Surprise! We're going to Disney World!

We had been telling the kids for several months now that we were going to Orlando for a perio conference, which was true, but they had no idea that we were actually planning a trip to Disney World!  We picked the kids up early from school on a Friday and brought them back to the house to reveal the surprise before heading to the airport.  As Scott videoed I told the kids we had something for them to wear while we were in Florida.  I opened the box of Disney MagicBands to show them and explained that they were for Disney World!  They were lots of squeals and screams, follwed by a few I-can't-beleive-it "what's?" and then Avery saying, "Are you sure?".  It was such a fun surprise and the kids were all giddy with excitement.

Our magic bands- Bedicheks are Disney-bound!

ready to check in at the airport and begin our adventure

All was fine and well until shortly before we boarded the plane and Scott began to feel sick.  Turned out he had a stomach virus and had to endure the flight, waiting for me to get a rental car, and driving to our hotel before he could go to bed.  Poor guy!  Luckily he had nausea medication with him and so he only got sick once, but he was really miserable and it was less than ideal for me to have to handle all the luggage and getting the rental car by myself.  But somehow we survived, and we arrrived at our hotel,Art of Animation, in time to get some dinner and explore. We stayed in the Lion King Family Suite, which was so much fun for the kids and well-equipped for our needs as a family of 5.

After grabbing some pizza at our hotel restaurant, I took the kids to explore all the different areas of the hotel with the giant statues, pools, and playground-type areas, which included Lion King, Little Mermaid and Cars areas.

This served a table by day and pulled down to reveal a bed for Judson by night

there was a walking bridge leading to some of the other resorts across the lake

The elephant graveyard from the Lion King area was a little playground. The kids were climbing around on the tusks.

The kids in front of the Ursula statue in the Little Mermaid area of the resort

Kendall and Judson by King Triton.  The statues were absolutely HUGE and so impressive.