Keeping it a Secret from older kids.

[darnheather]

I would send them for the sleep over and pack all cruise specific items in a suitcase. The I wou have them each pack a bag for a trip. Have some clues made up with little gifts. Every few miles give them one of their gifts. The closer you get the more cruise relate the clues and gifts.

Love this idea. I was thinking the final one could be a message in a bottle!

 

[squirk]

We did it last year. Took our usual post-school year/pre-Memorial Day trip to WDW, but did not tell the kids about the cruise. The kids saw us packing, but the packing for the cruise was identical to the packing for WDW, so they were none the wiser.

We spent our week at Beach Club, then packed up the van to go "home". Drove to PC instead of back to New Orleans; the kids were not paying attention to any road signs. Pulled up to Simply Delicious in Cocoa Beach for breakfast, and just as the kids started to connect the dots, my wife casually asked them "Do you guys want to go on a Disney cruise today?" There was much merriment.

 

[Jmariab64]

My kids were older than yours, and we were at Disney World; I kept the cruise part of our trip a secret until about an hour before the luggage was going to be picked up. Since it was pretty early in the morning, I didn't really get the reaction I was hoping for (they're not morning people! ), so I think the surprise for them probably was more for me

 

[afyoung]

I think no matter how old the kids get suprising them on/with vacation is fun. As they get older it might be fun to include them in the planning. Especially with homeschooling- learn about an area, read, research, then go experience it hands on. That is a great way to learn. If you are driving, maybe give them a letter every so many miles, when they have all of the letters they can unscramble them into the words that say they are going on a cruise. We gave our kids clues last year and they guessed Disney and Sea World, but it took longer for them to guess cruise, just because it wasn't really in their radar. This year they know we are cruising, but don't know we are going to Animal Kingdom- it will be a suprise they get the morning we get back to port. My friends took their kids on a road trip to visit an old sickly aunt who had "recently moved to Florida". They ate breakfast just outside of Orlando and asked the kids if they coukld think of anything fun they might like to do that day in Orlando (since we are already here). They kids came up with stuff like go to Target, get groceries, etc. Mom and dad finally suggested Disney and missing a few days of school to hang with Mickey. The kids were so shocked they didn't even react for a full five minutes when it finally sunk in that was what was really going to happen.

 

[lillygator]

I couldn't imagine keeping a secret - half the fun is letting them help plan as well

 

[richkaryn]

A couple years ago we went to Ormond Beach for a few days on Spring Break....we told DS that we could only spend a few days at the beach bc daddy had to go back to work.....we had packed separate suitcase for WDW and stacked everything else on top of it in trunk. We headed "home" and he was on the iPad as we were about to approach the big arch. I got his attention and told him we were about to see some pretty scenery outside the car windows. Our nephew (11 yrs older than DS) was with us and video taping "the scenery" (aka DS's reaction) when he realized we were entering WDW. Best surprise ever!