Animal Kingdom | The Real Disney Mom

From the happy heart of Real Disney Mom Janice B!

It seems as if I am always planning the next WDW family trip! Probably because as soon as I return from one trip I start planning the next. I have been planning one to two trips per year for almost 30 years. When my children were young, I took great care in planning each step of our WDW trips. After all, having two children almost four years apart in age, one boy, one girl, it was not always easy to make everyone happy all the time. Their likes and dislikes were so totally different that once they were school age, I began a WDW vacation game/contest. Each one was allowed to keep a “running list” of things they wanted to do on our next trip with the understanding that not everything could be done on each trip. 100 days before the trip, they each received a hand-made by Mom booklet. Their booklets included a count-down calendar, the top 3 things on their wish list with a point value attached to each and a list of how to earn the points for a coupon/promise that if not the whole family, at least that child would be able to do one of his/her special requests. They earned points for good report cards; chores around the house; etc. Several years in a row my son chose taking an animation class that required us to drop him off early in the morning at MK and pick him up later in the afternoon. My daughter always seemed to want to earn dinner in the castle! Before leaving home I would actually create a spread sheet with each day across the top, outlining what we would do at each park trying to make time and room for both of their wishes (I also used this to keep all of my dining/special event reservation numbers in one place.)

I am now planning a 7 day trip for October, 2011. My children are now adults, 27 and 24, they no longer live at home and I think they would argue if I tried to make them earn points, but they do look forward to updates and e-mails with new ideas and suggestions, as well as sending me e-mails with new ideas. Planning has not really gotten any easier even with adults. I still want to make sure they each are able to do all the things that excite them. After all, no matter how old, they are still my little kids! I get an enormous amount of pleasure watching my son (27) in the Magic Kingdom. He gets just as excited now as he did as a small child! He loves to find hidden Mickey’s and show them to little kids in the park. My daughter, a chef who has actually cooked at the 2010 International Food and Wine Festival, always wants to go when the festival is in full swing. I search daily for new ideas; constantly try for reservations for their favorite restaurants; check websites, facebook, etc., daily for new items. My son is extremely excited this year to try the Wild Africa Trek at Animal Kingdom.

I may not offer points for WDW rewards anymore, but I still create a folder with a spreadsheet trying to get in everyone’s favorites. After all, once you hit WDW, everyone is a child a heart again!

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Walt Disney was said to describe Mickey as a “very clean mouse”. This is obviously a direct contradiction of what a mouse really is, in any place but Disney World. If this appeals to you, the idea of taking something that other wise might not be appealing, and making it so, then Disney World is for you. Walt looked at many of the carnivals and circuses of his day and wanted to create a place for families that was safer then these places he visited. Thank goodness he did!

Walt Disney World is comprised of four theme parks; Magic Kingdom, Epcot (formerly EPCOT Center, EPCOT standing for Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow), Disney’s Hollywood Studios (formerly MGM Studios), and Disney’s Animal Kingdom, and two water parks; Disney’s Blizzard Beach, and Disney’s Typhoon Lagoon. Also on Disney property are Downtown Disney, Disney’s Boardwalk, ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex, 5 golf courses, and 23 themed hotels.

To me, Walt Disney World is a utopia. It is a place that you can escape to, if only for one small vacation a year, where you are surrounded completely by a controlled environment that is seemingly nothing but happy and magical. Disney would control the weather if they could! (In fact, Walt actually wanted to do this in his original plans for EPCOT!) One of Walt’s great dreams was to create a utopian community. He came close with his visions for EPCOT, but unfortunately passed away before his vision was realized. The Walt Disney company tried also to do this, when creating the town of Celebration. But as far as vacations are concerned, in my opinion Disney World comes as close to perfect as you can get!

As you can see, Walt Disney World has many things to do and see, and thus requires a large amount of planning which I will discuss in great detail in my next post. In the mean time I hope I have gotten you throughly as excited and intrigued about Walt Disney World as I am!