What gets me excited about a Disney vacation? The husband would say “everything.” He’s mostly right. (Don’t tell him I said
that!) Yet, there are a few specific
things that I especially look forward to.
Packing—I know. Most
people would say “yuck” to this specific task, but I actually enjoy it. I make a list and then cross off items as they go into the bags. And, I even include which
bags get which items. For example, one
of the carry-on bags will have swimsuits, so that we can swim at the resort
upon arrival—if we want to do that—as it will take a few hours for our checked
bags to arrive in our rooms from the airport.
We take 3 bags to check at the airport—one for each of us, 3
carry-on rolling bags, and 3 personal items.
The boy has a backpack as his personal item and it contains his toys,
books, and electronic items and it is his responsibility to pack his
backpack. It’s fun to watch him think
about what he will need and then plan accordingly. I have no idea where he gets that! The rest of the bags are my domain.
Once everything is packed, I inform the husband where
certain items are located. For example,
the fruit snacks are in your backpack.
This saves him asking me and when the boy requests a snack, the husband
knows where they are and can find them in case I am busy doing something. . .
say driving.
I must also confess that we have bags that are perpetually
packed, which does make this task easier.
We have a luggage stand, like you would find in a hotel room, in our
spare bedroom and it holds our suitcases that already have our sets of matching
Disney shirts. All I have to do is pack
the ones we are taking, add in the rest of the stuff and we are pretty much
ready to go.
Planning—yep, one of my favorites. I think it has something to do with the
dreaming and visualization of the vacation as I plan that provides such
pleasure. Planning can take considerable
time and research. Due to our
familiarity with the destination—it has become easier to make decisions. There are still some decisions that give me
fits, but only temporarily.
While on the phone with our travel agent the other day
(planning our December after cruise Walt Disney World stay) it went something
like this. . . “3 nights at Port Orleans French Quarter, 1 day tickets, no
hopper, add the dining plan.” It almost
sounded like I was ordering a sandwich.
Now, our plans may change later, and there is flexibility to make that
happen. But as of right now, we are set.
Another part of planning a trip to Walt Disney World, that I
actually love, is the 180 day window to book your Advanced Dining Reservations,
or ADR’s. Some people consider knowing
where and when you want to eat 6 months ahead a little constraining. For me, it is a relief to have those
decisions made and details taken care of.
I have watched families struggle to make decisions in the middle of
theme parks about dining when they are hot, tired, and hungry. It’s not a good use of vacation time and most
likely, they are not going to find availability, without a long wait, to eat
where they would like. I also witnessed
a man whose family had the Deluxe Dining Plan—3 table service credits per
person per day—and they hadn’t made any ADR’s before arriving. He was a bit peeved that they weren’t going
to be able to use all of their purchased dining credits at table service
restaurants, but instead were using them to purchase counter service meals. He was seeing it as a waste of money and he
was right. A little planning would have
eased his dilemma.
Purchasing—While I don’t go overboard and purchase a whole
new wardrobe before a Disney vacation, I do take stock and see what we might
need. For example, I just picked up a
clear backpack for us to take with us to the parks. The thinking was that it will breeze through
the bag check stations at the front of the park. We have gone through two other backpacks
during our Disney travels, so a new one was in order. I’ve picked up juice boxes as they were on
sale at the grocery store the other day.
We put these in our checked bags, and then keep them in the refrigerator
in our resort room for breakfast on the go.
Poptarts were also on sale and I had a coupon, so they are ready to be packed. I have a coupon for fruit bars that I will
pick up this week-end. Granola bars,
Mountain Dew, and small cereal boxes are also on my list. We mostly eat breakfast in our room or on the
go when visiting Walt Disney World.
The husband got a new pair of tennis shoes for Christmas,
but the boy needs a new pair before we go.
Mine are on their last leg and will most likely not make the return trip
with us. Oh, well, I’ll have to get a
new pair when we get home! We are set
with sandals.
We also pre-purchase our Disney PhotoPass CD before our
trip. The cost of pre-purchasing is $50
less than if we bought the CD at Walt Disney World or upon returning home. I’m okay with paying $99 to get all the
PhotoPass photos from our trip!
I try and spread the pre-trip purchasing out over time, as
not to take out a huge one-time chunk of the household budget. When I was younger, I worked at Wal-Mart in
various positions, but as a cashier I would ring up pre-vacation purchases that
had whopping totals. You could tell by
the items. . . sunscreen, camera film (pre-digital era), books, magazines, over
the counter medicine items, as well as clothing, and of course, I would
typically ask. It is less painful to
spread the pre-trip purchases out over time, which is the benefit of planning
and packing—or at least making your list—early.
It gives you plenty of lead time to prepare for needed items.
The three “P’s” –packing, planning, and purchasing—get me
revved up for a Walt Disney World vacation.
How about you? What trips your
vacation excitement trigger?
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