computer to access the web address - which will be the big reveal about the upcoming cruise. I really just hope to stretch out the anticipation and excitement as long as I can! Lol! Hopefully the payoff will be worthwhile.

 

[kuhltiffany]

If you're into Geo-caching, there's lots at most ports and one at Castaway Cay too! You could put together something with co-ordinates at each stop of the cruise...