Surprise Vacation

We've been talking about going to Disney World since about the time Bubba started walking. This might be the one and only time we ever go, so we wanted to make sure our kids were at the right ages where they could get plenty out of it. We tried to make it work in 2012, but we bought a house instead (darn priorities!) and in 2013 there was a lot of job uncertainty and threatened furloughs and all kinds of other fun stuff, which made taking a major vacation seem pretty unwise. Finally - 2014 was the year! We debated endlessly  about dates, wanting to avoid the worst crowds and heat, but not wanting the kids to miss anything significant at school. Worked out to be the first week of June - SOLs are over, learning has pretty much ceased at that point, and none of the fun end of school things happen until the second week of June. Then we found an awesome deal on plane tickets, and Scott did an extremely un-Scott-like thing and just went right on ahead and bought them without debating it for a week and a half, knowing if he missed it, that deal would never come around again. We decided not to tell the kids. (I don't know about Scott, but for me, that decision was completely selfish - I knew the kids would drive me nuts if we told them ahead of time.)

The whole surprise was almost ruined because Bubba is a sneaky little rascal and eavesdropped on a phone conversation I was having with a friend who had recently been; I told her pretty much all of our plans and she was giving me some tips while Bubba listened to the entire conversation from another phone! I came downstairs and he was just grinning from ear to ear, not looking the slightest bit guilty, and told me, "I know what you said." Rascal! I told him he better not spill the beans. When Cakes and Silly got home he said, "I know nothing."

I was doing all the laundry and secret packing their clothes into their suitcases hidden in my closet, but they kept asking me where this or that shirt or pants were, which they never do. They definitely knew something was up! I was trying to play it off that my youngest sister was coming to visit, and we might go do some stuff. When we woke them up early Sunday morning, the first thing we told them was they weren't going to be able to see her and her husband and little J; Cakes was pretty disappointed. Then we told them we weren't going to church, and they were less disappointed. When we told them we were going to Disney World, I don't think they believed us. They weren't fully awake yet. As we started actually loading things into the car and talking more in detail, it really started to sink in. Scott and I had wondered earlier if Silly might not be more excited about the flight than the destination. We got to the airport, checked in, cleared security and boarded our plan with no problem. Scott was more than happy to answer Silly's nonstop questions while they sat together on one side. I took my Dramamine and didn't have any issues.

Airplane selfie

We did a pretty good job planning. Checked into our hotel with no problem, then set off for Epcot. I was really impressed with the whole Disney experience. We had one issue with our passes; setting up our easy passes online I ran into a glitch entering Silly's birthdate, which you can't change, you just have to get a new card. I was sure that was not going to work out, that when I went to the ticket counter they would really give me a new card, but that it wouldn't have all of his ride reservations saved and everything would be messed up, but it really worked just like the lady on the phone said it would. That was a major relief! We were also really pleased with the food. It was way better than the usual amusement park food, lots of healthy options, and not outrageously priced. There are all kinds of price options; we stuck to the lower end and were never disappointed.

We stayed on the Future World side of Epcot since we only had half a day. Scott took Cakes and Silly on Mission:SPACE. We hadn't yet learned the trick to getting Bubba on the those rides that required 44" (the secret - put him in his sandals, not sneakers, and tell him to stand up really tall so his head is pressed up against the bar it the top of the measuring stick - if there's not space between the bar and the top of his head, he's good to go).

It was sprinkling off and on that day, but usually nothing major. Spaceship Earth, which goes into the Epcot ball, was fun. The kids loved Turtle Talk with Crush, and I have to admit it was way more entertaining than I expected. There were definitely a lot of outdated elements there. The highlight of the day was definitely Test Track. The kids loved being able to design their own vehicle. It was starting to get dark, and it had still been raining, and even with a FastPass there was still a line. We totally lucked out. We designed our vehicles, then went on the ride. Part of it is inside, then the high speed testing section takes you outside. Apparently while we'd been inside designing our vehicles, the weather went from drizzling to pouring down rain, When the outer doors opened we were getting completely pelted and soaked! Not meant to be part of the experience, but definitely made it more exciting. Even more exciting was that we were the last ones to ride it because they had to shut it down after that until the rain stopped. Bubba *loved* it. He still brings it up.

Checking out the Yoda car after riding Test Track

We hadn't even planned on riding Soarin'  because the line was long and it didn't seem like that thrilling of a ride, but it was actually pretty darn cool. We ended up in line for about 45 minutes, but we'd done a lot of rushing around by then, so no one really minded taking it easy for a bit. I gave everyone a bag of snacks for the week, so we had a little snack break while we waited. We ate dinner at Sunshine Seasons, and I think that ended up being the favorite for Scott and Silly.

Proof we were there