So first thing the next morning, I triple check my forms, get them notarized at work & get the pre-paid Fedex ready to go. Andy & I work together for the same construction company, me in the office & him in the field. So, since hes more mobile than I am, he says to me Ill just take it over to Fedex for you. He is super-responsible & totally capable (remember, he's Mr. Voice of Reason)
. However, instantly I revert the poor guy to 5-yr old status
Drive carefully! Call me when you send it off! Make sure you get a receipt! Make sure they dont mess it up! Get a receipt ! Love you!
Yep, Im losing it.
But this is the most important piece of mail Ive sent off.. like ever! My Disney-loving life has completely come to a screeching halt since Monday!
I'm hoping the Fedex plane doesn't crash! Have you ever seen that Tom Hanks movie, 'Castaway'? I have this mental picture of my letter somehow ending up like that volleyball, washed up on some island shore in the middle of the ocean!
(I think I have an overactive imagination.)
Because I'm obsessive (um, I mean excited), using my receipt I set up the online Fedex tracking on my envelope. They will email me as soon as it's delivered (
or you know, as soon as it crashes in the ocean.)
12:53am Memphis, TN
5:56am Newark, NJ
7:48am New York, NY
8:22am DELIVERED
8:29am (7 minutes later!!!!!!) I get an email from New York ...
Congratulations! We have received your completed affidavit and are please to inform you that you have been confirmed as a Grand Prize Winner in the One More Disney Day Sweepstakes.
I was asked to choose & circle either WDW-FLORIDA or DL-CALIFORNIA , and confirm my contact info again. (which was definitely a good idea because my email address AND first name were both misspelled in all my original paperwork, which might have been why I had received no news pre-Fedex, as other people had? )
My prize was officially as follows:
A 5-day/4-night trip to Walt Disney World near Orlando, FL for me and 3 guests. Travel must be completed by 6/1/13. Dates are flexible, but some block out dates do apply. Prize consists of the following:
a) Hotel accomodations for four (including room tax)
b) Four (4) 5-day Magic Your Way Park Park Hopper tickets, including access to Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Hollywood Studios, and Animal Kingdom parks.
c) Round-trip coach air transportation
d) Airport-Hotel transfers
e) One (1) Disney gift card with a value of one thousand dollars ($1000)
f) Winner's choice of ONE of the four following enhancements (each valued at $500):
-A Disney Photo Pass package
-Select Disney Tours
-A Downtown Disney shopping spree
-Spa experience(s) of your choice.
Amazing/Incredible/Magical. There are not enough adjectives to describe it. I immediately emailed this form back & was told they would forward my information to Disney, and then Id be contacted to fulfill my prize.
I was feeling so grateful, so lucky and so happy.
I told all my friends and family to start entering contests, and told them where to find current lists of Disney sweepstakes online. You better believe I will be entering every Disney contest from here on out. Real people can win !!
So back to the Dis I go to check on the other winners, see if there are any new ones, and patiently wait until I am contacted to book our trip. Eventually all us Dis winners start to share our experiences, planning info and advice with each other via Facebook. (Our group is 19 of the 60 total winners). All this really added to the fun and excitement of the whole thing, plus it kept us all busy while we waited for Disney to contact us. The east-coasters could help us west-coasters, and vice versa. Everyone in the group are really great people (and Im not just saying that because youre all reading this.. you all ARE reading this, aren't you? hello?
) Anyways, obviously we all were already Disney fans, so it was easy to become fast friends.
As for my non-Disney family/friends.. well you know how that goes..
"Yes grandma, isn't it neat that Im becoming friends with other winners all around the United States? Well, yes... I know they're strangers on the Internet... Guess what, some of them might even meet in person during their trips, can you believe that? Yes grandma, strangers on from the Internet, meeting other strangers, and letting their kids play together! Isn't that fun? Oh, don't worry, I sent for a copy of the official winner's list & we'll confirm everyone's identites eventually...
)
We get back to tackling the closet.
Andy thought it was fake. "Are these New York people asking for your social security number?" "How do you know this is real?!" "What kind of info do we have to give them?" 
Hey mister, your super rational thoughts are totally no fun at all !!! 
I immediately raced to the computer to look up the Sweepstakes, so I could first of all remember what the prize was! I had indeed been entering this contest online pretty much every day, along with various other sweepstakes, which Andy always thought was kind of silly. (I showed him! 
) 
Glad to have you reading along! I definitely know that in-between-Disney-trip feeling! 
