Sprouting Up: We're going to Disney!!!! (Part 1)

I have always loved Disney.

There I said it.

I love their movies, I love their cartoons, and I LOVE their theme parks.

I was so lucky that when I was little, I was able to go to Disneyland several times with my mom, sister, grandparents and aunt. In addition to the many trips to Disneyland, my family also went to Disney World one year. I have some awesome memories from those trips. Disney was sort of my happy place. It's no surprise I wanted to share that happiness with my kids.

So pretty much from the moment I became a mother, I KNEW I would one day take my children to Disney. I WANTED to take them there. It was really just a matter of when. I'll be honest, I wish that we could have taken Adrianne and Riley when they were younger. I know a lot of people think it's not a good use of money to spend on such an expensive trip when small children will remember so little of it (and perhaps they are right) but I knew I would remember those early trips.

But for a variety of reasons, we were just never able to afford the luxury. Of course I was bummed, but I knew that I just needed to be patient and we would take them when we could.

About a year ago, I knew that both Adrianne and Riley were on the cusp of growing out of some of the magic that a trip to Disney World would offer, and I didn't want to miss that opportunity for them.

So I started researching and planning. I'll admit that I was over the top -put her in the loony bin- ridiculous with the amount of research and planning I did. But I wanted the trip to be something my kiddos would happily remember. I wanted all of us to have a good time. And with the amount of money a trip like this cost, I really felt I didn't have a chance to get it wrong.

Once I had a better idea of what I wanted out of a trip, how much it was going to cost, and a game plan for how we were going to pay for it, I decided to see if anyone else was interested in joining us on our trip. I was SO happy when people DID want to come along too. I knew that having our family around while we were visiting the place "where dreams come true" would be even BETTER than just our family going alone.

So after emailing back and forth with everyone who was interested in going on the trip, we settled on some dates and I began my countdown. But I didn't just sit by idly, waiting for the days to pass. No, I did even MORE research. I found out about all sorts of tips and tricks to save money and make the trip even more memorable.

I primarily used three websites to help plan.

The first one was disboards.com. There is an online forum/message boards where people offer all sorts of information, advice, tips and tricks. I gleaned a LOT of information here as well as was introduced to the disboutiquers (which is the sewing group I mentioned before).

The second website that I found really helpful was easywdw.com. This website is more of a blog, but it was super helpful in guiding me on the best touring strategy for each park. Now I'm sure some of you are going "Huh? What's a 'touring strategy'?" Simply put a "touring strategy" is the ideal order you need to visit the various attractions to minimize your wait times spent in lines/queues. I also learned the ins and outs of utilizing the "Fast Pass" system that Disney offers to further streamline our touring.

The last website that I used to help plan was touringplans.com. This website actually requires a subscription to access many of their features, but the price is nominal and they have a lot of information as well as crowd level predictions to help you pick the best days to visit each park.

One advantage to planning a trip so far in advance was that I was able to start a "Disney box" and begin to fill it with items that we would need on our trip, but not use in everyday life. This included things like ponchos (we were going during hurricane season and there are always pop up thunderstorms in Florida in the summer), LED battery opperated lights to put on the strollers so they could be found easily at night, little toys and items to give to the kids so we wouldn't need to buy a whole lot of souvenirs once there. Because we have planned so early, I was able to buy most things on super sales or clearance, saving a lot.

The other thing that was fun about planning the trip so far in advance was that it gave me time to SEW and craft for our trip. Because of the Disboutiquers, I knew that I wanted to make my kiddos cute outfits to wear (more on this later) that would make them feel special while we were there. I also got the idea of decorating the hotel room door so even our room would be special.

But finally, FINALLY, after all that planning, it was actually time to head out on the trip.

Because we are a slightly larger family, it was much more cost effective for us to drive. So we loaded up the car and begun our road trip. Google maps says it takes almost 20 hours of driving time to get from our house to the hotel where we were staying. I know that sounds just awful to most, but since we routinly make trips this long twice a year, it wasn't too bad. Plus, we had the anticipation of knowing we'd soon be in DINSEY WORLD.