My aunt, uncle and I had conspired about 4 months earlier to keep this secret from the kids. They knew Noah and I were going to Disney, but we had told them we couldn't do the cruise because the timing didn't work out right. This wasn't exactly a lie; I didn't think we could do both, but the combination of a later flight + the price being right to add the cruise sealed the deal, and we booked the cruise.
We had rented a car from Alamo, who has a Car Care center on property. I reserved the car about a month before we left, and then the day before called the Car Care center to set up the free shuttle. They come to your hotel and take you to get your car, so it's super easy.
Noah and I got moving, had our last Disney World breakfast about 8:30, and then were ready at 9AM when our shuttle came.
It was a pretty uneventful trip to get the car, except that once at the place we had to wait about 30 minutes to get our car (long lines + not enough people working). We hit the road about 10:15 and were on our way!
The drive from Orlando to Ft Myers was about 3 hours and was easy and went pretty fast. I had mentally prepared myself for traffic, as there were quite a few Bowl games in the area over New Years, but I was pleasantly surprised that we didn't encounter any.
We pulled into their driveway, and rang the doorbell, excited for the surprise. :)
Sadie answered the door and the look on her face was a mix of confusion and shock. Her brothers heard the commotion and headed into the entry way. To say they were surprised to see us was an understatement. It was about 5 minutes before the following discussion happened.
Cousin: How long are you guys staying here? We're going on the cruise tomorrow.
Me: That's why we're here - we're going on the cruise WITH you guys!!
(Screaming, hugging and general merriment)
We had pulled off the surprise, which was a lot of fun but STRESSFUL. Every time I talked to Sadie I had to remember not to mention it, and when they were in town for Christmas I hid every bit of cruise info I had, so she wouldn't stumble upon it and ask. Phew!
The rest of the day was nice and quiet; we had lunch, the boys buried themselves in video games and the girls went to a local outlet mall. I was able to find some exercise clothes and a few pairs of shoes, so it was a successful shopping trip.
We hung out that night, and all got to bed at a decent time as we had an early morning ahead of us.
Next up: Getting to the Disney Magic!
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