by Mary Middlebrook | Jun 21, 2020 | California, United States
It’s mid-June 2020. Normally I would be in some awesome international location, exploring the world. Thanks to coronavirus, I’m not going anywhere that requires a passport. So Brian and I decided to head up to Sequoia and King’s Canyon National Parks. They’re only about a 3.5 hour drive from our house, Brian has never been, and I really wanted him to see it before we head out of the US for our new life in Panama. So we found an inexpensive hotel to rent (Sierra Lodge, $59 a night), jumped in the car, and headed up there for a few days.
So….we’re in the middle of trying to sell our house, and of course the day we had planned to leave is the day we get an offer! We dealt with all of that paperwork, got the housesitter setlled in, left in the early afternoon, stopped in Visalia to get stock up on munchies (mainly chips, crackers, jerky, sodas, and water) and then finished the drive to Three Rivers to our hotel. We prefer to stay in Airbnbs, but they were SO expensive!! The hotel was ok. Definitely not a place I would choose to stay again. Kinda run down, our little dorm fridge was leaking some kind of coolant stuff that STUNK and got all over everything….but for $59 I wasn’t complaining too hard. We had snacks for dinner and went to bed early (as always), expecting a long, full day of adventure ahead of us!
Up bright and early (as always)! Had some of our snacks for breakfast, loaded up our snacks and water (all park facilities for food and drink are closed and you had to be 100% self sufficient), jumped in the car, and headed out on the short drive to the park. Along the way we saw a sign in front of a building that said BBQ Tri-Tip, and immediately knew what was for dinner! Got to the entrance and there was a ranger who handed us a map and little newspaper guide. There was no entrance fee! It’s supposed to be $35 for a 7 day pass. She said there was no charge. Honestly, I felt bad about that. I hate giving the government any damn dime, but I do support our national parks. Anyway, we were in! We pulled over at the entrance sign and lined out the hikes we wanted to do for the day.
First stop was the auto log. This is a tree that fell in 1917, and had a little flat area carved on top so people could drive on and get a picture of their car on the trunk of a sequoia tree! See an old picture of that here. Now, the trunk is too weakened to be safely driven on, but here’s a view of the top of it, and of the roots that are sticking out of the ground. Note- sequoias, even though they are the largest tree in the world, have a very shallow root system.
We continued along the road toward our first hiking destination of the day, Crescent Meadows. Along the way, you could drive through the Tunnel Log! Here’s my little Veloster, named Pinball (because it’s small, silver, and I bounce it off of everything!), out for an adventure (normally it just sits in the driveway because I never drive anymore!).
Soon we were at the parking lot for Crescent Meadow. There were several cars parked. Bathrooms were OPEN! Thank god, because I have the urinary retention and control of a 75 year old man…. They had little portable hand sanitizing stations which was nice- not because I give 2 flips about coronavirus out here, but there are no sinks so it’s nice to at least be able to clean your hands before you go digging around in the jerky bag. 😉 Found the trail head and headed off toward Crescent Meadow, with plans to visit Tharp’s Log and make a loop back around.
Our goal was to find a bear!! I’ve seen them in Sequoia once and King’s Canyon once. We scanned the meadow for signs of one, but nothing. We continued to Tharp’s Log. This true meaning of a log cabin was built by one Hale Tharp back in the late 1850s. He is supposedly the first white man to have explored this area (being guided here by native people). This giant sequoia had already fallen next to a meadow upon his arrival, and Tharp used fire to burn and hollow out the inside of the log to create a shelter. Since then, many settlers used it during their travels through the area, and John Muir even stayed here in the late 1870s!
We continued hiking around. Not a person in site. Just the sounds and the smells (oh, the smells!!) of this wonderful Giant Forest!
We completed the loop and our first hike of the day- 1.99 miles. A nice start. Back in the car to our next stop- the Big Trees Trail. This is a short loop, which was made longer because the parking lot was closed and we had to park a little ways up the road. Here’s a good place to mention the weather. It was PERFECT. I mean PERFECT!! High 60s/low 70s, sunny, gorgeous. Wow. Anyway, the Big Trees Trail is an interpretive trail with signs. I ADORE signs!! And I learned quite a bit along this short trail. The ravens up here are huge and noisy. Doth quoth this Raven, “No Covids here…just Corvids”! God, I crack myself up! 😂😂
This trail is paved and handicap accessible, which is great!
So at this spot I learned a lot!! The trail is around a huge, gorgeous meadow, that has massive sequoias growing all around the perimeter. See, sequoias require the exact combination of proper temperature, sunlight, and moisture to grow. The edge of meadows (which are usually very damp and marshy) is the perfect place! So check this out- the fallen one that you can see the root system? Well, when it fell, it left open a perfect place for a new one to grow in the hole it left behind, and one did- just across the trail. So cool!
We continued hiking around and saw this super huge boulder with the sequoia growing right into it!
And then, we saw it!! Bear Poop!!! And there was LOTS of it everywhere, and it looked pretty fresh. Unfortunately, if a bear shits in the woods it doesn’t mean he hangs around for long. No sign of the owner. He had already SCATdaddled!! Me and my puns…I’m on a roll! 😂
Got back to the car after having encountered a total number of 4 people in a family doing the same loop. Total mileage for this hike 1.3 miles. So we’re at 3.29 miles for the morning and were just getting started! How do I know how far? I have a cool app called Caynax Sport Tracker. It’s free, and does a great job. Off to one of the most iconic spots in the park- the Sherman Tree. Got there and the lot was probably 1/2 full. A lot of cars and people, but nothing like it would be on a normal summer day. There were warning signs on the way down about how steep the climb back up would be. Well, there was like a 100 year old guy that weighed 300 lbs and had a cane huffing and puffing his way up. I figured if he could do it, my couch potato ass could manage. Another note- elevation everywhere we were hiking was like 7000-8000 feet. Not a lot of oxygen for a sea level girl like me! We headed down the paved path, following the masses.
It was a steady, but manageable descent down to an area where you could get your first glimpse of the Sherman Tree. This is Brian standing in the footprint of the tree. A circumference of 109 feet (33m). Wowza!
Brian used his phone to take a panorama shot of the tree. Still, you can’t even imagine how big it is!Before I introduce you to the Sherman Tree, let’s learn about it! This is the biggest tree in the world by volume. There are taller trees. There are trees with a larger circumference. But none have this height AND this circumference. The tree is 275 feet (84m) tall. The diameter of the trunk at the base is 36.5 feet (11m). The largest branch has a “trunk” that is 6.8 feet (2m) in diameter- bigger than most normal trees! It weighs about 1,385 tons. Just….wow…. The top of the tree is dead and no longer growing, however the rest of the tree is alive and the trunk is increasing in size. In fact, the trunk adds enough wood to its volume each year to equal the size of a normal full grown tree! The tree is about 2,200 years old. And since it’s the largest tree in the world, you might expect it to be the oldest. Nope!! It’s not even the oldest sequoia tree in this park! It’s not age that allowed it to reach this massive size, it’s location. All of the conditions in this area of what is called Giant Forest are perfect for sequoias, so they grow quickly. Before I show you the pictures, let me just say that there is no way any picture I, or any other person on earth, could take to truly capture the majesty of this (and the other giant sequoia) trees. There are no words to describe them. Just go and see them!!
This is the picture I took with Brian in the shot for perspective. I can’t even get the entire tree in the frame! I’m literally like halfway up!
Brian took this panorama shot with his camera. You can see the whole tree, but you still can not grasp the enormity of it!
We wanted to get out of the crowded Sherman Tree area, and had decided to do the Congress Trail loop. Awesome decision!! The masses just wanted to get to the base of the Sherman Tree and then back to the parking lot. We basically had the Congress Trail to ourselves for the next hour plus!
Everywhere in the park you see fire scars on the sequoias. This is not a cause for alarm! These trees have evolved to not only be able to effectively survive forest fires, but they require them for their life cycle! The bark of the tree is extremely thick and fibrous- sometimes 2 feet thick! This protects the inner parts of the tree. So while they may sustain damage, it takes an extremely hot and extremely prolonged fire to kill them. When the tree drops its cones, it’s usually in a bunch of undergrowth, which would choke out the sunlight of the seedlings. Evolution fixed that! The fires not only completely clear out the underbrush, but they are the “key” to unlock the cones and release the seedlings! Fire is what causes them to pop open! Plus, the burned earth is now fertile ground for the new seedlings to take root in. Cool, huh? Some of the scars are like artwork- it’s amazing!
Of course, I’m always on the lookout for wildlife with my jungle eye! I found 2 chipmunks and a millipede. 🙂 Still no bears….
There were a few named trees along this trail. First up, The President’s Tree. This is the 3rd largest tree in the world. Out of respect for the tree, and the tree alone, I will refrain from making any obvious political jokes at this juncture. Give me a minute though- one’s coming. 😉
So why is this named the Congress Trail? Not because it’s worthless and filled with a bunch of lazy, incompetents who use taxpayer money to attain power and wealth of their own. (Warned ya…) It’s because there are two dense (pun intended) stands of sequoia here- one named the Senate and one named the House. Poor trees….having to go through life with those monikers. You just know they were bullied on the sequoia school playground! Regardless of their names, they are gorgeous and tall and strong and proud and serve a role in their ecosystem! And are younger than most real members of Congress (ba dum bum)!
Continuing along the winding paths through this Giant Forest, that we basically had all to ourselves, we came upon the McKinley tree. By now, you should get the theme here- it’s named after President McKinley. Frankly, I can think of a lot of people who these trees would rather be associated with rather than those in Washington, DC… Anyway, it’s huge and beautiful! You can see measly Brian standing there at the bottom if you look close enough!
The trail continued to wind around to the other side, where we were treated to a beautiful view of the Sierra Nevada mountains, and a few other treats! Those roots- I swear they look like sculpted art!
We finished the Congress Trail loop, met up with the Sherman Trail again, and began our ascent back to the parking lot. Fortunately, there was some guy that was in love with Brian’s tattoos, and they talked about them for half the walk up. That allowed me to focus on something other than my pounding heart, insufficient lung capacity, and complaining! Honestly, it really wasn’t bad at all and I surprised myself by how quickly we got up to the top with only a couple of short stops. This hike was 3.45 miles, bringing our day’s total so far to 6.74 miles. And there was enough daylight for one more hike!! On the way, we munched on snacks and enjoyed the scenery. Soon, we arrived at the Wolverton picnic area where the trailhead was for the Long Meadow Loop. This was described on our little newspaper has having a lot of wildflowers and occasional wildlife feeding! Maybe we’d see a bear afterall!! Let me preface this with some information. There is no cell signal here. I have GPS for my app, but no signal to look up a trail map or anything. The maps the park hands out are basically worthless for figuring out where you’re going. In fact, they tell you to buy trail maps at the visitor center if you’re going to hike. Well, those are all closed (thanks, ‘rona). Everything we had done so far were well marked, easy to follow, trails. Then….there was Long Meadow Loop….
Just finding the trailhead proved to be an adventure. We thought it was in the picnic area, but come to find out it was in the parking lot above the picnic area. And the signs didn’t even say anything about Long Meadow. Just pointing the way to different lakes. Brian had taken a picture of the map that was on the display down in the picnic area, and it looked like we needed to go up, take the first right, then the next right. Easily found the first right. Would have COMPLETELY missed the barely visible second right if I didn’t have jungle eye! There was a small sign that’s back was to us that said “Long Meadow Loop —>” If I hadn’t of seen that, lord knows where we would have ended up…. We headed down it and it looked like no one had been on this trail since it snowed last year. Very hard to see the trail in places, but we kept on! We passed some kind of large building, and then had to cross a creek. I didn’t trust the rickety log, so I took my shoes off and waded across. My toes were numb in the 20 seconds it took me to cross!
Brian- fording the creek, tempting fate to break his hip #oldage
This. Hike. Is. AMAZING!!! There aren’t any sequoias up here, mainly lodgepole pines, but oh my god the views! And not another soul…in fact, we didn’t encounter another single person on this entire hike!
There were gorgeous wildflowers as well! But no wildlife. 😕
I can not even describe the vividness of the pink and yellow in these tiny flowers!
This one reminded me of some kind of sea creature (Phylum Cnidaria)
And then things got sketch…the entire loop was like 3 miles. We were right at 1.5 miles in and still hadn’t come to the turn off to round the other side of the meadow. It was after 4 o’clock. We had planned to leave the parking lot by 4:30 so we could be back down to Three Rivers around 6 for dinner (and out of the park before it got dark). I told Brian to pull up the picture he took of the map on his phone so we could compare it to the app. And gee, guess what? He had everything in frame EXCEPT this part of the trail!! So we literally had no idea where we were, where we were going, how long it would take, nothing. I pulled up the park app that showed where other people were that had the app on. NO ONE. ANYWHERE. We had to decide- continue on and hope for the best, or go backtrack to the car. Let me just say this- I HATE backtracking. However, with summer clothes on and knowing it would get to freezing when the sun set, sun set only being a few hours away, us not having ANYTHING that would allow us to survive out here for more than 10 minutes, not having a cell signal, and no adequate map, the decision was already made for us. Err on the side of safety and backtrack. Sigh. Made it back to the parking lot a little after 5 and checked the map to see where we had turned around- sure enough, had we gone just a little further we would have been on the turn for the loop. Brian has been fired from taking pictures of maps that our survival depends on. Total distance for this hike, exactly 3 miles, bringing our total for the day to 4 hikes and 9.74 miles!!
Super hungry and tired, we headed back down the windy roads toward Three Rivers with one thing on our minds….TRI TIP!! It was fun watching the ecosystem change and the temperature increase as we went from 7000 feet to 6000 to 5000 to 4000….. Soon we exited the park and made our way to Totem Market & Deli. Went to the counter, ready for TRI TIP!!! He said he had just taken it off the pit and it needed to rest for like 30 minutes. We were STARVING and expressed some disappointment. Finally, he said he would go ahead and cut it for us. I told him that was a great decision, because I was going to get tri tip one way or another and the easy way or the hard way was his choice!! 😜 We talked a bit while he got everything together. He said that if the park hadn’t opened when it had that they would have gone out of business for good. And now, the international tourists that make up so much of their summer business wouldn’t be coming, but the “weekend warriors” as he called them were really showing up! Those are local Californians (like us) exploring our own backyards to get out of Covid lockdown hell…. I hope they survive. The people were so friendly and the tri-tip…….oh my god delicious!! We took it to go, ate in our room, showered, and crashed- exhausted from such a busy day!
CONTINUE TO DAY 2: KING’S CANYON!
by Mary Middlebrook | Sep 10, 2019 | Disneyworld
I’m a Disney girl. Disneyland is in my backyard, and I know it like the back of my hand. Can easily do both parks (Disneyland and California Adventure) in one day, because I have it down to an art. Efficiency is my middle name, and Disney is always such a fun challenge! So it’s been like a year and a half since we last went, and I’m needing a Disney fix. We started thinking about what day we wanted to go. As my “escape the country forever” plan is coming to fruition earlier than I originally expected, this would probably be my last Disney hoorah stateside. Wait- if that’s the case, shouldn’t I go out with a bang? Of course!! So the idea of going to Disneyworld instead was born.
Well, I rarely “simply” do anything, but for Disneyworld we are talking MAJOR PLANNING!!! Especially important because I know this is most likely the last time I’ll do Disneyworld in Florida. I have one shot at this and it has to be done RIGHT!! This includes, but is not limited to:
1. Figuring out which days the parks should be the least crowded.
2. Getting flights for those days.
3. Finding an AirBNB close by for those days that won’t break the bank.
4. Figuring out ground transportation.
5. Getting tickets.
6. Researching what are the “can’t miss” rides.
7. Getting Fast Passes.
8. And last, but certainly not least….WARDROBE!!! I don’t go to Disney without properly themed attire. Period. The ability to theme…it’s really the only time I care about clothes.
Let’s break each of these major events down, shall we?
1. Figuring out which days the parks should be the least crowded.
This is where a little thing called crowd calendars come in. I used the WDW Prep School Calendar. I knew we wanted to go in September, as I heard crowds are fairly light for that month (kids back in school and the peak of hurricane season), so I looked at the calendar, looked at flight prices, and decided on being in the parks September 15-17. Based on the calendar, we decided to do Magic Kingdom on the 15th, Epcot on the 16th (probably hopping back over to MK if we finish Epcot early), and Animal Kingdom and Hollywood Studios on the 17th.
2. Getting flights for those days.
We go for the cheapest flights, but are always willing to pay a little bit (not much) more for directs. We wanted to leave on Saturday and come back on Wednesday. Best options were Spirit Air (which we hate, but was by far the cheapest) from LAX-MCO arriving at 8pm with a one hour layover in Houston- $88.50 each one way. For coming back, United had the cheapest flight. A direct arriving LAX at 9:30pm for $93.50 total each one way- for a grand total of $182 roundtrip each. Neither of these flights allow carry on bags, just a personal item- as in must fit under your seat- which is going to make packing interesting! But we are not about to pay for a bag….
3. Finding an AirBNB close by for those days that won’t break the bank.
Yes, if you stay in one of the Disney resorts it’s all magical and you get a ton of perks and….you will need to take out a home equity loan. We don’t plan on spending any time in the room other than to sleep, so we don’t need a fancy, magical, perk-laden abode. Off to AirBNB! We looked at a few and decided on this one. $55 a night, about 15 minutes from door to parking lot of all the parks, superhost, great reviews, and everyone said it was CLEAN!! Clean is important, and some of the other properties that were a little closer in this same price range didn’t have the 5 star cleanliness stamp of approval…
4. Figuring out ground transportation.
Originally, I planned for us to just Uber. I mean, we’re going to be in the parks all day, not cruising around. Plus, you have to pay to park at Disney. So I popped open the app and calculated the costs of an Uber: $90 for round trip to the airport and $25 a day for roundtrip to the parks (same cost as parking). Plus, when we park hopped we were looking at even more money. Problem was that on Wednesday, our flight didn’t leave until 7:30pm. What in the world were we going to do all day? And how would we get there? I started looking at rental cars. Got one for $85 for our entire stay, which basically came out cheaper than using Uber (not including gas) plus gave us freedom on that last day. Sold. Rented from Economy Rent A Car. Take a copy of your car insurance policy with you so you don’t have to buy theirs.
5. Getting tickets.
This actually ended up being my biggest surprise thus far… Here in California, we know that discounted Disney tickets= scam. So naturally I went right to the Walt Disneyworld website to book my tickets. I wanted park hopper tickets, so plugged in my dates. The cost for both of us for 3 days would be $811. I held off because I wasn’t quite ready to get the tickets yet. But I knew I had to get them 31 days in advance, because at the 30 day mark you could book 3 Fast Passes and this is a major step in ensuring an efficient experience!! I was reading and researching every day about all kinds of things, and I came across a site called Undercover Tourist that claimed to have discount tickets. Huh. So I plugged in my dates. $785!! That was a savings of $26- my snack budget for 1:24pm-2:06pm on Monday! Could this be right? Was there some catch? Most importantly, with these tickets could I access the 30 day advance Fast Pass +? Tons of research answered these questions as Yes, No, and Yes! I bought them, linked them to our My Disney app (yes, there’s an app for that), and held my breath until Fast Pass day.
6. Researching what are the “can’t miss” rides.
I’m a spreadsheeter. It’s what I do. So I knew I needed a complete and total list of everything we HAD to do while we were there. And by everything, I mean rides. We aren’t big show people (I do have a couple planned) or parade people or meet the character people. If we stumble upon any of those things as we’re quickly and efficiently moving from ride to ride and we have time, we’ll stop for a bit. Otherwise, it’s a nope. So here’s the game plan list I came up with:
| MAGIC KINGDOM |
EPCOT |
ANIMAL KINGDOM |
|
| Jungle Cruise |
Frozen |
Avatar Flight |
Tower of Terror |
| Pirates |
Test Track |
Everest |
Toy Story Mania |
| Winnie the Pooh |
Soaring |
Kilamanjaro Safari |
Slinky Dog Dash |
| Philharmagic Show |
Spaceship Earth |
Tough to be a Bug |
|
| Peter Pan |
Gran Fiesta Tour |
Navi River |
Star Tours |
| Seven Dwarfs Train |
Journey Into Imagination |
Dinosaur |
Smuggler’s Run |
| Little Mermaid |
Living with the Land |
Kali River |
|
| Big Thunder Mountain |
Mission Space |
|
|
| Splash Mountain |
The Seas |
|
|
| Hall of Presidents Show |
|
|
|
| Haunted Mansion |
|
|
|
| Buzz Lightyear |
|
|
|
| Space Mountain |
|
|
|
| Speedway |
|
|
|
Please note: There is no “It’s A Small World” on that list. I hate that insipid ride.
7. Getting Fast Passes.
This is serious the most difficult and stressful part of planning the trip!! First of all, Fast Pass + opens up at 7am EST 30 days before you arrive (if you’re staying in a Disney resort, 60 days). And you have to be ON. IT. That means a 3:50am wake up call to be ready at 4am PST. I literally woke up at 3:49am- 1 minute before my alarm. That’s how in tune I am with this Fast Pass thing! It was like Christmas freaking morning…clicking the link, waiting for the Fast Passes to appear. I knew that top priority was Seven Dwarfs Mine Train. How do I know this? Because I know the average wait times for the past 30 days and you want to book the stuff that sucks up your time if you have to wait in line!! Clock flipped to 4am, I clicked the link again, and boom…I was in!! Fast Passes galore! I scrolled down, frantically searching for Seven Dwarfs. It was at the very bottom. None available. For any time all day. Ugh- those damn resort people with their fancy magical rooms, home equity loans, and 60 days fast pass access!!! So I grabbed one for Big Thunder Mountain at 8:40, one for Space Mountain at 11:45, and one for Peter Pan at 2:15. I was under some delusion that you could get fast passes for all of your days once you reached 30 days for your first day. Wrongo. That means 2 more days of 3:50am wakeup calls…
So it’s day 1 and I’m sitting here with my first 3 fast passes, and I’m second guessing ALL OF THEM. What do I do in this situation? Go to facebook groups!!! There are 2 that I belong to- Walt Disney World Made Easy for Everyone and Walt Disney World Tips and Tricks. I was doubting myself- had I chosen correctly? Was my entire trip doomed because of some unknowingly irrational decision I made at 4am? Some people warned me about zig-zagging all over the park, some people said my last pass was too late in the day because apparently you can’t get a new pass until you’ve used all 3 of these!! EEEK!! And some said I was just fine, and to wait and change them as I needed to. Wait?? You mean to tell me I’m not locked into the decision for eternity? I can change these things!! Little cartoon birds started chirping, and my OCD went into overdrive. I proceeded to spend the remainder of the morning refreshing my pass page and managed to get Space Mountain bumped up to 9:45. The best I could do with Peter Pan was move it up 15 minutes to 2pm. But now, I have options. Options and time! And who knows, maybe I’ll get lucky and Seven Dwarfs Mine Train will open up!
Day 2, up at 3:50am to score my Epcot Fast Passes. This is a different system than for Magic Kingdom. There are Tier 1 and Tier 2 rides. Tier 1’s are the “must dos”- Frozen, Soarin’, and Test Track. And the kicker is that you can only have ONE of those as your three, and the other two have to be Tier 2. Popped open the fast pass system at 4am on the dot and got exactly what I wanted! Mission Space at 11, Spaceship Earth at 12, and Frozen at 1:30. The plan is to RUN for Soarin’ at rope drop (for you Disney newbies, that’s the second the park opens!). After that, RUN for Test Track. Then those two Tier 1’s are out of the way, and the last one has the fast pass. The rest of the park should be a breeze. It’s not like Magic Kingdom where there are a ton of rides.
Day 3, up at 3:50am to score my last advance Fast Passes. Our final day at Disney will be 1/2 day at Animal Kingdom and 1/2 day at Hollywood Studios. Interestingly enough, the most popular ride in all four of the parks is in Animal Kingdom! It’s the Avatar Flight of Passage ride, and has average wait times for the last 30 days of over TWO hours!! Eek! However, this is also the most sought after Fast Pass, so much like Seven Dwarfs at Magic Kingdom, most likely every single fast pass has already been reserved by resort guests who get 60 days to reserve their passes. Like Epcot, Animal Kingdom uses the Tier system, and the Avatar Flight ride and the Na’vi River ride are the tier 1s. Hopefully if I don’t get Avatar, I can grab Na’vi. So, what’s my 4am verdict? Forget about Flight of Passage- those Fast Passes were gone 60 days ago. I got Na’vi River for 8:40am, Kali River Rapids for 10am, and Kilamanjaro Safari for 11:50am.
The chances that I spent more time stressing over fast passes than I ever will standing in line for anything without a fast pass is highly probable….
Spoiler Alert: In the end, this whole fast pass thing was changed COMPLETELY once we got to the parks. As in you wouldn’t even recognize them from the originals (except for Magic Kingdom, and it had changes as well). See upcoming “in park” blogs for how that all turned out…
8. And last, but certainly not least….WARDROBE!!!
I am a girl who loves a theme and loves to dress up. Halloween and Mardi Gras are my high holidays. Enough said. And there is no way in hell I’d go to Disney without properly themed attire for each day. And there is no way in hell I’d go to Disney with a man who didn’t have properly themed attire as well! Thus began the massive internet search for complementary outfits! It literally took a full 2+ weeks to gather the options and narrow them down. It’s that serious. We finally decided on our 3 outfits, that we’ll debut with photos on the trip journals. But the theme for each outfit is Haunted Mansion, Alice in Wonderland, and Jack Skellington. God, we’re freaking adorable!! 😃 Because these are clothes we can wear normally (yes, we’re those people), they won’t count toward the budget.
With all 8 of our major “to do” items checked off, it was time to sit back, relax, and enjoy the next couple of weeks until we leave! Oh…..if we were only that simple…..
Click here to read the MAJOR life changing event that changed our plans!
| ITEM | COST |
| Roundtrip Tickets LAX to MCO for Two | $364 |
| AirBNB 4 nights | $265 |
| Rental Car 4 days | $85 |
| Parkhopper Tickets for 3 days | $785 |
| TOTAL | $1499 |
