Hello All!
Avid reader, who had to take a break for a few months due to a self imposed 'Disney break.' But now I'm back and lurking more than ever!
Here's the most recent photo of my family. I'd say it sums us up quite nicely:
Ha!
I am so excited for another year of WDW and all the fun that comes with traveling to the World. From May of 2011 to May of 2012, we had an unexpected 'year of Disney' due to some planned and some unforeseen circumstances. When we walked out of the gates of AK in December of 2010, we fully expected not to set foot in a park again until February of 2012. But there were other forces at work that led to us purchasing our first ever AP's on May 1, 2011. It turns out I'm one of the luckiest ducks out there because - after doing the math (over and over and over- Man! Disney makes those numbers tricky!) - we were able to purchase our second set of AP's last month. We had an additional trip planned for September of this year already, so once we did the math, it made more financial sense to invest in an AP, rather than buy tickets for both trips separately.
Anywho - this AP purchase wasn't planned either - we had no idea 8 months ago that this was coming! As I said, we were taking our 'Disney break.' We were making the most of it too! This summer we saw so many cool things - including driving Route 66 (or what's left of it?) from Chicago to St. Louis:
(one day we hope to pick up where we left off and head to Disneyland! I guess some people would tell you Route 66 leads to LA, but we Disney lovers know better right?)
It was around 8 months ago that some of our dearest friends mentioned they were going to take a trip to WDW. "Hmmmmm......" we thought. If there's one thing we've learned - Disney is always twice the fun with friends! Was there really any way we could let them go without us? We might die of jealousy - Ha! When we learned their parents (who were traveling with them) would be departing mid way through the trip, we knew it was 'meant' to be!
Now - we decided to keep the trip a surprise from the kids because - as always- you have to be sure the money all lines up. This particular trip was due to be paid off December 22 - not the best timing? Since we had kept the secret until December, we decided - why not just keep the secret a little longer and surprise the kids?! So that's what we did!
We were able to take advantage of the Stay, Play & Dine package, saving us enough to cover the cost tickets to fly into MCO. It was a super short trip, so it seemed to make the most sense to fly!
On the morning of the trip, the kids woke up to find this box:
wrapped up in another box and tied with a big red bow. (Sorry no picture of the big box - I was running around like crazy getting ready the night before! - just imagine the Mickey wrapping paper - ok?
My husband and I woke up first and woke the kids up, telling them "Someone left a surprise for you in the kitchen!" They unwrapped the box to find this message inside:
And of course, the box was filled with those fabulous cookies made by a sweet friend. Aren't they amazing?!
After all the jumping around and excitement, we really did say, "Here's a cookie, now get in the car!" We had no time to waste. We had to get to the airport to catch an early flight.
Avid reader, who had to take a break for a few months due to a self imposed 'Disney break.' But now I'm back and lurking more than ever!
Here's the most recent photo of my family. I'd say it sums us up quite nicely:
Ha!
I am so excited for another year of WDW and all the fun that comes with traveling to the World. From May of 2011 to May of 2012, we had an unexpected 'year of Disney' due to some planned and some unforeseen circumstances. When we walked out of the gates of AK in December of 2010, we fully expected not to set foot in a park again until February of 2012. But there were other forces at work that led to us purchasing our first ever AP's on May 1, 2011. It turns out I'm one of the luckiest ducks out there because - after doing the math (over and over and over- Man! Disney makes those numbers tricky!) - we were able to purchase our second set of AP's last month. We had an additional trip planned for September of this year already, so once we did the math, it made more financial sense to invest in an AP, rather than buy tickets for both trips separately.
Anywho
- this AP purchase wasn't planned either - we had no idea 8 months ago that this was coming! As I said, we were taking our 'Disney break.' We were making the most of it too! This summer we saw so many cool things - including driving Route 66 (or what's left of it?) from Chicago to St. Louis:
(one day we hope to pick up where we left off and head to Disneyland! I guess some people would tell you Route 66 leads to LA, but we Disney lovers know better right?
)It was around 8 months ago that some of our dearest friends mentioned they were going to take a trip to WDW. "Hmmmmm......" we thought. If there's one thing we've learned - Disney is always twice the fun with friends! Was there really any way we could let them go without us? We might die of jealousy - Ha!
When we learned their parents (who were traveling with them) would be departing mid way through the trip, we knew it was 'meant' to be!Now - we decided to keep the trip a surprise from the kids because - as always- you have to be sure the money all lines up. This particular trip was due to be paid off December 22 - not the best timing? Since we had kept the secret until December, we decided - why not just keep the secret a little longer and surprise the kids?! So that's what we did!
We were able to take advantage of the Stay, Play & Dine package, saving us enough to cover the cost tickets to fly into MCO. It was a super short trip, so it seemed to make the most sense to fly!
On the morning of the trip, the kids woke up to find this box:
wrapped up in another box and tied with a big red bow. (Sorry no picture of the big box - I was running around like crazy getting ready the night before! - just imagine the Mickey wrapping paper - ok?
My husband and I woke up first and woke the kids up, telling them "Someone left a surprise for you in the kitchen!" They unwrapped the box to find this message inside:
And of course, the box was filled with those fabulous cookies made by a sweet friend. Aren't they amazing?!
After all the jumping around and excitement, we really did say, "Here's a cookie, now get in the car!" We had no time to waste. We had to get to the airport to catch an early flight.
