No Pit Stoppo! The Sunfinders' first TR

[Angebee]

This is the story of how my Dad almost died. Don't worry, this is actually a very fun story and the truth is the almost dying part is only in the introduction! The rest is the story of what happened after my sister and I talked our parents into taking their first vacation in over a decade, and it all starts with the sun.​

"We're going to find the sun" was the phrase my Dad constantly used during our very first family vacation to Florida way back in 1988. (That's when Disney only had two parks and three-year-old me was severely bummed that Mickey didn't wave at us from on top the Epcot Ball like he did in the commercials.) This is why we are the 'Sunfinders'. Not to mention it's very cold and snowy where we come from and February seemed especially dark this year so we were searching for sunlight in more ways than one.

But enough with the backstory. Let me introduce you to our cast of characters and further explain the opening paragraph. . . .

Sunfinder Ange (that's me) and Sunfinder 'Kit' in Pixie Hollow
Ages: both 20-somethings
Favorite Classic Character: Mickey & Minnie
Favorite Rides: Peter Pan's Flight & "I'm still deciding"

This is NOT one of my favorite pictures but we're having trouble uploading them to my laptop so I'll just ... replace it later. That's me on the left making the very weird face because of something Vidia said and Kit on the right. I'm the mastermind of this little project - including research, booking, touring plans, Disboarding, stressing - while she's the Robin to my Batman. Er... the... Lumiere to my Cogsworth? Sidekick aliases aside, we're both fans of books, sports, video games, music, anime and (of course) all things Disney! The only thing we couldn't agree on was whether to get a suite with our folks or a separate room of our own.

What? Did you think we were going to send our parents to DISNEY and not go, too? Speaking of our parents. . . .

Sunfinder 'Lady' & Sunfinder 'Butch' in Morocco, World Showcase
Ages: everyone's a kid at Disney
Favorite Rides: It's a Small World & Kilimanjaro Safari​

There's Mom and Dad, otherwise known as 'Lady' and 'Butch' because of a certain animated classic I've associated them with since childhood. They're both hardworking, small-town folk who love their family more than anything. Mom works with the schools and Dad's in retail. They've asked that I not show their faces in too many photos so I've decided to respect their wishes (and still snuck a few anyway...). You can't see it but they're holding hands and enjoying the nighttime lights of the World Showcase lagoon. This trip was meant to celebrate the year of their 30th anniversary as well as both of their birthdays which fall within the last five days of February. We had no idea we'd be celebrating the fact we were all just healthy and together, too.

Dad went into the hospital on February 1st with severe stomach pains. It took twelve days, one emergency surgery and two trips to the ICU before we finally brought him home. By that time we had all but hit the final cancellation button on the vacation we'd only been planning for the last two years. It wasn't like we hadn't seen Disney in fifteen years or anything. What was another year?

But then we received a huge shipment of early pixie dust. At the follow-up appointment, the surgeon told us Dad was healing quicker than expected and we should still go! I'm pretty sure Dad was the most excited. He'd been dreaming about the trip all the while he was in the hospital: how many days were left, which of his favorite rides were we going on, where were we eating again? It was the best and most nerve-wracking information I'd gotten the whole month. We had 10 days left to buy last minute supplies, pack and do everything necessary to be ready to head to Florida on the 24th. We're tough girl scout cookies, though, and made the magic happen!

And so I invite you to join us on our magic carpet ride as we discovered a whole new Disney World! I'd love to share our week of magical family time with anyone who wants to listen. Just remember to please stand clear of the doors (Por favor manténganse alejado de las puertas), keep your hands and arms inside the carpet and for the love of the bouncing ball sing along with any musical references I'm able to sneak in along the way.