Can You Keep a Secret?

Can you keep a secret? Really, I need to know. I can't go on any further with this unless you all promise me to not tell the kids what I'm about to say.

Promise?

Cross your heart?

Okay, I'll let you in on the secret.

We're taking the kids to Disney World. Their father will be on his honeymoon so we're going to have them for a couple of weeks anyway. We told them last year that we'd be taking them on a vacation somewhere but then we started concentrating on paying down debt and started hinting to them that it might not happen. Well, it is happening.

We're going to drive. Two Nintendo DS's, two iPod Touches with tons of game apps, and iPods and portable DVD players should hopefully be enough to keep the kids from melting down during two days of nothing but driving.

Here's the reason for the secrecy. We are hoping (hoping hoping) that we can keep this a secret from the kids right up until the time we are actually in the car heading South.

Tentatively the plan is for me to take a vacation day so I can get the kids at school and take them to Jen's office where we'll pick her up. Then we'll hop on the highway and head toward the Happiest Place on Earth. At some point after we reach the highway we'll do something coy like ask the kids where they want to go, and then let them stew for a bit before asking if they'd like to go to Disney World... and then tell them, "Sure, let's go to Disney right now!"

There is no way on Earth that we'll be able to pull this much secrecy off. At some point one of us is going to slip up. But... think of how awesome it will be to spring something like that on them. It will be worth it. I know it will.

But we still need your help.

Yes, oh faithful readers, we need your input.

Jen has made the drive from here to there before. I did a similar drive from here to near Mobile, AL once. Those trips were both a long time ago though. We need ideas.

I am a freak of nature with a bladder so huge it can take days to fill. Therefore I rarely need to make pit stops. My three traveling companions (remember you promised not to tell the kids about this, right?) are normal sized humans with normal sized bladders who need to stop and pee from time to time. In other words, as much as we'd like to crank out 12 straight hours of driving it just isn't going to happen.

So...

Have you, faithful readers, done this sort of trip before? Can you make suggestions for interesting/neat/weird/cool things to see during our brief stops? Any roadside curiosities we should check out if the timing is right?

Let me know in the comment section. (yes, comments are in fact encouraged.)

We're Going to Disney World!