How to surprise my Daughter

[Hatti123]

We booked our first Disney Cruise in November and we sail on Dream in September. I am yet to tell my 3.5 year old Daughter that we are going on our second cruise, our first was on RC Freedom of The Seas.

She knows we are going back to Orlando in September, this will be our 3rd visit so I couldn't keep that a secret from her.

 

I want to break the news of the Disney Cruise to her in June some time, I've purchased a plush DCL ship with captain Mickey, Minnie, Goofy and Donald. I've also purchased character luggage tags for our bags and plan to put them in a box for her to open and see if she can guess what the surprise is.

 

My question is, what else can I put in the surprise box?

 

It needs to be things available to buy in the UK, with her being 3 and half I think she needs abit more help to suggest what the surpise is.

 

Thanks for any help and suggestions

[moki'smommy]

First be clear. You chose to tell your daughter you were going to Orlando. You didn't HAVE TO tell her about plans that are 6 months away. You chose to not keep your plans to yourself. 6 months is forever to a 3 year old. They have no concept of that length of time.

 

Is there something special about June? If not, it is still 3 months away from the cruise. I'd hold off till closer to the trip. If you were to tell her in August, that leaves plenty of time for her to enjoy the anticipation without the "it will never come" feeling from telling her too far ahead.

 

Do you have friends who are cruising between now and when you tell her? Is she familiar with hotel soaps, etc. If so, could you have a friend bring you some shampoo, conditioner, or lotion from the ship (the packaging has one of the characters on it)?

 

If you wanted to invest a little time, you could make t-shirts with a ship theme..perhaps for your entire family. This is easy to do if you have access to a color printer.

 

I think you nailed it with the plush ship and characters. Anything else is more likely to confuse her than to aid her in figuring out your puzzle.

[slightlysilly]

6 months is a long time for a 3.5 year old. I'm in my 40s and I will NEVER forget the day (I was 7) my dad woke me up and told me we were going to Disney World... RIGHT NOW... and we got up and hopped a plane and went to Disney World. Of course, EPCOT was half finished and it was just the Magic Kingdom and one other water park (River Country, I think it was called) but we stayed at the Polynesian and had a room that looked over the water to the Magic Kingdom and it was so cool.

Edited March 12, 2015 by slightlysilly

[Hatti123]

As I never kept the 1st or 2nd visits a secret I don't see any point in keeping our next visit a secret. We like to talk about what she enjoyed on previous visits and what she would like to do on our next visit so she has an input in our itinerary.

 

I want to reveal the cruise in June as she keeps asking if we are going back on 'our cruise ship' as she calls it so I want her to know so that she can be excited like I am. She understands time and knows the month we are going on holiday. We countdown special occasions first, like family members birthdays, other holidays and special events which all break up the wait.

 

I don't think the plush toy and luggage tags makes a good surprise box. I'm hoping some people will have some good suggestions that they've used, which is the point of the post. I wasnt questioning or asking advice on my decision to tell her 10 months in advance that we booked to return.

[tadajulia]

What a fun plan to surprise your daughter! She will be so excited.

 

This isn't a "thing" that you can put in a box per se... but in case you hadn't seen the option, DCL offers a service where you can schedule a call from a Disney Character to surprise kids of a cruise. You set the time/date of the call so you could have the call coincide with when you give her the box? If you log into your account there should be an option to set up the free call:

 

https://disneycruise.disney.go.com/planning-center/my-cruise-plans/my-reservations/character-calls/

[moki'smommy]

What a fun plan to surprise your daughter! She will be so excited.

 

This isn't a "thing" that you can put in a box per se... but in case you hadn't seen the option, DCL offers a service where you can schedule a call from a Disney Character to surprise kids of a cruise. You set the time/date of the call so you could have the call coincide with when you give her the box? If you log into your account there should be an option to set up the free call:

 

https://disneycruise.disney.go.com/planning-center/my-cruise-plans/my-reservations/character-calls/

 

I'm not sure this is available outside North America. Hope it is because it's a great idea.

[DwayneG]

How about giving her a digital photo frame? Load it with some of the many pix of your trip you can find online, including here on CC. Shouldn't take many pix before she realizes what's up!

[Hatti123]

The phone call along with the digital photo frame suggestions are exactly what I'm looking for, thank you both.

[PoopDeckPappy]

What a fun plan to surprise your daughter! She will be so excited.

 

This isn't a "thing" that you can put in a box per se... but in case you hadn't seen the option, DCL offers a service where you can schedule a call from a Disney Character to surprise kids of a cruise. You set the time/date of the call so you could have the call coincide with when you give her the box? If you log into your account there should be an option to set up the free call:

 

https://disneycruise.disney.go.com/planning-center/my-cruise-plans/my-reservations/character-calls/

 

This is how I surprised my 3 kids (7, 6, 4). We were in Miami and we told them that morning we were going to Floriday for a vacation. They said "yeah right, we have school." So taking them out of school was a shock. We flew to Miami and stayed in a hotel. The next morning we got the call. They went crazy. It was so much fun for us, the adults too.

[aquadiverz]

We are heading out on our first Disney Cruise next month and have been planning it for 6 months. We are suprising our 6 year old daughter with the cruise. She has no idea and will find out as we pull up to the ship. I had a friend do this very thing last year with his young daughters and they were overwhelmed to say the least according to he and his wife. I'm certain it will be similar and can't wait to see the reaction on her face not to mention a trip to the theme park after the 7 day cruise. The anticipation is making us so excited. I think everyone has the best intention on how they suprise their child but I couldn't think of a better way than this for our little one. The phone call is a good tip and we have it set up for the call as we are pulling up to the Port. Since you have a daughter anything Anna or Elsa from Frozen would be a big hit for sure in your suprise box. The ships are now offering those character meet and greets as well as special Frozen themes. Best wishes on your experience. :)

Edited March 19, 2015 by aquadiverz

[Gardeneroflove]

As I never kept the 1st or 2nd visits a secret I don't see any point in keeping our next visit a secret. We like to talk about what she enjoyed on previous visits and what she would like to do on our next visit so she has an input in our itinerary.

 

I want to reveal the cruise in June as she keeps asking if we are going back on 'our cruise ship' as she calls it so I want her to know so that she can be excited like I am. She understands time and knows the month we are going on holiday. We countdown special occasions first, like family members birthdays, other holidays and special events which all break up the wait.

 

I don't think the plush toy and luggage tags makes a good surprise box. I'm hoping some people will have some good suggestions that they've used, which is the point of the post. I wasnt questioning or asking advice on my decision to tell her 10 months in advance that we booked to return.

 

This may be totally too late, but for my 3 year old, we read 'We're going for a Drive" and Waiting Is Not Easy! (elaphant and piggie books, if you don't know them, you should! :-) ) At the end of the we're going for a drive they make a piriate ship, only we said cruise ship! (though, we were at port when I read the books, I'll never do that again! Her adjustment period sucks, and we basically 'lost' the first 3 days due to issues. I'll always tell her ahead of time, at least 48 hours, if not 2 weeks.)

 

My kid would totally love/get the luggage tags. You could add a book about cruises? I'm not sure if DCL has any...I know the library has a book on cruise ships.

 

What about a calaendar marking the day? Get a book that talks about the months of the year and change/paste over, the page for June with a print out of the cruise ship and charactors? (Mr. Bumble Buzzes Through the Year is one that comes to mind).

 

As you can tell, my kid likes books.

 

Buy her bag/suitcase, ask her what she might need it for, if you want her to guess?

Edited April 9, 2015 by Gardeneroflove