Curing Disney Deprivation Syndrome – OCT 2018 Birthday/Halloween/SOLO PTR

[toonaspie]

I haven't been to Disney in about 10 years.


Let's fix that shall, we?



Backstory:

There's not much to say about it, really. Last I went was when I did the College Program there. Did a few mini-vacations when my friend flew down to visit. We talked about going back to Disney all the time since then. Got super-close back in December 2016. His mom was wanting to treat us as his graduation present. But plane and weather problems led to us getting as far as sitting in the plane but never leaving the gate.

The planning for that trip was horrendous. Neither of them knew what they were doing. Trying to fix all of the errors was painstaking and then for the trip to be canceled just killed me...to the point that I felt we should use the refund on anything other than Disney.

So in May 2017, we went to Universal instead (as first-timers basically) and had a good time there. You can read all about that trip here.

Now...let's just say that said friend whom I would take such trips with is out of the picture and out of my life now. Been spending the past several months coping with change and feeling very…very...very Disney-deprived in the process.

I eventually came to the conclusion that with a bit of hard work on the money side of things, I could treat myself to my own (and long-overdue) Disney vacation. I love traveling but am clearly not in a good financial state to do so. And being solo won't be new as I did a lot of park visiting solo during the College Program.

And what better time to go than when my birthday and Halloween are back-to-back? After the past ten years I've had, I owe it to myself to go back. My sister got to back in 2014 for business and I've been super jelly since.



Why October 2018?:

Aside from everything I just said, I feel that 2018 could be my last chance to go before things get crazy with Star Wars land opening and the prices and crowds possibly going up. Who knows when I'll be able to make it back if I don't take the chance now? It might not be until after the hoopla of the 50th.

October of course is when my birthday is. At my work place, we're allowed one paid day off to be taken within our birthday month. And next year we'll get two floating holidays to be taken whenever we wish. Combined with some paid time off hours, I've decided to take the whole week off to make this trip work.

As for Halloween, I must confess...Halloween has become one of my least favorite holidays as a result of my birthday being on the 30th. I haven't enjoyed Halloween in many years. However, when I did the College Program, I did attend one MNSSHP and fell in love with it! If I could chose where I would spend every Oct 31st, it would be Disney World without question. And yes, I'm aware that it's the most expensive and most crowded day to attend a MNSSHP but it will be worth it, I think.

With 13 months to plan, I feel I'm in a good place. I might even get a travel agent involved.



Here's the stats so far as to what my trip goals are.

Targeted dates (from earliest I can arrive to latest I can stay): Saturday Oct. 27 through Saturday Nov. 3, 2018. Exact dates of trip are dependent on Southwest's TBD flight schedule.
Resort Choice: Pop Century
Events: 35th birthday (October 30), Halloween (October 31), and maybe some additional extras thrown in
Guests: just me!!!!


And just to show you how hardcore serious I am about making this trip happen...

I just bought my first Disney gift card, just so I have reason to start up my Disney piggy bank. Hoping the next 13 months will fill into multiple banks. I'll keep you informed of the progress.

Wish me luck! Please subscribe to this thread as I dunno how often I will update this.

 

[StageTek]

Love the jar....

 

[Amanda13]

I haven't been to Disney in about 10 years.


Let's fix that shall, we?



Backstory:

There's not much to say about it, really. Last I went was when I did the College Program there. Did a few mini-vacations when my friend flew down to visit. We talked about going back to Disney all the time since then. Got super-close back in December 2016. His mom was wanting to treat us as his graduation present. But plane and weather problems led to us getting as far as sitting in the plane but never leaving the gate.

The planning for that trip was horrendous. Neither of them knew what they were doing. Trying to fix all of the errors was painstaking and then for the trip to be canceled just killed me...to the point that I felt we should use the refund on anything other than Disney.

So in May 2017, we went to Universal instead (as first-timers basically) and had a good time there. You can read all about that trip here.

Now...let's just say that said friend whom I would take such trips with is out of the picture and out of my life now. Been spending the past several months coping with change and feeling very…very...very Disney-deprived in the process.

I eventually came to the conclusion that with a bit of hard work on the money side of things, I could treat myself to my own (and long-overdue) Disney vacation. I love traveling but am clearly not in a good financial state to do so. And being solo won't be new as I did a lot of park visiting solo during the College Program.

And what better time to go than when my birthday and Halloween are back-to-back? After the past ten years I've had, I owe it to myself to go back. My sister got to back in 2014 for business and I've been super jelly since.



Why October 2018?:

Aside from everything I just said, I feel that 2018 could be my last chance to go before things get crazy with Star Wars land opening and the prices and crowds possibly going up. Who knows when I'll be able to make it back if I don't take the chance now? It might not be until after the hoopla of the 50th.

October of course is when my birthday is. At my work place, we're allowed one paid day off to be taken within our birthday month. And next year we'll get two floating holidays to be taken whenever we wish. Combined with some paid time off hours, I've decided to take the whole week off to make this trip work.

As for Halloween, I must confess...Halloween has become one of my least favorite holidays as a result of my birthday being on the 30th. I haven't enjoyed Halloween in many years. However, when I did the College Program, I did attend one MNSSHP and fell in love with it! If I could chose where I would spend every Oct 31st, it would be Disney World without question. And yes, I'm aware that it's the most expensive and most crowded day to attend a MNSSHP but it will be worth it, I think.

With 13 months to plan, I feel I'm in a good place. I might even get a travel agent involved.



Here's the stats so far as to what my trip goals are.

Targeted dates (from earliest I can arrive to latest I can stay): Saturday Oct. 27 through Saturday Nov. 3, 2018. Exact dates of trip are dependent on Southwest's TBD flight schedule.
Resort Choice: Pop Century
Events: 35th birthday (October 30), Halloween (October 31), and maybe some additional extras thrown in
Guests: just me!!!!


And just to show you how hardcore serious I am about making this trip happen...

I just bought my first Disney gift card, just so I have reason to start up my Disney piggy bank. Hoping the next 13 months will fill into multiple banks. I'll keep you informed of the progress.

Wish me luck! Please subscribe to this thread as I dunno how often I will update this.

I second the love for that jar. Totally Awesome.

 

[toonaspie]

Thanks, I unfortunately had to give up the jar cause clearly the gift cards won't fit as you could tell. I did find an alternative that works much better.