Hi all! This is my first trip report so I will explain the title first....
My husband and I always spend a weekend in November in the Twin Cities (Minneapolis/St.Paul Minnesota). But we have annual passes this year for WDW and Disneyland, so I decided to surprise my husband with a trip to WDW. I let him think for about three months that we were doing our traditional weekend. We planned activities, like a show (that I told him I would take care of getting the tickets), and places to eat, but all along I had already booked WDW. I even made him watch episodes of the Chew to see the Food and Wine festival stuff, and given him a "guilt trip" because I wouldn't be able to see the Osborne Lights one last time. My husband is a pastor so I had to watch his schedule pretty close in case something like a funeral came along (which one did), but he had already arranged the Sunday off for Minneapolis so I didn't have to worry about that.
So, my original plan was to tell him the night before we left. But I soon realized that he would need more time to prepare. The week that we were to leave, a lady in my congregation that my husband was quite close to lost her battle with cancer. The funeral was on the Tuesday before we left, so I decided that I would tell him about the surprise trip that night, so he could prepare and it would be a nice relief from the grief he was feeling. Well, hubby came home and I let him settled and he was cruisin' facebook and casually I asked him if he wanted to ride any rides this weekend. He of course is thinking I want to go on rides at the Mall of America said no.
So I asked, "Really not even Big Thunder Mountain?"
Hubby: "No, we aren't going to WDW."
Me: "Oh, that's too bad because I have a fast pass for Big Thunder on Friday."
Hubby (starting to stare at me in confusion): "But we aren't going to WDW. Are we?!?!"
From there I confirmed that we were going to WDW on Friday-Monday and he eventually cleared out the confusion cobwebs and got super excited. He started packing that night! The next morning he still couldn't believe I had "tricked" him for months.
So, Thursday rolls around and we both anxiously make our way through the work day. And we do spend the night in Bloomington MN (near the Minneapolis airport) so we can catch our early flight Friday morning. We did go to the Mall of America and had a tasty meal at Buffalo Wild Wings and watched the Minnesota Wild play on tv.
Here are some pictures from Friday morning.
Breakfast at the airport: pumpkin bread and a Caribou Coffee mocha
Ready for takeoff
Leaving Minneapolis behind
Arrival at WDW!
Arrival at the Swan hotel. Our first time here. The staff was very friendly and we loved staying here. It was a deluxe hotel at moderate prices. We never felt like we weren't at a "Disney" hotel.
At the Magic Kingdom
Since we arrived on Friday the 13th, they were still filming some Christmas parade stuff. Interesting to see and it didn't impact the flow at the MK too much.
My husband and I always spend a weekend in November in the Twin Cities (Minneapolis/St.Paul Minnesota). But we have annual passes this year for WDW and Disneyland, so I decided to surprise my husband with a trip to WDW. I let him think for about three months that we were doing our traditional weekend. We planned activities, like a show (that I told him I would take care of getting the tickets), and places to eat, but all along I had already booked WDW. I even made him watch episodes of the Chew to see the Food and Wine festival stuff, and given him a "guilt trip" because I wouldn't be able to see the Osborne Lights one last time. My husband is a pastor so I had to watch his schedule pretty close in case something like a funeral came along (which one did), but he had already arranged the Sunday off for Minneapolis so I didn't have to worry about that.
So, my original plan was to tell him the night before we left. But I soon realized that he would need more time to prepare. The week that we were to leave, a lady in my congregation that my husband was quite close to lost her battle with cancer. The funeral was on the Tuesday before we left, so I decided that I would tell him about the surprise trip that night, so he could prepare and it would be a nice relief from the grief he was feeling. Well, hubby came home and I let him settled and he was cruisin' facebook and casually I asked him if he wanted to ride any rides this weekend. He of course is thinking I want to go on rides at the Mall of America said no.
So I asked, "Really not even Big Thunder Mountain?"
Hubby: "No, we aren't going to WDW."
Me: "Oh, that's too bad because I have a fast pass for Big Thunder on Friday."
Hubby (starting to stare at me in confusion): "But we aren't going to WDW. Are we?!?!"
From there I confirmed that we were going to WDW on Friday-Monday and he eventually cleared out the confusion cobwebs and got super excited. He started packing that night! The next morning he still couldn't believe I had "tricked" him for months.
So, Thursday rolls around and we both anxiously make our way through the work day. And we do spend the night in Bloomington MN (near the Minneapolis airport) so we can catch our early flight Friday morning. We did go to the Mall of America and had a tasty meal at Buffalo Wild Wings and watched the Minnesota Wild play on tv.
Here are some pictures from Friday morning.
Breakfast at the airport: pumpkin bread and a Caribou Coffee mocha
Ready for takeoff
Leaving Minneapolis behind
Arrival at WDW!
Arrival at the Swan hotel. Our first time here. The staff was very friendly and we loved staying here. It was a deluxe hotel at moderate prices. We never felt like we weren't at a "Disney" hotel.
At the Magic Kingdom
Since we arrived on Friday the 13th, they were still filming some Christmas parade stuff. Interesting to see and it didn't impact the flow at the MK too much.
