Vote: How to Surprise Kids with Cruise

[vinotinto]

Our cruise is Jan 2nd and the kids don't know about it. They do know that we're going to WDW on Jan 5th. We celebrate Christmas and given that a cruise is a pretty big gift, it would make sense to give away the surprise on Christmas day. But, then they have to wait a week for the cruise. We could also tell them we are driving down a few days early to spend a few days at the FL beach and simply take them to the cruise on the morning of the cruise. Which one would you do?

 

[twindaddy]

We did it at the port. Granted it was San Pedro, which is not worthy of Disney Cruise Line any longer (yes, I am bitter).

We just had them cover their eyes as we were getting off the freeway, there is a great view spot right across from the ship.



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8tuWJmkXAlE

 

[AkTomboy]

Do the scavenger hunt and have Mickey's call be the last part

 

[krazy4crusing]

We are surprising our kids with a cruise too and we leave on the same day as you. We are on the Magic though. I think we will do the surprise on Christmas morning. I have watched too many videos of stunned kids who don't understand what's going on when they are surprised in the car... I really want the surprise to capture the Magic of it all.

 

[Mama Odie]

We did a similar trip in January and surprised our kids (6 & 9) TWICE. They didn't learn about the WDW trip until the morning we flew to Florida. After several fun-filled days at the parks, we packed up and got in the car. They thought we were headed back to to the airport. En route, I handed them a card that said something like "Are you sad to be leaving Disney World? Well, here's some news that might CHEER you up... we're not going home yet, we're going on a Disney Cruise!!". You should have seen their little jaws drop!

 

[jmirages]

We are surprising our kids too on Christmas! I cannot wait I am excited to see their reaction, but I am putting together backpacks with outfit, swim attire, Mickey ears and other "summery" things. (As you can see from my ticker we won't sail til may 2014 so I have a countdown book too). I will then have a giant card that they will open together (if I can convince them it isn't disney land we are going to) that will tell them about the cruise.
I think it is a fun idea to surprise them in anyway, but like your idea of a scavenger hunt, it gives more excitement since they have to go looking for clues!

 

[Lemess]

We are surprising our daughters as well. We will be going on the Fantasy Nov. 30th. We will surprise the girls at a big Thanksgiving family party. After dinner we plan on presenting them with an early Christmas present which will be a life preserver with the words "Disney Cruise Here We Come" written on it. We will then have their carry-on luggage ready and we will leave immediately to board our red eye flight to Orlando. I voted for the scavenger hunt option. It is how we plan to let my BF and her kids know that we are on the ship with them as well. We are a family that likes surprises.

 

[pascalstongue]

Do the scavenger hunt and have Mickey's call be the last part

I love this idea!

 

[chrystalc77]

I was going to surprise my kids at Christmas too but DH says that since we aren't cruising until April that's too long to make them wait. So he came up with the idea last night to sit them down the night before we are to leave and put in the Disney Cruise DVD and ask them if they would like to do that someday. Surprise.....we're leaving in the morning!!! So I have to keep quiet a while longer!!!

 

[Four Swampers]

Our cruise is Jan 2nd and the kids don't know about it. They do know that we're going to WDW on Jan 5th. We celebrate Christmas and given that a cruise is a pretty big gift, it would make sense to give away the surprise on Christmas day. But, then they have to wait a week for the cruise. We could also tell them we are driving down a few days early to spend a few days at the FL beach and simply take them to the cruise on the morning of the cruise. Which one would you do?

I'll tell you which one I did:

We took the kids to Florida for a "see Florida" vacation. Stayed near Orlando the first night, then got up and went to Kennedy Space Center. Spent four hours there, including a nice tour of the launch pads. We left at 1:00 to go to "a really neat restaurant down the coast." As we were driving, we saw the Disney Wonder. I suggested we drive by and take some pictures. My daughters said no, because they were hungry. We drove up to baggage drop off, and the porter asked if we were here for the cruise. My girls said "no." I said "yes." It was quite the surprise.

 

[scrapbookmomma74]

I think it depends on your kids' ages. We did a surprise cruise in 2011, woke the kids up in the morning, told them if they got ready quick, we'd go on the Dream.
Well, my 11 year old was MISERABLE on that trip. She needed more time to mentally prepare for the trip, plus she didn't meet any new kids right away. Since it was a 3 night, she never really did jive in the Edge.
My 8 year old, on the other hand, had an absolute blast.
I promised my oldest that I'd never surprise her with a cruise that way again, lol.
Now, this Christmas, we are also giving our kids a cruise, over New Year's Eve, but we have friends traveling with us, so I know she will have friends in her club. It also gives her a few days to prepare and pack, and she can call up her friends and discuss their plans onboard.
Last year, when we went on the Fantasy, it was nice to meet a few people beforehand, online, who had kids my dd's age and she e-mailed them a few times before the cruise as well.
Happy Cruising and Surprising!

 

[JimGA]

Our cruise is Jan 2nd and the kids don't know about it. They do know that we're going to WDW on Jan 5th. We celebrate Christmas and given that a cruise is a pretty big gift, it would make sense to give away the surprise on Christmas day. But, then they have to wait a week for the cruise. We could also tell them we are driving down a few days early to spend a few days at the FL beach and simply take them to the cruise on the morning of the cruise. Which one would you do?

We surprised our kids Christmas morning with some cruise items wrapped in a box with some Disney Cruise "tickets" that I made up for each of us. Our kids had to wait until May, so your kids waiting a week will be no big deal. A link to our video cruise surprise in nelow in my signature. HAve Fun!

 

[nananeliz]

Things like this are so fun! We surprised our kids with a trip to WDW this past June. We'd had it planned for months (tickets bought, flights and hotel booked, etc.) so it was sooooo hard to keep it quiet. We were going to try and pack in secret, but decided that would just be too difficult -- so we came up with a cover story.

About 2 weeks before the trip I mentioned at dinner that I was being sent on a business trip the day after school ended for the year. My husband piped up that maybe he and the kids could join me on the trip -- to hang out and spend time at the hotel pool. (I chose a destination that they didn't know much about so they wouldn't be disappointed once we revealed the truth!)

We kept the secret going until the morning of the trip. We wanted to make sure they knew our destination before going through security at the airport, so we showed them a video we made. It was called "welcome to summer vacation" and we started off talking about how we were planning this business trip, but then we reminisced about prior trips, and at the end we did the big reveal: Surprise! We're going to Disney World!

The kids were so shocked it didn't sink in for a couple of minutes. But when it did, they were so excited!

I do like the idea of a scavenger hunt too. Good luck with whatever you decide!

 

[DannyDisneyFreak]

We went on the Dream for the first time last year and we will be on our 2nd cruise on the Magic Jan 6, 2014 but the kids don't know yet. I got a Captain Mickey Disney cruise ornament for the Christmas tree and will wrap it and tell them when they open it on Christmas. I thought it would be nice because it would be a reminder every year of our cruise when we hang it on the tree. They will be excited because they ask all the time about when will we be going on a Disney Cruise again. We tell them maybe in a few years we have to save up enough money.