Holy DISNEY!
I have found purpose. I am finally elated to be heading out on this new adventure to Okinawa. You want to know why?? Well of course, I'd be delighted to tell you why. (Since you asked so politely and all.)
Somewhere I read that Okinawa was approximately the same distance by air from Tokyo, Japan; Hong Kong, China; and I think someplace in Taiwan. When I learned this, initially, it did not register in my head. In fact, it meant almost nothing to me. I was too bitter with the very fresh, very new knowledge that we would soon be moving against our better wishes to a foreign country I knew very little about (except what I'd heard from other military families, which was not by any means famously good news).
Today, while chatting with my friend Melinda, somehow the topic of Disney resorts came up.
Now, I grew up with a fanatical Disney mom. My mom has always said that if she were ever to get a tattoo, she'd get a Mickey silhouette on the back of her hand, right where she could see it. Often. She took my brother and me to Disneyland on a yearly basis for as long as I can remember, even when it meant running up a credit card (and often, I suspect, it did). She was never happier than when she was walking through the main gate and onto Main Street, U.S.A. She rubbed off on me, I'll admit. I got quite obsessed myself. And it got to the point where if it wasn't Disneyland it didn't feel like a real vacation.
One year, my brother wanted to go to a week-long Anime convention in Anaheim, CA. I think ordinarily my mom probably would have laughed at him and said to take a hike. But this was different. This was Anaheim. Home of Disneyland. Mom quickly agreed to take him. She bought 5-day passes for the two of us, and we spent the entire week overstuffing ourselves with as much Disney as we could manage while Robert indulged himself in the anime craziness going on just across the street at the convention center. We set out to do everything we could do at Disneyland in those 5 days, even the things we'd never wanted to do before. All the way down to the canoe ride - which was exhausting.
Shortly afterwards, she bought us Annual Passports. Not the dinky ones with half of the calendar blacked out as no-use dates, but the BIG Premium passports that were good 365.25 days a year and got us free parking and 10% discounts at almost every vendor in the park. I can remember MANY weekends where she'd look at me on a Friday evening and say, "Want to go to Disneyland?" And I of course agreed and off we went early on Saturday morning, to spend the day there and drive home Saturday night.
Fond memories, I tell you.
Which is why it shocks me that it took this conversation with Melinda this evening for everything to click in my head.
Boys and girls, I'm on a mission.
The airfare is potentially going to suck. And we're going to have to save lots of money to be able to pull off these vacations, but damnit I am DETERMINED! I went to Switzerland last June to visit one of my best friends, and we toyed with the idea of going to Euro Disney in France for a few minutes, before we realized we were holding the price sheet and there was just no way in Hell. But the thought was there. The thought has always been there to visit the foreign Disney parks.
The more I think about it, the more I really hope we can find a nice, similar-to-ours family to be our travel buddies (so that we can alternate who sits out with 'the kids' for the rides they won't be able to partake in). But, like I said, DETERMINED! This is my one big opportunity to visit these two parks, and I have 3 years in which to do it. I think it's do-able with a little discipline and a lot of will.
I am seriously so excited that I feel like I just might burst. When I logged into the Hong Kong Disneyland website and the music started to play, I almost cried. (Yes, hormones.) And of course, Tokyo Disney looks absolutely lovely too. If we're going to do this, we'd better be doing it all the way, too. I want to stay at Disney owned hotels. And I want to stay for more than one or two days. I'd like to ideally make each trip at least a week long so that we can do the parks and then we can see the rest of the cities in question. I've always wanted to see Tokyo, and grandma used to always tell me how much she'd like to visit Hong Kong one day, and like I said, this is pretty much my one big chance for all of those things.
Yippee let the planning begin! I think that I might pee my pants before Mark is available to discuss this with.
Somewhere I read that Okinawa was approximately the same distance by air from Tokyo, Japan; Hong Kong, China; and I think someplace in Taiwan. When I learned this, initially, it did not register in my head. In fact, it meant almost nothing to me. I was too bitter with the very fresh, very new knowledge that we would soon be moving against our better wishes to a foreign country I knew very little about (except what I'd heard from other military families, which was not by any means famously good news).
Today, while chatting with my friend Melinda, somehow the topic of Disney resorts came up.
Now, I grew up with a fanatical Disney mom. My mom has always said that if she were ever to get a tattoo, she'd get a Mickey silhouette on the back of her hand, right where she could see it. Often. She took my brother and me to Disneyland on a yearly basis for as long as I can remember, even when it meant running up a credit card (and often, I suspect, it did). She was never happier than when she was walking through the main gate and onto Main Street, U.S.A. She rubbed off on me, I'll admit. I got quite obsessed myself. And it got to the point where if it wasn't Disneyland it didn't feel like a real vacation.
One year, my brother wanted to go to a week-long Anime convention in Anaheim, CA. I think ordinarily my mom probably would have laughed at him and said to take a hike. But this was different. This was Anaheim. Home of Disneyland. Mom quickly agreed to take him. She bought 5-day passes for the two of us, and we spent the entire week overstuffing ourselves with as much Disney as we could manage while Robert indulged himself in the anime craziness going on just across the street at the convention center. We set out to do everything we could do at Disneyland in those 5 days, even the things we'd never wanted to do before. All the way down to the canoe ride - which was exhausting.
Shortly afterwards, she bought us Annual Passports. Not the dinky ones with half of the calendar blacked out as no-use dates, but the BIG Premium passports that were good 365.25 days a year and got us free parking and 10% discounts at almost every vendor in the park. I can remember MANY weekends where she'd look at me on a Friday evening and say, "Want to go to Disneyland?" And I of course agreed and off we went early on Saturday morning, to spend the day there and drive home Saturday night.
Fond memories, I tell you.
Which is why it shocks me that it took this conversation with Melinda this evening for everything to click in my head.
Boys and girls, I'm on a mission.
The airfare is potentially going to suck. And we're going to have to save lots of money to be able to pull off these vacations, but damnit I am DETERMINED! I went to Switzerland last June to visit one of my best friends, and we toyed with the idea of going to Euro Disney in France for a few minutes, before we realized we were holding the price sheet and there was just no way in Hell. But the thought was there. The thought has always been there to visit the foreign Disney parks.
The more I think about it, the more I really hope we can find a nice, similar-to-ours family to be our travel buddies (so that we can alternate who sits out with 'the kids' for the rides they won't be able to partake in). But, like I said, DETERMINED! This is my one big opportunity to visit these two parks, and I have 3 years in which to do it. I think it's do-able with a little discipline and a lot of will.
I am seriously so excited that I feel like I just might burst. When I logged into the Hong Kong Disneyland website and the music started to play, I almost cried. (Yes, hormones.) And of course, Tokyo Disney looks absolutely lovely too. If we're going to do this, we'd better be doing it all the way, too. I want to stay at Disney owned hotels. And I want to stay for more than one or two days. I'd like to ideally make each trip at least a week long so that we can do the parks and then we can see the rest of the cities in question. I've always wanted to see Tokyo, and grandma used to always tell me how much she'd like to visit Hong Kong one day, and like I said, this is pretty much my one big chance for all of those things.
Yippee let the planning begin! I think that I might pee my pants before Mark is available to discuss this with.
July 26, 2008 at 7:49 AM
I am sooooo glad that I helped with your excitement. I can't believe that it took us this long to think of this. I really want to visit and go with you. YAY!!!!