Shhhh...It's a Surprise!!!!!!!

Back in the spring, John and I decided that this year on our family trip we would go to Disney World!  We officially booked our trip in early May, and have so far been able to keep the whole thing a secret from Big Sister.

We decided to do the trip as a surprise for 2 reasons:
To add to the magic of the whole experience (John's Uncle and Aunt surprised their girls with a trip to Disney a few years ago, and since then we've always liked the idea)
And if I'm being honest, to eliminate months of endless, "Is today the day we're going to Disney?" questions.

After some discussion and consideration (based on the kind of hectic family trip we took to Disney a few years ago), we decided to go for 2 whole weeks.  John is blessed to have a bit more vacation time than a normal job would allow, so we decided to take advantage of that and enjoy a more extended (and hopefully more relaxed) trip.

We're taking the "motor" (as Big Sister calls the motor home) and camping at the Fort Wilderness Campground.  We went back and forth about whether to stay in a hotel or bring the RV and in the end, the motor home won out because of cost (the campground is in the same area as the premium hotels at Disney - it's just a short boat ride away from the Magic Kingdom, but it's a small fraction of the price you would pay for staying at one of the premium hotels) and convenience (we'll have a kitchen, separate spaces for the kids to take naps and it'll be nice to not have to worry about the hotel "ick" factor that's present even if you're staying in a nice place - especially with germ unconscious littles).  The campground has all of the same great amenities as all of the other on property resorts (playgrounds, pools, water slides!) at Disney, so it's really a win/win for us.  We'll also be able to bring our bikes (along with the kids bike trailer) and fishing poles (the campground has bike trails and a lake).  Overall we think that staying at the campground will make our trip a little more laid back (if that's even possible at Disney?!).

We originally planned to stay for 2 weeks and only get passes for 7 days, but apparently the cost of the park passes drastically reduces after 7 days, so in the end we decided to go with 10 days of park hoppers, so that we'll have a lot of flexibility with our schedule (which is important with 2 littles!).

We decided to go to 4 character meals (we opted not to do the meal plan, because they sell the meal plan based on the number of nights you stay on the property, so it was super cost prohibitive for us - it would have more than doubled the total cost of the trip).  I had a difficult time narrowing it down to 4, but we felt like more than that might be overwhelming to Big Sister (and to Little Bud too).  We were also able to get an appointment for Big Sister at the Bibbiti Bobbiti Boutique (when we originally booked they didn't have any open slots), so she'll be able to visit with the Fairy Godmother before we go eat at Cinderella's Castle!

We are so looking forward to our trip, and can't WAIT to see the look of surprise on Big Sister's face when we pass under the Walt Disney World sign :)