Tuesday, July 17, 2012

I (heart) Disney World.





The Disney vacation we took was just fabulous!  I've been going pretty much non-stop since we arrived back home though so it's taken awhile to assimilate all my thoughts about the trip.  I couldn't have been more blessed though I must say.  My father's friend, who retired from Disney, passed us into the parks each day for free.  That's right...a park hopper pass each day for free for each of us.  And my cousin Aaron's friend who works at Disney, who I hope is now my friend too, made one phone call and got the balance due for my stay at The Caribbean Beach Resort reduced by half!  So we went to Disney World for 3 days for $337 excluding food and souvenirs.

I booked the resort on my own.  Then told Dad I was going.  Then found out he'd ride along and see his friend, who wanted to get us in for free.  Then on the drive down my cousin's friend and I are texting and she asks for my resort confirmation number and gets me half off my resort stay.  I was so stunned.  A blessing from the universe just fell right into my lap.  I've been working non-stop for the last 6 months or so.  My work schedule doesn't allow for even 2 days off in a row - but I planned the time off and booked the trip and everything fell right into place.

Disney World has always been one of my favorite places to go.  Washington, DC is another one of my favorite spots.  In DC I love to learn and take photos of nearly everything I see.  But at Disney I just love to BE.  I literally didn't think about the Emergency Room where I work at all when I was in the parks at Disney.  How can you when you're surrounded by so much beauty and happiness?  Their attention to detail on such a large scale is perhaps the best in the world.  I've read that every single night at Disney the park grounds are steam cleaned.  You won't find cast members from Tomorrowland wandering around Adventureland.  Everything is consistent and well planned to the tiniest detail.  The customer service is simply outstanding.  However, you could easily drop five grand when you go.  One of the things I've learned is that the key to having a great Disney vacation lies in the planning.  I admit, I'm not a very good planner, but Disney is a different story.  I booked a Brunch with the Storybook Princesses at Epcot during our trip.  In 2008 when we went, I booked a character breakfast in the Magic Kingdom.  These are pricey but the food is generally excellent and you will most definitely not regret a penny.  The look on Sarah's face when she met the characters and the princesses was priceless! 

I plan to become a regular at Disney World...and not because I think I'll get a crazy good stroke of financial luck each time I book a resort stay.  I want to start going regularly because I have many happy memories from there when I was a child and there's still so much to do that I've not begun to even crack the surface yet!  Plus I always have a great time.  I definitely want to go on a Disney Cruise, which turns out to be way more affordable than I thought, and I want to visit the Disney resort Aulani in Hawaii.  I haven't even seen Hollywood Studios yet.  I think my Disney bucket list will grow rapidly!  I'm also about to become an authorized Disney Vacation Planner too, because I think it's awesome to live vicariously through others, and get ideas from others' when they stay and go there.  Plus I have always been very good at finding deals and spending vacation money wisely.  So, if you'd like to plan a trip, hit me up.  I'll be taking the Disney College of Knowledge course soon and I'll know even more!  If you want to hit me up and let me plan your trip I'll be most excited!  Who wants to be first?  Also, it's totally FREE for you.  That's the best part.  It's win-win for both of us!  :)  And it's such a contrast from my work in the ER that I'm really excited about it!