Disney 2012 (part 1)

We went to Disney World!   My oldest brother planned and arranged this trip for our family. There were 8 kids and 8 adults!

Everything was planned since the fall, but we decided to keep it a secret  from the girls until the morning we left.  Even though they didn't know that we were going, we talked about Disney World a lot and watched a ton of youtube videos to get them "in the mood"  over the past several months.  I am so glad that we waited to tell the girls because the surprise was so special and unique.  I think it added to excitement of the experience and helped our girls to understand that this was an "out of the ordinary" kind of vacation.   So, on Monday May 7th we packed everything in the car and then woke up the girls.  It seemed like any other Monday morning to them, I'm sure : )  We sat them on the couch and told them we had a surprise in the coffee table drawer.  When they opened the drawer they saw the adorable Mickey Mouse shirts that my friend Becky made them (see below).  They initially thought that was the suprise until I told them that they had to wear those shirts today because "We're going to Disney World."  Anna very calmly asked "really?" Payton asked, "Today?"  Then they quietly said, "yeah."  It took a few seconds for it to sink in and then they got excited.  I should post the video sometime : ) 

We met my parents at the airport and took a direct flight to Orlando.  It was the first time for Payton to fly and for Anna to remember flying.  Anna asked, "Is it going to hurt when we land?"   The Disney fun began on the airplane because there were so many families travelling to Disney.  The flight attendants even sang the Mickey Mouse Song and carried Sarah around the plane.  It was nice to fly with so many kids on the plane because no one worried about crying babies or fussy kids.  The businessmen when outnumbered!

We arrived at the airport and took the Disney charter bus to our hotel.  The girls we so excited!  We stayed at the Disney All Star Movies Value Resort.  Value is still great at Disney!  The rest of evening was spent welcoming my brothers and their families and going to downtown Disney for the evening.  We ate at the Rainforest Cafe that night - a cool experience for the girls.

More to come ...