More Disney Q&A: How Come?
My 4
year old niece A and I spent a lovely weekend together recently. Miss A is an
extremely intelligent child who, naturally, asks a lot of questions. Trying to
explain to her why the cats who roam the back yards in our neighborhood aren’t
actually MY pets got me thinking about the types of questions friends and
family often ask when we discuss Disney.
In the
post below, I’ll share a few with you along with my answers. And don’t be shy!
Let me know your Disney “how comes”!
How come you don’t belong to Disney Vacation
Club (DVC)?
I get
this one a lot, I think because I post about Disney to my Facebook page and
Twitter feed on regular basis. The short
answer is the cost. The long answer is that when we looked into joining about
2-3 years ago, our lives were too much in flux to spend the kind of money it
would take to join DVC at even the most basic level. It would have taken us 10
annual trips over 10 years to break even on our investment.
I
absolutely think that DVC is a great program and has the potential to benefit
numerous families who are not yet members. But for the Farrell clan, the time
just hasn’t been right. Perhaps someday it will be!
How come you don’t have annual passes?
As with
the DVC question, I get this one a lot. We simply don’t have enough time at the
parks on an annual basis to justify the cost.
We only spend 5-8 days in the parks each year due to the fact that a.) Our
vacation time away from our jobs is limited; b.) We have other obligations
outside of leisure vacations (family birthdays, etc.) and c.) We’re not the
type to just up and go on a trip.
This
might change in the months and years ahead as we relocate our growing family to
Atlanta and find ourselves a mere one day’s drive from the magic and our son is
big enough to visit with us.
How come you don’t go to the water parks?
I’ll
admit: I was the one holding us back on this one. The anal retentive Disney
planner in me didn't see the value in spending a day away from the four main
parks. And I hate wandering around in front of strangers in my bathing suit.
Fast
forward to our October 2012 trip to Disney when we spent a lovely Tuesday at
Blizzard Beach and I’m sorry that I waited so long! I didn’t care if people saw
me in my bathing suit or if said bathing suit got lodged firmly in my rear end
after going down one of the park’s biggest speed slides. It was a really fun
day and I look forward to going again on a future trip!
How come you don’t like the Cirque du Soleil show
La Nouba at Downtown Disney?
It’s
not that I didn’t like it, it’s more that I was terrified by it and fascinated
all at the same time. Part of me appreciated the acrobatics and talent of the
performers, but a lot of it was just so strange (yes, even for someone who
works in NYC and has witnessed more bizarre humanity than should be allowed in
a lifetime) that I was itching to GET OUT of that tent.
If this
is your thing, by all means, go. Enjoy. Don’t let me hold you back – I’m just
saying that I didn’t like it and I’ll never go again unless the tickets are
free (again).
How come you’re so opposed to the Food and
Wine Festival at Epcot?
All of
my issues around Food and Wine stem from the people who use the celebration as
an excuse to get inebriated beyond a tolerable (and legal) level at the
Happiest Place on Earth. I will never
begrudge anyone a good time, but if you want to get blotto with your
bridesmaids for your bachelorette party, do it at a bar…away from me, the
person who is trying to enjoy Off Kilter without you slopping your drink all
over my shoes. I think Disney could do a MUCH better job of policing this event
and maintaining the happy nature of World Showcase for everyone to enjoy.
How come you’ve never stayed off-property or at
a Value Resort?
I’m
lucky. My husband and I have good, secure careers which afford us some
luxuries. One of our favorite luxuries is staying at Deluxe (or moderate)
accommodations at Disney. We plan for
our trip each year and budget for it, too.
I have
nothing against value resorts and I know they are the perfect fit for a lot of
Disney travelers. I’ve never stayed there myself, so I don’t have an
opinion. That being said, I have a
feeling that the family suites at Art of Animation may be in our future once
kid(s) arrive.
Frankly,
I can’t see the point (myself) in staying off property for just the two of us.
However, I do have a friend who gets a condo for his ENTIRE family at a very
good price that’s off-property. This is a way for them to stay close together
and have more of a family reunion than just a Disney vacation. This is another
one of those things that might be in our future.
How come you’ve never gone to Disneyland?
I’ve
actually been to Disneyland, but it was a very long time ago (college days). A
more recent trip that was planned around work travel to Southern California was
cancelled due to a death in my immediate family. I do look forward to getting
out to DL some day, with hubby and son in tow, to check out California
Adventure and (for the baby) CarsLand.
How come you don’t work for Disney?
It isn’t
because I wouldn’t LOVE to…in my line of work (public relations) one tends to
become a specialist in a certain category: finance, healthcare, public affairs,
etc. I happen to work in healthcare and the last time I checked, Disney wasn’t
trying to get any new drugs approved by the Food & Drug
Administration. So while I would give my
right arm to be a Cast Member, it’s unlikely that it’s a career transition I’d
be able to make. Also, a majority of the public relations staff that Disney
employs are based in California, too far away from family and friends to be
reasonable for me.
My hubby enjoying our private cabana at Blizzard Beach (October 2012)
