cstorm65
DDC #699
- Joined
- Feb 6, 2011
Escape to Our Home Away from Home After Three Years
A July 2021 Trip Report
It’s time for us to go back to Disney World, our home away from home, after three years away! If you check out the list of trip reports from our previous trips by CLICKING HERE you will see we’ve taken many trips over the years, but never one time did we have three years between trips! Of course there were some outside factors (......COVID......) that caused things to work out this way, but we are finally going home!
Welcome back everyone who might have read our trips before or welcome to those who have never read one of our trip reports. This one promises to be a very different trip with all that has gone on, but we have been waiting long enough to get back to Walt Disney World. This will be our family's 8th overall trip to Disney World. You can read about our last trip, all the way back in June of 2018 HERE. Our strategy has always been to get an annual pass and use it for three trips, then we skip a year and vacation elsewhere before starting the Disney annual pass thing over again. So, in the summer of 2019 we went on a Royal Caribbean Cruise which you can read about HERE. Then, around November of that year I started purchasing our annual passes, one each month so as to spread out the cost in anticipation of another year of Disney from the summer of 2020 to the summer of 2021. About 2 weeks after I purchased the final annual pass and then, COVID happened, and boy did it ever last longer than anyone thought. It canceled our first trip with our annual passes in the summer of 2020 because the parks were closed. With that in mind we decided to forego Disney that summer and rent out our DVC points, which we were luckily able to do at the last minute.
We then had the debate of whether we should get a refund of our annual passes or no, but we elected not to. I mean, we had them paid for and we knew we’d go again in the future and as long as we didn’t activate them. Also, I know not everyone is as fortunate as we have been, but DW and I, as teachers have kept our employment this whole time and so taking the refund for money reasons wasn’t necessary. So, we decided to just sit on the AP’s and try again in the summer of 2021. So, with all that said, It’s finally time for another trip report!
REMINDER: You can read about our previous trips by CLICKING HERE.
So, anyways, let’s get the introductions out of the way.
Introductions
I will start by introducing myself, I’m Jon.
I am a high school football coach and athletic director and love the “day job” I get to do every day. I’ve been teaching and coaching at the same school for sixteen years and just finished my sixth season as the head football coach. Anyway, I honestly think I have the best job in the world. Being able to make a positive impact on kids every day is something I love doing. It certainly has its challenges, but overall I wouldn’t want to be doing anything else. I also started as a travel agent about eleven years ago as a side hustle. That business has grown into something I never thought it would. We have agents across the United States and just became an independent agency in the last couple of years. I don’t sell much anymore myself directly, I just do all of the “behind the scenes” administrative stuff to support our agents. Anyways, here are my favorites:
Favorite Character: Goofy
Favorite Ride: Rise of the Resistance
Favorite Show: Festival of the Lion King
Favorite Movie: The Lion King
Favorite Restaurant: ‘Ohana
Now for my best friend and wife, April.
April loves our family vacations as well as almost any time we get to spend together. We have developed a love for Disney and vacationing together and it is something she cherishes. She is a school psychologist by day and an incredible mother and wife by night. She works in the same school district I do and so we get to see each other every day, which really is nice. I mean I can walk to her office or either of our kids classrooms in five minutes or less without ever going outside! How awesome is that? She loves her job working with kids as well and she is awesome at it. She also is an assistant basketball coach for our school and at the time I’m writing this they just won a State Championship!!! Woo woo!
Favorite Character: Ariel
Favorite Ride: Rock 'n Roller Coaster
Favorite Show: Festival of the Lion King
Favorite Movie: Little Mermaid
Favorite Restaurant: Whispering Canyon Cafe (Breakfast!)
Next up is DS9.
He is actually almost 11 at the time I'm writing this, but he was nine when we took this trip! I’m sure all of you with kids know how fast they grow up! He loves sports and playing outside with his friends. He plays football, basketball and runs track. He also still enjoys Disney stuff and going to the parks, although he might not tell you that since he thinks he’s a little older than he actually is! Anyway, he is an awesome kid and is now a great big brother. He also would become extremely infatuation with Star Wars on this trip!
Favorite Character: Mickey
Favorite Ride: Rise of the Resistance
Favorite Show: Jammitor’s
Favorite Movie: Star Wars
Favorite Restaurant: Garden Grill
Finally, the one who keeps things lively, DS5.
DS5 is an incredibly sweet little boy who LOVES his mommy, but man is he awnry, opinionated, and LOUD! He is now seven years old in real life, but was five when we took this trip. Let me tell you, for being a little guy, he has the biggest voice! He loves playing with his brother and he is also quite the fan of dancing! He loves Mickey and even has a stuffed animal that he sleeps with every night. Anyways, we are looking forward to seeing the different things he enjoys on this trip as he’s a little older.
Favorite Character: Mickey
Favorite Ride: “Roller Coasters”
Favorite Show: Jammitor’s
Favorite Movie: Cat in the Hat
Favorite Restaurant: Anywhere with Mac ‘n Cheese
Well, that’s who we are. Stand by for Day 1.
Up Next: Day 1 Part 1
A July 2021 Trip Report
It’s time for us to go back to Disney World, our home away from home, after three years away! If you check out the list of trip reports from our previous trips by CLICKING HERE you will see we’ve taken many trips over the years, but never one time did we have three years between trips! Of course there were some outside factors (......COVID......) that caused things to work out this way, but we are finally going home!
Welcome back everyone who might have read our trips before or welcome to those who have never read one of our trip reports. This one promises to be a very different trip with all that has gone on, but we have been waiting long enough to get back to Walt Disney World. This will be our family's 8th overall trip to Disney World. You can read about our last trip, all the way back in June of 2018 HERE. Our strategy has always been to get an annual pass and use it for three trips, then we skip a year and vacation elsewhere before starting the Disney annual pass thing over again. So, in the summer of 2019 we went on a Royal Caribbean Cruise which you can read about HERE. Then, around November of that year I started purchasing our annual passes, one each month so as to spread out the cost in anticipation of another year of Disney from the summer of 2020 to the summer of 2021. About 2 weeks after I purchased the final annual pass and then, COVID happened, and boy did it ever last longer than anyone thought. It canceled our first trip with our annual passes in the summer of 2020 because the parks were closed. With that in mind we decided to forego Disney that summer and rent out our DVC points, which we were luckily able to do at the last minute.
We then had the debate of whether we should get a refund of our annual passes or no, but we elected not to. I mean, we had them paid for and we knew we’d go again in the future and as long as we didn’t activate them. Also, I know not everyone is as fortunate as we have been, but DW and I, as teachers have kept our employment this whole time and so taking the refund for money reasons wasn’t necessary. So, we decided to just sit on the AP’s and try again in the summer of 2021. So, with all that said, It’s finally time for another trip report!
REMINDER: You can read about our previous trips by CLICKING HERE.
So, anyways, let’s get the introductions out of the way.
Introductions
I will start by introducing myself, I’m Jon.
I am a high school football coach and athletic director and love the “day job” I get to do every day. I’ve been teaching and coaching at the same school for sixteen years and just finished my sixth season as the head football coach. Anyway, I honestly think I have the best job in the world. Being able to make a positive impact on kids every day is something I love doing. It certainly has its challenges, but overall I wouldn’t want to be doing anything else. I also started as a travel agent about eleven years ago as a side hustle. That business has grown into something I never thought it would. We have agents across the United States and just became an independent agency in the last couple of years. I don’t sell much anymore myself directly, I just do all of the “behind the scenes” administrative stuff to support our agents. Anyways, here are my favorites:
Favorite Character: Goofy
Favorite Ride: Rise of the Resistance
Favorite Show: Festival of the Lion King
Favorite Movie: The Lion King
Favorite Restaurant: ‘Ohana
Now for my best friend and wife, April.
April loves our family vacations as well as almost any time we get to spend together. We have developed a love for Disney and vacationing together and it is something she cherishes. She is a school psychologist by day and an incredible mother and wife by night. She works in the same school district I do and so we get to see each other every day, which really is nice. I mean I can walk to her office or either of our kids classrooms in five minutes or less without ever going outside! How awesome is that? She loves her job working with kids as well and she is awesome at it. She also is an assistant basketball coach for our school and at the time I’m writing this they just won a State Championship!!! Woo woo!
Favorite Character: Ariel
Favorite Ride: Rock 'n Roller Coaster
Favorite Show: Festival of the Lion King
Favorite Movie: Little Mermaid
Favorite Restaurant: Whispering Canyon Cafe (Breakfast!)
Next up is DS9.
He is actually almost 11 at the time I'm writing this, but he was nine when we took this trip! I’m sure all of you with kids know how fast they grow up! He loves sports and playing outside with his friends. He plays football, basketball and runs track. He also still enjoys Disney stuff and going to the parks, although he might not tell you that since he thinks he’s a little older than he actually is! Anyway, he is an awesome kid and is now a great big brother. He also would become extremely infatuation with Star Wars on this trip!
Favorite Character: Mickey
Favorite Ride: Rise of the Resistance
Favorite Show: Jammitor’s
Favorite Movie: Star Wars
Favorite Restaurant: Garden Grill
Finally, the one who keeps things lively, DS5.
DS5 is an incredibly sweet little boy who LOVES his mommy, but man is he awnry, opinionated, and LOUD! He is now seven years old in real life, but was five when we took this trip. Let me tell you, for being a little guy, he has the biggest voice! He loves playing with his brother and he is also quite the fan of dancing! He loves Mickey and even has a stuffed animal that he sleeps with every night. Anyways, we are looking forward to seeing the different things he enjoys on this trip as he’s a little older.
Favorite Character: Mickey
Favorite Ride: “Roller Coasters”
Favorite Show: Jammitor’s
Favorite Movie: Cat in the Hat
Favorite Restaurant: Anywhere with Mac ‘n Cheese
Well, that’s who we are. Stand by for Day 1.
Up Next: Day 1 Part 1
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