PassPorter.com Feature Article
Original article at: http://www.passporter.com/articles/getting-your-disney-fix-or-how-to-feed-your-obsession.html

Getting Your Disney Fix : Or, How to Feed Your Obsession

by Jennifer Marx, PassPorter Guidebooks Author
Last modified 02/23/2008

It's 4:56 pm. Work is done and our thoughts turn to relaxation. The calendar tells us that spring has sprung, but the fresh snow outside sends a different message. We recall the sunshine and warmth of Florida and long for another visit. How soon until our next trip to see Mickey Mouse? A glance at the calendar shows far too many days before we depart for our favorite place in the World. What we need is a Disney fix.... and now! Throwing aside all constraints, we dive into Disney with our favorite mood-altering tips.

1. Crank Up the Music! Music can instantly transport you to those wonderful times you had on your last vacation. Dig out your favorite Disney tunes and play them loud and proud! Right now, we're listening to La Vida Mickey, a high-energy fiesta with Mickey and friends doing salsa and mambo-inspired tunes. Jennifer just LOVES "Disney Mambo #5" by Lou Bega -- it reminds her of cruising aboard the Disney Wonder. You can get this CD at music stores and Amazon.com. Another excellent choice is the The Official Album: Disneyland and Walt Disney World, also available in stores and at Amazon.

2. Do Some Tube Time Fish out your old Walt Disney World planning videos (the free ones you can request) and/or order a new one from Disney (407-934-7639). If you've been collecting the videos for a while as we have, you can have quite the little film fest. Or try to catch some Disney-related shows on the TV -- good places to look are the Disney Channel, Travel Channel, and Home and Garden Channel. PassPorter friend Kirby compiles the Disney-related shows on a weekly basis and posts them at http://www.bartlett-sloan.net/tv/.

3. Wear Your Disney Togs We'll wager 95% of you have Disney clothing in your closet, regardless of whether you've been to Walt Disney World. Get out your favorites and get into vacation mode. All you've got are t-shirts? Turn up the thermostat, don a Mickey t-shirt, step into a comfy pair of shorts, and pour a tropical drink. Don't forget the sunscreen!

4. Immerse Yourself in Disney This means different things to different people. If you're a writer, work on a trip report from a past trip or start a pre-trip report. If you're a reader, immerse yourself in other vacationer's trips with their reports -- you'll find many in our Adventure Reports Forum (http://www.passporterboards.com/forums/sharing-adventure-disney-world-trip-reports/) and at Brian Bennett's Trip Reports Archive (http://www.mouseplanet.com/dtp/trip.rpt/). If you're a planner, work on your next Disney trip in as much depth as you want (don't let anyone tell you you're overplanning -- this is YOUR vacation!)

5. Hang Out With Other Disney Fans This tip really should be #1, as its the absolute BEST way to dispel those Disney blues. Seek out other people who share your passion for the World. You may find them at work, at school, at church, or next door. If you're like us and spend a lot of time online, run, do not walk, to http://www.passporterboards.com. This leads to the PassPorter message boards, a super-friendly community of Disney fans just like you. We just peeked in and saw that 102 other vacation planners were reading and posting, asking questions, contributing experiences, and just having fun. You can talk as much as you like about Disney and no one is going to tune out or tell you you're over-obsessed with the Mouse. Or you can just lurk and glean useful information and tips for your next trip. A recent waltz through the message boards resulted in these useful tidbits you might enjoy...

From the Planning Your Adventure message board... "I have a sort of unique way of saving for a trip, one I only started to use last year with a lot of success. I am a big coupon/sale/rebate/refund/discount user. It is not unusual for me to save $30 to $50 on groceries and then do a few refunds. I also go out to dinner with my "save 10%" coupons, etc. I belong to Hallmark club and CVS club. I always wondered what happened to the money I saved. it got absorbed right back into the budget, but it never seemed like I was really saving money. So I opened a separate savings account last year, no MAC card, no checks, just savings. When I came home from the supermarket, I wrote a check to myself for the amount I saved, and it went in the account. I total up any savings I have for the week, such as sales, club discounts, dinner discounts (I keep track on a little notepad) and on payday, that goes right into my account. All the rebate checks I get go in there, too. I even found $100 coupon on he Internet when we bought our car. That is my vacation fund. Right now, we are set for our April trip, and have started to save for our cruise in October. I never realized how much I saved from being frugal (my DH would say cheap) but it really adds up!" -- posted by rescuesk

From the Getting There (and Back!) message boards... "On this morning's TODAY show, a segment featured security devices. Apparently Orlando Airport will be "testing" two new security devices -- the body scan and the "puffer/sniffer." The body scan is the full-body x-ray device. The "puffer/sniffer" blows airjets onto the individual and can then detect any potentially hazardous materials being carried by the individual. I am not sure how long MCO will be using these devices and on what basis they will be using them (at random, etc.). Security is making great strides with such technological advances." -- posted by All Ears

From the Staying in Style message boards... "I just returned from the Caribbean Beach Resort. They are doing some construction on the back of the Old Port Royale building. The walkway around the lake is closed at this area and to continue around, you must cut through the Old Port Royale building's food court and shop areas. I don't feel this construction in any way diminished our trip." -- posted by dsny4me

From the Touring the World message boards... "There is a new sign outside the former site of the Legend of the Lion King at the Magic Kingdom touting the new attraction slated for this space, Mickey's PhilarMagic. This attraction sounds awesome with the largest screen ever for a 3-D experience - 150 ft. wide screen. The stars include Mickey, Donald, Ariel, Aladdin, Jasmine and Simba. It's scheduled to open sometime next year and I for one can't wait!" -- posted by Cruella (2394 posts since February 2000)

From the Feasting and Snacking message boards... "I had waited too long for a priority seating for an early Crystal Palace breakfast -- the earliest available was 10:30. But, because of information from these boards, I called back to see if they had any early cancellations, and they did!! So now we have an 8:30 priority seating! Yahooooo!!!! Thank you Passporter. This HAS to be one of the happiest places there is, next to Disney world itself!" -- posted by lisaflana (41 posts since July 2001)

From the Making More Magic message boards... "I am so grateful for some advice I read before our last trip. Can't remember who said it, but it was here. The advice was to start looking for your next resort during your trip. We did that and I began planning for the next trip before the first one was even over. I love that! I haven't had any boo-hoo sessions because I am focused on the next trip. Thanks for whoever said that." -- posted by patsy-c (616 posts since April 2001)

From Going Behind the Scenes (Trivia and Rumors) message boards... "Primeval whirl is open! We were at Disney's Animal Kingdom on Saturday and we spoke to a cast member who told us that Primeval Whirl would be opening the very next day. He was very excited because they were having an 'opening' party for the CM's that night. Everywhere we went we overheard cast members talking about the party. We didn't get a chance to get back to Animal Kingdom until yesterday to ride Primeval Whirl... It appears that there will be two tracks open for the ride (one side was closed when we visited) there were virtually no lines and it was a FASTPASS attraction. I'm not very good at descriptions but I will try my best.. If you have any questions I (or my husband) will try to answer them. You sit in what looked like to me round space ships.. you are harnessed in (like Rock N Roller Coaster). You start going straight on the track then stop, go up a hill, start winding down the hill several times (in an "S" fashion) then start the ups and downs. You go up and down several smaller hills VERY fast and then again you go on another "S" track several times BUT the difference is you're spinning. The ride ends with a couple more small up & down hills and then home! I didn't ride it (ya know, the heights) but my husband and son LOVED it. " -- posted by disneyknut (398 posts since August 2001)

From Sharing the Adventure (Trip Reports) message boards on the subject of airport security... "The man in front of me had been stopped to be "wanded"--figuring that the same would be required of me, I waited...and waited...and waited. Finally, the man in front of me was finished; however, the employee in charge of wanding either didn't notice me or didn't seem to care, so I politely asked if I needed to be scanned. His reply: "Do you want me to?" This response caught me off guard, so I retorted with, "Umm, no, I just would rather not get shot by that National Guardsman over there for evasion of security," and walked off. As I passed by aforementioned Mr. Guardsman (that's Mr. Guardsman, sir! to you!), he informed me that, unless they specifically stop you, you can just keep walking. Although the urge was incredibly great, thinking twice and deciding it not too prudent to offer that if he ever wanted to scan me with a wand, I'd be more than happy to oblige, I thanked him and headed off to my gate. Ladies, what is it about a man in a beret, huh? I think Mr. Wonka named a chocolate bar after the National Guardsmen -- Scrumdiddlyumptious!!!" -- posted by Aerobics (493 posts since March 2000)

See what we mean? PassPorter member adonenko sums it up best, "My next land and sea vacation is over 8 months away so I am very glad this site is here for my daily Disney fix while I wait! I just got my new PassPorter and have my nose it in most of the time. I have a "countdown to Disney" on every calendar I own -- I think I'm driving my poor husband nuts! It's nice to have somewhere to go where everyone else is as Disney-minded as yourself!"

You can reach the message boards at: http://www.passporterboards.com

We recently reorganized the message boards a bit, and added new features like polling (quizzes), new icons, and a preview post feature. Best of all, we added several new forums: general traveling, trivia and rumors, Disneyland, and Disney Cruise Line.

As you can see, we think the message boards are one of the best fixes for Disney withdrawal. If you have other ways to keep your spirits up in-between trips, please let us know and we'll share them with folks here.

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Updated 02/23/2008

Check for a more updated version at http://www.passporter.com/articles/getting-your-disney-fix-or-how-to-feed-your-obsession.html