Father Drives Disney-Bound Family 1000 Miles After Flight Cancellation

There are plenty of dedicated fathers out there, especially when it comes to dads in Disney movies — but one father from New Jersey has just shot to the top of that list!

Nathan Montanez had to make a quick decision when the United Airlines flight that was bringing his wife Jill and their two children to Walt Disney World Resort was canceled last minute: watch his wife and children abandon their highly-anticipated and thoroughly-planned-out Disney World vacation, or spend his precious time driving them to the theme park destination for 17 hours.

15 Minutes’ Notice!

Montanez chose the latter, driving more than 1000 miles on incredibly short notice.

A road trip is always an arduous undertaking — especially when children are involved, and especially antsy children who were hoping to be in Florida’s Disney World far sooner — but this one might take the cake!

A Magical Disney Dad

Jill Tobin-Montanez said in an interview with the Good News Network that her initial response, when learning 15 minutes before their flight that it was canceled and that the family would miss several days of their trip, was telling her children “that sometimes life gives you lemons—and we’d try again to get to Disney another time.”

Nathan, Jill’s husband, appeared outside the airport entrance after learning the news. “When we got in the car, all defeated, he asked if we were ready to go. We said ‘yup,’ thinking we were going home. Then he told us to get ready for a long drive,” Jill explained.

“On the Road Again”

Appropriately, Nathan “then put the song ‘On the Road Again’ on the radio and told us he was driving us to Disney!”

Nathan apparently “proceeded to drive 17 hours straight so they wouldn’t miss a day in the Magic Kingdom“, arriving in Orlando around midnight, “and he turned around just a few hours later and headed back to New Jersey so he could get to work on Tuesday — only missing one day.

“Not many people in this world would do that. And the kids absolutely appreciate what he did for them,” Jill enthused.

“They haven’t stopped talking about him,” she added, calling herself “the wife to one amazing dad!”

Would you do this for your family if they were bound for Disney World and encountered a major obstacle?