Disney World

I have been on no fewer than six Walt Disney World vacations. My husband has been on ten.

There was a time when I was a kid that I asked my parents if we could go to Disney World. It seemed that all of my classmates went to Florida for vacation every year, though in truth it was fewer than half a dozen. I wasn't all that interested, but I just wanted to know what I was missing. My parents couldn't afford it, plus our vacation time was used to visit my grandparents who lived several states away. I lost interest quickly and didn't think of it again until I met my now husband.

Within a week or two of meeting me, my (now) husband asked me out to the movies. I said yes. This seems to have gone to his head, because one day after inviting me to the movies, he invited me to his favorite place in the world. Walt Disney World. I said yes.

Well, a lot of things went wrong, the biggest being that the car broke down 3 hours away and we had to have it towed into Orlando and then take a taxi to the All Star Movies value resort. When we arrived, Disney World had lost our reservation! It turned out that we'd missed the small print on the website and didn't know that we had to have the entire reservation's balance available on our credit card to hold the reservation, and not merely enough for the deposit. Oops.

Still, we had our receipt handy, and they promptly upgraded us to Coronado Springs moderate resort.

Wow. That was incredible.

I honestly would have been happy just staying at the hotel for the entire week of vacation. In fact, I think I grumped a bit when he insisted on actually visiting the parks. Until we got there.

To this date, I don't think I could tell you what it is that I love so much about Walt Disney World. Can you tell me why you love your spouse? Why your favorite food is your favorite food? What makes golf the only sport you'll play, or why you only wear silver jewelry? There is something about the Disney parks that simply defies definition.

As I said, I've been there 5 times since that first visit. Although I do campaign for one day at the hotel on every trip. Thus far, I've lost that campaign, but I will prevail!

I've already developed a number of sites devoted to The Happiest Place On Earth. I've developed lenses on the tamest of Disney World's rollercoasters. I've written lenses and hubs with Disney World tips and secrets, planning information, and more. And yet there's always something more to write about. Always.

Both my husband and I have considered seeking Disneyworld employment, going as far as speaking to a cast member, getting a recommendation card (employees get a bonus if they refer someone who successfully gets hired), and driving by the employment center (which isn't so difficult since it's right across from Downtown Disney Marketplace).

With my obsession at the forefront, I've assisted several people to plan a Disneyworld vacation, and my husband's brother and mother wanted to go with us one year. We were careful to plan our park visits around their preferences (brother wanted to play golf, taking the ferry to the Magic Kingdom because his mother is afraid of heights and the monorail frightened her), and we still had the best vacation we've ever had. Watching them enjoy themselves just heightened our enjoyment.

Besides that, I've made a number of friends online. Some are Disneyphiles like I am, some are planning a vacation to the Disney parks, and some are simply hoping to go "some day". My experience visiting the Magic Kingdom, EPCOT, Animal Kingdom, and Disney's Hollywood Studios (formerly known as MGM Studios) as well as the value and moderate resorts has placed me in an excellent way to help them get the most out of their vacations. I know which websites to send them to for more information, where to find Disney World coupons, and other Disneyworld tips such as how much to tip housekeeping (sometimes referred to as Mousekeeping).

Since I love the parks so much, I can't really help people who want to take a Disney Cruise, or visit other area attractions and beaches, though I can help a little bit when it comes to Universal Studios, though not Islands of Adventure. That may change, however, since I'm anticipating the new Harry Potter theme park within a theme park as much as everyone else.

I have visited Medieval Times, however, and have managed to stop at a Dunkin Donuts in Kissimmee a total of once out of my six trips. And while we'd very much like to visit Disneyland on our next vacation, the fact that we don't fly makes it a little prohibitive. It's 3 days by train, and 3 days by car. That's a LONG way to travel for just a few days.

We have packing for a trip to Disney World in Florida down to an art, though. We've even worked out how to pack and where to place the cooler for easiest access during our 16 hour drive. I even make sandwiches while my husband drives to further limit the travel time. By the way, Go Gurts are excellent for traveling.

Some day, when we get the guts and the money together, we'd also like to visit Tokyo Disneyland, Disneyland Tokyo Sea, Disneyland Paris, and possibly even Hong Kong Disney. That's quite far in the future, however, and may not ever happen.

In the mean time, I'll be more than happy to tell you the best places to eat at Disney World, in any of the theme parks. My favorite rides, and tips on how to get onto the most popular ones.

Strangely, there are only a few of the Deluxe resorts that I have any desire to stay in. I'd like to stay in the Wilderness Lodge, the Animal Kingdom Lodge (most rooms have a view of animals wandering around), the Contemporary (just because the monorail actually runs THROUGH it), the Grand Floridian (I believe it was the first of the Disneyworld resorts), the Polynesian because so many people seem to love it, and Saratoga Springs (because it's pretty and has a water view).

My all time favorite Disney World hotel is Port Orleans Riverside, a moderate resort, specifically in the Bayou section, which is quieter and surrounded by night blooming plants. The mansions are very nice, but they seem much more typical to me. The French Quarter is lovely and quiet, but doesn't have a table service restaurant and the food court seems a bit creepy with its Mardis Gras theme. Port Orleans Riverside and Port Orleans French Quarter have been combined into one resort, but with 3 distinct sections. The Bayou, the Mansions, and the French Quarter. Both Riverside and French Quarter share a ferry down to Downtown Disney, which is lovely and soothing, if a bit loud. You can walk between Riverside and French Quarter, or take the ferry if you wish to visit the other side of the resort.

I also loved Coronado Springs with its huge pond/lake in the center and lovely small water features scattered about. We've yet to experience Carribean Beach, but the pirate themed rooms in one part of the hotel are very enticing. I've heard that Finding Nemo themed rooms are in the works as well, though haven't found anything conclusive on that.

As for Value Resorts, I've stayed in All Star Sports and All Star Music (remember, All Star Movies bumped us up to Coronado Springs), and Pop Century.

It's actually rather difficult to choose between the value resorts. On the one hand, Pop Century has an amazing food court and seating area, the decade-correct music playing outside the actual hotel rooms can get you right into a party mood, and the rooms are larger than what's at the All Star Resorts. But there's an indefinable something that makes the All Stars feel more like home. And in truth, we feel more comfortable at All Star Sports, despite the fact that I'm not a sports fan. It just seems a bit more laid back than All Star Music.

Both the All Star Resorts and Pop Century have humongous kid oriented statues by the hotel buildings that fit the themes. They all have terrible NesCafe coffee as well.

On top of the awesome hotels and theme parks, there's also Disney water parks, mini-golf, and a whole bunch of other things that you can do. There's several professional golf courses, including 2, I believe, which are on the PGA Tour. Impressive, no?

And if you just love to go there on vacation, you can even become a member of the Disney Vacation Club, or DVC for short. Basically, you buy Disney World timeshares directly from Disney. But they use a point system, so that you're not locked into one time every year, or even a specific hotel. You do buy your points at a specific hotel, but you can use them at any of the Disney owned hotels. A friend of mine who is a member said that even though the points are for the Deluxe hotels, that you can transfer your points trip by trip to a moderate resort. I can't recall if he said you could do the same for a value resort or not, though. There is a fee to transfer your points like that, but they're so flexible that you can bank unused points to use the following year, or even rent the points out on one of the Disney oriented forums. If you're thinking of buying into the DVC, you may want to consider renting points from someone first, to see how you'll like it. And while you're there, take a DVC tour and ask questions. No better way to test drive than to combine staying on points with the sales pitch.

Seriously, planning Disney World vacations can be extremely daunting. It's always best to decide how long you have and what's most important, and then work around that.