09 January 2013
When plans go awry
"So the story goes that I had this massive surprise lined up for Joanne and the boys"

September 2012 I made a reservation at The Polynesian Resort for 3 weeks and 2 days (last time at WDW we stayed for 3 weeks and 1 day so I figure that by added a day each year, by the time i'm 60, we'll be going for 6 weeks at a time ;-)
The surprise was that I wouldn't tell her we were going there and instead 'doctor' the reservation to look like we were staying at Port Orleans Riverside which in itself would be awesome. Then, after picking the car up at the airport we'd head over to Disney World and i'd take a 'wrong turn' and head over to the Magic Kingdom and there i'd reveal the surprise.
And so it goes, I presented the booked flights and reservation at Christmas and all was good, surprise in place.
Move on a couple of weeks and we get the new My Disney Experience app on our phones. It's a great little app where you can plan your trip.
A week or so after we've got the app, Joanne is checking her phone:
Joanne: Hey, there's an update to the Disney World app
Me: Oh yeah, what's new?
Joanne: You can add your hotel reservation to your plan?
Me: ERRRRMMMM, yeah, you probably can't do that as it's been booked via my friend Dirk (A WDW cast member) and not direct with Disney World.
Joanne: Oh, OK.
Me: PHEW!!!!
Joanne: (a few minutes later): OOHH, yes you can, i've put in our reservation number and it's come up!
Me: NOOOOOO!!!
I should have changed the reservation number on the printout and not just the hotel name! The thing is, she hadn't even noticed that the reservation had said 'The Poynesian' and not 'Port Orleans Riverside'. It was only a matter of time before she guessed though so I decided to come clean.
To say she's excited would be a massive understatement. We're planning our dining reservations on this now and we're both buzzing that it's almost just 199 days until our trip.
Definitely going to keep the surprise for the boys though. Josh (9) saw the volcano pool at The Polynesian last time we were there and desperately wanted to swim there and ride the slide. He's gonna get his wish.