For the First Time in Forever: A first-timer's TR (March 2019)

[MousetersInc]

I'm hereby announcing my intention of doing a trip report. You know... I get it now. I get why people do these. The "Disney slump" isn't just about "Awww, I'm not riding a roller coaster anymore like I was last week." It's more like...

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(I know, not a Disney movie. Well... not yet anyway...)

The point is, you've lived and breathed this stuff for 60 days, maybe 180. You can't just quit a habit like that cold turkey!

Besides, you've shelled out thousands of dollars for this trip. For me, at least, this isn't going to be a way of life, no annual trips or DVC. It may well be a once in a lifetime experience. And I can already feel those precious memories degrading. "These memories better last a lifetime, kids! Sear them into your neurons! You gotta remember the smell of the WL lobby! The sting of sunscreen in your eyes! The misery of bag check in the rain! Rehearse these days that you may sing of them to your children and grandchildren!" I need to re-tell the trip because I need to re-live it, because I need to remember it.

But maybe the most compelling reason of all is y'all are the only folks that give a d**n. I desperately want to tell somebody every detail of our FPs and our ADRs and our panic-Ubers and brag about my SDD 4th FP. Even my own parents are like, "You went to Disneyworld, that's great dear, what a nice picture." Nobody but a Disney fanatic wants every little detail. But with yoouuuu I've found my place...

So this is just the first placeholder, announcement post for now. I have high hopes for this to not be just a blow-by-blow, but to delve way back to the day my wife and I made eye contact and said, "You know, we should go to Disney World some time." To unpack the journey of mixed emotions that attended every decision. To chronicle not just FPs and weather but the hopes and frustrations of a family of four on their most brutal adventure ever.

But first, I guess I'd better start with... Introductions.

Next time.

TABLE OF CONTENTS
Preface: Introductions
Prologue

 

[MousetersInc]

In the meantime, let me leave you with the "highlight reel":

 

[cinderaimee]

Following along! I can't wait to hear all about the trip

 

[MousetersInc]

Preface: Introductions
In Which We Make the Acquaintance of the Bonners

As we all know, Disney World is ultimately about the kids. Like Christmas. So it's only appropriate that we start with royalty, with the princesses.

I like to joke that Abby (7) and Lizzy (9) are Anna and Elsa. You have the younger who's brash, fearless, flirtatious, distractable, impulsive, knows no strangers, leaps before she looks, and hugs-first-asks-questions-later. And then you have the elder who's cautious, uncomfortable with strangers, shrinks from public attention, and is perhaps prone to what is, let's be honest, paranoia, and dramatic freak-outs. And has a glam streak just waiting for a safe place to come out:

But the metaphor breaks down. Lizzy is plenty daring—loves the thrill rides, rock climbing, zip lines etc. And, as the above collage picture shows, her Goofball Island is alive and well. She also benefits from having parents who do not actually literally counsel her to "conceal don't feel." (Though... maybe "Geez, take it down a notch.")

Continuing to Her Royal Highness, my wife Pamela:

Pamela is my partner in crime, the princess who I always sang "Someday ... would come." Her background includes a lot of Kim Possible adventure—drove the ambulance, has a 2nd-degree black belt in taekwondo, spent a year in China, knows how to handle a Land Rover down a near-vertical incline. But she also enjoys gardening and has on several occasions (usually cursing the day she embarked on the project) sewn ambitious and breathtaking dresses for our daughters. Enjoys Jane Austen and Beatrix Potter as well as Isaac Aasimov and Star Trek. We had our first real conversation about our appreciation for Jackie Chan movies. In short, a woman with a "very particular" set of skills and tastes. She has a level head on her shoulders, steering the family away from the danger that could come when Daddy loses perspective of priorities ("Meals are for people who don't want to ride every ride!!"). But at the same time, she has a love of fun and adventure herself that make life joyful.

And finally me, Andy. If we're focusing on personalities, then the important thing from a WDW trip perspective is that for me the planning is more than half of the trip. Actually, it's more than that; it's that when there's a trip coming up I'm so excited about it that the only way to channel that excitement is to vicariously live the trip in advance. I was like this when we won our local NPR station's "free trip to Paris" (I know! we really did!); wandering the cobbled streets in Google Street View, running restaurant menus through Google Translate. At the same time, I know the importance of being flexible, so even though I can't help but hyper-plan, I don't want frog march the family through the parks, yelling "Because if you want your 10 minutes in the Boneyard you'd better get to the gorillas at the end of Gorilla Falls in the next 3, that's why! Because Touringplans says so!!" I want this vacation to be a pleasant memory for everyone, so I tried throughout to check my tendency to harangue, lecture, and boss my kids. I definitely failed. (By the way, breaking news everybody, Disney World is a stressful place!!) But I hope I had a better average than... my average.

Ok, that's the main cast. I'd like to put in some more posts after this one that chronicle the pre-trip stages, but at the same time I wanna cut straight to the action. I'll put in a placeholding post, but after that, time for Day 1: flight, Animal Kingdom, resort half-day, and Artist Point!

 

[Corrine 1973]

Joining in on the fun. Your family is beautiful and I can't wait to read more. I agree with what you said about you wrote about keeping the magic alive with a TR. It's not that we want to remember every second of our trips but want to share those memories with people who get it. I am very glad to be one of those people who get it and am joining you on this adventure.

 

[MousetersInc]

Prologue
In Which A Trip to Disney World is Planned

This is a placeholding post, in a way. I'd love, someday, to expand this post into a retelling of all our thoughts and decisions leading up to the trip. That wouldn't quite be the same as a standard pre-trip report, because this was a trip of first-timers. (Or, practically. Did I say in the last post that Pamela had been to Disney World as a girl? Like, 30+ years ago. There wasn't even an Animal Kingdom then, and there were many things she regretted missing of what was there. At EPCOT she never even set foot in the World Showcase. So she got a "First time" pin as well.) Where was I? Yes, first-timers. That means it's not a story of "I got on at 180 days and got the ADRs I wanted"; it's a story from "We should go someday" to "Why not this year?" to "So what's at Disney World, anyway?" Of "I've heard of this 'fast pass' thing," of onsite vs offsite, of so many decisions. Along the way we—well, I anyway—had to deal with my relationship to Disney and to Disney World. I was so excited about the trip. I'm still so excited about the trip; that's what's driving me to do this TR. But am I a "Disney person"? Am I a "Disney World person"? Can we afford this trip (still remains to be seen ha ha ha!!!)? Will we ever do it again? (Can we do it again right now pleeezz??)

BUT I want to get right on to the trip itself. I can feel the memories leaking out my ears all the time, and I want to get them recorded. So I want to get right to the Day 1 post. I'll leave this pre-trip post here to maybe be filled in in the future... but for now, I'll tell a little bit of the story in the form of haiku.

Someday we should go
When the girls are old enough
To remember it

Someday we should go
While the girls are young enough
To feel the magic

How'd they get so big?
We're running out of magic
Is it time? Like, now?

How much will it cost?
Wow. What if we stay offsite?
Buuuut... WILDERNESS LODGE.

 

[TheOneWithTheTriplets]

Excited to join in. It sounds like we approached this trip with a very similar mindset, so I can't wait to hear how it worked out for you.

I know I had to make my personal mantra "the kids are having fun, we don't have to do everything, if they want to waste their time at x, then so be it".