When we were visiting the North Pole the other day after
riding the North Pole Express—click here to read more—and we were the first to
see Santa, this question came to mind:
Do our Disney trips help us to get more out of these kinds of experiences,
or does practice with these kinds of experiences help us get more out of
Disney?
I know, it’s a bit of a “chicken/egg, which came first” kind
of question. But it did get me thinking,
and thinking about one of my favorite things—Disney.
As a people watcher, I am amazed and surprised sometimes
about how people handle various situations.
So, it floored me that the three of us were the first off the train and
the first to head to Santa’s caboose—we were even farther away than most. Didn’t these people have a plan of what they
were going to do when they go off the train and arrived at the North Pole? Ah ha, there’s part of my answer.
I was on the phone yesterday with a fellow Disney fan who
was helping to plan a birthday trip to the most Magical place on earth and
needed a few ideas about how to celebrate a special birthday. We visited for several minutes and even
discussed cruising with Disney. I
explained that while visiting the World takes a bit of advanced planning, a
Disney cruise, seems to take a bit more—in my opinion. I then shared that we have seen folks get on
Mickey’s boat without much advanced planning but then two things typically
happen—1. They spend their vacation
planning their vacation or 2. They don’t
make any decisions, say about shore excursions.
For us, this would be missing out!
Hmm. . . more clues to my answer.
Then, I posed my question to the husband. He gave me a look that said I am going to
patiently listen to your musings, but seriously, you don’t know the answer to
this question was written all over his face.
The words came next, “you are a child of efficiency.”
There it was; a big
part of my answer. Yes, I appreciate
efficiency, even long for it some days.
I see time as a precious commodity and want to spend it wisely. I know energy is finite and want to get the
most out of any that is exerted. My
appreciation for efficiency is one of the many reasons I love Disney. Efficiency is one of their pillars, right
next to service. I notice when
situations arise that do not operate with the Disney efficiency I have come to
know and love.
The husband then very wisely said, “It’s both. Our non-Disney experiences help us navigate
Disney and our Disney experiences have helped us navigate our real world
experiences.” He is so smart!
So, do our Disney trips help us get more out of our
non-Disney adventures? Yes! We know that
having a plan, at least to get touring started at a park, or a day on a Disney
ship, will propel us and help us make decisions about the rest of our
time. Had we not had a plan when
visiting the North Pole, we would have been waiting in line for quite a while.
Disney has taught us the benefit of arriving early. Yes, we do this when visiting Carroll’s
Pumpkin Farm—click here to read more.
Crowds come later to Disney and most other events, so arriving early
helps you get the most out of our time.
Our Disney trips have taught us how to navigate crowds, how
to take advantage of spontaneous moments of magic, and how to say yes to
experiences. Those things have certainly
come in handy when navigating life outside of Disney.
Have our non-Disney experiences helped us navigate
Disney? Again, a yes! Our family was seeking adventures long before
our first trip to Walt Disney World.
Water parks, community events, train rides, cave tours, etc. are some of
the few things we had done as a family before even stepping foot inside Walt
Disney World. We learned how to navigate
travel, dream of adventures, decide and plan for these experiences. We learned that we can have great fun as a
family. We learned how to accommodate
for and anticipate each other’s needs beyond our home—where everything is much handier. All of these skills have certainly helped us
navigate Disney travel.
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