Tuesday, June 05, 2012

Keeping the Disney Magic Alive Between Trips

Let me take a minute to apologize for my absence on my blog. For the past month I have been busy with state testing, the end of the school year, and dating a new, wonderful man! In fact, back in September of 2011, I wrote a post about Dating Like a Disney Princess, and I'm happy to say that I've found my Disney Prince!  

He's a wonderful mix of Enchanted's Prince Edward and Robert which is what I was looking for because while we've fallen fast, we've gotten to spend time together building that relationship on a foundation of commonality and friendship. I feel so blessed that he found me! Now, let's get back on schedule, shall we?

Most Disney fans find themselves one of two places: on a Disney Trip or planning their next Disney Trip. The real bummer is that the time between trips can sometimes be quite long. One of my friends told me their next family trip won't be for a couple of years! My next trip is a Disney Cruise to the Bahamas and then a few days in Disney World in November of this year, but that will have been almost a year since my last trip. In fact, my family has been planning this trip since June of 2011!

So the challenge here is how to make countdowns that start in the "200+ days away" pass by smoothly and with a touch of Disney magic. I admit that after traveling to Walt Disney World numerous times since 2009, I have quite a few ways to pass the time. I'll be sharing all of those with you in a series of posts, but for today, I'm going to share a quick, simple tip that's fun for any age.

I like to play the "What are You Looking Forward To?" game with my traveling partners. Sometimes this is in tweet form, and other times it's sitting around the family dinner table making conversation. In the past, I've tweeted one experience a day that I'm most looking forward to. Usually it's the first thing that comes to mind when I wake up and think about my trip, so it ranges anywhere from specific attractions to snacks to views I love to see. Lately my family has been having this discussion quite often since my nephew is going to finally be tall enough to ride almost any attraction that he wishes to visit. We talk about what the kids want to try for the first time either because they're older and braver or because they're taller and now able to see what all the fuss is about. This trip the kids swear they'll be brave enough for Pirates of the Caribbean and my nephew says he wants to ride Space Mountain with me! We'll see how all of that plays out!

I encourage you to make "What are You Looking Forward To?" part of your Disney countdown. It can be a fun list to tape to the fridge and have each family member add to each day. You can tweet it or make it your Facebook status. Or it can just be a conversation starter around the dinner table. Make it your own! Even 200 days out, you'd be surprised how many unique things you'll find to look forward to!

7 comments:

  1. My family and I do the same thing, especially when it comes to making our ADRs. I have a list in my planning spreadsheet purely for keeping a note of the things we each most want to do on the next trip so nothing gets missed!

    :)

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  2. It is not an easy thing to do but the list on the fridge does help -- great post

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  3. Great idea! A couple of years ago, we were planning a trip to WDW with my dad, who had never been. Each day I texted him with a new Disney fact, but it would be very fun sharing things you're looking forward to, also. I'll have to do that next time there's a family trip in the works.

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  4. That is one of my favorite things to do! It really does help. :)

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  5. I'm so glad you met your prince! :-)

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  6. This has been our top topic of discussion at dinner lately. Since we announced to the kids we are planning our next trip, the three of them have been offering up all types of suggestions of what we experience again or that we should try for the first time. It is such a great way to keep everyone excited and part of the planning process. I look forward to the rest of your posts on this topic!

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  7. I made a countdown chain for our up coming trip. Each day reveals a different fact about WDW. My family enjoys learning new things and revisiting what they already knew.

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