So, we just got back from a week at DisneyWorld. Surprise!
It was a surprise for our own kids, too. We booked it back in the fall with FameThrowa and her husband, Mr. Chatty, who came with us. We didn’t really plan to keep it secret but Christmas was coming and the kids were wound up enough about that, and there never seemed to be a good time after Christmas to make the announcement, so we decided what the heck, let’s just…not tell them. Surprise!
We almost caved in a few times in the week before we left, because there was packing to be done and that’s hard to hide, but everyone around us was so invested in the surprise we felt we had to stay strong. We had to tell the kids’ teachers and school, and people we work for, and some friends who were going to help us out while we were away, and our parents and sisters, and suddenly everyone was all, “How is it going? Do they know? Did you tell them yet?” and so we hung in there.
And in the end, they were surprised but considering we were waking them up at 2 a.m. to go to the airport, it was hardly a big shriekfest. It did help them get out of bed cheerfully, though.
The trip itself was fun although hampered by some poor weather and the fact that I had a major toothache the whole time (root canal booked for later this week, THANK GOD, at this point I would pay my plumber to come by with a giant-ass wrench and pull the thing out). I am now a certified expert at a) parking at Disney; b) grocery shopping in Orlando, and c) getting character autographs. Go ahead, quiz me!
I always find it weird travelling to America, because I assume it’s going to be just like here, and yet it is subtlely different in many different ways. For example, every food we bought had extra sugar in it. The yogurt and cereals, even though they were the same brand as here, had extra sweetness. And other foods, again same brand, were just a totally different product altogether.
Something else that’s weird – the driving. The roads look like roads and the signs seem normal. Yet everyone was doing crazy unexpected things and we had a hard time predicting exactly what would happen every day as we drove over to Disney and back. It was very exciting, though. Between Space Mountain and the commute, Orlando really got my heart pumping!
TurtleHead 
OH WOW!! that sounds like so much fun- what a great surprise 🙂 I have never been to the states but I have heard that things there are different (mountain dew is toxic with sugar) but i would not have expected yogurt to be so different. Sorry to hear about your tooth… if you need a plumber my husband is available at a great price 🙂
Wow, you are waaaaaay better at keeping a super-exciting secret than I would be. I find it so hard to keep mum when I have good news.
Glad you had a great time, despite the tooth troubles. That sounds painful! Hope you’re feeling much better after next week.
i dream of doing a giant surprise thing for the jellybean, but considering i couldn’t keep buying a plane ticket for the hubby to join me in nyc from him for more that 6 hours, i doubt a big thing like disney will be out of the bag within minutes!
welcome home!!
Now that is a surprise!! Can’t wait to hear more about your trip; like whats worth seeing and what isn’t worth the time/effort. We’re thinking of taking the boys this fall.
I was going to write a post about this very thing – the food thing, that is. I just got back from Maui and noticed all the sugar! Or, more accurately, all the high-fructose corn syrup. Like, in bread. And the Activia yogurts were way sweeter. What’s up with that, America (other than all the corn subsidies…)
Yes! It was the Activia yogurts we noticed too. When we got home I had some in the fridge, same flavour, and we taste tested to confirm. My husband said various soft drinks were much sweeter, even the diet ones, as well. I never thought of Canadian diets as being particularly healthy but at least they seem to be one small step up in terms of added sugar content. It was quite a surprise to find that big brand names have completely different recipes in Canada.