Day 979: Faith and Trust

As I'm sure you could tell if you went back and read many of my blog posts from the two and a half years of Everyday Disney, I've learned a lot about trust since January of 2013. I honestly believe that when I started this blog I was a lot more trusting of others than I am now. The events that occurred at the beginning of my Freshman Year of college...actually all my freshman year of college...deeply impacted me, and definitely affected my friends here at college. I was wary of so many people for so long, some of which I'm lucky to call great friends now.

Trust, you see, is a difficult thing. It changes over time, and some of us just become more trusting than others. It's a delicate balance between trusting too little and trusting too much, but there are times that one just sort of needs to let go and let things be. Megan and Ashley did a great job of letting go and trusting me in our two Disney trips. It was always busy, and I pretty much had everything planned, but they knew that I knew what I was doing. I was going to get them where they wanted (and needed) to be even if they didn't know it until after it happened. Even more amazing? In June I managed to do it for five other people, and we turned out just fine. Ashley will be doing it again in a few months, although she's going to have a lot more say in our Operation Dole Whip Trip, but you'll find out more about that later.

However, I do have a few things coming up that require others to trust in me. Now feels like a great time for a song from The Jungle Book, even if they really just need to watch Peter Pan, but that's beside the point. I'm planning a trip with several of my friends, or at least I hope I am, and I think there's a good portion of many of us that already feels the tension. Several of them have never been to Disney World before, just as Megan and Ashley hadn't before the band trip last June, and that means that they have blank slates. Whatever we do will make a huge impact on them, and that means I want to do things right.

The problem? There's five of us, and we all have very different interests. The even bigger problem? I'm not so sure they're going to just put their trust in me and my ability to get us around at Disney. It's a huge worry of mine that we'll get there and they'll all be so focused on what they want to do that things won't work out so everyone can do something that interests them. Disney is filled with so many spectacular things, and I know each of them like the back of my hand. Unfortunately, as much as they may want to disagree, they don't. Disney is my turf, at least in comparison to them, and when we go, I'm the Mama Swan that leads the little Ducklings (yes, I know baby Swans aren't called Ducklings but I just like The Ugly Duckling ok?). If they can find the ability to put their faith and trust in me, I completely trust myself to make the trip magical for them, and that's what I hope the end result will be.

Have a magical day!

(Note: This blog post was written on September 25 due to a tight schedule).

Day 822: Planning Ahead

One of the most important parts of your Disney Vacation starts long before the actual trip...and that's planning. Since the introduction of My Magic Plus, My Disney Experience and Fastpass+, planning ahead is more important than ever, and my trip in June is no exception. But instead of just telling you about my plans, I figured I'd take a step back and use my plans to explain HOW I plan ahead, as I know many of you are probably taking Disney Trips of your own and I happened to be working on my own plans just the other day. Up until a year ago, I honestly wasn't much for planning ahead when it comes to these things, preferring to go with the flow and use my Parkhopper to its fullest, but things have changed, and in the process of developing my own planning strategy, I definitely looked at how other's planned as well. In other words, hopefully this post will help some of you the same way others helped me!

Also, just a note, this post is referencing planning after you've already established when your trip is and have made a hotel reservation. For instance, you might know that you're staying at The Contemporary Resort from August 7-14. Additionally, this post is mainly geared towards Walt Disney World, but you can apply a lot of it to Disneyland too!

Step 1: Park Hours

Once I've got the dates for my trip set in stone, the first thing I do is locate the tentative park hours for when I'll be in the Disney Parks. These are relatively easy to find right on the Walt Disney World (Or Disneyland) website, but HERE'S a link to the WDW Calendar with Park Hours, just for your convenience. These hours are especially important as they change both daily and seasonally for the parks. I know that in June, the first night we're there, Animal Kingdom is only open until 5, but by the end of the trip it's open until 8, just because of the new season that's starting when we're there. I've found that the easiest thing to do is make a list of the park hours each day and then come back to them later when you're making more concrete plans, but they definitely give you an immediate idea of what the schedule will look like. 

Step 2: Want-To-Do Lists

With so much to do at the Walt Disney World Resort and so little time in which to accomplish things, I prefer to go through and make a list of things I hope to do on my trip, long before I set foot on Disney Property. Generally I have three sections on my list, which I keep organized in a document on Google Drive for easy access from any computer or my phone: Places/Things to Eat, Video Ideas and a General Things To Do. Places and Things to Eat is pretty self explanatory, although I find this is more important when I'm not already making reservations. We usually does one Advanced Dining Reservation per day, composed of a list we made as a family months before those reservations can be made, although in June we're running on more of a counter service basis, so this list becomes especially important. Once I've got a general idea of where I'd like to eat throughout the trip, I can go back when making finalized plans and insert those locations or treats to specific days or times. 

Video Ideas is more of a personal thing, as although I have completed work on the Seymour High School Band Trip Video, I want to keep up my YouTubing and Videoing, including something beyond just my usual vlogs. For instance, in June I'm planning a video focusing around doing Four Parks in One Day and another featuring Classic Disney Foods. I'll go back to this list later, probably a week or two before my trip, and narrow down the exact logistics of what I want to film and when, but for the most part it's just somewhere I can get my ideas down. The same goes for the General List of Things I'd like to do, such as an extra ride on Space Mountain, attend Star Wars Weekends, or head over to the Art of Animation Resort just for some extra fun. 

Step 3: Schedule It Out

Once you have park hours down, you can make yourself a rough schedule of where you'll be each day. While previously you could definitely just go and decide each morning where you'll spend the day, that's mostly a thing of the past thanks to making Fastpass+ reservations up to 60 days in advance. Generally, once I've picked a park for a particular day I'll highlight those park hours and then jot down some of what I'd like to accomplish each day, like seeing Festival of Fantasy or Illuminations. This is also the point where I add in the list of where I'd like to eat as well as any other important information. Finally, you'll want to get a general idea of what you'll want for Fastpasses each day of your trip, and once you schedule those ahead of time, write those in as a part of the plan as well. By the time you're finished, you'll have something that looks sort of like the following, which is part of my plan from this past January: 

You can then throw it all into a Google Doc if you'd like, which is what I usually do a week or so before the trip, making it easy for me to access it all from my phone at any point. 

Of course, the main thing with all of this is to remember a couple of things. One, there's only so much time in a day, and while last June on the band trip and this past January we accomplished more than I ever thought possible, you're going to have to make sacrifices and prioritize what you want to get done while you're there. After all, if you're number one concern is to have a Dole Whip, you're going to make sure you get one even if it requires you to skip a turn on Big Thunder Mountain. Likewise, while planning ahead is great, be aware that the parks are busy, lines are long, and things definitely change. Be patient and flexible with your schedule, making full use of your My Disney Experience App to reschedule Fastpasses if you need to while in the parks. If you get discouraged the second Tower of Terror is broken down, your entire day will be ruined, and that's the last thing you want at the most Magical Place on Earth. 

Ultimately, you're going to need a plan going into your day at Disney, especially if you're only there for a limited amount of time. It takes some time to figure out how it all works, but to be completely honest, one of my favorite parts of a Disney trip is what comes before the trip itself, so make it fun! Think about how you're going to meet Chewbacca at Star Wars Weekends, ride Splash Mountain for the first (or 50th) time, and get excited about your trip! 

Do you have any tips for planning your Disney Vacation? How do you go about scheduling? Let me know in the comments below!

Have a magical day!

Day 564: For the Next One

It took me forever to find it (I really need to be on Pinterest less), but I finally found the meme I was looking for that goes along with this blog post!

My friends have now been to Walt Disney World once, and that's a huge milestone for them! It's something I've been waiting for for years! But here's the best part: they're going again, and that makes me infinitely excited. But it also means that we are in the midst of planning the next trip, which always makes you feel better about life.

Perhaps the best part about going in January is the fact that we'll get to experience all the Christmas stuff in addition to the rest of the parks, something I'm pretty sure my roommates are excited about. However, since we did so much stuff in June it's a bit awkward trying to figure out what we want to for sure do again in addition to the things we have yet to do.

But the nice thing about our next trip is that we have the blessing of time, especially since we'll be staying on Property, and we're taking everything one park at a time. While Parkhoppers are great, we went for the singular park option, just to give us the greatest amount of time possible, and we'll be using it all for sure. There's just so much to see and I intend to make sure my friends get to see bunches of new stuff on this next trip while also going back to see some of their favorites they saw in June.

Of course, what's important here is that we all get to take a trip together, and I couldn't be more excited!

Have a magical day!

(Note: This blog post was written on September 18).

Day 11: Disney Vacation Videos

I'm not sure about you, but all throughout my childhood, my family has seemed to gather a whole bunch of Disney vacation planning videos...both on DVD and VHS. While I'll probably talk more in depth about each video I have later in time, I just wanted to talk about them in general.

For instance, there's nothing like watching the old videos from the 80s, back before it was more than the Magic Kingdom and Epcot, and looking at how much the parks have changed. And yet, I somehow remember so much of what used to be there. I have the "A Day at Magic Kingdom" and "A Day at Epcot Center" VHS's, and it's really amazing to see how much that video is still used today. I am watching my second Disney video of the day, and video from those original videos is still seen in the footage today. I think that it shows just how constant some things are...and how amazing it is how the same attractions continue to enlighten and inspire people today the same way they did when those attractions first opened.

And then there's the Millennium Celebration Video I have from EPCOT. I'm not really sure what caused my parents to buy it (as I wouldn't remember...I was five at the time), but I'm sure glad they did. The Millennium Celebration (and I'll talk more about this another time), was basically what I really remember from my childhood. It's the first things from Walt Disney World that I remember...and that's pretty amazing if you ask me. The music and the celebration of that Millennium inspired me to follow my dream...and I'm pretty sure that I'll continue to listen to the music from Illuminations long after it stops it's presentations at EPCOT (Although I hope that never happens).

There's the Walt Disney story DVDs, which, while all similar, each have their own character and each show a different side of the man behind the dream. And the Imagineering videos...generally showcasing something different within the Disney Parks. And, of course, the lovely Disney Vacation Planning videos...which are great for seeing how the resort has changed little by little...and to remember things that have gone within the past years that we otherwise might forget (although I don't think I could ever forget any of it).

I'm sure I have plenty more when it comes to Disney videos...but those are the ones on the top of my head. I cherish them...each and every single one...and often talk about how in the future I'm going to need to buy five or six VHS players so I'll always be able to watch them, even when my VHS player breaks. I'll just have back-ups! That or I feel Disney should re-release all of these videos on one big DVD...like a historical Disney thing. I don't know, and it might not ever happen...but I think it'd be cool.

What Disney Parks/Vacation Videos do you have? And which is your favorite?

Have a magical day!