Well that’s it summer is officially behind us, but what a way to top it off. Our family spent the last week in the wonderful Florida sun and after 8 days of bliss we returned mid snow storm. While we were there I wasn’t giving anything back home a second thought while blogger faithfully posted my pre-written and scheduled posts.
Stepping off the plane in Orlando was magical in and of itself, having gotten used to near freezing temperatures the warm and humid air was pure bliss. Palm trees swaying in the breeze, geckos running across sidewalks, flowers in bloom everywhere and of course visits with a very special mouse made this the best trip our family has ever had.
I’d mentioned my intent to surprise the girls with this trip and did we ever succeed. Their reactions to the letters I made for them were priceless. While our youngest went from curiosity to pure excitement as soon as she realized what the letters said our oldest went through several stages (including a rather doubtful one) before reaching that def-con 10 level of excitement herself.
Since we were leaving the very next morning our vacation started as soon as we told the girls and I couldn’t be happier with our decision to surprise them. Since we were left so soon after telling them it seemed we were in full-fledged vacation mode from that moment forward without even having left the house.
Another little bonus that wasn’t strictly necessary that helped bring the vacation home even before we stepped onto the plane was by starting off our trip by renting a limousine for the ride to the airport. For the girls this was a new experience and certainly worked to make it special.
This was also their first experience flying and so we made sure to talk to them about what to expect from the flight, the different noises and sensations that they might experience and brought along as many distractions as we could. I admit I was a little nervous as my husband is not a good flyer and our youngest shares his fear of heights so we did need to consider she might not do well. Thankfully it turned out that neither of them had any issues flying and enjoyed seeing everything from up high.
Our flight had been slightly delayed and so our first day’s plans were a little rushed on arrival but we also arrived with a flexible mindset and so it didn’t cause any undue stress. We were very happy with our hotel and the anticipation of our first parks day kept the stress of getting prepared for our week in check.
I think this was probably one of the most important elements that made our trip successful, planning. I’d done a huge amount of planning long before we left but having that plan while remaining flexible really seemed to make everything flow smoothly. There were times we forgot about the plan and lost track of time yet we still seemed to always find ourselves in the right spot at the right time for all the shows, parades and fireworks we wanted to see.
All of our planning and research into when to go, where to eat, what to do each day, deciding whether to rent a car or not, the best location and hotel to stay at all these big things were figured out ahead of time and so the little things just worked.
Leaving to come home we were of course saddened to go but we all felt content and happy with all we had done and our tired feet were ready to call it a day. We got one last week of summer fun before walking off the plane at the end of it all and straight into several feet of snow. Disney may be done but the memories we have brought home will last a lifetime and the snow doesn’t feel so bad.
My oldest is a very big fan of Harry Potter and as we are also visiting Universal Studios and the Wizarding World of Harry Potter I decided a Hogwarts acceptance letter would be the best for her. For our youngest a letter from Cinderella asking her to visit her castle seemed perfect.
I’ve been surprised at what we’ve been able to do with them around and not set off their suspicions. We’ve given them honestly valid reasons for all the things we are buying and doing so I suppose that is why. 
