A Stranger in a Strange Land

As a kid, I never was very concerned with what into our trips to Disney - deciding where to stay, how we were going to get there, which parks to go to which day.  With regards to all of those things, my siblings and I were at the mercy of our mother (the time-share queen) and our father (the unofficial chauffeur).  We just got in the car when we were told and taken wherever we might be going that particular day.

For this trip, though, I'm totally on my own with every aspect of the trip - from planning to booking to scheduling where I want to go.  It's a little tedious, but so far, I've kept the trip reasonable.  Here is the method that I have used thus far to keep myself from going insane.

                                                                                                             

Step 1:  When was I going to go?

I knew before I even started planning my trip that I wanted to go for at least 10 days, maybe even 2 full weeks.  I looked at a few different times of year, including late May (before the kids get out of school for summer), early June, and early December.  I decided on early December for a few reasons:  1) I may take college courses in the fall, and my trip would come right after finals ended; 2) I'll be there before kids get out for winter vacation; 3) the Christmas decorations will already be up; and 4) my birthday is three days before Christmas, so this is kind of a birthday present to myself.

I work a full-time job at a hotel, but aside from having to take the time off work, I really could go any time of the year I wanted.  I know the best times to go are from the week after New Year's through President's Day weekend, and from the beginning of August to late September, but those two times of the year wouldn't really work for me, which I'll explain in the next step.

Step 2:  How am I going to get there?

This one was a no-brainer for me - I have some frequent flier miles that expire at the end of 2013, and it just so happens that I have enough to purchase my plane ticket to Orlando and back.

Previously when I've tried to plan trips, I've considered renting a car, which comes out to about the same price from where I live.  The only real problem/consideration with that was 16 hours alone in the car (if I were to drive straight through) and two extra added days to my trip.

Step 3:  Where am I going to stay?

This is the biggest decision when planning this trip - the dreaded question...ON-PROPERTY or OFF-PROPERTY

dun...dun...DAAAAA

Of course, I'm teasing with how dreaded it is, but still it's a tough decision to make.  I've always wanted to stay on property (one of these days, I'll stay in a suite at the Grand Floridian...), but was this the time to do it?

I started by looking at the three value resorts - Disney's All-Star Movies, All-Star Music, and All-Star Sports resorts.  The perks of staying in these resorts would be endless - Extra Magic Hours (where you get to enter a select park each day an hour before it opens), so much Disney "fluff" that it makes your eyeballs hurt, the benefit of having your park ticket and room key in one card, ease of transportation between the resort and the parks, and the list goes on and on and on.  When it came right down to it, though, I had to ask myself...what are you going to do in the hotel?  Spend half of every day watching TV while the parks beckon from afar?  NO!  You need somewhere to take a shower in the morning and sleep at night.  That's why I decided on an off-property hotel (not to mention paying about half as much per night).

The off-property hotel I'm (hopefully...I haven't made my reservation yet :-/) staying at has a free shuttle to Disney, and has a bed and a shower - those are really the only three things that one would need for a trip to Disney.

So there you have it, my first three big steps to planning my trip - When am I going, How am I getting there, and Where am I staying?  Now that those fun ( (-__-) ) logistics things are out of the way, I can start planning for the real fun!