Those long time readers of mine will recognize this post ...from November of 2015.  

​Here is my memories...

​TBT My Favorite Family Vacation 
Hands down, my favorite Family vacation was a surprise Family trip when I was 13.  And yes, it involves Disney! (sort of anyway)
 
Disney was going to open in October; and my 13th birthday was in October!  I had been hinting and bugging my parent almost every single day since I discovered the coincidence!  I mean seriously-Disney World was opening JUST for me!
 
The weekend before my birthday, my parent loaded us into the car for a ‘drive’.  (This was a normal routine thing for us back then.  We would all load into the car and drive for hours, then find ourselves back at home in time to make dinner-Exciting, huh?)

As we headed south I just knew we were going to Disney!  If I had known a bit more about geography I might have realized we were on the wrong highway.  When I saw the welcome to Florida sign I was ecstatic!  A few hours later we pulled up to…the beach!  My parents announced that this was my birthday present.  They brought me to Florida just like I wanted!   My dad had made a secret reservation at a hotel on the beach. 
 
While it wasn’t Disney, it was cool!  Dad unloaded our luggage (where had THAT been hiding!) and we had a fantastic weekend!
 
While it was not the trip I had hoped for I discovered that Family Time was wondrous and precious.  All it took was a change in scenery to change attitudes.  All 3 of us kids became suddenly nice to each other (if only for a while) and we truly enjoyed the time together.
 
 
From this I learned a couple of things – Family trips are necessary.  And I should be more specific in my birthday requests!

​On this past Wednesday I had the pleasure of attending a supplier training.  These are usually fun, sometimes entertaining, and occasionally I walk away with new information. Most of the time it reinforces things I may have learned on my own.
 
This was no exception!  I attended a Lunch & Learn by Universal Studios Orlando.  As expected, it focused on the new things coming to Universal Studios Orlando.  While I had heard a lot about these, this time I was able to see some new and unreleased videos of the wonderful new things! 
 
We saw some wonderfully exciting stuff on the Race through New York starring Jimmy Fallon.  It took me from thinking it was just a meh ride to something I really wish I could ride!  Seeing some of the backstage stuff was really cool!

And no, this is NOT the video we saw!  The one we saw has not been released to the public yet!

​This week we will spend a few minutes on those people who plan a trip to Disney maybe one year out, and how their Travel Professional helps. 
 
Disney really LOVES this type of planner.  They have a preset built in set of deadlines that keeps you busy for almost the entire year. There are time lines for your dining reservations, your Fast Pass Plus reservations, your paid in full time lines, and your online check in time lines. 
 
Some of these are set in stone, while others depend on where you are staying for your vacation.  

​Now that you have set your dates, decided on a resort, figured out which dining plan and tickets will give you the most bang for your bucks, what can you expect?
 
That depends on which of the two following general categories you fall into.  Are you a planner or a split second decision maker?
 
If you are a planner, you have realized that Disney is only stress free if you plan in advance.  You probably decided on your dates as soon as the kid’s school calendar came out for the following year.   You still have close to a year before you leave.  Your biggest issue will be keeping your family as excited about Disney as you are!
 
If you are a split second decision maker, you probably have a great Travel Professional you rely on to make all the plans for you.  You truly want to just show up and enjoy.  You don’t have a need for the most popular attractions or hardest to find restaurants in order to have a great time!