The Disney Dream

Back to Dreaming…

opicana — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 16:07:04 +0000

The holidays were extremely busy for me- I made homemade gifts for Christmas, and went on a two week vacation back home to New England. Consequently, my Disney planning was put on hold.

Currently, I am playing catch-up with all my house cleaning, blogs, e-mail, etc… But I will be back to planning very shortly!

I haven’t weighed myself since the holidays and I am afraid, lol. I ate quite terrible when we were in Maine, and I KNOW my pants were a little more snug on the way home. I am afraid my percentage bar will be taking a hit this week.

Before I left for vacation, a new Disney planning guide that I had pre-ordered surprised me in the mail! Yay! More on that soon.

Another 5%

opicana — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 01:31:18 +0000

I didn’t expect to be able to move the weight progress bar this soon…but lookie lookie…

Yay! I know this pace won’t continue, but it feels great. I have finally broken the plateau!!

Accommodations Conundrums

opicana — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 15:45:41 +0000

While picking a resort to stay in at WDW is clearly the most difficult part of planning a trip there, I had an inclination of where I wanted to stay before I picked up “The Unofficial Guide to Walt Disney World.”

I had thought I wanted to stay in the Wilderness Lodge. It’s supposed to be one of the most beautifully themed of the resorts. The theme is “national parks”- clearly, that sounds like Jimmy & I. Besides, as a child I never got to stay there, and I believe we only ate there once.

However, once I began reading the accommodations section of the Unofficial Guide, I realized this decision is far more complicated than I had imagined. With Disney transportation going down the crapper, it is important to either pick a centralized resort, or one next to a park you love. The Wilderness Lodge is said to have the most convoluted of the transportation out of all the Disney resorts.

Because we will be going as a couple and without children, and because I love food, the dining experience is clearly one of my top priorities. The Guide suggests that if dining is important to you, you stay at an Epcot resort. The Epcot resort cluster has the most options for restaurants, and Epcot itself has the best dining selection (esp. in World Showcase). The Wilderness Lodge is NOT an Epcot resort, and it would take forever to get anywhere else.

Obviously, a spreadsheet will be needed for this decision. I will need to write all the factors that are important to me and assign point values. Then score each resort. Yes, I’m crazy, but it’ll be fun.

The Unofficial Guide to Walt Disney World

opicana — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 16:40:48 +0000

Yesterday, we went to Barnes & Noble, and I purchased the Unofficial Guide to Walt Disney World 2010. I had researched this guide the night before, and it seemed to be the most highly recommended guide. I have begun to read it from cover to cover (like a novel, because I’m crazy…though I am pretty certain I used to do this with my Dad’s old Disney guides when I was a kid). It is an astounding 850 pages…and the print is fairly small, and there are not a lot of pictures.

Thus far, I am loving the book. The authors are very honest- they both praise and criticize. I look forward to getting to the chapters on hotels and restaurants, as I believe they will be able to help me get the most bang for my buck. Their approach is very realistic, and unlike some other guides, they use a whole team of researchers which allows them to express multiple opinions. They also poll their readers, and insert readers comments, which is very helpful.

I have made it to page 70 and have bookmarked to sections for later use. Their website has a calendar that they keep up to date with all kinds of information and estimates of park attendance. They also have an excellent list of additional resources I may want to look into. They also recommend one of the books I already had on my list: The Passporter’s. They say it compliments their book nicely.

If you have been to Disney within the last few years, please leave a comment with what guidebooks you used!

Step One: Resource Collection

opicana — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 19:10:45 +0000

My first step (other than making this blog) will be collecting a list of Disney vacation resources.

Right now, I am focusing on guidebooks. I am looking to get the following:

The Unofficial Guide Walt Disney World 2010

Birnbaum’s Walt Disney World 2010

Passporter’s Walt Disney World

If you have any more suggestions, let me know!

Welcome to my new Disney blog…

opicana — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 17:55:09 +0000

I want to go on a Disney World vacation, very badly.

To learn more about why I want to go, check out the About page.

The trip will be my reward for acheiving my Weight Loss goals, but in order to go, I will also need to complete my Trip Savings goals.

It will take me awhile, of course, but I adore planning…event planning just may be my favorite activity (sometimes I wonder if I am in the wrong field)…so, why not start now and extend my happiness?

This blog is mostly for me- to organize my planning process, and to gain suggestions and advice from other people who have been to Disney (esp. recently). However, if you are also planning a Disney vacation, I encourage you to use this as a resource.