While the month of July was a hot and busy one at "Mickey's House" in Orlando, Florida, here in Kentucky there were several significant Disney related events. Here is an account of each of the "off world" Disney events that happened in July.
A Solo Trip To Another "World"
In the summer of 2003 as a test run for our January 2004 trip to Walt Disney World Paula, the boys, and I spent a day at King's Island amusement park in Ohio. It helped us learn something about the dynamics and logistics of traveling together as a family
With the possibility that I may be able to have my own 2-3 day getaway to Walt Disney World during a vacation to Florida early next summer I thought it was time for my own personal "test run".
On Monday, July 18, I went by myself to Holiday World and Splashin Safari. It's an amusement and water park in Santa Claus, Indiana. I figured I'd try my hand at "touring" solo to see what I would be drawn to and how I needed to pace myself. I did this looking forward to next year. Should I get the opportunity to go to Walt Disney World as a party of one.
You can read the detailed report about my day on my other blog, RH Factors. You can find it at: http://www.rhfactors.blogspot.com/.
Some of the useful things I learned were that I need to take frequent breaks, stay hydrated, and remember to eat close to my normal daily meal times. I also realized that I need to teach myself to take my time and enjoy the entire park, not just the rides.
That's something that most Disney vacation guides and planning books suggest and my favorite Podcaster, Lou Mongello, continuously advocates. In my 2 visits to Orlando I haven't learned how to do that yet. With my 3rd visit coming up and the slight possibility of a 4th at the end of 2012, I am beginning accept the idea of trying to enjoy the parks in a more relaxing way.
The mindset of "this may be my last chance to do this or that in Walt Disney World" is starting to fade. The theme parks are now a vacation fixture in my life. There will always be the possibility of going back. There will never be a "last time" just a "next time".
Now back to my solo trip to Holiday World. I spent about 9 hours there. For the most part, with the exception of 20 minute and 30 minute breaks for lunch and supper, respectively, I went all day without stopping. By the time 7PM came I was ready to head home. That just enforces the importance of taking an afternoon break away from the parks while at "The World". So you can take advantage of early morning and evening "extra magic" hours.
The last thing I did before I left Holiday World was have someone take my picture with the park's main icon, Santa. Although it's only a statue (I saw no costumed characters walking around at any time during my visit) it's proof that I was there. I guess it's the equivalent to getting your picture taken in front of "Partners" statue at Walt Disney World.
So for 2 reasons, the desire to finally experience it for myself and lay the logistical and mental ground for my solo trip to Disney World next spring, I enjoyed my trip to Holiday World. But I think next time I'll go with family or friends. It will be more fun.
Reserving A Cabin
As first mentioned in my April 6 post, a vacation on one of Disney Cruise Line's two new ships is something Paula and I are contemplating as a way of celebrating our 10th anniversary. One of the most unique things about planning Disney Cruise vacation is that as the availability of cabins gets lower the price goes up.
While our decision to cruise or not to cruise won't be made until over a year from now, a concern about waiting to book until then was primary in my mind. Throughout the first half of July I debated over whether or not to put down the deposit on our cabin package or not. It was no small investment but the comparative cost increase if I wait to book the trip a year from now may be more than the current required down payment.
Finally about the 2nd week of the July I contacted, Stephanie Hudson, my Disney vacation planner at Mouse Fan Travel, and asked her to send me the specific informaiton and paperwork I needed to decide about reserving our cabin.
It was only after I got answers to questions regarding the ability to get our full deposit back should we change our minds, did I give Stephanie the "okay" to charge our Disney Visa card for our deposit. This will allow me to pay the deposit off over the next 6 months. On Friday July 22, I went to Office Depot faxed my completed and signed contract to her, sealing the deal.
We now have cabin 5046 on deck 5 reserved for the Bahamian cruise on the Disney Dream on December 9-13, 2012.
Now I have to do some more research about Disney Cruises. I will start by reading a couple of travel guides. I will also go back and listen to some podcasts about cruising as well. Then in about a year we'll have to make a decision about going. We have until September 20, 2012 to cancel ouir resrvations and still get our full deposit back.
Mouse Guest Weekly Signs Off
About 3 years ago I started listening to podcasts about Walt Disney World. At the beginning of July these included: WDW Radio Show, WDW Today, Magical Definition, Inside the Magic, The Muppetcast, the Orlando Attractions Magazine show, and Mouse Guest Weekly. As of Saturday July 23 I will no longer be listening to that last one on that list.
Back in the middle of June, the hosts of the Mouse Guest Weekly podcast, Eric, Cathy and Dan, announced that due to scheduling conflicts and their personal commitments the podcast would be coming to an end.
The last one was a live call-in Internet event that started at 2PM eastern time on July 23. It ended over 4 hours later. I didn't get to hear it live but did listen to the recording posted on I-Tunes.
I will miss the weekly conversation between the 3 hosts. I will also miss hearing the rather lengthy emails I'd write to them read on "the air".
I am grateful to Eric for sending me a Mouse Guest t-shirt. Now I can remember the podcast every time I wear it.
The way they left it there just might be an occasional Mouse Guest podcast posted on I-Tunes in the future. In addition a future get together of MGW fans in some central location has been mentioned as well. I'm hoping for both; but only the future will tell.
A Treasured Memory
This last story is what I'm going to call "Collateral Magic". It's about an event that has nothing directly to do with Disney but happened because of my passion for Disney.
Let me start by mentioning that as means of making it a bit more fun to save for our cruise I am saving golden dollar coins (the ones with US Presidents on them) in a plastic cup. I add to the savings every day. Its a daily visual reminder of my current Disney dream. Recently this currency collection came into play in a way I never thought it would.
The last week of July my sisters, brothers in law, nephew and niece, from Pennsylvania came to Kentucky to visit with us. All the members of my Kentucky family, including my sons, daughters in law, and sister in law enjoyed spending time with them.
One afternoon my sisters, niece, and I went swimming in their hotel pool. Having gone swimming with them in the same pool during previous visits I knew they liked to throw coins in to the water and then see who could retrieve them first. Knowing this I decided to take some of my golden Disney dollars with me. I figured they'd be a lot easier to find under water.
I took 7 of them. Three pair with the same president on it (Millard Fillmore, Andrew Johnson, and Ulysses S. Grant) and one Abraham Lincoln. At first we played a game where you accumulated points depending on how many coins you could retrieve. The second game we played involved diving and picking up and "throwing back" coins until you found a pair. Both of the games were a lot of fun. We laughed and swam and had a great time.
In the middle of our swim I stepped back and realized something. This was the first time in our lives that both my sisters and I had ever played a game like this in a pool together. My youngest sister and I probably had done it before (since we were together a lot as kids but my older sister was married with a family by the time I was 11) but never had all 3 of us played together this way.
I realized that this as something special. It wasn't a Disney moment at a Disney theme park but it was a "Magical Moment". And while it was separated by a couple of "degrees" I do have Disney to "thank" for it.
If I hadn't been saving golden dollars for our annversary cruise I never would have had one of the key elements in what very well may prove to be one of my favorite memories of this entire year. Now every morning when I look at my Mickey Mouse cup full of golden dollars I will not only look forward to our cruise I can look back on a special time with my sisters.
So there you have the Disney stories for the month of July.
