So...my avatar pic kind of gives it away... DONALD DUCK is my FAVORITE!!!!!!!!!
The avatar pic is from an artist by the name of Michael Godard and it's called "The Duality of Donald."
1. Donald Duck!!!!! - While I had been begging for a trip to a Disney park since I was in preschool, I didn't get to go until the mid 1980s, when I was in middle school. Mickey Mouse shirts had suddenly become super trendy in my school, but I'm just not a huge Mickey fan. So, when we went, I got a Donald shirt. Middle school girls can get pretty nasty and petty, so I really heard it for not at least getting the trendy character. I didn't care...I love Donald! What's funny...I don't have much in the way of Donald bags. My mom bought me a
Loungefly backpack, but I've hated Dooney's attempt at Donald prints, Harvey's came the closest but they never made any bags in the styles I like carrying, and Gucci would have had to be perfect for me to spend that kind of money. I have a number of nods to Donald in my home office, my last car had an angry Donald decal on the back window, I have a phone case that I use sometimes, I have a Donald Vans backpack that I love, I have lots of Donald clothing, and I even have a Donald Duck ringtone that has embarrassed me a few times in public.
2. The family time - The Disney memories we've created for our kids recently threw me for a loop. We're headed to California in July for softball for DD15. DD17 decided that this was the trip where she wanted to come along so we could do a mini grad celebration vacation thing for her. While it's a stay to play tournament, the team bought out so we could stay wherever. For many, that wherever was buddying up for beach house rentals. For us, it was getting a hotel that was walking distance from
Disneyland. I really just thought we'd spend some time in DTD during our downtime during the tournament, watch fireworks from outside of the park at night when we could and hit Sequoia, Yosemite, and Lassen Volcanic (among others) for the grad trip stuff after softball. Earlier this week, DD17 said to me "Mom, I love you and all of the national park stuff we've experienced, but Disney is my childhood. I really want to go to Disneyland." I had a feeling since she had started sending me Disney reels on Instagram and was talking about what attractions will be closed this summer. Needless to say, we're going to Disneyland to make more family memories.
3. WDWs Florida Resident Passes/Rates/Convenience - When my parents first took us to WDW, they thought we'd be one and done. We stayed at an inexpensive motel outside of the park, spent one day at MK, one day at EPCOT...and that was it for Disney stuff. We also went to Sea World, Kennedy Space Center, and spent the rest of that trip in Sanibel. It was a great trip- although us kids wanted more Disney. Thankfully, my parents caught the Disney bug during that trip as well. We went back nearly every other year after that...and then we moved to Florida. It wasn't for Disney, but having WDW less than 2 hours away was pretty nice. I moved away, but Florida resident prices for my parents and brother's family have made it the ideal place to meet up for family get-togethers. That also ushered in the era of us staying onsite. My parents love it so much that they started taking advantage of special FL resident ticket packages. When that wasn't enough and they started looking at best values, they splurged a little and started getting Florida resident APs. They travel to a lot of places in retirement, but they always make time for anywhere from 4-6 WDW mini trips per year. They send me all kinds of little texts during their trips and sometimes even FaceTime so I can share in the moment. It's just nice to see them still being able to enjoy the magic.
