Disney World!!
Yep, that’s right… we went to Disney World last week suckers!!!! ha ha! Let me tell you the WHOLE story:
I’ve been obsessed with, researching, dreaming about, talking about, threatening and bribing Denton, and DYING the last 6 months about going to Disney World. Well, Denton is an extreme homebody (and homeboy) and said maybe in 5 years. Yeah right. Well last Monday was his last day of work - Circuit City went belly-up and Denton and the whole company were laid off. At 2pm that afternoon I was talking w/my in-laws about DW and how we’d never be able to go now that we’re unemployed. And by 3pm, I had an epiphany, changed my mind, booked DW tickets, booked the hotel and when Denton walked in the door said, “WE’RE GOING TO DISNEY WORLD!” Well, needless to say he was very salt-licker about it.
So for the next 5 hours, I gave Denton his space while the kids and I went to Costco for “FHE” and got food for the trip. I gassed up the car, packed all our suitcases, sent out a million emails, and the next morning we were off by 7am! Denton finally came around, but really I gave him no choice. And it was AWESOME!!! We had such a great time, I’ll never regret that we went. Although I promised Denton I would never do a surprise trip again, he doesn’t like it. (we’ll see)
Day One: Magic Kingdom
Leo, Fischer, and I spent 8 hours at Magic Kingdom. It was the coldest day in Florida in the past 20 years - but we had lived in Ohio so it was nothing to us. The lines were short so we went on a ton of rides. Leo’s favorite ride was Goofy’s Barnstormer - she sat in the very front car by herself and had her arms up the whole time! We went on the Speedway and both the kids got a chance to drive the cars - I thought I was gonna puke cuz they hit every single bump. Fischer put his head down the whole time we were on the Haunted Mansion but at least he went on the ride, and no nightmares!!! We went to Mickey and Minnie’s house, Winnie the Pooh ride, Mad Hatter’s Tea Cups, Peter Pan, Small World and Fischer even went on Thunder Mountain!! My kids are very brave, I was scared on some of the rides.
Day 2: Magic Kingdom w/Denton and Rocky
We went back the next day w/D & R cuz there was still a ton left to do. (Remember, Denton has the soul of a grandpa so he only wanted to go to DW one day.) He took the kids on lots of rides and said it was fun remembering when he went as a little kid. Rocky loved all the rides and didn’t even get scared on Pirates of the Caribbean. We hit the Aladdin ride, saw a couple shows, had pics with characters (Fisch was scared of Captain Hook), Swiss Fam Robinson, Thunder Mountain with Dad, and a ton more. Denton, Leo and Fisch even watched the closing parade while I got the car. Our feet were really tired by the end of Day 2 so we all went in the hot tub when we got back to the hotel — aaaaaahhhh!! nice.
Day 3: Animal Kingdom
You would think that the Safari ride at DW Animal Kingdom would be just like going to the zoo, but it was SO MUCH better then that! Plus, it’s an Animal Reservation that’s larger then the Magic Kingdom, good cause. The animals were so close - they could’ve eaten Fischer! The kids loved it and their eyes were like “deer in headlights” the whole time. We saw the Nemo Stage Show which was really cool - the actors did a great job with the “Nemo” puppets. Then, off to Dinosaur Land, Fischer was hyperventilating from sheer joy!!! So we went on the main Dinosaur Land ride which takes you back in time to when the dinos were alive… OK, I had NO idea how scary it would be! The kids were FREAKING out and Leo kept yelling, “Let’s get out of here!” I was so scared but laughing so hard cuz the kids were screaming! In fact, Fischer told everyone at church, “I was freaking out on the dinosaur ride!” Good memories. We played at the HUGE Dinosaur play place and dug for fossils, rode tube slides, took the train to the animal reservation, and said goodbye to DW after that day was over.
I’m SO glad our family could take this trip. No matter what happens in the future with Denton’s career, I’ll never regret it. I highly recommend you going, even if your husbands don’t want to. :)
Mom said,
January 27, 2009 @ 10:25 pm
Thanks for sharing the joy…the pictures were magnificent and the trip will be remembered their whole lives long!
Bonnie said,
January 27, 2009 @ 10:27 pm
YAY!!! I am so glad you guys were able to do that! I might just be getting a few ideas of my own…although I think we can all agree that “salt-licker” is a little too mild to describe how Chad would react! Congrats on making AWESOME memories out of a trying time. Love, B
HML said,
January 27, 2009 @ 11:32 pm
A. i’m coughing like an old man b/c i LOVE LOVE LOVE that you did this trip! oh that is so awesome gina! B. i’m loving the comments already made…in a few years denty will have 4 strokes if you do this to him again. C. i didn’t know denty was an old man already…do we need to get the dickies bags out & dance across BYU yelling obscentities to get his spice back in his life? D. what a GREAT idea! thank you for inspiring me b/c maybe i am going to pack up the car in the next few months & give my kids 3 spring breaks so that we can go to CA & get out of here! if only we lived closer to each other we could do all sorts of spontaneous trips! welcome home…and thank you very much for finally posting since i stalk you FITTY TIMES A DAY ON HERE! FRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRT!!!!!!:)
HML said,
January 27, 2009 @ 11:35 pm
ps-rocky is so freaking cute!!!! i love his cute little eyes…he is such a doll!!!!
Laurene"Lips" Ross said,
January 28, 2009 @ 11:18 am
You are crazy Sammy! Way to think out of the box. Leo is so brave to stand next to every disney character she can with a big smile. I would be and was, when I was her age, salty as all get out. Skip would have freaked!
Tiffany said,
January 28, 2009 @ 11:34 am
Ok,ok,ok whatever!!! just rub it in my face already. Your trip rocked and I’m sooo green and yes hubby would totally be a pooper if I did the same. But like you, I’d do it anyway. What great memories!!!
Chad said,
January 28, 2009 @ 12:06 pm
Sorry, but I always thought of Rissy as the salt-licker one, well I guess she fooled me. What a great trip! Thanks for sharing the pics but I can’t image dino land is scarier than the haunted mansion. Oh to have video of marissa cackling while her kids are screaming, mommy get us out of here …. I am sure pants were peed.
aimee said,
January 28, 2009 @ 4:40 pm
Good for you!! You will never regret doing this fun trip! I loved looking at all your pictures and reading all about your trip. Our kids still talk about DW all the time. In fact Matt and I were just talking about how soon we can go back. I can’t wait to see you and talk DW with you. I’m a Disney Freak!
natalie said,
January 29, 2009 @ 12:12 am
i love that fischer is totally picking his nose on the small world ride. i am also still furious that you didn’t excuse me from school for this trip. but i am glad you had fun and i would like to lose my job.
Nikki said,
January 29, 2009 @ 8:48 am
So glad you went to Disney. I love it. We went in the summer and I think next time I will go when it is not so blazing hot. Looks like you had a fun time!
emily said,
January 30, 2009 @ 10:01 am
Love it!!! You must have dreamed of this since we were there!!
I’m sorry to hear about Denton’s job. Does this mean you’ll head back to Utah?
Love the pics - - so fun
Ellen said,
January 30, 2009 @ 11:46 pm
Hey! I think we were there at the same time! I am SO GLAD you went!!!!!!! YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Glad you had a blast!
Angela said,
February 2, 2009 @ 11:38 pm
Looks like you and the fam had a great time! I’m loving that Denton was so salt lick…. If I ever pulled a stunt like that my husbando would have bee the same way!!! He owns huge amounts of stock in Morton’s. Glad you guys had such a good time!
Dani said,
February 4, 2009 @ 4:23 pm
Jarron doesn’t believe that Denton “killed” you when you booked this trip! (I told him you said you were just half-alive right now.)
danae dean said,
February 4, 2009 @ 5:28 pm
i LOVE LOVE LOVE you! that’s the best…what a fun mom you are! ella keeps asking me if we can go to disney land….i keep telling her in a few yrs. when gracie is older!..it looks and sounds like you guys had a wonderful time!
Leslie said,
February 6, 2009 @ 10:28 am
So glad you finally got to go and get this over with. Looks like you guys had a great time. Nice touch on the “my dads the man” tshirt. Must have been thinking of all the ways you might try to win Denton over when you were packing. Loved all the pics!
Melissa said,
February 10, 2009 @ 2:00 am
I’m so glad you got to go. I can’t believe Denton only wanted to go one day once you were actually there. Jordan is like a little kid- He would go every year if we could. I love all the pictures!