We did and it was kinda surreal lol. My 26yo son and his gf went to celebrate his bday starting last Monday. I woke up Tuesday morning and said to dh that we should drive down with the two younger boys and surprise him (7 hour drive btw.). I couldn’t believe dh said yes, went into work to get the rest of the week off and I made quick reservations and packed!
It took some patience but a room at AOA popped up and I snagged it. Did not know Little Mermaid rooms weren’t suites, so it was a little crowded (and they charged enough for a suite) but since this trip was super last minute we just went with the flow.
I had the chicken pasta, dh had a burger, ds had a salad. Did not enjoy eating out of a box lol. Then I contacted ds gf and made plans to take skyline to Epcot and surprise him!
I did this once. JetBlue had a Halloween special for $30 to Orlando for that day only, so I called my niece and asked if she was up for an adventure. I told my boss I would be out the next days (it was Thursday) and I was leaving right then to pack. I ran home, threw a bag together, grabbed my niece and headed to Disney. And to make it even more insane, we decided to run the Every Ride Challenge the next day. I remember buying her a ticket on the plane and grabbing whatever FastPasses I could. We had so much fun!
I probably would have done this last year if not for covid because I had a AP for universal. I was thinking I would do some last minute weekends there and at Disney but nope…… that was a waste.
My closest was finding out on Tuesday, that a discount airline was having a sale on Thursday. I went to work and asked for Thursday, Friday, and Monday off. Booked the flight, there was a room available at Pop, and I already had an AP. Wednesday ended being a busy and late day, no time to pack, so I grabbed my work “Go bag” (three sets of under clothes, one pair of shorts, two polos, and mini toiletries. And I had a fabulous four days in the world.
Wish I were close enough to wake up and do this. Yay! Hope your son and GF appreciate the surprise- because surprises are risky.
Good thing is - it’s Disney.
I have never done that for WDW though my ex works at Feature Animation and back in the day when part of Feature Animation was based at Disney MGM he had to go down there a couple of times for work so I would go with because why not? We didn’t have to pay for hotel or park admission (my ex had a silver pass). Anyway, on one of those trips he called his brother who lived in Minneapolis to see if he wanted to come down so he did. Called him on Wednesday he hopped on a flight on Thursday.
The only thing similar I’ve ever done is Las Vegas. I don’t count spontaneous trips to Disneyland since I live in SoCal.
The surprise went so well. We sat on some benches outside the International Gateway at Epcot and waited to see if ds would notice us as he exited the park.
I wish I could upload the video. Anyway it was special. On the way over I got some pics of the cool murals at Riviera (and we forevermore pronounce it “murial” thanks to a slight slip of the tongue by dh lol.)
Next morning I mobile ordered a side of scrambled eggs for a light breakfast…we are from Florida and know to do so in July temps lol. They were good and a nice portion but the box just turns me off!
Dole Whip Float for the win! Cute souvenir cup because I’m five lol.
Columbia House is a favorite for lunch but they are closed…luckily Tomorrow Land Terrace is serving their menu. Unfortunately TLT is not enclosed and it was pretty hot.
Fried shrimp.
We got in Splash and Space, Pirates and Haunted and COP. The line for PeopleMover was insane so dh and I left for a break and the kids waited it out. Oh to be young and heat tolerant again. The only PhotoPass ride photos that showed up for us were Space and Pirates, which was pretty disappointing.
Epcot day, also opening day of the Food and Wine Festival. It sucks that all of Epcot doesn’t open until 11. And no park hopping until 2 means we twiddle our thumbs until 10 when transportation to the park starts. Also I have seen online talk of early access to parks for resort guests but we went in January and this trip and never got in early to anything. Just saying. When we got into the International Gateway I hit that gift shop to get a scavenger hunt map and prize…the place was super packed! But I scored some cool merch.
Festival plate and utensils, map and prizes, new hat.
I was only able to try two Festival items, the Twinings apple spice tea (so so sooo good) and Joffrey Tropical tea (quite refreshing.)
We got all the rides but Test Track in Future world and I shopped my favorite pavilion, England, where we lived for 3 years. Then dh and I went to the resort to get a break and the kids continued around the world.
Noooo Chapek! 
so that’s what we rode.
