If you’ve been with me for a while you know that my family was planning a trip to Disney for Thanksgiving but ended up having to change our plans. Womp, womp. That was a pretty difficult pill to swallow, and definitely put a damper on our holiday. Now that we’re a couple of weeks separated from that fateful day, though, I’m looking at it with a totally new perspective. We didn’t get to go for Thanksgiving, but that means that I’m still getting to be excited and looking forward to going. Yay!
So that means that I’m thinking about dates. I already have myself set on going in late February for the Flower and Garden Festival. It will be my bubba’s first time going to the parks without there being a holiday celebration going on, which will be exciting, as strange as that sounds. The way we’re looking at it is that when he’s gone it’s either been Halloween or Christmas or both and that means that he’s wrapped up in all of the “special” things that are going on. But what about just good old Disney? He misses some things because we’re too busy rushing around to see the holiday events, decorations, and treats. This time, though, it’s just Disney in its purest form. I’m looking forward to that.
But just because we’re going in February doesn’t mean that we’ve given up on wanting to be there for our beloved holiday celebrations. We always planned on going for Halloween next year, and that didn’t change when we decided for February. We talked about doing another of the changeover trips that we did last year…go for Halloween and stay through until Christmas decorations are up. It was amazing then and we planned to bump it up even further by adding a Christmas party to the mix. But then we started thinking…
If we go for Halloween, that means Avalon won’t trick-or-treat in her neighborhood and we won’t decorate the house. She’s going to be 9 by then, so we don’t have that many more years of little one Halloween excitement left.
If we go to the first Christmas party, there will be Christmas up at the Magic Kingdom, but not at the other parks. There might be a touch of tinsel or a candy cane here and there, but it won’t be the full Christmas extravaganza. That means we don’t get to see the full list of new stuff at Hollywood Studios, EPCOT, and Disney Springs.
If we do the changeover, we’ll get the fun of the dramatic change, but that means not really being able to immerse ourselves in either holiday
So what are we to do?
Go three times.
Yeah, I said it. We are thinking about going for the Disney Trifecta.
We are contemplating going in February for spring, the middle of September for Halloween, and then the beginning of December for Christmas.
Insane? Yes. Awesome? Absolutely.
The thing is, we want to make the most of every trip, and that means seeing the things that matter to us. I don’t want to go another year without Halloween at Disney, but I also don’t want Bubba or Avalon to miss the Christmas magic. We want low crowds, good weather, and the extra magic that comes with each of the seasons.
So how are we going to do it?
The biggest part of the plan is to finally achieve my dream of becoming a Passholder. That will make planning the second two trips far more accessible and may even score us a few extra discounts. And, of course, will get us the fancy bumper sticker that we will proudly show off everywhere we drive.
So why am I telling you all this?
Well, because it’s important to me and I want to share it with you. But also because it’s an issue that I think a lot of families face. Once you’ve gotten that taste of Disney, you don’t want to stop. You can’t wait to go back. You want to turn around and run back in and never leave. So you plan your next trip. And you think about maybe doing another one. And then you think — but I like two seasons, why not visit during both? It’s a lot to think about. It’s a lot to plan. It’s overwhelming, but it’s also thrilling.
Could we really have no longer than 6 months and as little as 2 months between trips next year?
Could we really celebrate two holidays?
Am I going to drive Nancy crazy with questions and logistics?
We’ll see…
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Taryn was born and raised, and still lives in Richmond, Virginia. Neither she nor her husband ever had the opportunity to visit Walt Disney World when they were children, but when their daughter Avalon came along, they decided she was not going to follow in their footsteps. They brought Avalon for the first time when she was 3 and have been hooked ever since. Now along with Taryn’s mother and equally Disney-loving older brother, they go “home” at least once a year, and by the time she is staring longingly at Cinderella Castle from the ferry on their last night, Taryn is well on her way to planning the next trip. As a group consisting of two adults with Asperger’s, including one who is also vegan, a very accommodating husband, an only child, a senior, and a service dog, they are a pretty special family, but Taryn is excited to show that the World really is The Most Magical Place on Earth and that there is a place there for everyone. When she isn’t thinking about her next Disney adventure and trying to come up with a Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party costume that will beat her Oozma Kappa nerd look, she is a professional blogger and novelist, but Taryn also likes to indulge her Disney passion on her Etsy shop It’s Better in Vinyl.
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