First off, we live in the shadow of Cinderella Castle.
Before we moved to Central Florida, we used to come down here from Buffalo every winter for a beautiful, exhausting week at the Parks.
In early 2013, we moved down here, and yes, proximity to Disney was one of the requirements for where we chose. 30 minutes? Yes please!
As soon as we got our Florida driver’s licenses, we got our first Annual Passes. The bliss! The kids were 4, 6, and 8, and we spent every spare minute we could there.
Then I got braces. So we couldn’t renew those passes.
I remember a lot of sad Hudson faces that year. “Is Disneywowld closed?” I had to explain that no, it wasn’t closed, but we couldn’t go there. It was harder on me than it was on him.
Since then, we’ve gotten passes most years. We had to go another year without them for financial reasons, but usually we’ve been able to pull it off.
Compared to the amount we spent on airfare, transportation, hotels/resorts, food, and park passes (for a WEEK), the annual pass is about half of that.
So our trips are shorter now, but far more frequent. Instead of doing everything at each park, we can pick a few things and go home when we’re hungry. We can plan our days around our Fastpasses, just go for the Food and Wine festival, or just go to Animal Kingdom for a couple drawing classes. It’s a beautiful thing.
Doesn’t it get boring?
First of all, have you actually thought that?
Short answer: NO. It doesn’t. There’s just too much to do there, too many things to enjoy again and again. Disney doesn’t get old. Its focus is nostalgia, which means each trip builds on the last one, because not only does the Dumbo ride remind me of my first time on it at 15, but then I remember the time the kids were tiny and rode on it in the rain.
Then there’s something magical called Disneybounding, which I explained here. and demonstrated here. This is a wonderful way to keep each trip fresh, and to create magic for the other Passholders and the Cast Members.
Twice a year we participate in Dapper Days, (the pictures above are from Dapper Day in November, 2017) which can get rather pricey if you give me too long ahead of time to plan. Let’s just say our Country Bear Jamboree/Spaceship Earth weekend cost us a LOT more than I planned to spend, especially considering we got most of the pieces at various Goodwill stores!
Then there’s the advantage of knowing where the cameras are on all the rides. Planning these can be a lot of fun!
So what do you think? Could you keep making trips (we average about 1 a week) for 5 years? Or are we unusual? (actually, maybe don’t answer that)
And more importantly, can you tell who we’re dressing up as in these pictures, and who should we attempt next?
Feel free to drop me a line and suggest things I could discuss here. (charla@charmboxstudios.com ) I would love to hear what you think, too!
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