It's 4:56 pm. Work is done and our thoughts turn
to relaxation. The calendar tells us that spring has sprung, but the fresh snow outside sends a different message. We recall the sunshine and warmth of
Florida and long for another visit. How soon until our next trip to see Mickey Mouse? A
glance at the calendar shows far too many days before we depart for our favorite place in
the World. What we need is a Disney fix.... and now! Throwing aside all constraints, we
dive into Disney with our favorite mood-altering tips.
1. Crank Up the Music!
Music can instantly transport you to those wonderful times you had on your last vacation.
Dig out your favorite Disney tunes and play them loud and proud! Right now, we're
listening to La Vida Mickey, a high-energy fiesta with Mickey and friends
doing salsa and mambo-inspired tunes. Jennifer just LOVES "Disney Mambo #5" by
Lou Bega -- it reminds her of cruising aboard the Disney Wonder. You can get this CD at
music stores and Amazon.com. Another excellent choice is the
The Official Album:
Disneyland and Walt Disney World, also available in stores and at Amazon.
2. Do Some Tube Time
Fish out your old Walt Disney World planning videos (the free ones you can request) and/or
order a new one from Disney (407-934-7639). If you've been collecting the videos for a
while as we have, you can have quite the little film fest. Or try to catch some
Disney-related shows on the TV -- good places to look are the Disney Channel, Travel
Channel, and Home and Garden Channel. PassPorter friend Kirby compiles the Disney-related
shows on a weekly basis and posts them at http://www.bartlett-sloan.net/tv/.
3. Wear Your Disney Togs
We'll wager 95% of you have Disney clothing in your closet, regardless of whether you've
been to Walt Disney World. Get out your favorites and get into vacation mode. All you've
got are t-shirts? Turn up the thermostat, don a Mickey t-shirt, step into a comfy pair of
shorts, and pour a tropical drink. Don't forget the sunscreen!
4. Immerse Yourself in Disney
This means different things to different people. If you're a writer, work on a trip report
from a past trip or start a pre-trip report. If you're a reader, immerse yourself in other
vacationer's trips with their reports -- you'll find many in our Adventure Reports Forum (http://www.passporterboards.com/forums/sharing-adventure-disney-world-trip-reports/)
and at Brian Bennett's Trip Reports Archive (http://www.mouseplanet.com/dtp/trip.rpt/).
If you're a planner, work on your next Disney trip in as much depth as you want (don't let
anyone tell you you're overplanning -- this is YOUR vacation!)
5. Hang Out With Other Disney Fans
This tip really should be #1, as its the absolute BEST way to dispel those Disney blues.
Seek out other people who share your passion for the World. You may find them at work, at
school, at church, or next door. If you're like us and spend a lot of time online, run, do
not walk, to http://www.passporterboards.com.
This leads to the PassPorter message boards, a super-friendly community of Disney fans
just like you. We just peeked in and saw that 102 other vacation planners were reading and
posting, asking
questions, contributing experiences, and just having fun. You can talk as much as you like
about Disney and no one is going to tune out or tell you you're over-obsessed with the
Mouse. Or you can just lurk and glean useful information and tips for your next trip. A
recent waltz through the message boards resulted in these useful tidbits you might
enjoy...
From the Planning Your Adventure message board...
"I have a sort of unique way of saving for a trip, one I only started to use last
year with a lot of success. I am a big coupon/sale/rebate/refund/discount user. It is not
unusual for me to save $30 to $50 on groceries and then do a few refunds. I also go out to
dinner with my "save 10%" coupons, etc. I belong to Hallmark club and CVS club.
I always wondered what happened to the money I saved. it got absorbed right back into the
budget, but it never seemed like I was really saving money. So I opened a separate savings
account last year, no MAC card, no checks, just savings. When I came home from the
supermarket, I wrote a check to myself for the amount I saved, and it went in the account.
I total up any savings I have for the week, such as sales, club discounts, dinner
discounts (I keep track on a little notepad) and on payday, that goes right into my
account. All the rebate checks I get go in there, too. I even found $100 coupon on he
Internet when we bought our car. That is my vacation fund. Right now, we are set for our
April trip, and have started to save for our cruise in October. I never realized how much
I saved from being frugal (my DH would say cheap) but it really adds up!" -- posted
by rescuesk
From the Getting There (and Back!) message boards...
"On this morning's TODAY show, a segment featured security devices. Apparently
Orlando Airport will be "testing" two new security devices -- the body scan and
the "puffer/sniffer." The body scan is the full-body x-ray device. The
"puffer/sniffer" blows airjets onto the individual and can then detect any
potentially hazardous materials being carried by the individual. I am not sure how long
MCO will be using these devices and on what basis they will be using them (at random,
etc.). Security is making great strides with such technological advances." -- posted
by All Ears
From the Staying in Style message boards...
"I just returned from the Caribbean Beach Resort. They are doing some construction on
the back of the Old Port Royale building. The walkway around the lake is closed at this
area and to continue around, you must cut through the Old Port Royale building's food
court and shop areas. I don't feel this construction in any way diminished our trip."
-- posted by dsny4me
From the Touring the World message boards...
"There is a new sign outside the former site of the Legend of the Lion King at the
Magic Kingdom touting the new attraction slated for this space, Mickey's PhilarMagic. This
attraction sounds awesome with the largest screen ever for a 3-D experience - 150 ft. wide
screen. The stars include Mickey, Donald, Ariel, Aladdin, Jasmine and Simba. It's
scheduled to open sometime next year and I for one can't wait!" -- posted by Cruella
(2394 posts since February 2000)
From the Feasting and Snacking message boards...
"I had waited too long for a priority seating for an early Crystal Palace breakfast
-- the earliest available was 10:30. But, because of information from these boards, I
called back to see if they had any early cancellations, and they did!! So now we have an
8:30 priority seating! Yahooooo!!!! Thank you Passporter. This HAS to be one of the
happiest places there is, next to Disney world itself!" -- posted by lisaflana (41
posts since July 2001)
From the Making More Magic message boards...
"I am so grateful for some advice I read before our last trip. Can't remember who
said it, but it was here. The advice was to start looking for your next resort during your
trip. We did that and I began planning for the next trip before the first one was even
over. I love that! I haven't had any boo-hoo sessions because I am focused on the next
trip. Thanks for whoever said that." -- posted by patsy-c (616 posts since April
2001)
From Going Behind the Scenes (Trivia and Rumors) message
boards...
"Primeval whirl is open! We were at Disney's Animal Kingdom on Saturday and we spoke
to a cast member who told us that Primeval Whirl would be opening the very next day. He
was very excited because they were having an 'opening' party for the CM's that night.
Everywhere we went we overheard cast
members talking about the party. We didn't get a chance to get back to Animal Kingdom
until yesterday to ride Primeval Whirl... It appears that there will be two tracks open
for the ride (one side was closed when we visited) there were virtually no lines and it
was a FASTPASS attraction. I'm not very good at descriptions but I will try my best.. If
you have any questions I (or my husband) will try to answer them. You sit in what looked
like to me round space ships.. you are harnessed in (like Rock N Roller Coaster). You
start going straight on the track then stop, go up a hill, start winding down the hill
several times (in an "S" fashion) then
start the ups and downs. You go up and down several smaller hills VERY fast and then again
you go on another "S" track several times BUT the difference is you're spinning.
The ride ends with a couple more small up & down hills and then home! I didn't ride it
(ya know, the heights) but my husband and son LOVED it. " -- posted by disneyknut
(398 posts since August 2001)
From Sharing the Adventure (Trip Reports) message boardson the subject of airport security...
"The man in front of me had been stopped to be "wanded"--figuring that the
same would be required of me, I waited...and waited...and waited. Finally, the man in
front of me was finished; however, the employee in charge of wanding either didn't notice
me or didn't seem to care, so I politely asked if I needed to be scanned. His reply:
"Do you want me to?" This response caught me off guard, so I retorted with,
"Umm, no, I just would rather not get shot by that National Guardsman over there for
evasion of security," and walked off. As I passed by aforementioned Mr. Guardsman
(that's Mr. Guardsman, sir! to you!), he informed me that, unless they specifically stop
you, you can just keep walking. Although the urge was incredibly great, thinking twice and
deciding it not too prudent to offer that if he ever wanted to scan me with a wand, I'd be
more than happy to oblige, I thanked him and headed off to my gate. Ladies, what is it
about a man in a beret, huh? I think Mr. Wonka named a chocolate bar after the National
Guardsmen -- Scrumdiddlyumptious!!!" -- posted by Aerobics (493 posts since March
2000)
See what we mean? PassPorter member adonenko sums it up best, "My
next land and sea vacation is over 8 months away so I am very glad this site is here for
my daily Disney fix while I wait! I just got my new PassPorter and have my nose it in
most of the time. I have a "countdown to Disney" on every calendar I own -- I
think I'm driving my poor husband nuts! It's nice to have somewhere to go where everyone
else
is as Disney-minded as yourself!"
We recently reorganized the message boards a bit, and added new features
like polling (quizzes), new icons, and a preview post feature. Best of all, we added
several new forums: general traveling, trivia and rumors, Disneyland, and Disney Cruise
Line.
As you can see, we think the message boards are one of the best fixes for
Disney withdrawal. If you have other ways to keep your spirits up in-between trips, please
let us know and we'll share them with folks here.
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