Planning a trip to Walt Disney World can be an overwhelming experience for even the most seasoned travelers, but planning a trip from another country–in my case Canada–can add even more stress to the organization process. In my case, there is even more stress as my DH is known to be a nervous traveler.
My DH is a fan of Disney, but, in spite of all of my attempts to change him, he just doesn’t “get” my obsession with Disney and my constant need to be planning our next trip. I search out airfare prices and discounts on WDW packages, and he firmly states that we need to work on some things around the house and that we can’t afford another trip. I save our pennies along with him, and he firmly states that we need to fix our vehicles and that we can’t afford another trip. You see the pattern. When we finally have the money set aside for a possible trip, and I have found the best possible deal for our family to indulge in a little Disney magic, I can finally get my DH to agree to a family trip to my “Happy Place.” This works out to a Walt Disney World vacation every 2 years.
Once we agree on planning and booking a trip, the “real” work begins. Flights from Toronto to Orlando can range in price, and their cost can potentially ruin our budget. Even if we get a decent price on the flight, the taxes and departure/security fees can seriously affect the cost of a flight. Friends have flown out of Buffalo to save money on the flight, but we haven’t tried that yet. After one bad experience with an airline trying to seat our family throughout a plane, (yep, the 9 year old was expected to sit by himself!) my nervous DH insists on prepaying to pick our seating when we book our flight.
Another potential issue is having our passports ready. If you are traveling into the United States from Canada your passport cannot expire in the next 3 months. This hasn’t been a problem yet, but we may need to renew our passports early next time so we don’t have any problems on our next trip.
DH has sleep apnea which requires him to sleep with a “CPAP” machine, an air machine that helps him to sleep at night and makes his breathing sound like Darth Vader. His machine has a built-in humidifier and has bold writing on it insisting that we only put “distilled” water in it. After much confusion a few years ago we found out that we can order a large bottle of distilled water from Turner Drugs to have delivered to our Disney resort. DH always likes to preorder the water so there are no problems getting it, but you can also order it when you get to your hotel. Traveling with the CPAP machine through international airports can be problematic for security issues. We have learned for DH to travel with it in his carry-on so we can show it to the security officers, and they can ask any questions that are necessary to insure our safety on the flight.
I have a U.S. account at our bank, and my plan is to add $20.00 to it every pay day. I would also like to put a little extra into the account when the Canadian dollar nears par with the American dollar. This is a situation where what I WANT and INTEND to do, is not what I actually do. (Note to self: I need to work on this!) Having the Canadian dollar near par means quite a savings for us Canadians planning our Disney vacations!
Planning a Walt Disney World vacation for my family always gets my heart racing as I dream about our dining plans, resort selections, and daily touring plans. Coming from Canada it also means a little extra planning….where can we get coffee that tastes like Tim Hortons? Where can DH watch his beloved Toronto Maple Leafs play their game? How can we get the Cast Members to call their hats “Touques” and not “ski caps”? How do I get my kids out of the pool when the weather reaches a balmy 56 degrees and the resort staff are looking at them like they are crazy? How can my DH find out the NHL scores without having to go onto the internet? These are the questions of Neurotic Disney Canadians everywhere.
Contributed by: Marybeth Caliciuri (NDM#6) Marybeth is the DDL Scrapbooking Blogger.
