Surprise Vacation Dilema

[Cast Member Boy]

Okay got a quick senerio for you. My Sister and Nephew are flying to Orlando on 8/3 for what they think is a long weekend at DisneyWorld. I have surprized them (along with my Mom, who lives nearby) with a 3 night cruise on the Wonder.

Now before you start juming the gun and are freating over passports, birth certificates and dress codes. I got it all covered. I got around the identification part by convincing them to go out on a gambling cruise andthat we needed the proper id's. My family dresses nicely (even on vacation) so dinner dress codes won't be an issue.

When I pick them up from the airport we are going to POP Century where they think they are staying for the weekend (I will have already checked them in earlier in the day). I was thinking at breakfast the next morning I'll surprise them with the cruise. I was thinking I might excuse myself from breakfast "due to a buisness call" inturn go to the room, pack whatever they unpacked and put it in the car. When I get back to breakfast tell them I need to do something quick before we start our day and start driving twards the port.

Here is my dilema, my Mother recently had surgery to remove a blood clot in her leg (she is healing fine and the doctor has released her to travel, she has already been to the beach so salt water will not be an issue) She is 61 and due to the surgery can't walk long distances without getting tired. We were going to rent a wheel chair when we were in the parks for her, what do I while on the boat?

Anyone know where you can rent a chair from an outside company?

We have a shore excursion booked in Nassau (Blackbeards, sting ray) will the wheele chair be an issue getting on/off the ship?

Any help will be greatfully appriciated, this trip has been planned since March, I'm just surprised I kept it a secret this long!!!!!!!

 

[CM_Mom]

CastMemberBoy, I think you are a fantastic son, brother and uncle for dreaming up the surprise and planning everything.

HOWEVER, I'm wondering if the part about "go to the room, pack whatever they unpacked and put it in the car." might be a bit more than you're expecting. If they think they're going to be at Pop Century for two or three days they may take things out of the suitcase and hang them up, or leave stuff in the shower, vanity, or safe.

I think it might be better to tell them you got a "special" rate somewhere else for the next night(s) and would like to take your stuff there before you do anything else that day or else just spring the surprise on them at breakfast.

 

[disnut8]

I have to agree with CM Mom. As soon as I'm in the room, I immediately unpack everything. I just can't live out of a suitcase.

We had to rent a wheelchair while at Disney World and had one delivered to our resort. Check out allearsnet.com for more details. I'm sure an Orlando locale could deliver what you need and you can take it with you. Not sure what kind of vehicle you have though. When folded, the manual chair fit into our trunk easily. And pushing the manual one was very easy. My husband needed the chair and I'm 5' and 100 pounds and had no problems at all.

 

[Jsme]

CastMemberBoy, I think you are a fantastic son, brother and uncle for dreaming up the surprise and planning everything.

HOWEVER, I'm wondering if the part about "go to the room, pack whatever they unpacked and put it in the car." might be a bit more than you're expecting. If they think they're going to be at Pop Century for two or three days they may take things out of the suitcase and hang them up, or leave stuff in the shower, vanity, or safe.

I think it might be better to tell them you got a "special" rate somewhere else for the next night(s) and would like to take your stuff there before you do anything else that day or else just spring the surprise on them at breakfast.

That is a great idea you just told him.

 

[Mom949499]

My mother has mobility problems as well, and cannot walk far. We have done 2 land/sea trips, and both times she rented an ECV for the park and a regular wheelchair for the ship. I believe the company that we rented the wheelchair from was Broward County Medical. I got the name and number from Disney reservations. They are fantastic. They deliver the chair to the port, and pick it up from the port. While onboard my mother just left it folded outside the cabin door. This was not a problem until the second cruise when someone took it while we were getting ready to get off the ship in Nassau. The crew was fantastic and gave us another chair to use, and found the chair she had rented. They do have some ship wheelchairs, so you may want to bring a sign or tag or some kind of bright marker to indicate it's yours. I don't know if someone mistakenly took her chair thinking it was a ship chair. I'm wondering if what just kids fooling around. I can't imagine why anyone else would take someone's wheelchair!!

I don't know about the particular excursion you booked, but we got off the ship with the chair both times. The first time we did the historical city tour and they just put the chair in the back of the van. The second time we took a cab to cable beach and again they just put the chair in the trunk. It was a little difficult shopping as the sidewalks are pretty uneven, but we didnt' do all that much shopping anyway.

Hope that helps! Sounds like an awesome time - have fun!

Wendy

 

[stingfancb]

As far as getting a wheelchair delivered - there's another thread on the board about getting medical supplies delivered. Someone mentioned a company that they used for a wheelchair and someone also mentioned Brevard Medical. I wouldn't think Broward because that's the county in South Florida (Ft. Laud). Check out the other number,they mentioned the chair was delivered to the cabin I think.

 

[khoffman923]

What an awesome son, brother, uncle you are. I wish we were related. But besides that, I 100% agree with CM Mom. Don't let them unpack in the first place. I could see an issue with you trying to pack their things for them and you don't put something in the suitcase the way it should be. It may sound minor, but I do a lot of business travel and I know exactly how I want my suitcase to minimize damage of certain items as well as wrinkling. This may not be an issue with your family, but if you are not certain, the personal items are best left to them. Grab them before they've even had a chance to put those bags down.

Have a Wonderfully, Magical cruise!

Karen

 

[Cast Member Boy]

Thank you for all your help and suggestions!

I have offically abandond the idea of going back to the room to pack them up! ! ! ! ! !

I will just surprise them at breakfast when we talk about planning our day. Hmmm we are doing a character breakfast, perhaps i'll see if Mickey or Goofy can deliver the news via a note or soemthing ? ? ? ? ?

Oh and FINALLY cruise docs arrived yesterday! (We leave on 8/4)

 

[lindakmonty]

Congrats and hope all goes well for you! That is so cool!! I would LOVE a surprise like that!! enjoy your cruise!

 

[Sinderelli]

What a wonderful idea! Since you are having a character breakfast on the day you leave, you may want to call and see if something can be arranged (such as one of the characters delivering a note). Or, you can present your sister, mom, and nephew with wrapped boxes containing personalized shirts relating to the Disney Cruise. There are lots of idea for this on the theme park forum. Either way, you are sure to have a fantastic time. Your mom is blessed to have such a wonderful and thoughtful son.

 

[Sarangel]

Why not have one of the characters deliver the cruise documents during breakfast? That way you don't have to say anything - it's all covered in the docs.

 

[mmouse37]

Here is the link to the other thread about having wheelchairs delivered to the ship....I posted on it earlier today...

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=872212

Hope this helps....

Hope your surprise is WONDERFUL!!!

MJ

 

[dis ms.]

Cast Member Boy,

I think I'm your long lost sister. Didn't Mom tell you about me?

Is it too late to add me to your plans? I promise to act surprised when you spring the cruise on everyone...

 

[Saxsoon]

My parents did the same thing, except they said maybe they would let us walk around the boat and walk around. They said we were going to a beach out there and stopped along the way. Biggest shock of our lives

 

[Cast Member Boy]

Funny how I recently found out sooo many dis'ers were related to me! Wish I could take you all with me! Thanks for your help.

My first thought was to have a character delivery my docs to the table. (I was worried about them getting lost some how, or worse they get delivered to the wrong table!) But we are dining at a location I used to work out so I feel pretty confident in the team there. So I thin that is what I am offically going to do!

One the case of the chair, I have everything arranged and set in stone. Just a FYI DCL only has 2 or 3 on board at the clinic for emergancy use only. A lott of the rental sites I looked at (thanks to all of you) were very inexpensive. I was very pleased. I did however end up borrowing one from work for the weekend so I am all set there.

To think this time next week we will just be finishing up breakfast and ready to head outto Blackbeard's Island so we can snorkle with the singrays before going to Atlantis to try to "win" back some of my debt, and plan for my next vacation!

Thanks for all your help and support!