We packed her suit case the night before the 7:25am flight and woke her at 5am to tell her where we were headed :) She's so low drama usually we didn't expect the crazy type reaction of excitement and part of me actually wondered for a bit if she would care at all! And I thought she actually wouldn't believe us! But the word I can best describe for her reaction was, "delighted". It's a cheesy word choice but she was so pleased and smily and chatty and just pleasant! That kid was dressed and ready for the door faster than I had ever seen :)
So thankful that she's a great traveler! So thankful that Paul could also take the time to come on this crazy idea.
The fact that it was such a quick trip tested my disney packing skills : necessities for long amusement park days but only for 2 nights was simple and based on a mental checklist of experience from previous actually planned trips. Plus my own suitcase including TV clothes! All 3 packed light and easy. Out the door so quick you'd swear you'd forgotten something.
The night before the flight we were up late returning from the Wizard of OZ musical at the Hobby center that had been planned before this trip! Anna had asked Paul if she could send the night at M's but no no no! And he almost forgot and almost told her yes!
We got to disney just after noon and the park was open till 1am so we had plenty of time to have a full day! First request was It's a Small World.
She loved it as much as when we were last there in Sep 2012.
A caveat: she didn't want to do any roller coasters while there which was a drag. We were thinking she was scared but she said no! But we couldn't find a reason otherwise. Usually that's the first thing she wants to do, and over and over and over. So it was odd her old faves weren't so anymore. Another sign of growing up bringing change. But we were busy enough for the day :)
Disney added several new things to the park including an interactive treasure hunt in the pirates area, complete with map and talisman that takes you to various kiosks in the area that you can activate with awesome effects, narrated by Captain Jack Sparrow. Even with our sore and tired feet she totally dug this fun adventure. Map reading, secret codes, treasure. A dream for her! There wasn't REAL treasure in the end (drag!) she purchased a little bag-full in the picture above.
I don't know how we got so lucky but our forecast was temps in the upper 60's to max 78 on our last day.
While at disney I get an email that the SpaceX launch slipped and the briefing was canceled! WHAT? I managed to salvage a work visit by meeting with some of the scientists there all afternoon, so still an awesome and productive trip. This is how it goes with the business of launch. In the meantime, Paul and Anna played at the hotel!
That evening we had dinner at Trex Cafe because we had a $25 Landry's Select card credit (woo-hoo) and while it was a chaotic 70 min wait for others, the card got us in within 5 minutes!!!! Unreal! Benefits of membership!
Lastly, Legoland before the 8:55pm flight home. Her old fave roller coaster ride the Dragon still held (thankfully) but the other old fave coaster did NOT. First drop: SHE CRIED! Our child CRIED out of fear on a coaster ride. Dismay!!!!!! Oh DISMAY!!! She made up for it by riding the kinder yet still thrilling dragon over and over and over. The thing we have learned: things change as people grow and change. It's a reminder for us to realize and accept that and roll with it.
The entire quick trip was such that reminder since we had so many previous benchmark trips to compare to. That was the theme!
Legoland was celebrating the recent movie release (Paul and Anna had seen it but not me), so they were letting kids build Legos to have placed in the Lego NYC display to represent the movie scene. So cool!
More previous faves:
And one we've been wanting to do for years but didn't want to fork out the cash:
Anna says, "mommy she doesn't have grey for your hair!" Booger.
We closed down the park with repeats of Dragon as usual till they shut us out :) and we hauled butt all the way to our flight just as they were boarding. It was all a blur!
I'm writing this as they sleep in, it's raining in Houston, and we are still covered in Legoland grime. It's a recovery day and back to school tomorrow!
We are so lucky we were able to do this. Who gets to do surprise quick trips to Disney? My job, Paul's job, the frequent flyer points accumulated from using the Southwest card for the Grocery Station purchases, the Landry's card, Anna's birthday money,and even Living Social for a steal at Legoland, previous Orlando experience combined with the gusto to hit the full-day park schedules on flight days really WORKED! It's rare, and we understand and appreciate it. We are grateful 💜
