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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How Did We Come Up With the Great Idea to Move to Florida? (PART 1) °o° *•._.•* '

The drawing that I posted yesterday (Sleeping Beauty's Castle) was one that I finished in September of 2011.  I am a pen and pencil artist, and Disney art is my favorite to create. It was drawn with pen and ink, in a style called "stippling" or "pointilism"; and if you look close, you will see that it was drawn in thousands of tiny dots.  Nothing but dots.  Lots and lots and LOTS of DOTS!

Part 1

One lazy weekend afternoon just about a year ago I was wondering how many residents of Orlando or Florida had moved there just to be near Disney.  It lead me to also wonder about those lucky people who also purchased annual passes to the Disney Parks and how often they take advantage of them.  Friends have told me that if I lived close enough to Disney, it would get very old, very fast.  But I never agreed.  I certainly don’t think that I would go every day, but I know how much I love the parks, and how many times I had taken 10 minutes to sit on a bench and just people- and park-watch, really longing for the chance to “get to know” the park like an old friend that I see just once or twice a year.  I want to familiarize myself with its operations, the architecture, the landscaping, the hidden area not meant for my eyes as a “guest”, and I want to find all of the tiny, artful details that the Disney Artists and Imagineers have left hidden for me to find like so many Easter Eggs.

I don’t think that I would ever grow tired of going back because after a 3-day park-hopping vacation I am longing to go back within a week after leaving Disneyland each time.  We had just visited Disneyland (in California) over the Valentine’s Day weekend (in 2011) and just a few weeks later it felt like a year had passed and it was time to get busy planning the next visit.  Its the same way every time.

Another "hobby" of mine is finding the differences in the park from the last time that I was there, or from previous visits in the years' past.  Design, decoration, even slight adjustments entertain me to no end. When I am at home with no Disney visit in my immediate future, I try to fill some of the void by collecting digital photographs from various web sites. A few are dedicated to compiling vintage photos of the California park that show how it was designed in the early years through the 1960’s, 1970’s, and even the 1980’s.  It is a rare treat indeed to look back at photos taken before the internet existed; photos that are not just snapped and uploaded within seconds.  

No, I will never grow tired of visiting the park if I lived near Disney.

My online search into finding outspoken Disney Annual Pass Holders led me to a Discussion Board on the site WDWmagic.com in which the question posed was essentially the same as mine; “Do people who live close to the parks get tired of it? What is it like to be able to just say, ‘I want to go eat dinner at Epcot tonight’ or ‘I’m bored, I’ve got a couple of hours to kill, let’s go to one of the parks for a little while’ and be just a short drive away...  

There were some really great replies:

·         “(I go to the parks) every couple of days” 

·         “I can tell you that the parks do get old after a while, and it is mainly because it becomes routine.”  (This was posted by a person who identified himself as a former cast member who worked there 5 days a week, then would go to the park on his days off for 10 months!)

·         “Going to the parks for a local is different than going to the parks for people on vacation. People on vacation go right around park opening and may stay all day. Locals go whenever they feel like it, and may only go for an hour or so. That's what I do, and I think that helps keep the magic for me. I don't like spending all day in the parks, too much heat and people on a weekly basis would wear out really quick.  You have to change it up.”

·         “I've lived in Orlando all my life, and I can say that after almost two decades I am still not tired of the Disney parks.”

It seems that for some people, Disney has been infused into their DNA as a way of life; a virtual need, like sunlight, hugs, or eye glasses; all things we can live without, but really should not .  On the continuum of Disney Fans it seems like the majority of them reside in the middle; visiting Disneyland is a nice prospect, but not a priority.  I think I live on the right end of the scale-the spot where all things Disney are unequivocally a mental and physical obsession.   You might recognize the scale I have appropriated and adapted here to illustrate my point:

0-----------1-----------2-----------3-----------4----------5-----------6

0 Exclusively apathetic to Disney

1 Predominantly apathetic to Disney, only an incidental Disney Fan

2 Predominantly apathetic to Disney, but more than an incidental Disney Fan

3 Equally apathetic and Fan of Disney

4 Predominantly a Disney Fan, but more than incidentally apathetic to Disney

5 Predominantly a Disney Fan, only incidentally apathetic to Disney

6 Exclusive Disney Fan(atic)

................to be continued in Part 2

Comments are welcome.  Positive feedback encouraged!

Mouseketeer Ken 

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Introducing Ken and Mark °o° *•._.•* ' *•._.•* °o°

(Disney Obsessives)

Hey there, Hi there, Ho there, Mouseketeers!

At the beginning of this writing, I (Ken) am 43 years old, not far from 44, and my partner Mark and I have finally made the decision to “move to Disney”.  Of course, we won’t be living on the actual park grounds (something I probably wouldn’t object to even if it were possible), but we will be moving to a zip code even more exciting to me than the notorious and well-known 90210 in Beverly Hills; Orlando, Florida 32830!  This will happen sometime in the foreseeable future; we're predicting within 18 months from now.  It’s time.  

This is the story of our journey as we prepare to relocate from Phoenix, Arizona to The Magic Kingdom in Orlando, Florida.  Although I will be contributing most of the postings to this blog, Mark and I will both share a lot of back story along the way so that there might be some insight into the make-up that drives this ambition for both of us.  I’d like it to be a step-by-step, obstacle-by-obstacle account of what we did to reach each milestone or to overcome each challenge to reach the goal.  I do intend to set long- and short-term goals to help us get there, and I know it will be helpful to see those goals spelled out as we work towards reaching them.  I’m also hoping to have a companion part two to this memoir; the result of reaching my dream-and I already have a title, “365 Days of Disney”, in which we hope to document one full year of living at Disney, the culmination of obtaining a life-long dream.

We hope you will ride along on our virtual Monorail, hopefully we will make a few friends along the way, or will soon be neighbors with you.  

This is the first day of our Disney blog.

Comments are welcome.  Positive feedback encouraged!

Mouseketeer Ken 

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