People often ask me what it is that we love so much about Disney World, why we go nearly every year, and why wouldn't we want to go somewhere else. They also often say, "man, how do y'all afford that every year", assuming that Disney World costs a small fortune. So...I thought I might take a few minutes and tell you why we like to call Walt Disney World our home away from home and just how it is that we fork over the millions that it cost to visit there year after year.
Let me begin by explaining that my love for all things Disney started out very early on but was more of a love for all things Mickey Mouse. I remember going to the world as a small child and feeling as though this mouse who wore red pants with yellow buttons was so much larger than life. He was such a happy icon, always associated with such magical things. I was right away fascinated. We visited the Magic Kingdom a couple more times as a family and I grew more in love with the place each time. We had some very close family friends who lived in Florida so our visits didn't consist of only Disney World, we actually would only get to spend one day there on each trip. I can remember what it felt like to ride Dumbo, to get autographs from all my favorites, and to watch the amazing spectacle of fireworks over the castle. It was just like another world. I loved it!
Our family friends that I mentioned would often give me gifts with a Micky Mouse theme. I believe they gave me my very first Mickey Mouse watch, which went on to be the first in probably 30 or so. Everyone around me knew of my infatuation with Mr Mickey and began giving me Mickey themed gifts and such. Before long I had created quite a collection.
Once I was married and with children I couldn't wait to share this love with them. I remember talking to Jeff about it before our first trip. He pretty much had a "take it or leave it" attitude about it. My parents had decided to come along for the trip. We would be there for Luke's forth birthday. I planned every detail in depth. I knew where we would be each day, where we would eat, what we would see. Well all the planning paid off. It was a truly magical trip for all of us. Upon arrival Jeff caught the Disney bug in a bad way. He was blown away by his first sight of the castle. Luke was so fascinated by everything there and the cast members went above and beyond anything I could ever imagine to make his birthday special. We stayed on property for the first time and I vowed to never do it another way. It was just great!
After vacation it seemed like we were just dying to start planning another trip. We just had so much that we still wanted to do. We ended up going for Luke's 5th, 7th, and 8th birthday. We took Macy at 13 months and at 2years. Once we took Uncle Matt along and two years we were on our own. Both ways have been great. We have never gotten bored with it and to be honest there's still stuff that we haven't done. Things are constantly changing there and new rides and characters have showed up each and every time.
The most amazing part for me is seeing the world through my children's eyes. I will never forget a nervous Luke who waiting anxiously to propose to the pink ranger or waiting in line with Macy 4 times to meet Jessie from Toy Story. The looks on their faces when the fireworks crack high in the sky are forever fresh in my mind. Each year is different as the kids change so much from year to year. The memories we have made there are simply priceless...which brings me to the next topic cost.
I began to shop around for affordable Disney back when we first wanted to go. I quickly found that off season rates were much cheaper and that free dining would occasionally be offered. We quickly booked that deal our first year not really knowing what we were getting, boy were we pleasantly surprised. The Disney Dining plan is a wonderful plan that allows you to include your food in you package price and a greatly discounted rate(even free at times). It gives you one fast food type meal, which can be something as elaborate as a half chicken and rib combo platter with two sides, one sit down meal at nearly any restaurant on property, and one snack each day for each person. You really have more food than you could ever eat. And to think it can be free...that just makes me happy. It has been so nice to not have a budget food money into your spending plan and to know that once you have prepaid for your trip you pretty much just need souvenir money. We have gone in September/October three times and December one and managed to get free dining offers every time. We have been blessed with that. We have stayed from 7-10 days and have never paid over 2000.00 or so.. Now if you ask me that's a deal for hotel, park admissions to all 4 parks for the duration of our stay, and for all of our food.
I strongly encourage any of you that are hesitant to start planning a trip there to jump right in. I always book directly with Walt Disney travel company at DisneyWorld.com. Just go online and have a look at what they are offering under special offers. You just might be surprised. I have tons of other tips and advise if any of you do plan a trip. If any of you have any tips or insider secrets to share I would love to hear them. I love finding new ways to "plus" our trip. I am hoping to get back to my home away from home in just a few months and think that my entire family will be coming along. Just the thought makes me smile. I'm sure I will have a full trip report for all of you. Until then...have a magical day!
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