Scouting Orlando – The Arrival °o° *•._.•* ‘ *•._.•* °o°

In planning for our relocation to Central Florida, Mark and I felt that we needed to budget in a trip to the area for scouting and research to make sure this was the right thing for us to do.  We visited the Orlando area March 23^rd to the 31^st of 2012... 

Our flight to Orlando was scheduled to leave at 11pm. We were due to arrive in Orlando at 4am Friday morning. We figured that with even an early check-in we would not get a room before 11am, so we planned on taking our time picking up our luggage, checking in with Hertz for the rental car and maybe getting a bit of breakfast in our future home.

The flight over to Florida was about 3 ½ hours, but I didn’t sleep for one minute which was hard considering I fall asleep at 10:00pm on the dot when I have to get up for work the next morning.  It was a packed flight, full of Spring Breakers heading to Orlando for the theme parks. They weren’t a rowdy bunch, thank goodness, but it did mean a lot of people to maneuver around and wait for loading and unloading.

Mark and I anticipated the extra charge to check our luggage, so we planned to share our larger suitcase so that we would only have to check one bag. Everything else we were able to carry on (lap top, and a carry-on bag each). Still, $50 bucks each way is not chump change!

Four hours later, we were searching for the luggage carousel that would spit out our green suitcase. This is a big airport compared to ones I’ve been to, and we didn’t find the signage very user friendly. After a few wrong turns, and what felt like a mile of hiking, we had baggage in hand and started the trek to the rental car counters.  Of course, Hertz was the furthest one down, but was thankfully empty of people.  The rental agent was nice enough, tried to upsell the vehicle without mentioning an extra charge (she made it sound like she had a nicer vehicle on hand, and was going to upgrade as a courtesy).  We declined, and found that we were happy with what we got.

Walking through the outside of the airport at 4:30 in the morning, excited to be in the city that we will be moving to eventually, all of our senses were alert.  We noticed a light fog around the area, something you rarely see in Phoenix.  That temperature at that hour was on the cool side of lukewarm, but the humidity was noticeable.  We didn’t know if the humidity that morning was high, or low, but we were both surprised that it was humid at all considering the cool temperature. 

During the 20 minute drive from the airport to the Radisson Hotel Orlando we soaked in the view of the environment, lots of grass, lots of small bodies of water, certainly more tree-life that in our desert home. 

I was pleased to discover that Orlando did not have a strange smell when we got off the plane.  Sometimes, you may find that a strange city has a scent (Phoenix smells like dust sometimes, and when it rains, it’s a distinctive dirt smell).  Certain parts of the valley has a lot of horse property, so in the morning hours, you will smell manure for miles.

(The crystal chandelier from the lobby of the Carlton)

We arrived at the hotel by 7am after a quick breakfast at a nearby Waffle House.  We were pleasantly surprised that the staff was able to put us into a room right away.  We were very happy with the room; a nice size, clean and with nice décor.  I have to admit that both of us were drop-dead tired, so after a quick wash up, we both dropped onto the bed and slept until late afternoon.

The first day of our Scouting Orlando trip had begun with a nap!

Comments are welcome. Positive feedback encouraged!

Mouseketeer Ken

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Why Florida & Not California? °o° *•._.•* ‘ *•._.•* °o°

When I made my announcement to my friends and family a couple of months ago, one of my friends asked me “Why Florida and not California?”.  A fair question, because we did think about that.

Mark and I have been to Disneyland in California several times together. We both have countless visits to the West coast parks logged in before we even met, but we have only been to Florida a couple of times each, and never together (until recently on our Scouting Orlando trip). 

When the idea started to gel that we wanted to move to another state, and then the idea to live near Disney started to percolate, Florida was the first place that popped into my mind.  We both dearly love Disneyland because of the intimacy of the park, as well as the history and nostalgia of the original, but there were a lot of factors to weigh in against.

My first concern about relocating to California was about the cost of living. From what I have read, and what friends have told me, it costs a LOT to live there.  I realize that income may be commensurate to the cost of living there, but I would rather make a lateral move than to try to win an uphill battle.  In addition to that, we want to own our home.  With the cost of real estate anywhere in the state of California, it would be totally prohibitive.

We had to ask ourselves where were we likely to find more available jobs as well?  With Florida’s unemployment rate as low as it is right now, I have been keeping tabs on a regular basis, and I have been seeing recent signs of improvement.  It’s staying even with Arizona’s rate, which are both slightly better than California’s.  The cost of living index is very similar to ours here in Phoenix. This doesn’t guarantee either of us a job of course, but I think both Mark and I are more competitive with our job skills in Florida, then we would be in California.

By size comparison, our “intimate” park is approximately 1 square mile in total.  That includes both parks (Disneyland and California Adventure) and downtown Disney.  Disney World is 47 square miles!  One of the questions friends ask is “Don’t you think you’ll get tired of Disneyland”?  Well, in truth, we might. With as much as Disney World has to offer, however, we can move from park to park to park.  Add in two water parks, Downtown Disney, DisneyQuest, the upcoming Pleasure Island as well as all of the other parks in the vicinity, and beaches on either coast (don’t forget the Florida Keys and Miami) I don’t think we’re going to be bored!

Now let’s talk weather.  I guess no one would choose scorching heat and dripping humidity over the breezy, mild climate of Southern California. But when you consider where we are coming from, we are trading hot-as-hell for hot-as-hell (if you will pardon the phrase).  In Phoenix, you spend your summer months indoors as much as possible, and you run from air conditioning to air conditioning as quickly as you can.  I imagine it will be the same when we get to the tropical heat of central Florida, but the difference is that we will be living less than 30 minutes away from Disney World (and we will have a pool in the back yard)!

It wasn’t a quick and easy decision. We wanted to make an informed one, so we have done a lot of research, and have discussed endless scenarios. I think we both have fallen in love with the idea of living in a state that is so much different from the one we live in. 

Besides, Mark is scared of earthquakes.

Comments are welcome. Positive feedback encouraged!

Mouseketeer Ken

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Scouting Orlando - Budget °o° *•._.•* ‘ *•._.•* °o°

In planning for our relocation to Central Florida, Mark and I felt that we needed to budget in a trip to the area for scouting and research to make sure this was the right thing for us to do.  We visited the Orlando area March 23^rd to the 31^st of 2012... 

Mark and I have known for a while that it might not be a smart move to just up and move our lives to Florida without ever having visited the area. So, when we first made the decision to move, I set up a budget so that we would know how much this was going to cost.  Part of that budget included a “Scouting Orlando” section. 

Among the costs we budgeted for the Scouting Orlando trip looked like this:

flight	$400.00	4 days/3 nights
hotel	$300.00	($100/night)
Rental call	$154.00	Standard Car-$116-$154
Food	$150.00
DW tix (1 Day)	$175.00	$87.30 x 2
gas	$100.00
TOTAL	$1279.00

$1,279 bucks.  Economical, right?   Well, the reality ended up being something different:

Flight	incl.
Hotel	incl.	8 days/7 nights
rental car	$2,050.00
Food	$200.00
DW tix	$630.00	for 6 days (each)
Gas	$100.00
TOTAL	$2,980.00

So Priceline.com allowed us to bundle the flight, hotel stay and rental car.  Since we decided to extend the visit from just 3 days/4 nights, to twice that at 8 days/7 nights, I think we stayed within budget. I’m not sure how each cost broke out for the bundled flight/hotel/car, but having upgraded the hotel a bit so that we would be comfortable for such a long stay it works out to $120 a night for hotel, $200 each for flight, and $89 a day for the car.  The rental car was the most surprising cost.  Even taking the most basic insurance coverage they offered, we were shocked at the additional fees and charges that weren’t explained on the Priceline itinerary.  That and the extra hundred bucks that U.S. Airways charges to check your suitcase provided some wallet shock!

You’ll notice that we bought 6-day park hopper tickets for the Disney Parks.  I had originally decided that we would only go ONE day out of the 4 that we were going to be in Florida.  We were waiting for a price deal to crop up before buying the ticket, knowing that if we didn’t find one, we would just buy tickets at the gate.  It wasn’t until just days before the trip that Priceline send an email with a discount offer, in which the best deal was 2 days free if you buy 6 days.  We decided that if we went with that deal, at roughly $50 a day, we could still tour the city, and then just drop in on the park for a few hours here and there for a parade, fireworks and a few rides, then head back to the hotel.

I think we ended up spending about $3500 in full. It took some sacrifice to save it up, but by now, we have resigned ourselves to the need to reduce our spending for the next year and half so that we can have as much money as possible in our hands before it’s time to make the big move.

This Scouting Orlando trip was a necessary evil in terms of spending our hard earned savings.  It opened our eyes to some of the challenges that we will be facing when we arrive in Orlando, and begin the second, most-important half of our journey.

This posting marks the first in a series on the subject of “Scouting Orlando”. 

Comments are welcome. Positive feedback encouraged!

Mouseketeer Ken

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You Know Everything About Disney! (Part 2 of 2) °o° *•._.•* ' *•._.•* °o°

(Continued itinerary)

On the other side of the park is Tomorrowland.  Make sure you don’t miss the Small World ride on your way there.  The best rides for kids in Tomorrowland is the Little Nemo Submarine ride, Astro Blasters (it’s a Buzz Lightyear themed shooting ride), Captain EO (Michael Jackson 3D movie), and Autopia.  They also have a fun outdoors Star Wars show for kids; they bring up 10 or 12 kids to learn how to be Jedi’s.

Speaking of Small World… If you are going to catch a parade while you are there, try to see it in the curb area in front Small World.  It gets very crowded on Main Street, and you won’t need to walk all the way across the park to get back.

The rides I would avoid for young kids are: Star Tours (very shaky and causes motion sickness), the rollercoasters (Space Mountain, Splash Mountain, Thunder Mountain, Matterhorn, etc.), The Mad Tea Party (just spins for 5 minutes). I would AVOID “Innoventions”-it’s a walk-through display about futuristic inventions and is very boring.

Something to remember is that there is a train that circles the park all day long.  If you need to go from one land to another, use the train!  You will love the ride, and your feet will love you! There are 5 or 6 stops all around the park.

Something else to see is Pixie Hollow to meet Tinkerbell.  Once you enter the area, you are the size of a fairy and you can take pictures and chat with Tink and her friends.

One last thing is that you should check into is using the Fast Passes. On certain rides (usually the adult ones like Haunted Mansion, Indiana Jones, etc., but Pirates and Winnie Pooh does, too), you use your ticket to scan the bar code on the back. It will print out a ticket with a time range printed on it.  When you return to the ride during that time frame you get to move to the head of the line.  These are FREE, and will save a LOT of time standing in line if there are rides you want to go on. The map you get when you enter the park will tell you what rides offer Fast Passes. 

Have fun at the park!  I wish I was there with you!

What do you think, Mouseketeers?  Did I steer her right with things to do for children under the age of five?  What other attractions would you guide her family to?

Comments are welcome. Positive feedback encouraged!

Mouseketeer Ken

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Coming Out of the Disney Closet °o° *•._.•* ' *•._.•* °o°

 

I haven’t really explained the timeline for the move.  It’s no wonder people look at me strangely when I say we’re moving in the Fall of 2013!  Heck, they might have a 5th park build in Florida by that time!

We came to that date by talking through several things that need to happen.  Since Mark got out of the Army in 2006, he is taking advantage of his school benefits, and he’s following his passion by going to culinary school at the Art Institute of Phoenix. He started the program in July of 2011, and he anticipates graduation to be in the spring of 2013.

The move is really dependent on his landing a job in the Central Florida area, if not with the Disney Corporation.  We agree that we would be making a huge mistake if we moved across country without either of us having some job prospect.  He plans on making connections through his school’s placement program to either intern, or be placed at a resort in the area.  Disney also offers a student intern program that he is hoping to take advantage of. 

Since Mark will likely be moving to Orlando first, we will have to set him up in an apartment, if his internship program doesn’t have student housing. 

The next step is listing the house.  We have heard that despite the scorching summer heat, homes in Phoenix generally sell faster in the summer.  Any families that are home hunting want to search while their children are out of school, and they will want to be moved before school starts so they can settle in. 

Assuming things follow along that train of thought, I may have to empty my house by early August. 

Another delay comes because of my job.  I work for a company that does a huge amount of seasonal business.  Since the busiest time of year is August through mid-October, I really want to take advantage of the nearly unlimited overtime pay that I am able to. It’s thousands of dollars more in my pocket if I can stay in town. The challenge will be if I have to be out of my house in August. If I do, I will have to find temporary housing myself. 

Comments are welcome. Positive feedback encouraged!

Mouseketeer Ken

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Follow your Bliss °o° *•._.•* ' *•._.•* °o°

“Listen with your heart, you will understand.” -- Pocahontas

Why SHOULDN’T we move to be near Disney?

Many times the first response I hear when I tell someone we’re moving to Florida to be near Disney is an outright laugh, or a snort.  That’s ok, I don’t mind it, sometimes I even think it sounds like an odd decision.

There was an author and orator by the name of Joseph Campbell who appeared in interviews on a PBS series and later published the transcripts called “The Power of Myth”, who coined the philosophical term “Follow Your Bliss”.  The phrase has permeated pop culture, and most people are aware of it; but most aren’t aware of the rest of what he was saying.  He said:

“Follow your bliss. If you do follow your bliss, you put yourself on a kind of track that has been there all the while waiting for you, and the life you ought to be living is the one you are living. When you can see that, you begin to meet people who are in the field of your bliss, and they open the doors to you. I say, follow your bliss and don't be afraid, and doors will open where you didn't know they were going to be. If you follow your bliss, doors will open for you that wouldn't have opened for anyone else." 

This philosophy touches me deeply and causes me to reflect on what I find blissful in my life.  These are things I return to time after time.

• Disney
• Theatre
• Art and drawing
• Reading
• Love
• When Mark gets home from work
• When our dog rests his head on my lap
• Christmas
• Halloween
• Mashing any combination of these things into one!

I don't think very many of us follow our bliss.  We may visit it as a hobby, or we may be too frightened to disrupt what we already know.  As an experiment, I took the words “your bliss” and replaced them with the word “Disney”.  Now it reads:

“Follow Disney. If you do follow Disney, you put yourself on a kind of track that has been there all the while waiting for you, and the life you ought to be living is the one you are living. When you can see that, you begin to meet people who are in the field of Disney, and they open the doors to you. I say, follow Disney and don't be afraid, and doors will open where you didn't know they were going to be. If you follow Disney, doors will open for you that wouldn't have opened for anyone else." 

Who is say that Disney does not qualify as “bliss”?  Mark and I both find happiness and fulfillment from everything that Disney has to offer, on a daily basis.  It’s not just amusement parks, or animated movies. It’s a sense of community, a feeling of nostalgia, the longing to share those feelings with other people. Snort all you want my friend, but the signs were there all along.  You won’t snort when you want a place to stay when you come to Disney World on vacation, and we have a spare room for you!

What is your bliss? What is your passion? What makes you happiest in life?  Are you following it?  Please comment.

Comments are welcome. Positive feedback encouraged!

Mouseketeer Ken

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Showin’ Some Disney Love! °o° *•._.•* ' *•._.•* °o°

“Now, think of the happiest things.  It’s the same as having wings”

 – Peter Pan   

One of my earliest memories of Disney was visiting the park with my Grandparents, two Aunts and my parents when I was 6 or 7 years old.  I remember it was a rainy day, and I was holding hands with my Aunt Pam and Aunt Amber who are each 8-10 years older than me, while they swung me along between them by my arms, lifting me up higher so I would land in the next water puddle.  I distinctly remember doing this along Main Street.

Another memory is of my Aunt Pam offering to buy me a souvenir, as long as it was within her budget.  I remember wanting a teddy bear very badly, and I found a tan bear that perfectly fit the “type” of teddy that my young mind insisted they should look like.  It was the epitome of the classic teddy, in my opinion.  Unfortunately, it cost more than what my Aunt wanted to pay, but after some discussion, during which I was clearly unrelenting, I got the bear I really wanted, much to the dismay of my Aunt and her empty pocketbook.  The best part of the story is that I still have that little bear to this day, and I’ve managed to keep it in pretty good condition!  Here is a picture of my 35 year old Teddy.  I believe we found him in a store on Main Street:

I’d have to admit that a lot of my memoires of Disneyland and Disney World have run together and I am unable to associate the memories with a specific trip or park, especially those from my childhood.  A few of my memories have proven to be gleaned from photographs (which tell me they may not even be an actual memory).

Additional early Disney impressions:

I don’t remember much about the day, but I remember that by night time, I was worn out and my father carried me out to the parking lot on his shoulders, while I was crying.  I remember my mother scolding me, saying “Your father is tired, too, but he is still carrying you.  Stop crying”.

Disneyland’s Main Street Electrical Parade left a huge impression on me, and I wanted very badly to be in the parade.  I most wanted to be Pete, sitting on top of his green and pink dragon, Elliott.  I couldn’t think of a more exciting job than one where you could have soot on your face and clothes and get to ride on a brightly lit dragon, all while he swooped his neck over audiences, spouting smoke at them as well!  As I got a little bit older, my longing moved from the dusty urchin, to one of the Royal Court dancers who minuet behind Prince Charming.

A favorite ride of mine that has since gone the way of the Phantom Boats and the Chicken of the Sea Restaurant is the Adventure Thru Inner Space ride from Tomorrowland where you are shrunk and projected into the tiny world of molecules.  I still remember the giant blinking eye looking down at you through the microscope as well as the queue line display of the already miniaturized people who were in line ahead of you, sitting in their tiny buggies, showing us that we were next to be shrunk down to the size of an atom.  Each little guest figurine dressed in different clothes and hats to convince you further that the shrink ray was real.

I borrowed the photo above from a blog site that is all about Star Tours (which is on the same site that ATIS used to be). Thanks, www.endorexpress.net

Another attraction was the Circle-Vision 360° panoramic film “America the Beautiful”, where you stood in the center of the room and could watch the landscape in every direction. I remember that I couldn’t last very long without getting seasick! 

Above photos is the poster for the "America the Beautiful" attraction.  The next photo is the facade from the late 70's when I would have seen it.  photo source: www.DisneylandPostcards.com

What are your earliest memoires?  Do you have Disney images in your head from your childhood?  Remember any of the by-gone attractions?  Send them in.

Comments are welcome. Positive feedback encouraged!

Mouseketeer Ken

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On the Hunt for InspEARation °o° *•._.•* ' *•._.•* °o°

I recently stumbled across a website/blog called www.thedisneydrivenlife.com, a site driven by people who feel the need to be near Disney.  In one of the one-hour “webisodes” the 3 hosts chat with guests and each other about their experiences of “moving to Disney”, some having already made the trip, others in the planning stages, others still dreaming away.

The Disney Driven Life

This site was a great source of inspiration and motivation; there are other people out there who are just like me.  It begins to boggle the mind when I think about how often I have visited Disneyland in California and assumed that every single guest was like me; visiting from another state or even country.  How many of the thousands of people live less than 30 minutes away and can drive over for a few hours any time they want?

When I was in my early 20’s I was on a Disneyland vacation, and I remember sitting alone along the curb on Main Street saving a spot for my friends to sit and watch the parade that was scheduled to start in about 45 minutes.  I think the parade that year was the Light Magic “Streetacular” (quick research shows that it was actually Summer 1997, when I was in my very late 20’s, not my early), a spectacle which was to replace the iconic Main Street Electrical Parade.  A woman came up with her 8-year-old son and asked if there was room for them as well as my group.  Of course I made room, and we struck up a conversation. She told me about how cute the show was.  I asked her if it was the end of her visit to Disney (again, assuming that she had travelled here from some very long distance) and she said, “Oh, no. I live here.  I just brought my son to see the show because he hasn’t seen it yet.  I come 2 or 3 times a week.”  She must have seen my eyes bugging out of my head before I got it back together and asked her what that was like, to be an annual pass holder.  Her answer could not have better formed the foundation of my yet-to-be-formed “Move to Disney” philosophy.  She replied, “I love it.  Sometimes I will come and sit on a bench for lunch and then go home to pick up my son from school, or we will come in the evening, just to see the parade.”  Can you imagine having the opportunity to just drop by the happiest place on earth just for lunch or to see a show?!?  I want that life.

Comments are welcome. Positive feedback encouraged!

Mouseketeer Ken

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How did we come up with the great idea to move to Florida? (PART 2) °o° *•._.•* ' *•._.•* °o°

“All our dreams can come true, if we have the courage to pursue them.”

– Walt Disney

HOW DID WE COME UP WITH THE GREAT IDEA TO MOVE TO FLORIDA?

Part 2

The idea to “move to Disney” came the next weekend, but it felt like a real “duh” moment.  For a solid year Mark and I had been talking about Colorado being the place to relocate to because we both want a change of scenery and a fresh start in a new location. We are both “done” with Phoenix, Arizona, as it were.  I have a life-long friend who lives near Colorado Springs who loves the area and was willing to show us the town so she suggested we visit sometime when the winter snow had cleared away.

I was looking forward to seeing my friend.  However, the next day at work I was sitting idle at my desk before the busy part of the day was to begin. As I have done in the past, I was fantasizing about the notion of being able to go to the park every day if I so chose. Sigh...  if only I lived near the park.

It didn't come yet. 

On my lunch break that afternoon, I was web surfing through a very informative website called www.city-data.com.  This site compiles a great deal of information about whatever city you might be interested in researching.  I decided to research a bit about Denver, Colorado, since Mark and I were considering it as a place to live, and compare the stats to Phoenix.  While I was clicking through various links, it occurred to me to look up the area of Florida that Disney World is in just for fun.  Click. Click. Click.  Pause.

Duh.  There was my moment.  Can you smell the wood burning?

Suddenly everything on my mind was Orlando, Orlando, Orlando, and a key thought continued to play in my head like the Small World theme song: “If we are going to start over by moving to a new state, why are we not moving closer to Disney? Denver looks nice, but moving there would be like moving to Phoenix all over again."

And the thought that sealed the deal was that if we moved to Colorado Springs, we would be no closer to realizing the life-long fantasy of being a Disney World annual pass holder!

Comments are welcome.  Positive feedback encouraged!

Mouseketeer Ken 

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