The Possible Dollar Delay

Every so often I feel like fate is trying to tell me not to go to Disney World. These signs aren't negative or frightening, but positive life things that keep pushing this trip back. The original plan for this trip was for us to go on our tenth wedding anniversary. At the time we were living in Greece and we thought we were coming home (back to Canada) right before our anniversary. Then, out of the blue, we had an opportunity to move somewhere else fun and exciting.

Since our plan for Disney World was to drive there, and the new place we were moving was nowhere near Florida, we decided to postpone. We did manage to find a pretty good compromise though, as luck would have it we were going to be near Paris around the time of our tenth anniversary. So we spent a few amazing days at Paris Disneyland.

Now it looks like we might be going home fairly soon, so we've started to plan the trip again. The delay from our tenth anniversary has only improved things in some ways. We have a little more money saved up, we know a little more about the Parks, and even the parks have improved a bit. But there is one other problem that's come up, the Canadian dollar.

Right now the Canadian dollar has fallen a great deal compared to the American dollar. We technically have to pay thirty percent more for our trip at the current rate. Sure we managed to save a little more money because of the delay, but we have mixed feelings about how this extra savings might be spent. I'd rather have an extra meal or adventure with this money, instead of paying for the exchange rates. The thought of postponing again has crossed our minds.

The decision doesn't simply depend on how our dollar does, Disney could play a role in this too if they wanted to. Years ago when I visited Disney World, our dollar was again well below the American dollar. The difference was at the time Disney offered at par prices for Canadians. So we would pay the same number of dollars, but using our Canadian money instead. If Disney offered this again it would make our choice to go much easier. I'm not saying it's a deal breaker, and we'd cancel our trip if they don't. I'm just saying that an offer like that would certainly swing us in the positive direction again.

Getting Healthy For Disney

On just about every single Disney for beginners blog, book, or article, one thing comes up over and over again, get healthy.  One of the biggest problems people come across while visiting any Disney park is exhaustion.  Disney World is one of the worst for this because the parks are just so big in area.  But no matter where you visit, Disney parks require a lot of walking and standing.  Exhaustion can turn a fun trip out into a nightmare of being tired, cranky and sore.  So Allison and I have decided that for this epic trip we're going to try and get into better shape.

I feel that we're far from dangerously out of shape, however this is going to be like running a marathon, and the better we can do that the more we don't have to worry about any problems that go with it.  So from this point forward, Allison and I are going into Disney training.  We're not going super crazy, spending hours in the gym everyday, but we are going to make sure we can handle this trip.

We're starting simple, walking.  We've started to go on a few kilometer walk every night.  This along with an occasional hike in the great outdoors where we live seems like a good start.  The plan is that within a few weeks we'll ad regular visits to the gym as well.  At the gym we'll probably start with cardio workouts, to get our endurance up and work on the muscles that keep us walking.  There might be some kind of yoga or stretching added to this workout in the future as well.

This all could lead to some sports as well, although I'm not sure what sport or how often.  The one area I'm not sure about is weights.  I don't think that this is really necessary for this trip, however if I feel the interest I'll give it a try.  I just can't imagine that I'll have to lift Goofy over my head, or bench press Donald Duck.

I think once I get to a certain point, I'm going to start posting my Fit Bit result online.  This will allow me to get a really clear idea on how/if I'm improving.  I still have to think about that, but maybe?

What's New At Disney

This is not going to be a list of what's new for 2015, what we're expecting for 2016, or what's been built since we last visited the parks.  This is going to be a list of the things at Disney World that wouldn't have been there had we visited 2 years earlier as we had originally planned. It's very well known that Walt Disney always wanted his parks, and all of his projects to be in a constant state of change. He wasn't building a museum after all. So this is a list of attractions and updates that had we visited the parks when we originally planned would not have been opened yet.

Disney Springs - The Downtown Disney area has been around for a long time. When I last visit Disney World this area was a great place to visit, particularly for any adult on a Disney trip. After a few years, interest in this adult theme park started to decline. It could have been lack of interest from the visitors or Disney itself, but the entertainment area started to fall apart. Restaurants and stores closed down, the area was a shell of what it once was.

In the last few years Disney suddenly took interest again in this area. I imagine that the new modern foodie trend is a big part of this. People look at Disney World as not just a theme park, but today they also look at Disney as a food destination, in great part because of the food and wine festival. So Disney has upgraded Downtown Disney, a party and club district, to Disney Springs, a food and shopping district. It makes sense and completely appeals to me.

The construction of this massive enhancement will likely still be going on when we visit, however it's already been rechristened Disney Springs, and I think most of the new sections should be ready to go when we get there.

Star Wars Minor Additions - The last year at Disney has been filled with announcements about Star Wars. Most notably is the new Star Wars land they're planning to open in a few years. It's certain that the new Star Wars Land won't be open when we get there, but Disney isn't leaving fans high dry right now. Presently Disney has several temporary exhibits and attractions to keep the Star Wars fan interested in both the upcoming parks and the new movies.

The simplest addition comes from the Star Wars ride in Hollywood Studios, Star Tours (an older ride already at the park). What's been added is an addition that lets you fly through one of the scenes from Force Awakens.  The problem with seeing this is that the ride is random, so we won't necessarily see that particular scene, but really that doesn't matter because I haven't seen many of the other scenes either.

Presently there are also several Star Wars themed restaurant overlays, and a few temporary exhibits where you can see props from the movies and meet characters from Star Wars.  Most of these temporary exhibits are scheduled to be taken down before we go, but I'm sure there's a chance that they'll be extended if they remain popular.  Either way I'll be happy as long as I get to meet Chewbacca.

Jungle Cruise Skipper's Canteen - This is a new restaurant that really interests me.  The food looks interesting, with lots of Asian food. But the thing that really piques my interest is the theming.  The theme is that a canteen has opened next to the Jungle Cruise for people to grab a bite before or after their jugle adventure. I'm a sucker for pseudo jungle/adventurers theming, and this restaurant seems like it's full of it.

It reminds me a little of the now defunct adventurers club in the old Pleasure Island, and that was one of my favorite places in the parks the last time I visited.  This looks like a real winner, and I'm sure we'll stop in.

Polynesian Resort Updates - I'm not sure how much resort hopping we're going to do, but I'm pretty sure if we do, a stop at the Polynesian will be on the cards.  They've just updated a bunch of this resort, and it looks fantastic.  Apparently this resort is also a great place to watch fireworks, so that might be just reason to go visit.  The main expansion that appeals to me is their new bar, Trader Sam's Grogs Grotto. This place looks fantastic, and even if I don't buy a drink, I think I'll stop by to check it out anyways.

Harambe Expansion - Animal Kingdom is a bit of a mystery for me as to what to expect.  The big expansion, Avatar Land, will likely not be open at all while we're there, however there are a few things that might.  There's a new night show that's supposed to open up that looks pretty good, and they're also planning on lighting up the giant tree (the Tree of Life) at the center of the park.  All of this is still vague to me as to when it'll open, but there's a chance we'll be able to see it.  The part that is already open is the Harambe expansion in the Africa section of the park.

I'm looking forward to this for several reasons.  First of all, Disney fans are saying nothing but great things about it.  Secondly, I don't really know what to expect from Animal Kingdom, so the surprise is pretty interesting.  Finally, I just visited Africa, and I'm looking forward to seeing how detailed they got the theming.

There's a lot of new additions to the park, as well as a few closures (which I might write about later).  I think since we're not regulars these details won't really affect our happiness on this trip, but I can say that reading about them is really getting me excited.

Epic Disney Vacation - Take 2

A few years ago Allison and I decided to go to Disney World. The idea for the trip came about when we both realized that we had some unfinished business at this park. I don't want to get into nature of this business, but needless to say we felt that going to this park together was important. At the time we were living abroad, in Greece for a predetermined amount of time. As luck would have it our time in Greece was to end just before our tenth wedding anniversary.

About two years before our trip we started to research. We had both been to Disney World separately in our lives, and we'd both been to Tokyo Disney Sea together. I love planning Disney trips, so I went online and went nuts. About a year before our planned trip we started making calls, and organizing an itinerary. Everything was going to plan, then life happened.

It wasn't a bad thing, it was actually pretty great. Allison was offered a new position in a new country. Everything would be perfect except one thing, it would mean postponing our Disney plans for a couple of years. If we really wanted to we could have flown from our new home to Florida, but that would have been expensive, and it would have eliminated part of our trip, the road trip to Florida from Canada. So we decided to wait.

A surprise happened upon us on our 10th anniversary though. Friends of ours were getting married in the UK around the time of our anniversary. We decided that we could not only enjoy our friends big day, but we could also visit Disneyland Paris for our 10th anniversary. It wouldn't be the same, or replace our Disney World trip, but it would be a great primer.

So several days in Disneyland Paris not only prepared us for our trip, but it also wet our pallet. While we had a great time in Paris we were more excited than ever about Disney World. That trip was last summer.

Now it looks like we might be going home this upcoming summer, and that means that the Disney World plans are back. We've been keeping up with all of the news from the parks, and also savings even more money for our trip. A few things have changed in the parks, but our basic plans are still the same.

So that takes us to today.

After an additional two years later we're ready to book stuff again.  We have even more knowledge, and a little bit of a rehearsal (at Disneyland Paris).  It also means that we're going to start back at this blog once again.  This post, a refresher starts us off, and over the next few weeks I'm going to write about our plans once again.  I'll write about how our plans have changed, or how they haven't.  Once we start actually making the reservations, we'll get into how well the Disney system works, or doesn't.

So look out Goofy!