Reflection on Disney Trip

Overall, we had a really great time at Disney, and do plan on returning sometime in the next few years. The company was great (thankfully, we are still friends with Joel and Melissa, which is a relief) and it was nice to go with people who knew the ropes, so to speak. While it's certainly possible to just show up, buy tickets, and do Disney for a few days, it's even nicer to have a strategy, avoid the peak crowd times, and have nifty experiences like Ohana and the character breakfasts (which often require reservations months in advance). I was pretty impressed by the overall customer service, the quality of the food, and the cleanliness of the whole complex. It really is a pretty amazing place and they do a phenomenal job of crowd control without appearing obvious. While it is expensive, I do think you get a lot of bang for your buck, if you pick and choose carefully.

The negative parts of our experience were largely outside of human control. First, the very hot and humid weather sort of put a damper on things. We had planned the visit for late October in order to avoid the heat, but basically wound up arriving during a heat wave. We had expected 70s and low 80s (and wouldn't have been unhappy with 50s or 60s), but wound up with high 80s and equally high humidity. Second, there were the stomach issues the men had for most of the trip. It's no fun being on vacation and being sick to your stomach. Third, Melissa and I each came down with something on our last day. Mine was just a bad cold, but as she found out upon returning home, hers was H1N1, and Josh wound up getting it, too. Then Susanna came down with an ear infection and James' stomach thing came back along with a sinus infection...so it took us about two weeks to recover from Disney, health-wise. Our friends have been passing back flu and colds and whatnot for the past six weeks, so we actually haven't seen them since getting off the plane. We're hoping to see them next weekend.

The bottom line? We had a good time (I had a great time, but James' experience was marred), are thankful for the experience (and to Joel and Melissa for their DVC points, because otherwise we either wouldn't have been able to go OR would have had to stay off-site), and hope to return sometime in the not-too-distant future. I definitely want to experience more of the parks (particularly Epcot and the Animal Kingdom, since we didn't see much of either), James wants to go on another Segway tour, and we both want to go back to Ohana and Biergarten (and I want to take James to Boma, since he missed out). Next time, I won't be pregnant (we've decided that two kids is enough for us) so I can go on roller coasters and we're thinking about aiming for a mid-December/early January trip to avoid crowds and hot weather. And if we can afford it, then I'd like to be able to spend a few more days...to have a couple of "resort/chill" days built in, where we simply enjoy the resort, rest, play mini-golf, go shopping, etc. And we would love to take a day or two and go to Sea World and Universal Studios.

By the way? While Disney is very family-friendly, it's also a fun place for adults, too. So if you don't have kids, I still highly recommend it as a way to get in touch with your inner child.