Things to Know Before Your Disney World Vacation

Disney World is a one of a kind destination, and will end up being a one of a kind vacation if you chose to go.  All in all, my trip there was a huge success despite all the short comings.  And in all honesty, it was a huge success because of all the research Lisa and I did ahead of time.

We both consulted many websites, and Lisa actually read a few books on her Kindle, one of which kind of ‘ruins’ Disney’s mystique, and we learned a ton of stuff.  Sure much of the things contradicted themselves, but after the trip was through, we realized how much we actually missed, because of our poor planning.

(poem) - A Child's Imagination

Dreams come alive
Within a child’s eyes
When they see
A Princess at Disney

Yes I know
It seems like a cliche of old
But imagination runs wild
In the mind of a child



It’s a truly beautiful thing
To watch imagination sing
And see the light
Of dreams shine so bright

It makes me want to create
Or start an intense debate
And suddenly the universe is small
Stars don’t seem far away at all

As your soul drifts upon the air
So very far up there
Amongst the dreams of better men
Who had far better acumen

Sometime or another
The child goes back to their mother
Who knows the truth
Because she thinks she’s a sleuth

But the true fact is
She is not the true wiz
Because reality within a child’s eye
Is where the truth doth lie

Because imagination is the key
That makes the future shine brightly
Cultivate that sense of awe
That’s how we’ll get our last hurrah

Because whatever we can dream
We can make as a team
But it all starts in a child’s eyes
Where all those dreams exist because they are alive....

--Dan

--Want more Poetry?  Check out my Poetry Collection Page!

Attention to Detail at Disney World

When I think of Disney World now, I think about how much detail went into everything.  The rides that tell stories, the animatronics....  It all makes for a pretty amazing experience.  When we walked into an art store, the amazing beauty of the artwork contained within was astounding, and really got me into the Disney atmosphere.

Walking around the parks, its hard not to notice the attention to detail, especially if you are looking for Hidden Mickey’s.  We didn’t do that on this trip, but we plan to in future trips.  But details are still all around you.  Around the Dumbo ride, there are peanuts embedded in the concrete.

A Vacation to Recover from the Vacation

Thankfully its been over a week since the return from Disney World, and honestly, I think we have just about recovered.  I remember awhile back there was an old joke running around some of the work places I would work, and they would say, “I need a vacation to recover from my vacation.”

Why do people work so hard on their vacation?  It’s a time to relax, but people make these huge plans that take so much out of you.  Is it really not a vacation to just sit around the house?  Be lazy and such?





I suppose not....  Fact is, it doesn’t matter how much time it takes to recover, the trip to Disney World was pretty amazing, and well worth it all.  We went well out of our way to make sure we did interesting things along the trip, to make it that much more interesting.

But the fact is, we needed help right from the beginning.  Heck, even before the trip started, things seemed to go a tad bit in the wrong direction.  I guess that’s when I knew it was going to be a good trip, because everything good seems to be lined out in bad.

We were planning this trip for some time, so we knew we wanted to get a jump on it.  The plan had been to be walking for some time before the trip, but we knew we needed to wait for the weather to become...well not freezing every day.  And finally the weather cleared up, a week and a half before the trip, and boom, everyone in the house got sick.

Yeah, the plan had been to increase our stamina by walking for a solid week before the trip, multiple times a day if we could, but we were all sidelined by laying in bed.  Lisa was perturbed by it, but I said, “At least we didn’t get sick on the vacation itself.”

Heading into the trip, we knew we’d have problems walking the distances required by Disney World.  We arrived Sunday night, and went to Downtown Disney.  By the end of it, we were all worn out, limping, and were starting to get blisters.  Yeah, we knew we were in for a ride.



The second major issue we had, was honestly my own issue.  I have developed a form of motion sickness over the years, and the first ‘ride’ we went on, made it blow up in my face.  There is a really cool roller coaster simulator at DisneyQuest in Downtown Disney.  When it went upside down, because there were no G-forces, all the blood rushed into my head.  I instantly broke out in a sweat, became nauseated, and developed a killer migraine.  It pretty much ended the night for me, though I still played Joust for awhile, which is still probably my favorite Atari game of all time.

By the end of the first full day, Lisa developed a blister on one of her toes, and I started to get major blisters on the pads of my feet.  But we trooped through it.  The pool and hot tub helped, as did some Band-Aids and extra padding.  By the end of the week, we could keep on trooping on, but with substantial breaks.

On the final day in the parks, C.J. ended up getting pretty violently ill.  I ended up getting the same sickness upon the return home, but that was later.  On that last day, I was going over the logistics in my head, the 18 hour drive with a banged up Lisa and I, with her having to go to work the next morning.  Her and I had talked frequently about how we were going to try to divide up the driving, so I could get rest in the morning, and drive all night.  Then Lisa twisted the hell out of her ankle halfway through the last day.

So....  The next morning, we woke up, and loaded the car, and I started driving at 10:30am EST, and pulled into the driveway at 3:30am CST.  18 hours almost exactly.  We added an hour and a half to the drive to avoid a storm in Alabama.  The next day I was violently ill with the thing C.J. had two days earlier.

In the end, yeah, it could have been far worse, so many things COULD have gone wrong, but in the end, we have a friggin’ awesome time.  Even after Lisa was hobbled up, limping on a swollen ankle, we still had an amazing time.  Through it all we developed memories as a family, and though we could have been better prepared, I will never forget this entire vacation, because it was so much fun....

Magical Memories of Disney World

Well, the second honeymoon has come and gone, and Lisa and I learned a ton of things about each other and the world in general.  The main thing I learned is that Disney World is a pretty cool place.

Lisa had been there a few times before, and loved the place, but this time, she walked away from it all with a new appreciation for Disney.  We got into interesting little side things to do that really made the vacation that much more enjoyable.

The Importance of Multiple Honeymoons

From a very early moment in our relationship, Lisa and I knew we’d have to take multiple honeymoons, no matter how silly it seemed.  The only thing we couldn’t truly agree on was the timing of these things.

The main honeymoon is the no brainer one.  The romantic time alone.  The problem is all the things we have to get together for that one.  We quickly decided on a cruise, as its something neither of us have ever done, and we’ll get to see tons we truly want to.  So, I’ll need a passport, we’ll need to change over Lisa’s name completely and get her a new passport.



After all that, we want to wait for off peak times, not only to go cheap, but to not have a younger crowd.  Needless to say, this one is still a ways off.  We are both saddened by that, but not worried.  It will give everything more time to settle down in our lives post wedding.

The first honeymoon was technically just an escape.  It became more and more obvious, as our wedding date marched forth, that we would need a break from all the hustle and bustle.  This particular one was also the last fully hashed out.

Putting together the wedding was a ton of stress, but a ton of fun.  It was nice to step back in time and stay at a bed and breakfast.  It was definitely an escape from the norm.  Beland Manor was a true impressive little place, with the most charming of people running it.  They made the entire stay feel more like we were just visiting friends.

On top of wonderful breakfasts we enjoyed taking a four hour scenic train ride, on which I nabbed some pretty nice photographs.  It was pretty nice, just to sit back and watch the scenery roll by.  I’ve always known there is a time for excitement, and there’s a time for relaxation.  Part of me was worried about Lisa being bored on the train, but she enjoyed herself quite a bit.

After that, we stopped by a small art center that was having a small exhibit on the Mona Lisa.  I’ve never been a huge fan of the painting, and I’ve always thought all the ‘hype’ about it was quite funny.  After seeing the exhibit, all the work done on it, all the research, all the science, I was left with a ton more knowledge than I had before, and an even more humorous look at this poorly painted, incomplete work that was worked and reworked to the point that its shocking lack of vision is only compounded by all its flaws.

All in all, despite a horrendous movie experience, we had a wonderful first honeymoon, a relaxing weekend vacation away from stress.

The family honeymoon is the real kicker though.  Lisa LOVES Disney World, her and CJ have been numorous times.  I have never been.  We knew, the instant we were putting CJ directly into the wedding, that we needed a family honeymoon.  So Disney World it is.

So yeah, the day this posts, I’m there, having fun. *grin* Expect a later blog on it, and for me to edit this to a link to it.  Because, honestly, I’m ending this right here, I need to go get my picture taken with Belle and Beast, which decorated our cake.  Yay!

Life's Little Complications

There is nothing quite like complications.  They arise when you least expect them, and make life so much more complicated.  If you’ve followed the blog, or know us at all then you know that our marriage is just a handful of weeks away.  The fact is, we had a complication arise a while ago that is throwing many things into turmoil.

An interesting fact: I have never owned a passport, nor gone out of the country.  I’ve always wanted to.  We wanted so much to do a Carribean Cruise for our honeymoon, as Lisa has never been on a cruise, and I wanted us to do something together neither of us has ever done.