For the love of Disney

Some families have distinct memories of their “once in a lifetime” trip to Disney World.  Others have been several times but can tell you exactly how many times they have been, what months and years, where they stayed each time and such.

I honestly cannot tell you how many times I have been to Disney in the past twelve months, let alone my lifetime.  And we have not tired of going.

 My family loves all things Disney.  I must confess, though, that I didn’t start out that way.  When I was a child, we took a few trips to Vero Beach, FLA to visit my paternal grandparents and at least one time, we went to Disney World.  We also took a huge family trip when my mother’s side of the family came to visit us one summer.  Other than that, my childhood memories of Disney are vague.  In some ways I feel than we went several times, maybe each year, and other ways, I think that it is just my memory playing tricks on me.  I do know that I liked Disney as a child but I was not yet Disney Crazy.

My future husband and I began taking trips to Disney not long after we became serious.  Our first trip together was a learning experience.  My husband is the type to ‘get his money’s worth’ even at the expense of having a good time.  Not that he doesn’t have a good time every second, but it is like a mission for him to be in the park every moment it is open.  I, on the other hand, could not handle the walking and the blisters on my feet sidelined me a few times that first trip.  My husband likes all thrill rides, but me… not so much.  We had to learnt hat it was OK for him to ride a roller coaster and for me to sit on a bench and read a book.  We found our groove and had many great trips.  We also took family trips with my husband’s extended family and those were some of the best.

When our son came along, we had to adapt a little bit. He needed to be fed, he needed to sleep, and he didn’t start out tall enough to ride all the rides.  But, he was very easy.  He became a Disney fan at the ripe old age of five months.

Our daughter came to us at 33 months of age and wasn’t quite sure what to make of Disney at first.  She was adopted from China and, unlike my pregnancy, where I knew my due date, China does not give you an exact timeline for adoption.  We had some Disney trips planned and didn’t want to change them based on our travel to China so we just figured that if the trips coincided, we would just have to miss Disney.  Well, we ended up getting the call to go to China in July 2007.  After two weeks there, we came home for a week and then headed off to Disney for a week long trip.  My husband was there for a conference so it only cost our family airfare, tickets and food.  His plane fare and the room were paid for.  After that trip, we came home for a week and then drove back to Disney for a previously planned vacation with my brother-in-law and his family.  So, basically, our daughter’s first month in America saw two weeks in Disney.  She didn’t speak English yet but if she did, she would have said “I love my new home”  But, we would not know which home she was referring to.

We are finally at the point now where we can officially be called Disney Crazy.  We have annual passes so we can go to the parks as often as we want and we fly free.  I have programmed my kids t be as cheap as I am.  I told them that if we go cheap, we can go often.  The do not ask for souvenirs (I told them that those are for people who need something to remember their once in a lifetime trip), they don’t ask for purchased food and they rarely ask for sodas.  Yes, I do splurge on a treat here and there once in awhile but they no longer whine, beg and plead for things.

Although I much prefer the larger rooms of the moderate resorts, we sacrifice and stay in the value resort.  Our current favorite is Pop Century.  Off season, we can usually find rooms for $100 -$130 per night.  I travel with either a rolling cooler full of food (when we travel Carry On Only) or a small cooler as carry on and a suitcase full of food (checked bags).  We have breakfast in our room, take a lunch into the park, drink free ice water and buy one meal a day.  Sometimes that meal is a large Pizza at he hotel ($16) and sometimes we go crazy and get a counter service meal ($25).  With this plan, we can do Disney for $150 per day or less.

Last year, I was criticized by a family member for not expanding my children’s world taking them places. other than Disney. They have been other places and they will see the world but for their ages right now, Disney is magic and they love going there.  Also, Disney is an affordable destination for us.  I need to find a way to give my children experience while still staying on my budget.  For example, we were trying to plan a trip to Niagara Falls and could not find a rental car for less than $80 nor a hotel room for less that $150 making a Disney trip more affordable.