Disney World: The Announcement

We had been saving and planning for a trip to Disney World for a year and a half, and it was surreal when the day finally arrived and we had managed to keep it a secret from the kids!

My cousin Melanie helped me design and make "Best Day Ever" shirts for our whole group, which included our family of four and both my parents and Chris'. Chris and I packed and prepared and hid all the evidence while the kids were at school Friday, and we woke up Saturday like it was any normal day. Noah kept asking what we were doing that day, so finally I asked him what would make it the "best day ever." He quickly rattled off about five friends who would come over to play and go to Six Flags with him. Audrey followed suit, listing several friends and talking about Six Flags. I smiled and told them they'd better go get dressed if they wanted to have the best day ever...

Phone pic of Audrey in her get-up before we left!

Noah figured out that we were going to Florida, which immediately triggered his anxiety about hurricanes and alligators (he gets that from Chris). He got over it, but didn't realize we were flying there until we were in the car and headed to Stephanie's house so she could take us to the airport!

The kids got a lot of attention right away with their matching shirts and Mickey accessories. The airport staff asked them why it was the best day ever, and everyone seemed excited right along with them!

Another thing we managed to keep a secret was the fact that more than just the four of us were going...

When our parents went through security after us, several of the employees asked if they were with the curly-haired girl and other similar questions. The shirts certainly got us some attention!

Here we all are in the airport!

I had a few more surprises up my sleeve. First, I had ordered a lot of Disney trading pins from eBay and gotten the kids lanyards to hold the pins. They took turns choosing pins, which we told them they could trade at Disney World!

Also, I checked out a book about Disney World tailored just for kids for Noah to peruse. I think he liked previewing some of the big rides so he could work up his courage.

One not-so-great thing about our day was that Chris and I were unable to watch the TCU/OSU game because it was during our flight. However, it almost made up for it when we landed and turned our phones on to see that TCU had decidedly triumphed!

BEST DAY EVER!

We rode the Magical Express bus to the Pop Century resort on Disney property. The bus was great but we were very disappointed in the luggage services. We waited far longer than the max 3 hours we were promised, and Chris and I ended up retrieving our luggage from the hotel storage area because we didn't want to receive it in the middle of the night!

The kids outside our hotel! Coolest golf cart EVER! :)

Noah remembered a similar Goofy surfboard statue we posed by at the Disneyland hotel in 2013!

 Our rooms were on the 4th floor of the 1980s building (Pop Century celebrates pop culture by decade), all next to each other, and our room connected to Drew & Jamie's room. The second bed in each room was a murphy bed, which was really clever for a hotel, and the kids got a kick out of all the Disney decor. The best moment was when Noah, wide-eyed, ran out of the bathroom and told us all excitedly that there was even a surfboard! The surfboard turned out to be an ironing board... crazy kid!

Stay tuned for more stories from the BEST WEEK EVER!