I read and watch so much about how to plan your perfect, organized Disney vacation! In my extremely humble opinion, how could any Disney vacation ever NOT be perfect?? Barring any unpredictable natural or physical disaster that just completely obliterates your vacation, if you adopt a go with the flow attitude, and remember grace in all your actions and interactions, every Disney vacation can be magical! Remember to enjoy that you are there with people you love (even if that means you are there alone!) and that you are away from the stress of day to day (thought Disney stress can be a real thing) for at least a little while.
The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. 2 Thessalonians 3:18 NIV
Take my most recent vacation to Walt Disney World for example. My dad wanted to visit “one last time” for his 78th birthday! He chose to take just my mom, sister, and I, leaving my sister’s grandson and my kids home with our husbands. (Don’t worry. My daughter isn’t even 2 and my boys have no interest in visiting, for some completely crazy reason. And while I’m sure my husband wanted to go; he prefers the off season at Disney, and this was pretty much the beginning of summer.)
My sister rented wheelchairs for my parents because they are not 100% mobile. By day 2 we realized that pushing wheelchairs through parks for 6 days straight was probably not the best of ideas. My sister and I are not spring chickens. Add to this the fact that I, having worked at Disney in the past, thought I remembered all the short cuts! I did not. So, my sister with her arthritic knees could have completely flipped out on me for racing from the entrance of the Magic Kingdom to Tron, via a NOT short cut, so we could meet our Virtual Queue time. Bless her soul, she kept her cursing at me inside her head and, when I got us lost, calmly asked a cast member for directions. Grace.
I purchased the Memory Maker photo package for the trip. While I believe we all 100% loved this option and the many amazing pictures we received because of it, I’m sure another frustration was my pointing out every person in a green photographer’s outfit in every park. When you are pushing 2 wheelchairs through a park, you already have a little less time than if all people in the party could walk at a fair pace. Taking time out to possibly wait in line and have the photographers ask you to pose (in the same 4 or 5 poses each time) may have meant that we couldn’t do everything that we wanted to do. Grace.
I also planned to meet up with 2 of my friends from college. Another chance for my family to snarl at me under their breath about the time we were missing at the parks and together, not to mention the fact that they did not know these ladies as well as I did, and even I hadn’t seen either of them in over 20 years! And yet again, I was shown grace.
Each one of us, for one reason or another, could have easily lost our patience with another. Instead, we marched on and because even I went with the flow when things weren’t going exactly the way I would have them go, a dream reignited inside of me. My dream to work in connection with Disney and experience magic every day while also sharing it with others came to life. Upon my return home, I immediately started brainstorming how I could make this dream a reality. This blog, my friend, (can I call you friend?), is hopefully it.
I am exploring new ways to “Disney,” and considering an Adventure by Disney vacation to Wyoming in the near future. I grew up and still live in Colorado and have never been to Yellowstone National Park! For now, while my kids are still young and don’t appreciate travel like I do (seriously though; where did these kids come from?!?) I will try to stay closer to home, i.e., North America. However, as they grow, I am dreaming of taking off to new countries and experiencing all sorts of new things that I am praying my daughter will want to take part in!
Until next time, keep sharing grace and dreaming my friend!
