My son came home on a Friday in early Dec. when he was in the third grade with a project due a week later on Christmas Around the World. Each child was assigned a different country, and my son was given France. After considering doing his project at Epcot for 2 hours, I decided at 4:30 pm we could swing it. Called MS, but could only get 1 night at the Boardwalk(Sat),so I booked it. I went online and booked a room at the (then new) Marriott Village(Courtyard) for that night, and told the kids to pack. I called hubby's cell and left a message that I would see him late Sunday night(he works for UPS, so we don't see him much in Dec. anyway). We left at 6 PM, and drove straight through. Driving at night was easier than during the day, and we made the trip in 8.5 hours instead of the usual 9.5-10. The kids took turns riding shotgun,and I told them we could have McDonald's for dinner(something we rarely do) if they could eat in 30 minutes. We stopped at 7:05, and was back in the car on the road at 7:32! We stopped twice more: once for gas(15 minutes) and once to use the restroom(10 minutes). When we reached Orlando(at almost 3 am), we checked in, put the "Do Not Disturb" sign on the door, and slept until 10 AM. We checked into the BWV at noon, but our room was not ready, so we had lunch at Spoodles before going to Epcot. We video-taped "Pierre Noel", took pictures, talked to French castmembers, and rode Test Track twice by dinner. Then we caught the last Candlelight Processional of the evening. We hit MK the next morning, then MGM after lunch. Driving home was depressing, but the trip itself was great. We got home at 1 AM, so I let the kids sleep in and took them to school around lunch. We didn't try to see it all because we knew we would be back. My son is a "hands-on" kinda guy(unlike his sisters who can read something and translate it), so just reading something would not have been enough for him. We accomplished what we set out to do...and riding Test Track and Tower of Terror was just a bonus! I did ask him to leave that part out of his presentation, though.
