WDW, Part 1: The Departure

In January, my Dad announced that for Christmas, he was taking all of us to Disney World. Much screaming, squealing, and jumping for joy ensued, and that was just Craig's reaction. For my part, not only was I totally excited, but it would also be my first time going, so that made it an even bigger deal for me. (And it made it a bit more bearable to listen to my in-laws planning their trip for that March!)

All year long, Craig busied himself reading both the Disney Official Tour Guide AND the Unofficial Guide to Walt Disney World. He made reservations exactly 90 days in advance. He begged and pleaded to get extra time off work, sacrificing personal days rather than sick leave (that's the weird thing about being a school teacher-- lots of vacation time, but only when the school district gives it to you; it's hard to get any other days off). Tracy arranged plane tickets for everyone. We were all set to fly out Saturday morning, six days before Christmas.

Thursday night, Craig and I were literally jumping up and down in the kitchen in excitement and anticipation.

Friday morning, Craig woke me up because he was grinning from ear to ear and announced, "Tomorrow we'll be in Disney World!!!"

Twenty minutes later, Craig had called me from work in a panic. There was a snowstorm predicted to hit DC in a big way, starting Friday night and lasting all day Saturday and Sunday. NOW what would we do? We called airlines and asked about changing our flight to Friday evening, but all flights were booked. We asked about flying stand-by, but the customer service rep told me not to bother because everyone else would be trying that, too (bless her for her honesty!). I was ready to resign myself to our fate, and perhaps begin praying for the snow to somehow miss us.

And then Craig's parents had an idea.

"We're driving to Houston in a few days anyway. We could just take you there ourselves..." they offered. We considered this idea. Drive? Really? 14 hours in a car to kick off our trip? But then we realized it was either that, or be stuck in Virginia missing out on WDW until probably Tuesday or Wednesday. And suddenly, "Let's drive" turned into, "Let's leave tonight!" This meant that I spent the afternoon frantically doing laundry, cleaning up the house, and, of course, packing for most of us (Craig finished up with his clothes, but I had at least thrown in his cell phone charger and his toothbrush-- the two things he always manages to forget-- for him!). But we did it! The only thing I forgot to pack was Bentley's Mickey Mouse ears.

We left our home at 4:00. We left Culpeper (where Craig's parents live) at 5:00. And that was right when the snow started falling. We headed straight into the thick of the storm, so things got slower for the first few hours. We didn't get out of Virginia until around midnight, but right when we crossed into North Carolina the snow turned to rain and suddenly we could really move. After that, it was mostly a matter of who was awake enough to drive. I took a shift from 3:00am to 5:00am, and didn't stop until I realized that I was losing my ability to interpret what I was looking at very clearly. (Scary, huh? Fortunately, there wasn't much traffic on the road then...)

We arrived at Shades of Green, the military hotel, around 11:30 the next morning. We were exhausted, but so happy to see the sun shining in beautiful Orlando! We were also pleasantly surprised at how nice the hotel was. I think I'd been picturing something along the lines of La Quinta-- a perfectly decent place, but nothing too fancy. But not Shades of Green! Granite counter tops in the bathroom, enough space in our room for two queen beds, a sofa, and two cribs without feeling crowded at all, and we were right on the golf course, so the view was lovely. Add to that a fabulous (and cheap) buffet restaurant, a couple pools and a hot tub, and you've got the nicest hotel I think I've ever stayed at! (Not to mention tax-free-- yay for the U.S. military!)

Shades of Green.

Not only was the hotel nice, we saw weather reports and heard from friends that Virginia was indeed hit hard by the snow-- 22 inches in a day! Friends of ours who had flights around the same time didn't manage to leave until the following Thursday, so we definitely made the right choice leaving Friday night!

And extra bonus: Craig's school was canceled all week, so Craig didn't use up any of his vacation time after all! (And, perhaps better yet-- we didn't end up sitting around at home because he didn't want to ask for the vacation time, only to have school canceled anyway!)

It wasn't what we had planned at all, but the beginning of our trip turned out to be the best thing we could have hoped for. Phew! So extra big thanks to the Smiths for being willing to drive us, and a huge thanks to my Dad for a fabulous vacation, which you will hear about next post.

Just to show you that I am not exaggerating about the snow, I'm stealing pictures from my friends (hopefully they won't mind...). This one is from Delilas.

And this is from Andrea. Yup-- we missed it all.