Weather makes a difference (but not the way you think)

Nothing builds the dread in a Disney planner's heart more than seeing a week's worth of rain in the forecast for a much-anticipated vacation. Sure, we all say, “It’s better when it rains! It clears out the parks!” But nobody really wants it to rain/thunderstorm/hurricane/you name it during your delightfully, thoughtfully planned Disney adventure. But you see, friends, it’s exactly these...

How Disney Provides Stability in an Unstable World

I sat in my teacup this week watching the families around me laugh and spin, arms in the air, and as carefree as ever. And that’s when it hit me. It’s stability. Something that hasn’t changed in a world where everything has changed. Sure, we were all wearing masks and dutifully sanitized our hands before and after. But there were beloved (likely motion-sick prone) family members around the...

How Disney Teaches You to Persevere

The fire notices screamed from my phone this week while I dashed haphazardly around my home and debated about what I wanted to take with me as we evacuated the wildfires that have plagued our side of the nation. I picked up objects and put them back. I looked tearfully at others realizing I may never see them again. I threw odd things in my suitcase and forgot what I was doing as...

Are You In a Fade-In or Fade-Out?

As summer draws to a close and the change-over to Pumpkin Spice Lattes and falling leaves is upon us, I've been thinking about transitions. One of my favorite parts about visiting the Disney parks is the thoughtful way the Imagineers transition you between lands. It's often done in a cinematic style, so subtle you barely know it's happening until suddenly you're in a whole...

Why YOU Love Disney

One of the hardest questions for a Disney fan to answer is this: Why do you love Disney so much? I’ve been asked this so many times, and I usually stumble around in the dark for an answer that will make whoever I’m talking to fully understand why I would head to the parks again and again, year after year. Sometimes I’ll answer with nostalgia, other times with exclamations about the...