Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Disclaimer!

Last November, our family vacationed at Walt Disney World, and we had a fabulous time. Dan and I have repeatedly stated that it was the BEST family vacation we have ever been on, and we're not sure if it will ever be topped. I took loads of pictures, and I wrote 20+ pages of notes on Microsoft Word. Why, then, have I not shared much about our trip? Busy-ness, of course, is always a factor, but it's also a convenient excuse. Mainly, I have kept relatively quiet about our Disney trip because I didn't want to bore or annoy readers who are not planning a Disney trip or have no interest in it. I also didn't want to seem like a braggart or contribute toward you, my friends, feeling like you need to keep up with the proverbial "Joneses." (By the way, I actually do know a "Jones" family, and they are lovely people.) On the other hand, I have had people in "real life" tell me that they are anxiously awaiting my Disney posts, and they think my fears are unfounded.

I struck a compromise with myself. I will publish a series of Disney posts, but I will begin each one with a link to this post, which is a disclaimer touching upon all my fears described in the previous paragraph. For my posts, I plan to basically copy and paste my notes in Word and add some photos. I'm sure I will do some polishing, but if I were to make each post beautiful and perfect, it would take me forever! I figure something is better than nothing, right?

Not interested in Disney?

There's this nagging little voice in my head:
Ugh! Does she ever post about anything other than Disney? [eyeroll] [Unsubscribe] [Unfollow]

I do have a lot to say about our trip to Disney World, but you can be assured that it is a finite amount. I hope to publish a post following each day of our trip, and my goal is to publish them on Wednesdays. I also hope to sprinkle in a smattering of posts about other non-Disney topics, but we'll have to see what life allows!

Takeaway: If you're not interested in Disney posts, you may want to look for my non-Wednesday posts for a while. 😉

Am I bragging?

Please know that it is never my intention to brag. I just know that I relied heavily on the advice and anecdotes of more experienced Disney-goers while I was planning our trip, and I would love to "give back" and share what I learned from my own experience.

Takeaway: I never mean to brag about our vacation. Please forgive me if it ever comes across that way, but I do truly mean to be helpful!

Should we keep up with "the Joneses?"

This point is related to my previous point in that I actually feel like I don't have any grounds for bragging. You guys, this is going to get personal. [In fact, I asked Dan if it's OK for me to share this with you. He said, "Yes," and wanted me to add that this scale and type of vacation is not the norm for our family.] Our Disney trip was spectacular, but it was also incredibly EXPENSIVE. When I began planning our trip and calculating how much everything was going to cost, it took my breath away. And then when all was said and done, we realized we went overbudget above the original estimate. Not by a little, either. Could we afford to vacation in Disney World the way we did? If I'm being totally honest with myself, the answer is probably no. 

Now, our children were quite young when we went on vacation (ages: just-turned 2, 4, 7, and 10). Because of the challenge that traveling with young children poses, whenever we were faced with a choice between low-cost and convenience, we chose convenience. Some factors that that contributed to the huge price tag on our trip

• flying (plane tickets for a family of 6 are expensive!)
• overpaying for flights (That said, I'm not sure I'd do anything differently. We needed a particular flight, and our flight completely sold-out. We might have missed out on seats if I had waited for the "perfect" price.)
• staying at a Deluxe Resort (Beach Club)
• staying for 8 days
• dining at some pricey restaurants, including Cinderella's Royal Table and Be Our Guest

Some of these choices were made because of the challenging ages of our children (flying vs. driving, length of stay). But others were made by my observations of other families and thinking, They can afford this resort, so we should be able to as well. Oddly, the already staggering cost of the trip encouraged me to spend more freely as well. If we are spending this much money, we should really do Disney well. (Be Our Guest, Cinderella's Royal Table)

Friends, I don't have anything firm to say in conclusion here! Did we overspend? Probably. But would I trade our experience, or do I wish we had done anything differently? No, not really! As you read any of my Disney posts, please ask the Holy Spirit to guard your heart against any pressure to plan a similar trip just because you feel you need to keep up with "the Joneses." If you start to feel like that, I give you full permission to click that X and choose to look at something that doesn't make you feel like you need to compete with other families! It's important to me that GC&M remains a place to build each other up.

Now that I got all of that off my chest, I can't wait to share our trip with you! As Mickey Mouse would say, "See ya real soon!"