Back Story
This blog post will be pretty long, but I can’t get into this year’s adventures without giving it a little lead-in, so bear with me. I suppose if you would rather just hear about my Year of Disney… scroll down to the heading that states as such, but what fun would that be, y’all ^_^
I didn’t go to Disney World for the first time until I was 38 years old. (Well, that I can remember…Mom swears I was there when I was 6 weeks old, but I see no photographic evidence haha 😜). I remember getting the invitation in the mail, nearly a year in advance mind you, to attend a friend’s 40th birthday adventure taking place October 2019 in Florida. I definitely thought, “Pssh, yeah, right,” and promptly threw the envelope on our bedroom shelf (where it sat… and sat… and honestly almost got thrown out quite a few times). But eventually we came back to the idea when deadlines were approaching (and we were promised a good time ha). Ricky hadn’t been since high school, and I apparently hadn’t been in nearly 38 years, so we decided, “Why not?” and reached out to their travel agent. Now, remember, I was a newbie… so of course I let her talk me into park hoppers AND the dining plan. Goodbye $$ haha. But in retrospect that saved soooooo much time, money, and planning, but also probably caused my husband to almost desert me mid-vacation because of my golden retriever energy. 😆 But I digress, it was the best decision and I have no regrets. The full story of that vacay is for another time, but just know… I was freaking HOOKED. #thanksMikeandBeth
I very nearly upgraded my park hoppers to an annual pass when were there for that trip, but I went back and forth about it and eventually ran out of time. I figured we would end up back there the following year, and I could do it then! But you all know what happened March 2020. And though we did book a trip that September for the Halloween/Christmas crossover, passes weren’t unfrozen then either. We did end up becoming Universal passholders that December (for mega cheap), but Disney Annual Pass purchases ended up being suspended EIGHTEEN months. And then, miraculously, they opened up one day in September 2021! We’d already made plans to surprise Mom with a shared birthday adventure to Magic Kingdom while we were down in Florida celebrating my 40th at Universal. Perfect, right?! But in all the craziness of my birthday weekend, I didn’t get a chance to upgrade at the parks. One day tickets aren’t discounted anyways, and it wouldn’t have benefitted me to upgrade that, so no big loss. Plus I had planned on surprising Ricky with a few days for his birthday that December, so figured that was FINALLY the perfect time to become Passholders. Then, cuz you know… Murphy’s Law… they paused sales AGAIN in November. UGH. #insertfacepalm #whenwillyoulearn
So to make a long story short (cue the Clue movie’s shouts, “TOO LATE”), when Annual Pass sales FINALLY resumed April 20, 2023, I didn’t delay. We knew we had a year to activate, and I didn’t want to miss out for a FOURTH time.
Four Park Challenge
You know how they say to marry someone who matches your crazy? Well, I’m not sure if he’ll always agree with that statement, but somehow Ricky rarely says no to my ideas. 😍 #luckymenotsoluckyhim
So when I came at him about activating our passes on a random Saturday in August 2023, he seemed pretty okay with the idea. Even though it meant flying in that morning and flying back out that evening, because the first day of school was that coming Monday. But (sure Cat, throw gasoline on the already raging fire), “what if we decided to do the 4 Park Challenge while we’re there?! hahahahahahahahah” is what I’m pretty sure my message said. And somehow, he said, “Sure.” So, yes it happened, but again, it’s a story for another day… (which includes almost missing our flight home because TSA Precheck does indeed close and a fist fight right in front of us that caused a few not-so-gentlemen to be detained by Deputy Marshalls). #goodtimesgreatmemories
Year of Disney
Now, I told you ^up there^ that I was hooked after my first visit. The Disney Bubble is indeed real, and thoroughly captivating. Even with screaming kids, sweat in places you didn’t even know it could go, wicked lines, and full grown adults with absolutely no personal space etiquette… when I see the green ring light up from my Magic Band, there’s instantly a smile on my face and everything else melts away. One of the things I loved about becoming a Universal Orlando Annual Passholder in 2020 was that when I did go, I never felt like I needed a specific agenda because I didn’t have limited time on my tickets. I knew I’d be back at some point, so I didn’t have to try and DO ALL THE THINGS. Well, I don’t know why I can’t seem to get my fill of the Disney Magic (even after a VIP tour a few years ago), but here we are 17 months after becoming a passholder and there hasn’t been a month where I didn’t scan into at least one Disney park. 😲 (Don’t worry, I’ll be breaking the streak this month, because, you know, adulting UGH haha). I hadn’t put it on my 2024 Bucket List to visit every month, or even planned to achieve any of the things I ended up checking off my list (attend all 4 festivals, hear all 6 songs on Guardians, attend both Christmas parties, do a Disney race) but I certainly made the 29 days I spent at Disney World in 2024 pretty freaking fabulous. (I do place some of the blame on Jackie, Jen, and Brian, though… damn enablers). 😘
See a list of some achievements/accomplishments under the collage <3
What’s YOUR favorite thing about Disney World?!
- January
- started with a solo trip since I could leave earlier due to an unexpected snow day!
- watched Happily Ever After by myself and cried happy tears
- went to my first FARTS (Festival of the Arts)!
- froze my butt off in Florida for the first time (usually it’s the surface of the sun)
- February
- watched a live artist at FARTS
- picked up my Hei Hei passholder magnet
- March
- 3rd Leap Year engagement anniversary
- got pictures of all topiaries at the Flower & Garden Festival
- stayed at our first Moderate hotel (Coronado Springs)
- April
- quick overnight midweek (scheduled day off) trip with Ricky
- got my 6th and final Guardians song on my 11th total ride (since the ride opened)
- May
- special visit with Crystal joining me and Jackie at MK & Epcot
- picked up my Stitch passholder magnet
- tried Beverly for the first time (IYKYK)
- June
- end of school year adventure with Jen C.
- saw new Hatbox Ghost installed at The Haunted Mansion ride
- Tiana’s Bayou Passholder preview
- July/August
- stayed at our first Deluxe resort (Saratoga Springs)
- checked out the summer drone show over Disney Springs
- got to introduce my youngest nephew to the Most Magical Place on Earth
- September
- rode in my first Minnie Van (for free, even!)
- got to see Yellowcard at the Wine & Dine Festival’s Eat to the Beat Concert Series
- picked up my Pumbaa passholder magent
- October/November
- went to World Wide Sports for the first time (packet pickup)
- ran my first Disney race – the Wine & Dine 5k
- saw my first Grand Floridian Gingerbread House
- finally got lantern photos!
- solo Tron night ride!
- December
- watched Chrissy Metz narrate the Candlelight Processional at EPCOT’s Festival of the Holidays
- attended Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party (MK) with the Copeland family
- had an adults-only evening with the Copelands at Jollywood Nights (Hollywood Studios) – complete with a Nightmare Before Christmas singalong!!
- picked up our passholder extras at EPCOT and Animal Kingdom
- said goodbye to Chester & Hester’s
- watched Ricky try Beverly for the first time (and he didn’t mind it, weirdo)
#funbutfinanciallyirresponsible