23 Days, 13 hours ...

I have on the low ceiling that runs the length of my stairs, a chalk board. It's actually chalkboard paint and people leave messages there sometimes but mostly I use it for a countdown to our next Disney trip. It now reads 23 days,

With things being as they were, a brand new grand baby and me being unemployed, life and finances haven't allowed us to go since September of 2009 when we went for Halloween and let me say that we are all feeling way overdue. So it was sometime last summer that we decided to set our sights for April 2011, after we had our taxes back and to be at Disney World for Haley and Casey's 4th anniversary.

As it turned out, we had been able to accumulate enough points to use our Disney time share and procured reservations at the Animal Kingdom Lodge, a resort that we have not been too before. The countdown on the chalkboard had begun!

Now, unless you have traveled with me, read my blogs from a couple of years ago or sat next to me while I made plans, you have no idea how much effort I put into our Disney vacations. It may seem a bit overdone, but a Disney World vacation is not a fly by the seat of your pants type of event for me. Restaurant reservations fill up months in advance, and the park hours aren't always the same, Extra Magic Hours are a fringe benefit for staying on Disney property and need to be taken advantage of- all of that on top of picking the perfect plane reservations and making sure we have travel arrangements to get to the resort from the airport- well, someone has to do it.

I work on these details for months, and once everything is in line I print off little cheat cards for all of us attending so that we know where we are eating each day, and when, and at what park, and I make sure all of those times coordinate with the Extra Magic Hours which I of course highlight with the park hours... I also make sure everyone has a copy of our reservation information, our airline information and reservations, and phone numbers ... and I even print off copies of the menu's of the places we are eating so we can look them over on the plane! OK, the menu thing is just for fun but the other stuff is necessary information- the only thing not necessary seems to be making everyone else a copy because inevitably, every single day, someone asks, where are we eating? What time are we eating? When are the Extra Magic Hours? What park are we going to today? What time does the plane leave? Oh well, makes me feel needed!

Of course all of that planning and organization is just the beginning. I, for myself anyway, have to make sure I have enough money left for the $12 a day it costs to park at the airport... and the $10 a day for the kennel Sid will have to stay in.. but all of this is clearly labeled in my special Disney wallet in separate little compartments, with tabs that say things like: tips, misc, spending, gas....

Packing is something I also take very seriously. I am not a day before the vacation packer. I am a months before the vacation packer- when it comes to Disney, I unpack and repack to make sure I have absolutely everything I might need (though I admit, I have whittled down how many pairs of shoes I take now!) But I am the one that everyone is going to ask... did you bring any __________ and most likely I am able to retrieve it, be it nail clippers, AA batteries, bandaids... whatever, I am the one to have it.

So, as you can imagine, with only 23 days to go I am feeling the excitement and the fatigue of crossing the last minute things to do off of my list. It drives me crazy that I can't pack my cell phone charger till the last minute, or my camera, and to make it even worse, I ordered an anniversary present for the kids and it isn't here yet so I have to keep a spot open in my suitcase for when ever it gets here! (and if you dare wonder about things a toothbrush, shampoo, etc- I have travel sizes of that stuff- it has been packed for a over a month along with a can of coffee, coffee filters, sugar and creamer)

Maybe I do overdue it, maybe I do live up to my self description that I have to plan to be spontaneous, but I'll tell you what... we are never the ones standing in front of a restaurant waiting for hours because we don't have a reservation and when everyone else says "we aren't going to need an umbrella" luckily, I have brought several.

23 days, 12 hours now!