Other blogs

One of the things I like to do, and one of the reasons I decided to try my hand at blog writing, is to read the many, many Disney related blogs out there. Honestly, I wish I was as creative as most of them. I find coming up with topics to write about to be difficult. Not that I can’t think of topics, but writing enough about them so they can be considered a blog, and not a sentence. And who am I? Just your average run of the mill Disney fan with no real expertise on any one Disney subject, just a love for all things Disney.

So the good thing about being able to read so many of these wonderful blogs is that there is something new to read about every day. There are so many great blogs out there! And they each have there own distinct flavor.

So be open to all Disney blogs and to what other people have to say. You may learn a thing or two. Or just be entertained.

That’s it for now. See ya real soon!

The planning continues

So we still have 152 days left until our next Walt Disney World vacation. I love the planning that goes with going to WDW. This year will be a little different in that we are staying off property for the first time. For the first time we will be needing to rent a car. I’ve been checking on line and getting emails about specials, but I have not committed to anything yet. I do work at an airport and deal with a few rental car companies all the time so I’m hoping maybe they can help me out.

Since we’re past the 180 day mark, we have made dining reservations throughout the World. We’re staying in an All Star Vacation condo so we plan on taking advantage of the kitchen there. But there are a few places we love to eat at while there. Something new Disney has made for this year, if you cancel within 24hrs of your reservation, they will bill the credit card you left to hold the ADR $10 per guest. We have 5 going this year so we don’t want that to happen.

Airfare is another thing that often stresses us out when it comes to going to WDW. I refuse to drive so it’s worth it for me to hop on a plane for a 2hr flight. I will miss Disney’s Magical Express this year.  But this will be an adventure for us and something new. We only fly Southwest since it’s very convenient and we usually get a good deal. haven’t seen any Dings for my airport so far, so we’ll be sweating it out for a few months. Airfare takes a big chunk out of the trip. Can’t wait till we take care of that.

We usually get park tickets through an on line broker, so I’m not worried about those. Although Disney likes to raise ticket prices in August so I’m sure we’ll get them before they do that.

One other thing I am hoping to arrange, is meeting Lou Mongello during his Wednesday night newscast. We will be arriving on a Wednesday and don’t  plan on hitting a park that day so I hope he’s someplace broadcasting outside of a park. Hoping to finally escape from the Box!

That’s it for now. See ya real soon!

Vacation Planning

What’s the best way to soothe your “I miss WDW blues”? Start planning for your next WDW trip as soon as possible! Finally, after 7 months since our last Disney trip, we’re  getting on the ball and planning the next one.

Now if it were up to me, I’d visit WDW at least twice per year. Unfortunately, that’s not happening. I shouldn’t be too disappointed though, I know plenty of people who only go every 2, 3 or more years. So it looks like the best time for us to go this year, do to schedules, is the first week of August. Now I’m not too happy with the crowds I’m about to encounter and the heat will be tough. The heat I can deal with.  I can deal with almost anything as long as I’m at the World.

So it looks like, for the first time since we’ve been taking the kids to WDW, we are going to stay off property. Honestly, I’m a little apprehensive. I’m afraid of not having that immersed  feeling of Disney when I’m there. My 19 year old son feels the same way. We’re dong this for two reasons this year. First is cost. The second is space. We’re taking an extra person with us this year. So we’ll need the extra room. This decision was not made overnight. We checked out our options of hotels on and off property. And it looks like we made our final decision.

So where are we staying? We are going to try an All Star Vacation condo. We found a gorgeous 3 bedroom 3 bath in Reunion. There will be different opportunities for us having a car at our disposal now. So this will be interesting to see how it goes.

So the planning begins! This is what makes a Disney vacation stand out for me. Even though you have to plan for other vacations, a WDW vacation is special. And it helps keep Disney in your heart and mind all year long. I’ll post updates along the way, if anyone is interested.

That’s it for now. See ya real soon!

House hunting

Okay, so I think many of us have dreams and aspirations of moving to Florida. There are many reasons to do this. From getting away from horribly cold, snowy winters or leaving a place where the taxes are astronomical to wanting to be near our favorite place Walt Disney World. For me It’s all three reasons stated above. Now, we don’t have any plans set in motion yet about moving, but one of the things I love to do is house hunt online.

I live on Long Island, NY. We hoping to make the move in 5-7 years. Seems like a long time but you never know how things may turn out. When I look for houses in Florida, I can see the houses look a lot different than they do in my neighborhood. And I kind of like that. Florida homes have a certain look, in my mind anyway. I’m looking forward to having a built in pool that’s in a covered screen room. And I can’t wait to not have leaves falling in the pool or having to rake them up. We have a certain style that seems to pop out for us when searching.

Being addicted to WDW, naturally I would like to live fairly close. So that kind of dictates where I’ve been looking. There’s one particular real estate site I frequent where I search, and then able to save houses I like to my favorites on the site. Now I’m a long way off to moving to FL, but it gives me something to do and look forward to for the future.

Now if you are thinking of moving to Florida, if you haven’t heard about or read her blog already, you have to visit www.therelocatedtourist.com. You’ll find some great, from the heart, honest  information about making the big move to FL. I highly recommend you follow Amy’s blog.

So house hunting is just another thing I do to keep myself busy in between WDW trips.

That’s it for now. See ya real soon!

Memories

There is one unmistakeable thing we all have when we come home from our last Walt Disney World trip. And that’s memories. They come in many different forms but it’s something we can always conjure up no matter where we are.

It really is amazing, Disney comes up a lot in my house. And often when I read something online and bring it up, usually around dinner time, the topic always branches off to something that we all did or experienced at our last or even past trips to the World. The stories will start flowing, remember this or remember that always comes up.

Walt Disney World promotes making memories. Even if you have spent your last penny going and don’t have a penny to spend on souvenirs, your memories is the one thing that costs absolutely nothing. They’re easy to carry. You always know they’re there. And you can go back to them any time you like. It’s like a big folder in your mind that you can keep filling up.

Many of us can’t get to WDW as often as we like. So your memories is what keeps you going. For me, memories of past trips pop’s up all the time and almost anywhere. It doesn’t matter if I’m driving in my car, working, shopping or just watching TV, it’s inevitable that something I see, smell or experience will conjure up something that I remember from WDW. And how great is that! Something that’s such a big part of my life, I can go in my own head and experience it again. Of course it’s not like being there but it’s the next best thing.

So cherish those memories. Going back to them every so often will freshen them up and keep them from disappearing. And it’s a great way of keeping WDW in your every day life until your next visit.

That’s it for now. See ya real soon!

Books

As they say, who doesn’t like a good book? I’m very particular when it comes to books. I generally don’t like fiction. The last fiction book I read was The Kingdom Keepers. How can I not read it? Although it’s fiction, I can relate to it because it takes place in the Magic Kingdom. I’ve yet to move on to the other Kingdom Keeper books, yet.

Like other Disney fans, I have a small library of Disney related books. Nowhere near as many as others I have seen but enough to take up some space in my book case. Pretty much every year I get a few different WDW vacation planning books. Now why do I need to get them every year? I don’t know. Not much changes. And I’ve been there enough to probably write my own. But I’ll still read through them and check out the photos. I really love books that have a lot of color photo’s of the World. I crave Disney books that have great color photo’s. The more the better. Can’t wait to see Celebrations Magazines special limited edition Christmas edition book! Seeing how we think in pictures, what better way to relive a certain attraction or area of the World than to see a beautifully staged, full color picture. Makes me can’t wait to get back there!

I’m in a very customer service oriented business. So naturally I also like to read about the customer service training that cast members go through. And how there management philosophy at Disney works. So naturally I search for those kinds of books. Books like The Disney Way, Be Our Guest or Creating Magic to name a few.

How can you go to WDW without having an interest in how the beautiful place was designed  and put together. There are many, many books out there about the imagineering of Disney. The Imagineering Field Guide to…are neat little pocket guides. Then there’s Walt Disney Imagineering a behind the dreams look at making the magic real, The Disney Mountains-Imagineering at its Peak or Designing Disney by John Hench.

There wouldn’t be any of these books out there without Walt Disney the man. So reading about him has to be a fan’s must do. Some of my favorites; Walt Disney an American Original, Walt Disney Conversations, The Vault of Walt or even The Quotable Walt Disney.

I have more in my collection not mentioned here but it’s still growing and it’s fun to get another book about Disney. I can never have enough books on Disney!

That’s it for now. See ya real soon!

WDWRADIO.COM

I can’t keep writing about the things I do to get my Disney fix in between trips without mentioning WDWradio.com. Turns out, it’s a bigger part of my life than I thought.

There are loads and loads of Disney fan web sites out there. But the number one site I visit and post on fairly regularly, as Disney05, is WDWradio.com. I’ve been a member since 2005. I’m not sure how I found Lou and his site but it was one of the first sites I started visiting when the Disney bug really took over my life. I think it is one of the most family friendly, informative and interactive sites out there. The forums there continue to grow with new members every week.

The site has evolved over the last few years and so has the products that have come from it. The WDW Newscast, Celebrations magazine, blogs, book club, iPhone app, trivia books, Dream Team Project, Audio Guides, Facebook, Twitter just to name a few. Lou Mongello is the owner of the site and truly is the busiest man in Walt Disney World!

Since becoming a member of the site, I’ve inadvertently become a “Box Person”. What is a Box Person you may ask? Lou began taking his laptop with him to Disney events while broadcasting live so we can see what he’s seeing and also chatting with his fans. He had mentioned he was talking to the Box People and the phrase just stuck. Now we have a great new logo from a contest he ran recently. And you can get the  logo on shirts from Zazzle.com.

     

The Wednesday evening WDW Newscast has become a ritual for me. Every Wednesday at 7:30 pm, Lou broadcasts from any number of locations including his home studio, parks, resorts even a Dunkin Donuts. He starts off and ends the night with a chat with the Box People. In between, his show is recorded and can be seen on Youtube or you can watch live as he’s doing it.  He talks about any Disney news and rumors that may have happened during the past week. You can give instant feed back while he’s broadcasting.  It’s something I can’t miss every week.

One of the other things Lou has produced for us Disney fans is Celebrations magazine. This fantastic publication comes out every other month and is chocked full of some great pictures and articles about Disney.

I have never met Lou Mongello, yet. I have no affiliation with him other than being one of his devoted followers. But he does call all of us his friends. And once you start listening to his shows and chatting with him in the box, you’ll see how sincere he is when he call us his friends.

This blog is about what I do in between WDW vacations.  WDWradio.com and other Lou Mongello projects are a huge part of what keeps me involved with WDW while home. I always look forward to what he has in store for us next.

That’s it for now. See ya real soon!