BUT, when it came down to it, Jason talked me into it. I think the deciding arguments for me went something like, "Do you think she will remember one more day of kindergarten or a trip to Disney World?" and "We can travel other places when they are older and the magic of Disney has worn off some".
And, so we decided that this time we would do things a little differently. First, we decided to stay on Disney property for the first time. We knew the trip would be fairly short and knew we would only be visiting the parks for one day. Staying on property would give us lots to do during the 3 other days we weren't at the park, especially since we wouldn't have a car. This was new to me and learning about the properties was a lot of work! In the end, we settled on a cabin at Ft. Wilderness. My mom and mother in law again decided to join us and the cabin was a perfect fit for all 6 of us and there is tons of stuff to do on the property!
Secondly, we decided we were not going to tell Amelia about the trip ahead of time. This was very hard, especially as the trip got closer. Luckily, I could talk freely to Henry about the excitement of the trip and knew he could keep my secret. We sent Amelia to school on Tuesday like normal and didn't even tell her we were coming to pick her up for an early dismissal. I had informed her teacher ahead of time, who helped keep it a surprise. When I came to pick her up after lunch, she came down and said, "Mom! Why do I have an early dismissal? Am I going to the dentist? Mrs. Bell said that a lot of kids have early dismissals because they go to the dentist". I told her that Henry wanted to tell her why she was getting out of school early, so we headed to the car. She was surprised to see Jason and a suitcase (that wouldn't fit in the trunk) when she got in. She asked if we were going to see my nephews Andrew and Jacob. Henry had been practicing his line, so I told him to tell Amelia where we were going. However, his word for "Florida" is pretty hard to understand. When I said to tell Amelia WHO we were going to see, he said "Mickey" very clearly.
Amelia got it right away and was beyond EXCITED. She wanted to go back in and tell her class. She wanted to know if we were going straight to the airport (we were!). She wanted to know if she would miss more days of school. She screamed and screeched all the way to the airport. And then, once she got to the airport she was surprised again to see that both of her grandmas were coming with us! Of the whole trip, this was my favorite part!
My mom did some pre-trip preparations, making Henry, Amelia, Amelia's doll, and herself some fancy Disney clothing. When we were on the shuttle bus at the airport, Amelia commented that she wished should could have brought Kit (her doll) with us and I pulled her right out of the carry on bag already dressed in her Minnie Mouse outfit that matched Amelia's dress. I have never seen a little girl more excited or happy. It was perfect!
Both kids did great on the short flight! But then things got a little dicey. We hopped aboard the Magic Express at about dinner time (with no dinner) and our ride to the resort was 1.5 hours! Oops! Luckily we had a few airplane snacks to hold the kids over, but no hungry 2 year old should have to be contained that long. Apparently our stop was the last of 5. Sheesh. It was pretty late when we arrived, so we ordered a quick pizza, checked out our cabin, and then got the kids to bed. Amelia was overjoyed with the rustic bunk beds and I was just glad to have a place to lay down!
I didn't get as many pictures during the trip as I would have liked. Jason saw a video made by a father of his family at Disney World shortly before we left. It was a fantastic video and really showcased their trip well. Jason decided he would make something similar, so I spent a lot of time shooting video instead of taking photos. Hopefully that video will be coming along soon, ahem....
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