What is 40 days and 1700 miles away, and is something my whole family looks forward to every year?
Christmas vacation at Walt Disney World!
Yes, it is time for our family to start preparing for our annual Chrstmas vacation. Already, you may ask? Well, yes! There is so much to do to get ready, but we have a bit of a system to get it done.
First, we purchase our Passporter. Jen and Dave Marx have done a super job of compiling up-to-date information each year on everything pertaining to the Disney Parks. The book is full of beautiful color photos, and it fits neatly into my backpack that I haul on our vacation! It has pockets to stash away momentos, as well as pages to write down confirmation numbers, notes…anything you need to make your visit a success.
Next, we pull out our “Disney Tub.” This is our plastic tub that we keep all of our hats, toys, Mickey hands, and other assorted do-dads which we have bought at WDW over the years. Yep….we even stash the plastic rain ponchos in there (we certainly get our money’s worth out of them! Haha). We start to reminisce about our past visits as our excitement builds for this new trip. Not everything from the tub makes the trip; nevertheless, we save money by getting the kids to bring those hats and such that we would be tempted to spend dollars on in the parks!
Then, we pull out our Disney luggage (literally, the luggage with Mickey on it!) I despise being last-minute about packing, So we get the suitcases out early and lay them in the dining room. Then, from that point until we leave, the goal is to start tossing things in there that we want to take with us! Being from Virginia, we have to pack clothes to take us from the cold into the warm and back again, and we have to be smart about it, know what I mean? There just is not enough room in the van for 5 people to take everything! So, we select clothing that does the Garanimals thing (mixes and matches well with several pieces) really well, and we lay those aside for travel. The only downside is that we have to wear things that aren’t our favorites until we leave for Disney 🙁 No worries…we look great when we get there!
I also will start visiting disneystore.com regularly to see what I can get for the trip that’s cheaper than in the parks. My girls are pin traders, and so I was able to procure some lanyards on the cheap online. (Seriously…that time they cost about $1.50… and it was free shipping!)
After that, its all about the anticipation. We talk it up, make sure we eat and rest well, keep homeschooling as best we can amidst the palpable excitement. Before we know it, it is time to hit the road-eo and make the trip…wooohooo! With a little creativity and planning, you can make a Christmas trip to Disney World that will create memories to will last a lifetime. Hope to see you there!