Is anyone else surprising kids for Christmas?

[JackieB10]

My kids (DD 17, DS 10 & DSS 14) are getting a cruise for Christmas!!! We are leaving January 14 (boarding the Magic on the 15th). I am still up in the air on how I am going to tell the kids on Christmas morning. Has anyone else done this or planning to do this? If so, I would love to hear your ideas.

 

[Shea&Van]

We did this last year and it was a HUGE hit with the kids! I'm sure your children will be so excited!

We hid a bunch of clues all around our house and they had to put together a little puzzle that spelled out Disney Cruise. We had a lot of fun! A treasure hunt of sorts on Christmas morning.

I will NEVER forget the happiness in their little voices. Granted they are much younger than your kiddos...but you can always make up more challenging clues.

Best of luck...it's truly the best vacation we have ever taken as a family! Enjoy every second!

 

[kimbe21]

We surprised the kids last year with a Disney cruise. I arranged for the character call to occur while we were opening presents Christmas morning. The phone rang and they thought for sure is was Grandma/Grandpa. They were quite surprised when Mickey was on the line telling them he couldn't wait to see them in the Bahamas! I then gave them a big box of DCL essentials to unwrap. It was so much fun!

FYI- when the phone rings it will be an automated person saying this is the call you arranged. Press "1" if you are ready to accept the call. So don't have the kids pick up the phone and expect Mickey on the line!

 

[emilyann415]

We are!!!!!! We are actually going on the Dec 26th NYE cruise and will fly out Christmas Day!!! Under the tree, their final gift will be the clothes they are going to wear for the day, a stop watch, and a note saying they have 20 minutes to get dressed and ready to start the day, at breakfast they will receive their next clue.....Basically they will get clues periodically until we get to the hotel that we are leaving our car at and then we will reveal the BIG surprise. I play through it in my mind at least once EVERY day. I can't believe we are getting so close now!!!!!

 

[ajo]

We are too! I ordered a cruise ship ornament from Bronner's and personalized it with our DCL ship and dates. It will be the family gift that we open on Christmas morning.

 

[Weedy]

Pinterest has cute ideas: https://www.pinterest.com/search/pins/?rs=ac&len=2&q=disney+cruise+surprise+ideas&term_meta[]=disney|autocomplete|1&term_meta[]=cruise|autocomplete|1&term_meta[]=surprise|autocomplete|1&term_meta[]=ideas|autocomplete|1

I really like the scratch off ticket: http://wdwprepschool.com/ideas-for-surprising-kids-with-a-disney-world-trip-prep020/

 

[aggiedog]

We are! But we are leaving Dec 24 out of Galveston. We're telling the kids (16, 16, 13, 10) we will be spending the holidays at a waterpark resort down there (so wear their bathing suits on the way there. ) Then we'll pull up to the cruise ship instead. I can't wait to see their faces!

 

[GatorMomInNC]

I am surprising the kids with a 12/14 cruise on the Magic out of Miami. They know we are going to Miami, but my DH works there, so that is not a big red flag for them. We are flying in the 11th and spending a couple nights in a hotel. On the day of the cruise (Sunday) I am going to tell them Daddy is driving us to a new hotel by the beach while Daddy stays close to his job (DH can't go with us). Then I'm just going to wait and see if they notice we are driving to the port, or see the Magic and figure it out.

If we told my kids that we had a surprise planned they would guess in a heartbeat that it is a cruise, because they know ME so well!

 

[maribeau]

If so, I would love to hear your ideas.

We did our first Disney cruise last November... I made a magnetic puzzle from a picture of the Dream docked at Castaway Cay, and then gave the girls a bag of pieces I "found while cleaning". I kept a few out until the end.... My husband stood in the kitchen with his phone, but I had a hidden camera set up...

 

[jpeka65844]

We aren't surprising for Christmas, but rather on the day we leave (Jan 25 Dream). Not sure yet how we're going to do it. Probably fake a trip to the airport saying Dad needs to go somewhere (he travels for work), then seeing Gma and Gpa (oh, what are you doing here?), then seeing Aunt/Uncle/Cousins (oh, what are you doing here?), and then whipping out the Magic Bands for the pre/post stays. Not sure yet what to surprise them with for the cruise part......new swimsuits?

 

[JackieB10]

I will probably do something along the lines of a scavenger hunt since we do a scavenger hunt every year for the kids to find their big gift. As excited as I am to tell them, I want to keep the suspense going as long as possible. I hope everyone has a great time on their upcoming cruises and I am sure all of our kids will be just as excited as we are!!!

 

[kimmharris]

My kids (DD 17, DS 10 & DSS 14) are getting a cruise for Christmas!!! We are leaving January 14 (boarding the Magic on the 15th). I am still up in the air on how I am going to tell the kids on Christmas morning. Has anyone else done this or planning to do this? If so, I would love to hear your ideas.

We will be on that cruise too! I'm also trying to decide how to surprise my kids. I'm concerned that if we do it Christmas morning they will be so over whelmed with all the other presents that it won't be a big deal to them.

 

[JackieB10]

Since my kids are a older and aren't into toys anymore, this is their BIG gift. They will have other small things to open, such as clothes, shoes, a new purse for my daughter, play station games for the boys, new cell phones, but NOTHING that will have them more excited than the cruise, swimming with dolphins and a few extra days in Key West!! I completely understand the worries with younger kids though. I'm sure you can make it big enough that they will be extremely excited!

 

[FutureMrsF]

We are surprising our two DD's this Christmas with a surprise cruise for Christmas 2016.
When we went on our last holiday back in May the kids were really envious of the families wearing matching shirts so for the surprise we have made matching family shirts and on the back of all of them is a map with the date and itinerary.
I am so excited for them to open their shirts at Christmas

 

[WIFamily]

We are planning on doing exactly what Shea&Van did with a treasure hunt with clues to each puzzle piece. We'll also have a countdown calendar as a gift - I think we'll be 108 days from Dec 25th until our cruise.

I'll probably schedule a character call to happen some time Christmas morning as well. Haven't checked into that yet, but I'm assuming it's a computerized system and I can schedule it to happen on that holiday

 

[cjake76]

My kids (DD 17, DS 10 & DSS 14) are getting a cruise for Christmas!!! We are leaving January 14 (boarding the Magic on the 15th). I am still up in the air on how I am going to tell the kids on Christmas morning. Has anyone else done this or planning to do this? If so, I would love to hear your ideas.

Hi - we are going on that same cruise and yes planning to surprise my kids (ds 8 and ds 6). Still thinking of ways to do so - I like the magnetic puzzle idea, and the progressive gift with "clues" and the call from Mickey! So many great ideas to choose from

 

[Jessicavoet]

We already told the kiddos about the cruise so it's not a surprise, but is our Christmas present!

 

[ashleyhaugh]

I'm planning on it for 2016... but we'll be leaving on dec 2, so it will be before Christmas. I'm still not sure exactly how to do it.

 

[mommyuv7]

We're surprising our kids (19,17,16,11). The 19 yr old knows, but not all details. We're packing them up secretly, sending them off to school on the bus, then picking them up at school pretending they are "in trouble". They'll know we're going somewhere when we park at the park and fly. Won't be telling them where until we have to the day of. They'll know Florida by the 2nd airport, but not what. We are going from West to East, so spending the night before our cruise at airport hotel. The next morning will be (if all goes as planned) "put this shirt on over your swimsuit." The shirt says, this kid is going on the Disney Dream Bahamas. Each day will be a surprise, then we're spending a week at DW after our cruise. Again, a T-shirt (homemade) will announce the surprise! I'm really hoping to pull it off. I've even bought "spy glasses" to record the "you're in trouble" pick up. I've been wearing them around so they think I've got new "reading glasses". SO MUCH FUN wondering if I'll get caught out just blurt it out before hand.

 

[JackieB10]

SO MUCH FUN wondering if I'll get caught out just blurt it out before hand.

This sounds like Sooo much fun! I would love to not tell my kids until we arrived at port but they would be wondering why they aren't getting many Christmas gifts. And I am ready to explode already, I never thought it would be this hard not to tell them!!