Lord Fantasius
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Jan 26, 2005
It’s been six & a half years since our/my last visit to Disney World. My daughters were 4 and 2 at the time, now 10 and 8 (yes, the math works), the perfect “Princess age.” My wife and I are only 2 years older though (no, the math doesn’t work…just consider it good genes, and a rejection of Euclidean time constraints).
I grew up going to Disney since the year after it opened, staying in a pop-up camper mainly at Fort Wilderness…since that’s all we could afford…about every other or every third year, with two nights at the Polynesian as a treat at the end of the trip. Yes, a Father Knows Best family vacation. We visited only during the summer…along with the rest of the world…as my parents were firmly opposed to taking us out of school, and spent anywhere from 10 days to 2 weeks on property; though not sure we realized there was anything to do outside of Disney World once when we reached Orlando.
During those visits, there was a distinct Disney attitude all CM’s exuded, and an atmosphere that surrounded pretty much everything. You felt like you had stepped into the largest Mickey Mouse Club reunion there was, and that Annette Funicello, or her blond-haired clone, was always right around the corner. It was always summer, and college-age students worked and ran the place, O.k., nostalgia, but everything seemed new, fresh, and held boundless imagination. We were the Brady Bunch generation…without half the children or the housekeeper.
Even the WEDway People Mover seemed on the cutting edge of technology that would revolutionize the world. As a kid, dreamed one day all Disney resorts, even the far-off flung one, then known as the Dixie Landings, would be connected by these People Movers and that buses would become passé. Fortunately, as a Fort Wilderness & Polynesian guest, I had the pick of the most magical transportation…boats, across that vast lake, and the monorail; what more could a kid ask for?
And then I took a bus...once...in my entire first 10 visits. And they weren’t magical even back then…nor were the bus drivers at 2:00am, which is when the boats stopped running. Decided never to miss the last launch of a boat again if I could.
After a gap of almost 15 years, which included getting married and having a couple of kids, I started making excuses to get back to Disney World. Even attended a work conference at the Contemporary, but really, without the family?
My DW grew up on a ranch…in Nowhere, Nebraska, just outside of Somewhere, Nebraska. Yes, milking cows, feeding hens, sheering sheep, raising and butchering your own food (“you don’t name what you eat” I found out later), digging post holes, mending fences, etc. Yes, that life still exists even outside an American Girl story…I’m sure there’s a soapbox around here somewhere.
My wife is tough and has a heart of gold; and I love her. We’ll call her Annie Oakley, the original western princess.
Our two daughters, Wildfire (DD10)
and Spitfire (DD8) 
, love “Disney” and their two favorite princesses, Merida and Jasmine, respectively. Big surprise. But then again, my wife and I have never told them how old some of those Disney movies are, even those that were filmed before their parents were born…timelessness is on our side; as is the innocence of childhood.
Rounding out the roster of our travel
My sister and her family – with my DS as much a Disney-holic as I am…it was kind of expected since we grew up in the same house (genetics?), while our local movie theatre had Disney movies every Saturday morning, and during school breaks; what a cool concept. Her two daughters, college-age, so a bit older than their cousins, have never been to Disneyworld, though they grew up loving the movies. And my DS’s husband, he brings stability to their family and he’s good to my sister.
My wife and my brother-in-law are as similar as their spouses (me and my sister, respectively, if you weren’t following along) who get along rather well (scarily); which more than likely has something to do with their similar type of childhood upbringing. And they believe they share an inside secret that us “suburban” kids will never understand. My sister and I are extroverts…daydreamers…one foot on the ground, the other in the clouds sort of existence. Disney people. My wife and brother-in-law…introverts…nose-to-the-grindstone, one foot on the ground, the other in reality sort of viewpoint.
Each of us are good for the other.
And lastly, my parents, Grandma and Grandpa now – the original Disney enablers (though predominantly Grandma), and the funders of this mission (for their granddaughters…”why wait until we’re dead to see the grandchildren enjoy the inheritance”). They’ve saved and scrimped their entire life, and are now enjoying retirement. Thank you, the Greatest Generation, we’ll never understand those times again.
Next stage: the Planning begins...
I grew up going to Disney since the year after it opened, staying in a pop-up camper mainly at Fort Wilderness…since that’s all we could afford…about every other or every third year, with two nights at the Polynesian as a treat at the end of the trip. Yes, a Father Knows Best family vacation. We visited only during the summer…along with the rest of the world…as my parents were firmly opposed to taking us out of school, and spent anywhere from 10 days to 2 weeks on property; though not sure we realized there was anything to do outside of Disney World once when we reached Orlando.
During those visits, there was a distinct Disney attitude all CM’s exuded, and an atmosphere that surrounded pretty much everything. You felt like you had stepped into the largest Mickey Mouse Club reunion there was, and that Annette Funicello, or her blond-haired clone, was always right around the corner. It was always summer, and college-age students worked and ran the place, O.k., nostalgia, but everything seemed new, fresh, and held boundless imagination. We were the Brady Bunch generation…without half the children or the housekeeper.
Even the WEDway People Mover seemed on the cutting edge of technology that would revolutionize the world. As a kid, dreamed one day all Disney resorts, even the far-off flung one, then known as the Dixie Landings, would be connected by these People Movers and that buses would become passé. Fortunately, as a Fort Wilderness & Polynesian guest, I had the pick of the most magical transportation…boats, across that vast lake, and the monorail; what more could a kid ask for?
And then I took a bus...once...in my entire first 10 visits. And they weren’t magical even back then…nor were the bus drivers at 2:00am, which is when the boats stopped running. Decided never to miss the last launch of a boat again if I could.
After a gap of almost 15 years, which included getting married and having a couple of kids, I started making excuses to get back to Disney World. Even attended a work conference at the Contemporary, but really, without the family?
My DW grew up on a ranch…in Nowhere, Nebraska, just outside of Somewhere, Nebraska. Yes, milking cows, feeding hens, sheering sheep, raising and butchering your own food (“you don’t name what you eat” I found out later), digging post holes, mending fences, etc. Yes, that life still exists even outside an American Girl story…I’m sure there’s a soapbox around here somewhere.
My wife is tough and has a heart of gold; and I love her. We’ll call her Annie Oakley, the original western princess.
Our two daughters, Wildfire (DD10)
and Spitfire (DD8) , love “Disney” and their two favorite princesses, Merida and Jasmine, respectively. Big surprise. But then again, my wife and I have never told them how old some of those Disney movies are, even those that were filmed before their parents were born…timelessness is on our side; as is the innocence of childhood.Rounding out the roster of our travel
My sister and her family – with my DS as much a Disney-holic as I am…it was kind of expected since we grew up in the same house (genetics?), while our local movie theatre had Disney movies every Saturday morning, and during school breaks; what a cool concept. Her two daughters, college-age, so a bit older than their cousins, have never been to Disneyworld, though they grew up loving the movies. And my DS’s husband, he brings stability to their family and he’s good to my sister.
My wife and my brother-in-law are as similar as their spouses (me and my sister, respectively, if you weren’t following along) who get along rather well (scarily); which more than likely has something to do with their similar type of childhood upbringing. And they believe they share an inside secret that us “suburban” kids will never understand. My sister and I are extroverts…daydreamers…one foot on the ground, the other in the clouds sort of existence. Disney people. My wife and brother-in-law…introverts…nose-to-the-grindstone, one foot on the ground, the other in reality sort of viewpoint.
Each of us are good for the other.
And lastly, my parents, Grandma and Grandpa now – the original Disney enablers (though predominantly Grandma), and the funders of this mission (for their granddaughters…”why wait until we’re dead to see the grandchildren enjoy the inheritance”). They’ve saved and scrimped their entire life, and are now enjoying retirement. Thank you, the Greatest Generation, we’ll never understand those times again.
Next stage: the Planning begins...
