Day 1468: Pushed Back

In 31 trips to Walt Disney World, I've only really been drastically delayed once. It was the middle of July and we were heading down to Walt Disney World to celebrate my birthday and high school graduation, and a round of severe thunderstorms left us at home instead. We were able to get out the next morning, thankfully, but other than that, the most I've really been delayed that I can remember is a few hours. 

That streak is changing this trip though, as I was initially going to be heading down to Florida early Tuesday morning, with plans of Epcot and Spaceship Earth and dinner at Nine Dragons all set to go. Wednesday would bring an all time favorite that I never seem to miss: Afternoon Tea, and from there I'd spend my afternoon with the Disney princesses at Magic Kingdom. But I won't be flying out early Tuesday morning, and I won't be flying out Wednesday morning either. Instead, my flight to Florida, with a side trip to Dallas to change planes, will be Wednesday night, and luckily I was able to change my reservation for Afternoon Tea to another day. 

Due to a death in my family, I'll be here in Wisconsin for the funeral in a couple of days, but that's alright. In fact, I could have been in Florida and may have had to find my way back, but I no longer have to worry about that. Yes, I'll have a couple less days at Walt Disney World, but it'll still be waiting for me on Wednesday night and the rest of the week. I'll still get to attend the Epcot International Festival of the Arts and the Carrie Fisher Tribute. I'll still get to do all those wonderful things and still be here with my family, and if I'm being honest, there's no greater gift than that. 

Have a magical day! 

Day 1302: Off Again

You know, at this point, I've been home for less than a week after a 10 day excursion to Colorado and back, driving 3500 miles across the country. I visited 8 different states in those 10 days, and now I've spent a meager 7 days at home, catching up on the blog, editing videos, transferring pictures, doing laundry, watching plenty of Scandal on Netflix, and preparing for yet another trip home. 

Yes, home. 

I'm excited to announce that I'll be in Florida for the next week! Part of the time will be spent at a National Youth Event volunteering, an opportunity that I'm really excited about and looking forward to. This trip will bring plenty of firsts for me, including my first trip on Soarin' Around the World and to the new Frozen Ever After attraction, among many other things, but it also is a celebration of the last 20 years of my life, as I'll be heading on my 30th trip to Walt Disney World. Following the conference I'll be spending a few extra days on property to celebrate this anniversary, as well as my birthday, and to do a bit of extra work before the school year begins. That means footage for new vlogs and other YouTube videos that will appear on my YouTube channel over the next several months. 

As always, Everyday Disney will be on hiatus until my return, when I'll have an opportunity to blog about everything I had a chance to see, and I know there will be plenty of updates after this trip. In addition, you can follow along in real time by following any of my social media. I post regularly on Instagram and Tumblr, as well as Twitter. I'll try to do some snapchats while I'm in the parks over the weekend and early next week, and maybe I'll throw in a Periscope too, you never know! 

I've got to go finish packing, but I'll see you all next week! 

Have a magical day!

Day 1268: A Box of Crayons

While trying frantically to come up with a blog post for today, the thought of my go-to post came up once again: color palettes. I started these back in 2014 after being inspired by paper or something like that, and then decided to continue the series last year when pictures showed up in my TimeHop. Since my laptop completely crashed last year, leaving me without any of the files from the first two and a half years of Everyday Disney, including the color palettes, I thought it might be time to bring the idea back out with some newer pictures!

I've had a lot of Magic Kingdom and Epcot in the past, so this time I tried to do more of Hollywood Studios, with a couple of notable additions from a Disney Resort and Disneyland!

To check out where this rather simple bit of Disney started, read the original post HERE, and then read the follow up HERE! Both feature several very colorful pictures from Walt Disney World, and now that there's three posts like this, I'm certain that they'll continue. Maybe it'll be a yearly thing from now on? I mean, after all, the Disney Parks certainly seem to feature more colors than the world's largest box of crayons! 

Have a magical day! 

Day 1171: Help Me Plan!

In an attempt to catch things up, my hope is to start with today's post and then work backwards over the next few days/week. That way, I can always do the current day's post while still adding in the month+ of posts I've missed, because let's be honest, it's been a while. School has, unfortunately, kept me plenty busy with midterms, meetings, performances, homework, traveling, conferences, and extreme twists and turns that have me and many of my friends thinking long and hard about what we're doing here at SNC. Because of all of that, I certainly don't get to writing as much as I'd always like, but as a wise old friend once reminded us, the past is in the past. After all, there are plenty of exciting adventures coming up in the next few months, including at least two Disney trips, which brings me to the actual point of this post: planning for May!

As you all know very well, I love to incorporate different elements and challenges into my Disney trips to more or less keep things interesting, but I also do it so I have a chance to explore as much of the parks as I can. Even in my 28 trips, there's still so many things I haven't experienced, and since both my trips this year are relatively different, I'm ready to try as many new things as possible, which is where YOU come into play!

Where I usually plan out everything myself, I thought that this May it might be fun to let all of you help me out with some of those decisions. I am, after all, a creature of habit and get into some serious ruts that probably prevent me from experiencing spectacular opportunities that I may not even know about! Basically, what I hope to do is sort of a "Choose Your Own Adventure" type of thing, only it'll be YOU choosing MY adventure instead.

To participate, just fill out THIS GOOGLE POLL, which asks questions about your favorite Disney World treats, attractions, and experiences, along with a few more specific questions here and there about what you think I should do on my trip. It's completely anonymous, and I'd love for as many people as possible to help me plan! I'll be sure to film all of it too so you can see how everything worked out in the end, although with everything there is to see at Walt Disney World, I'm sure it'll be quite the adventure.

Have a magical day!

Day 1105: Chillcation

To say we thought long and hard about what we wanted out of our latest trip to Walt Disney World would be an understatement, because planning for "Operation Dole Whip" started almost a year ago, soon after returning from our last trip to the most magical place on earth. Somehow we managed to convince our parents (Franks and mine alike) to let us head back home for an eight day trip only a year after our January Extended Family Vacation that included eldest sister Megan and younger brother Jonny. This time, however, the middle "siblings" headed out on our own with Mom.

Considering the fact that this would be Frank's (remember...her real name is Ashley!) third time to Walt Disney World, we put in some extra thought as to what we might make different about this trip in comparison to the other two. The first trip for my dear friend came as a part of the 2014 High School, and that trip, even by my standards, was insane. Not necessarily insane in a bad way, but just crazy busy as I attempted to pack as much into a few days and hours in the parks as possible. What we accomplished I'm still incredibly proud of, but it certainly didn't leave a lot of time to relaxing. Let's be honest, it hardly left time for walking.

Last January was a bit better, but there was still a lot they had yet to see, so we definitely kept ourselves moving then too, exploring resorts, hidden corners of the parks, and seeing as much as we could in our 9 day trip. I like to think they enjoyed it, especially considering the fact that we have pictures from that trip scattered pretty much everywhere we can find.

But this January was going to be different, and we knew that from the start. Keeping in mind that the operation name of the trip was inspired by our craving for Dole Whips, it shouldn't be surprising that we had plans to slow things down a bit. You know, enjoy the little things. And enjoy them we did. Our first day in Florida was probably one of the more relaxing days, and that's why I figured I'd share some of the things we did to kick off our "Chillcation." After all, there's plenty to do at Disney without really doing much of anything, and I firmly believe that those things are just as important as running yourself out of energy in the parks themselves.

In our typical fashion, we started out the trip by "chilling" by the pool at Old Key West, my home DVC resort and home away from home for the week. Having more or less grown up at Old Key West, it was awesome to be able to share it on such a deep level with one of my best friends, and I hope I can have the same opportunity with Shovell soon! It was, honestly, a bit cold by Florida standards for the majority of our trip, but the first day found us in the 60's and much warmer than the snowstorm and negative temperatures we'd left back in Wisconsin. 

Following our relaxation by the pool, we headed to Olivia's for some lunch, and boy were we starving. In fact, we were so hungry that we basically just told the waitress to bring us some food and ate it so quickly that we forgot to take a picture until after it was already gone. What was once on the plate was some spectacular buttermilk chicken, mashed potatoes and mixed vegetables, all with a delicious gravy on top. We actually loved it so much the first time that we returned on our last day for a second portion, and I definitely recommend it if you find yourself over at Old Key West! 

By the time we finished our lunch our room was ready, so we caught a ride with bell services and headed to our room for a much needed nap (I only slept about an hour the night before in between driving two hours to Milwaukee in a snowstorm and a 3 A.M. wake up call to fly down to Orlando). I honestly didn't really want to get up and already felt like I could sleep for a week, but even 45 minutes helped before we were off to my beloved Epcot. 

As you saw up above, there's always time to stop for pictures with Trash Cans, which is sort of an inside joke with my family (long story short my brother has a weird thing with Trash Cans), and pictures like that became a sort of standard throughout our trip, which I'm sure you'll see later in a few other posts. We really ended up documenting the off kilter things we did rather than the more common experiences posted by many, and that's certainly something I loved about this trip.

One of those off kilter experiences is certainly my ability to run into my favorite Disney artist, Larry Dotson. My parents brought home one of his prints for me in 2004, which still remains my favorite of the prints I own today, and they started a whole new addiction. Now I must own somewhere along the lines of 15-20 of his various prints from Walt Disney World, and I usually track one down each time I'm in Florida. Of course, I've also had the wonderful opportunity to meet him in person various times, and when I learned his last day for the winter would be at Epcot the same day I happened to be arriving, I made sure to stop in and find a new addition to my collection. 

From there we had plenty of other experiences, but there's seven other blog posts to help narrate the rest of my trip, but I think you can sort of get the idea. It's certainly amazing to see what you're missing at Walt Disney World if you slow down and look around, and that's what a chillcation is really all about. 

Have a magical day!

(Note: This blog post was written on January 22 due to travel).

1104: Travels

What do you mean I'm leaving on vacation this afternoon?

Even with the band trip video finished and a recital played and a suitcase [mostly] packed, there's still a bit of work to be finished before I head off to Florida, including a bit of information here on Everyday Disney!

As you might know, because I'll be gone, Everyday Disney will be put on hold until January 18 or 19 (depending on my schedule). However, that doesn't mean I'll be gone completely! My social media hiatus I started at the beginning of the year has come to an end after a week, so you can follow any of those accounts listed on the side of the page to keep up with my adventures (especially Instagram!)

If you don't have an Instagram though, never fear! You can see all of my pictures right here on the blog at the top of the page, and I'll also be posting them on Twitter as often as possible. In addition, this trip I'm going to bring in some Snapchat! I tested it out while at Disneyland this past August and found that I really liked it, so you can follow my account there for daily updates from Walt Disney World! And of course, when I do return I'll be updating Everyday Disney to include a recap of the trip, and new videos will appear on my YouTube channel again starting the last week in January!

And if you get really bored and start to miss Everyday Disney I encourage you to go back and maybe read some older posts that you may have missed! If you need somewhere to start, you can find my lists of favorite blog posts from the past three years on the following posts:

2013 (Part 1 | Part 2)
2014 (Part 1 | Part 2)
2015 (Part 1 | Part 2)

Otherwise, I'll see you all in a couple of weeks!

Until then, have a magical day!

Day 1100: Hot or Cold

Leading up to every trip, regardless of where I travel, I tend to check out the weather forecast for while we're there, and thanks to technology, you can often check up to ten days in advance...although it's usually not correct that far out. This trip is a perfect example of incorrect weather forecasts, simply because they change by the day.

January in Florida seems to be notorious for changing weather, much like Wisconsin is all year long. As you can see in the picture, last January when we were there we went from shorts and t-shirts to bundled up in as many layers as we could find, and it seems that this January won't be much different...just with more of the bundled up part. After last year, Frank and I have decided that we're not traveling in winter without our coats again, so at least we'll have those along this time in case Mother Nature decides it's time for Florida to have a cold spell.

This back and forth weather does cause a few problems when trying to pack though. I honestly feel like I have half my closet in my suitcase, and even with trying to wear my thickest sweater on the plane, it's still pretty much filled up. We may only be staying in Florida for eight days this trip, but it seems like I have over two weeks worth of clothes, simply because I need layers upon layers to make sure I'm set for anything the weather might throw at us.

How I'm going to have room for all the stuff I'll buy, on the other hand, I'm not too sure.

Have a magical day!

Day 1099: The Daily Grind

Usually when you finish the semester you get to take at least a bit of a break, but it's been right back to the daily grind for me. A busy semester has put the editing of the band trip video from this past summer very, very behind, so now I'm hurrying to finish it before I head off to Florida. And so, once again, my life is filled with coffee and days sitting in front of my computer, which means that, really, life isn't that interesting.

Actually, the most interesting parts of my day are my drive to college (where I work in the library) and my drive home. Sometimes there's Starbucks involved, sometimes I'll go grab food, and sometimes I'll just grab a pop tart from the vending machine because it's too cold to go outside willingly if you don't have to. As you can see, it's a bit snowy here.

And so, I don't even have much to report, although sometimes that's just how things are. There's always something that needs our attention before we can turn our focus to more important things...like Disney vacations. It's the Disney fan's favorite thing to do after a long day of hard work...plan a trip to Disney, although we'd probably settle for a Disney movie in the meantime.

As for me, it's back to the daily grind, because I'll be here at school doing this tomorrow and the day after that and the day after that and the day after that and the day after...wait, then I go to Disney. I should probably get back to that video editing...

Have a magical day!

Day 949: Before Disney

Let's be honest, we all have that set of stuff we do before we head to the Disney Parks, and it turns out we all tend to do the same things. Whether it's saving money or going on a diet or just planning in general, we've got to get it all done, and with my Disneyland trip only days away, I'm no exception to this pre-trip ritual.

So of course I put it into a video:

This video was actually one of the most fun to make so far, despite the fact that it was filmed amongst like three other videos and I got ahead on everything before leaving. Although, here's a fun fact for those of you who read my blog: in one section of the video I "Go on a Diet" and eat the Mickey cookies instead of Peas. Why do I mention this? I actually HATE Peas. They're my absolute least favorite food and I avoid them at all costs, but they were the easiest to grab green vegetable from our garden without actually making food. So yeah, I'd pick the cookies every single time. Or anything other than Peas really. 

What are some of the things you always do before heading on a Disney vacation? Let me know in the comments below! 

Have a magical day! 

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 809: Timehop

As a frequent user of social media, Timehop has definitely become a part of my life. At first I was skeptical, like I am with most new social media things, but I eventually got on board and now I feel like there's just no going back. But what I love about the app is that it DOES allow you to go back in history and see what you were doing a number of years ago. Sometimes it's amusing, like the fact that not long ago I had a reminder that a year ago my roommate, Megan, "kicked me out" of our dorm room because I watched a sneak peek for OUAT. Occasionally it's sort of inspiring, like the fact that a year ago I was just starting with my tweets from OUAT Cast Members and now I'm going full scale not only with my favorite fairy tale actors and actresses, but others as well, and for the most part, I'm good at it...not to brag or anything.

But sometimes...sometimes timehop is just darn depressing. As if I wasn't already bummed out enough about the fact that it seems like everyone I know is in Florida over Spring Break, my timehop has to remind me that yes, indeed, one year ago I was in Florida over Spring Break. I'm getting about 20 pictures from Walt Disney World on my timehop feed each day and it's...sad. Depressing. And it most certainly makes me miss home.

So in honor of my trip a year ago, I've put together a few more color palettes with some of my favorite and most colorful Instagram photos from the trip. If you missed the first edition of Color Palettes, you can find it HERE, and since I had so much fun with it the first time, it felt like the perfect way to remember a former trip, especially when I Instagramed almost constantly during it.

Ahh yes, my March 2014 Trip. There are some seriously great memories stacked into those Five Days, and to be 100% honest, it's one of my favorite trips. I mean, I met so many people, had so many great experiences, got to see the Flower and Garden Festival for the first time AND got to film throughout the four parks for the band trip video. All in all, it was literally amazing. 

And I miss it...a lot. Soon though. Soon I'll be back with yet another trip! But until then...

Have a magical day!

(P.S. I'll be back tomorrow...you don't have to wait until June for another blog post, Haha!)

Day 721: Music, Music, Everywhere

Editing a huge amount of video for the Band Trip also means that I've spent my fair share of time trying to find the perfect music for each segment. I've had a bunch of people compliment me on my ability to find just that perfect song for each section of video I edit, regardless of if it's at Disney or not. I suppose I have to agree with them. Going back and watching the various segments is pretty awesome, especially when the music works really well.

However, there's also a downside to editing the video. I never really get to "See" it. You know? I spend all my time editing the video, and I can definitely be proud of it, but I never get to experience it for the first time, because I created it. I have my favorite moments here and there, but it's not the same thing everyone else will see when the entire video is completed.

The other downside is by the time it's finished it will be at least 45 minutes long, and that means I have to sit through 45 minutes of video multiple times. As if I haven't seen some of this enough already. This must be what it's like to be in television or film production.

Anyway, it takes quite a bit to find those perfect songs, and honestly I'm not even sure how I do it. The only way I really know how to express it is that I spend a ton of time listening to music. I'm always listening to music. ALWAYS. Right now it's the soundtrack to Spaceship Earth, as odd and ironic as that is, simply because I've been listening to a lot of Disney Parks music today. With an upcoming trip it feels right. But normally I'm listening to Pandora or iTunes radio or a new soundtrack or something or other, and eventually you just come up with the right song. Occasionally, the right song will appear out of no where (I happened to hear a song on the NASA channel the other day on TV and made sure to figure out what it was because it just felt like a song I could use for something in the future), and sometimes you'll search for ages before finding just that right one. I have a playlist of all the possible music for the band trip video on iTunes, and I continuously add to it as I go, to the point where now I've only use around 8 songs, but the playlist has over 30 various tracks.

It's a long process.

Now, if only I could figure out a way to fit the following song into the Band Trip Video...

Have a magical day!

(Note: This blog post was written on December 29 due to Holidays and Computer Issues).

Day 719: Making A Count

Because I'm almost always counting down to my next Disney trip, I'm always looking for new ways to actually "count down." I have, of course, the apps on my phone, which generally works pretty well for me, and there's the little white board I keep at college with the latest month or week value until my next trip. In the past I've done paper chains and the paper countdown and beads and basically, you name it, I've done it. 

So when I saw this Disney Sponsored countdown, I had to take a look at it. I saw it on Pinterest earlier this month and immediately made a mental note to do this myself. Of course, I haven't done it yet. It seems a little bit pointless at the current moment because I only have three days left until I leave for Florida, but you can be that in the future I'll be making this countdown: 

You can find all the information on this new Countdown HERE, and I can't wait to share mine with you guys when I set it up in the new year! 

Have a magical day!

(Note: This blog post was written on December 29 due to holidays and computer issues).

Day 717: Frozen Swag

Who doesn't love Disney themed shirts? I mean, really. A while back I posted about the shirts I got from Hot Topic, and here's another one for you. But first, a backstory.

A few weeks ago, during my last week at SNC, I headed to Walmart with one of my friends and happened to see a Christmas Disney Shirt. It had Mickey Mouse and was basically patterned to be a Disney Christmas Sweater, and I loved it. Of course, in that moment I didn't buy it because did I really need it? No. So I left without that new shirt.

And I really wish I had bought it.

I went back three days later only to find that the shirt had sold out. So I went to another Walmart. Sold out there too. I looked online. SOLD OUT. Which left me with a serious dilemma. I had already planned a day in for this Christmas or sweater theme and I basically had no further options. That is, until I came up with a backup plan.

Hot Topic has had these Frozen things for a while, and besides my Frozen dress I got on my last trip to Hot Topic, I didn't have any other Frozen themed stuff. I fixed that:

You could say that I'm pretty prepared for Disney World with my new Frozen Swag, and yes, I'm very excited about it. 

Have a magical day!

(Note: This blog post was written on December 29 due to Holidays and Computer Issues).

Day 701: 30 Days

Here we are again, at the one month mark before my next trip to Walt Disney World. It's been a really odd schedule for my family in recent years, with odd summer trips thrown in, and then that trip in March and the band trip in June. Normally we head down in November-January, but that hasn't happened for me since 2012. I guess that means I'm excited to head back in a month that I'm totally used to, even if it will be strange going so early in January. We're starting off 2015 with a bang I guess.

The funny thing is planning for this trip has been a big odd. We knew we were going in January before we even left in June, and then when we got back from the band trip, first Ashley joined on, followed by Megan, and now all six of us are headed down. It'll be a new experience for every single one of us, and I couldn't be more excited, hence the fact that I haven't stopped talking about it on the blog for months.

But it also means that waiting for this trip to get here has been a long wait. Countdowns started the second we got back in June, and with each passing day I can't decide if I get more homesick or excited. Granted, according to the order of Disney depression, right about now is when my homesickness gets pretty bad, at the six month point (we would have returned from Disney just under six months ago when I'm writing this). And editing excessive amounts of band trip video hasn't helped that homesickness either.

However, there are a few things that I'm really excited about on this trip, especially when it comes to sharing with my friends:

1. The Osborne Festival of Dancing Lights

I'm not sure why this is even here. I guess the last time we saw the lights they made a good enough impression for me to eagerly await a return trip to see them. As I blogged about over a year ago, I never really liked Hollywood Studios (even back when it was still MGM). Maybe it's because it's one of the Christmasy things we get a chance to do, even though it's the very, very end of the Christmas season (We're actually seeing them on the last day before they take them back down), or maybe it's just because it's something they had no chance at all to see in June, but it's still something I've talked endlessly about over the past few years. Who knows.

2. Dapper Day

Dapper Day usually occurs right when we're not in Florida, meaning that we don't really get a chance to participate. Oddly enough, however, it was my brother who brought the idea up to me a number of weeks ago, that we make our own Dapper Day during the trip. With a bit of careful fastpass arranging, I made it possible for us to dress a bit more dapper on a day in the middle of the trip. Have I spent a huge amount of time trying to figure out what it is that I'm going to wear on Dapper Day? Yeah, maybe I have, but it'll be worth it.

3. Food

We hit a few restaurants in June, but there are a ton that they've yet to experience, and I'm pretty excited about sharing some of them. For instance, there's still some first experiences Ashley and Megan have to have, such as their first character meal (we actually have two planned!), their first time at Garden Grill with the moving restaurant, and, of course, their first chance to experience a restaurant outside of the parks. Which leads us to the next thing...

4. Resorts

Disney World is home to so many different and completely unique resorts, of which I talk endlessly about. They've come to accept my lingo (OKW-Old Key West) as part of my language, and they make notes to remember what it is that I'm talking about when I use GF in a sentence about Disney (Grand Floridian). Luckily we have time planned in specifically to go and see some of the resorts, plus we get to stay at one that not even I've stayed at: Saratoga Springs!

5. First Plane Rides

Honestly, I hate planes. I had a bad experience a number of years ago (no, not a crash or anything like that. I was sick, it didn't end well), and so I get extremely anxious whenever I fly. I suppose I'll get used to it eventually, considering I'll probably fly more often in my future than I have so far in my life. However, I do, for some reason, like airports, and anxiety aside, I'm excited that I get to take two of my best friends on their very first plane ride, and in the case of Megan, I'm excited to show her MCO, which is yet another term she's come to understand. It was one of those Proud Moments of Lizzie's Life. And Ashley? Don't worry. You'll make it through the plane ride in one piece and we'll have a wonderful time at Disney!

Have a magical day!

(Note: This blog post was written on December 19 due to finals).

Day 690: Where in the World

One of my all time favorite games is "Where in the World." It's pretty popular among the entire Disney fandom to be completely honest, with just about everyone playing the game. But recently I've been playing it in a whole new way. This past week, someone Megan knows has been at Walt Disney World, and so she'll pull up the latest pictures and we'll be sad together about the fact that we're not at Disney. It's a common thing these days as we approach the next trip.

Actually it makes me pretty proud a lot of the time because Shovell will come in and it'll be a picture from some super random place on property and she'll know exactly where it was taken. That doesn't happen very often. Normally people don't know where stuff is, even my family once and a while. But yesterday Megan came in and couldn't figure out where the people were, and to be completely honest, I couldn't even figure it out at first.

We knew they had been at Hollywood Studios earlier in the day, and it definitely looked like they were waiting to eat dinner somewhere. I just couldn't figure out where that place was. It took me a really long time, but eventually I thought about it. I knew where it wasn't, but considering the fact that I haven't been to every single place constantly, there's a significant part of me that won't recognize things right away. However, it's pretty easy to narrow things down, especially when you have an idea.

In one of the photos they were holding a menu, definitely the only thing needed to figure out where they were dining. The menu honestly gave it away:

Once we'd narrowed it down to 50's Prime Time Cafe, all I had to do was search for pictures of the waiting area, and sure enough, that's where they took the first picture. The chairs at the counter matched up and so did one of the couches. Easy enough, right? 

The irony is that in just over a month, we'll be in that same room. We're eating at 50's Prime Time in January, just because it's one of the best themed restaurants at Walt Disney World, if you ask me at least. As a kid, it was my absolute least favorite restaurant because of a bad experience with the "no elbows on the table rule." I was three. I couldn't reach my milkshake. You can figure out the rest. But it's just one of those things that I felt my friends should experience, so we're headed there for what is sure to be one of the most interesting meals I've ever had at Walt Disney World. 

As for Where in the World, that's it for this time, but maybe this will be a new series kind of thing. I love trying to figure out where pictures are taken at Disney, and I definitely can see this as a regular part of my daily Disney experience. After all, you should see some of the pictures my family takes. It's always an adventure trying to figure out where they were taken.

Have a magical day!