We're Going to Walt Disney World!

"Tom Gressel: You’ve worked hard, you’ve studied hard, and you & your darling wife really, really, really deserve a vacation. What are you going to do next?"

Do you really need to ask?

Yesterday I officially bought plane tickets for the Lovely Mrs. G. and I for 10 days of fun, sun, & Mickey in central Florida. We’ll spend a couple of days out at the beach, then it’s 8 days in Lake Buena Vista, baby! We’ll play in the parks, check out the community, and have one helluva ball.

So now I’ve got my air taken care of, I’ve reserved a hotel, and I’ve booked a rental car. What else? I just need to score some park tickets, and make a couple of dining reservations, and we’re set. What more could a vacation-craving couple want?

I’m a pretty lucky guy – I love spending days on end researching my Disney trips, and the Lovely Mrs. G. is a good sport and generally lets me pick out whatever I want to see/do. In return, I try to give her a magical time, and for the most part, I usually succeed. She’s a good travel partner, and a wonderful person to hang around in Fantasyland with.

It’s been almost 6 years since we last went to WDW. Far too long, in my Disney Freakish opinion, but what can you do? It’s 1700 miles away; too far for a weekend getaway. So we’ll make up for lost time with a week on the Epcot Death March™. (Although I have promised Mrs. G. that I won’t drag her around the parks from opening to close, I’ll have to work really hard at that.)

But this trip is more than just a vacation/mad dash through Mickey’s Playground. We’re also using it as a scouting mission, to check out neighborhoods where we may want to live next year. There won’t be any pressure/rush of interviewing, so we’ll be able to look around and see what we like without having to just hurry up and pick something.

I want to be able to look around Orlando and vicinity through the eyes of a local, and not just a tourist. How is the traffic? How are the houses? What neighborhoods meet our needs? Stuff like that.

So we’ll call this a vacation/precursor to moving. Either way, it’ll be a blast.

So save me a seat in the Pirates of the Caribbean, mateys, cause the Gressels will be on board here shortly. Argh!