Meetup at Walt Disney World?

[denise]

So, as many people know, sarah and I are getting gay married at some point in the future. (We haven't decided firmly on holding the wedding in Feb. of 2011 vs Feb. of 2012, but it's looking more likely that 2012 is a better plan.) Because we are both giant fucking dorks, major Disney theme park fans, and connected to Walt Disney World as part of our personal history, we're throwing the wedding at Disney World. We're going to need to do a fact-finding and exploratory mission, and we were thinking of combining that with our usual late-September/early-October Walt Disney World trip (to catch the beginning of the Food and Wine Festival/celebrate the value season beginning).

(EDIT: Because I realized I was unclear -- for the rest of this, I'm talking about this October, October of 2010, for the unofficial congregation.)

We are both very, very resistant to overplanning vacations, and Dreamwidth-the-business doesn't have the resources to throw a full convention/conference (yet! i have awesome ideas that we could do sometime in the future when we get bigger!), but one of the things I love most about Disney World is showing it to people who've never been, or people who haven't been since they were kids and think that WDW has nothing for adults (so, so, so wrong; Sarah hated WDW as a child and loves it now). So I was thinking of throwing our vacation plans open to a wider audience: announcing that we will be at WDW from such-and-such a date, giving people booking information and useful tips, and maybe putting together a few group events (backstage tours -- of which there are many at WDW, and they are all FUCKING AWESOME -- dessert parties, group dinners, etc).

(Another incredibly awesome thing about WDW, and another reason to consider it as a destination for a DW-related gathering, is its accessibility. Disney is fabulous about accessibility of all sorts, from food allergies to chemical sensitivities to blind/Deaf/hard-of-hearing/wheelchair-using accomodations.)

For reference, because I know some people are going to ask, a five-night, six-day stay at a Moderate resort, plus park tickets, plus dining (excluding some additional add-ons such as alcohol), for two adults, will cost about $2000. (Additional activities, etc, cost extra; we generally budget about $500 extra for two people for a trip of that stay, but money isn't as much of a consideration for us a lot of the time and there are many ways to save. Likewise, airfare costs extra.) The same for a Value resort runs around $1650. It's possible to save more by staying off Disney property, but in our opinion it's worth the extra to stay on-property; you can't use the dining plan if you're off-property, it's harder to get around, and the travel time to/from your resort is obnoxious.

So, I was vaguely curious to see if there would be any kind of interest in this whatsoever. To that end, a Completely Non-Binding Informational Poll:

Poll #2619

Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 105

View Respondents

Interest level:

View Answers

I am very interested!
13 (12.4%)

I am interested, but it will depend on when it takes place
46 (43.8%)

I am interested, but it will depend on how much it costs.
47 (44.8%)

I am vaguely interested, but dubious about the Disney World thing.
11 (10.5%)

I am vaguely interested, but it will depend on more of the specifics.
17 (16.2%)

I'm probably not interested.
12 (11.4%)

Comments

[pauamma]

If and when you drag yourselves to Eurodisney, let me know.

[stormy]

I love going to WDW for the Halloween events, and especially for the Christmas events. Being right down the road from it 365 days a year - I'm glad to even get fake snow! ♥ With this in mind, we didn't go last year, so I could consider going this year with dusty.

[hooloovoo]

I like Disney World in general, but I love it because of the gluten free food. Last time I was there, I had a meatball sandwich! And pizza and pasta! It was awesome.

[killing_rose]

A meatball sandwich? A gluten free one that tasted good? And pizza that, I'm assuming, tasted like pizza? (Pasta I figured out a while ago. The rest...my attempts are good, they're just not facsimiles.)

*wishes that she had the money to go for that alone*

[stultiloquentia]

ZOMG DW conference! With a tech!zone and a fan!zone and a knitting!zone! Eeee!

In the short term, however: hrm, hrm. I owe myself a proper vacation sometime within the next yearish. I've been contemplating a Writercon or an Escapade or a Con.text or somesuch, because I've never been to a fan con. But this could be neat-o....

[phoenixsong]

hkellick and I heartily agree with how much WDW has for adults (and kids-at-heart *g*). That'a where we went for our honeymoon two years ago. We'd love to go again, but with the baby and needing to move again this fall, cost and timing are definitely issues. s:(

[flamebyrd]

Well, Disney World is on my list of "things to do while living in North America" so if we're still here when you do it, I'm so there!

[denise]

You totally and completely need to go while you're over here, yes. It's just such a happy place!

[delight]

If it's 2012, Boyfriend should have a decently paying job and I should have work-study and we should be able to afford it. 2011, not so much. So it depends on the year!

[denise]

I realized I was unclear -- I'm talking about this October (october of '10) for the trip I'm discussing! (I edited the entry to make it clearer.)

[msilverstar]

I feel weird saying no, but it's way too far away and expensive for me.

[majoline]

If it's for reals 2012, I might actually be able to come! We can probably save up enough to go then. The only thing is that can't really be spur-of-the-moment, for the taking off of work.

Oh and WDW! I had vague fond memories of the place until 2 years ago when we took my youngest cousin. And I definitely like it better as a adult! :D

[denise]

I realized I was unclear -- I'm talking about this October (october of '10) for the trip I'm discussing! (I edited the entry to make it clearer.)

[arie]

Duh. Any time, babe, any time. Timing is everything, but you know I'm *always* very interested in Disney with you guys. I promise not to plan a single thing the whole time I'm there. :P

OH and PS: We are already going to be at Disney Sept 18-25, most likely. Sage is out of school Sept 20-24 (Cobb County is flirting with shorter summers, more breaks and not-quite-a-year-round-calendar-because-that-freaks-people-out-but-dude-summer-is-10-weeks-and-thats-too-damn-long).

[bubba]

I think you may already know my answer to this. *g*

[jenlev]

Wow, that sounds cool! I'm going again my usual week in November....so won't be able to pull off October as well. But, oh, wish I could be there again in October too. :)

:::dusts off Boardwalk Inn icon:::

[denise]

*happy sigh*

I was browsing the usual WDW blogs/sites this morning, which is what made me think of it. Man, I'd love to be there right now.

[matgb]

See, interested, definitely. Likely to be able to afford it? Highly unlikely. Also ambivalent about the Disney thing, suspect SB'd hate it.

But, y'know, finances may improve significantly in the next two years. And we may even get around to having the wedding we said was going to be in May.

May 2008.

[denise]

I realized I was unclear -- I'm talking about this October (october of '10) for the trip I'm discussing! (I edited the entry to make it clearer.)

Sarah thought she'd hate WDW-as-an-adult too, but wound up loving it. It really is an entirely different experience as an adult.

[killing_rose]

That sounds awesome. I might be able to pull it off were this being held in October of 2011, but this October I will be in my last year of undergrad and even more broke than normal.

[denise]

Sucks on the broke, but CONGRATS!! on the last year of undergrad!

[seryn]

It sounds like you should have a great time. I have a really weird idea... maybe there could be twice-removed gatherings at other Disneys. Obviously it means we couldn't see you getting [gay-]married and it wouldn't be the same as if we were all together... but your idea sounds like so much fun!

[denise]

I realized I was unclear -- I'm talking about this October (october of '10) for the trip I'm discussing! (I edited the entry to make it clearer.) The actual wedding is going to have to be a little more constrained, just because the venue at WDW we want to book only holds so many people, but we'll probably do the same thing for the actual wedding: hey, we're going to be here at such-and-such a time, anybody else want to be there at the same time?

(It's the best way we've found to vacation with people. We have very idiosyncratic vacation hobbies that drive some people nuts, but doing our own thing and meeting up for dinner/special events works pretty well.)

[sara]

...you forgot the tickybox for "Planning something two years in advance? Okay, who's replaced D. with a pod person?"

(The short answer is, "I like a nice party as much as the next person, but with the current upheaval in the greater household, I am figuring that all our travel $ is going to see (1) terminally ill relatives and (2) new babies until some point in the future where my relations have stopped dying and/or spawning.)

[denise]

Heh. I realized I was unclear -- I'm talking about this October (october of '10) for the trip I'm discussing. So it's not totally outer bounds of D planning capability. ;)

[yvi]

Oh, that sounds wonderful. I was at WDW the one time I was in the US (I was 14) and it was so nice :)

[Totally can't afford it now, of course, but I will be with you there in spirit or something ;)]

[uschickens]

I'm already running away for huge swathes of September, but I could probably sneak away for a long weekend in October (though not the full week). Y'all have been talking up the Haus of Maus for so long, I am convinced I need to redo it as an adult.

[beck_liz]

I am really, really interested, but a) I have no idea whether I'd be able to swing either the vacation time or the money, and b) I don't actually fit into either of your above categories: I used to go to WDW yearly as a kid and loved it dearly. The only reason I haven't been back since is due to the above-mentioned time and money issues.

[kareila]

Oct 9-17 is a no-go zone for me. Any time outside of that, I'd almost certainly be there with my whole family.

[reginagiraffe]

*This* October...? Hmmm. It's not so much the money as the vacation time. I'll discuss it with MrG.

[lasergirl]

I think this sounds like a DREAM come true, and I wish you both the best time EVER!

[amadi]

I'd love to do something like this, but I've been out shopping and erranding today, all locally, using ECVs in the stores, and I'm beat. I can't imagine Florida temps and humidity and ECVs and walking between them... out of spoons error. :( It bums me out because the last time I was at WDW, Epcot wasn't even opened. (It opened the following year.)

[ane]

It's not WDW but I thought I mention that Necronomicon, a scifi, fantasy, horror convention in Tampa (well, St Pete) is always in October, Oct 22-24 this year. If your trip ever overlaps with Necro I think a Dreamwidth panel would be cool; I'd go to it. We don't often have tech type panels but we occasionally do.

[sofiaviolet]

Cost is my main concern - I'd have to get myself from Boston to Orlando, and then deal with the actual hotel etc. Not impossible, especially since I will have been employed since July, but tight.

I would also need to find roommate(s). XD