What do Disney World and Harry Potter have to do with each other?

Yes! We finally went! We've known since fall that Nathan was going to present a poster at a dental conference in Orlando. We knew that there was no way that it would just be him going. This would be a family affair. Not that anyone other than Nathan went to the conference. No way the kids could handle that.

But we didn't want to tell the kids right away.

So, March 16th Nathan woke everyone up extra early (per Buckner vacation tradition), and told the kids that we overslept and had to get dressed quick to get to school. Not even time to eat breakfast, we had to just get in the car and we'd eat on the way.

Megan asked why it was so dark outside and Nathan mumbled something about Daylight Savings Time. Anyway, he shoved us all in the car and we left. About three minutes after we passed Emma's preschool Megan commented that we'd missed the school.

Now, you have to realize, we'd packed the night before, everyone's stuff in one suitcase (hidden in the back), food was stashed under the seats in those lovely Stow and Gos, and the kids were really, really out of it. They were so tired from being woken up incredibly early and hadn't had a chance to really catch their breath.

So Megan comments that we'd missed the school. And remember, all the kids are really tired.

Kellie: "Huh, I wonder where we are going. Should we check the GPS?"
Megan: "Yeah."

Ok, now Megan knows better. She knows the GPS doesn't tell us where we're going, but how to get there. She was so out of it and it was hard for me not to laugh.

So Nathan plugs in the GPS and clicks on "Disney World." We asked Megan if she could read it from way in the back.

Megan: "No, it's too sma--Disney World? Are we really going to Disney World?"
Nathan: Said as he lifts his finger to the GPS and presses the button, "GO."

The poor kids really had no clue what was going on and they were too tired to get excited, but they were pretty animated considering what time in the morning it was.

So we drove, and drove, and drove. With no A/C. All the way to Florida. And it was awesome. We went to Epcot, Kennedy Space Center. Cocoa Beach, The Wizarding World of Harry Potter,  Magic Kingdom, and Animal Kingdom in that order, visiting Harry Potter and Magic Kingdom each for two days.

Again, it was awesome. I have plenty of tips for those of you considering a trip down there anytime soon. Email me and we'll discuss :) But here's one I wish I'd thought of sooner. Take a picture of the row number you park on. For example, at Magic Kingdom we parked at Simba Row 23. There was a sign in front of the rows, so we took a picture of it. That way we didn't have to worry about remembering where we parked all day long. All we had to do was check the picture on the camera.

I'll post again with pictures, this one is already too long :)