Disney Wear Leads To Disney Conversations

Gotta get my Mickey on!  That’s what I’m thinking almost every day when I get dressed.  Typically, someone will notice Mickey on something I am wearing.  It if it is everyday wear, it could be finding Mickey on my watch or earrings.  If I’m headed to the pool, it could be the Mickey visor.

 

These visible reminders of my Disney fan status cause inquiries; questions.  Here are some of those questions and the typical responses:

When’s your next trip?  I usually have a quick numeric answer to this question.  Other questions that fall into this category are “how many days until your next trip” or “how long until your next trip.”  Again, typically answered with a number.  There have been, on occasion, slight delays in my response if I haven’t been paying attention to a countdown. 

Do you go every year?  Hmm. . . well, yes.  Sometimes twice a year, but I don’t usually say that.  Math comes in handy for this answer as well.  The boy will be 10 during our 10^th trip to the World.  He was 4 years old on his first trip.  And, he will have experienced 5 Disney cruises, again, the first one when he 4.  You do the math.

Have you ever been to Disneyland?  No.  We’ve been to L.A. to sail on a Disney ship, but it was cost prohibitive for us to add on a Disneyland trip at the time.  Would we like to give Disneyland a try?  You bet.

Where do you stay?  On property.  This is usually the only answer that is needed for a brief interaction.  If the question asker wants to know specifics, I can expand my answer to the various resorts—Caribbean Beach twice, Port Orleans Riverside five times, Port Orleans French Quarter once, and Coronado Springs once—as of this date.  We’ve got Coronado Springs booked for our next trip.

Don’t you want to go anywhere else?  Sure.  With Disney!  Between Disney parks world-wide, Disney Cruise Line, and Adventures By Disney tours, we could travel the world with Disney—in Disney style and with the exceptional Disney service.  Time and money are our only constraints. 

Have you ever not done Disney?  Yes.  We went to Orlando for Spring Break one year, stayed off property, and went to Universal Studios, Islands of Adventure, Sea World, and Aquatica.  We had a good time, yet spent much of our vacation comparing it to Disney.  Same with our all-inclusive vacation to Cancun one winter which we compared to cruising with Disney.  We needed to have those experiences so we could decide what we liked and how we wanted to spend our vacation dollars.  And, we might have those experiences again.  The husband and the boy have a desire to return to Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure.  But I may have figured out a way to get them what they want and just step foot outside the Disney bubble—but that is for another post.

Is your house decorated like Disney?  No.  We don’t have Mickey Mouse themed rooms or any themed rooms for that matter.  However, one would find Disney touches sprinkled throughout our home from the Disney art that we have collected each trip, to our family vacation photos, to the Mickey/Minnie salt and pepper shakers in the kitchen—which were a gift by the way.  And, if you stopped by our house for a bowl of ice cream, you might notice that the ice cream scoop had the familiar red, black, white, and yellow motif of a recognizable character, or that the spoon you were given has three holes on the handle resembling the shape of Mickey’s head.

Why do you keep going back?  Ah, the ever elusive question that begs for a description of the intangible Disney magic.  This question is sometimes best answered with more questions.  Have you ever revisited a place because you enjoyed it?  I can also personalize this question if I have some background information about the person asking.  For example, one of my colleagues who is a sports enthusiast asked, “How many times can you meet Mickey?” with an implied tone of isn’t once enough.  I responded with “How many times can you watch a softball game?”  There was a pause followed by “I get it.”  All I needed to do was contextualize the feeling and situation.

Most of the time I am prepared for the questions and not surprised, yet there are those rare occasions when a Disney question catches me off guard..  I’m just grateful that folks feel that they can ask the questions.  And, I don’t mind at all talking about Disney!