What Is This?

In short, this blog is a planning guide for someone planning a trip to the Walt Disney World Resort, Universal Studios Orlando, and/or Legoland Florida.  I’m planning such a trip for a group of 20(ish) people for summer 2018.  This blog is designed for you to follow along in the process and plan your own trip.  Stories will be told, tools will be provided, friends will share their own take on things.  Expect serious analysis and evaluation of the options available to a person planning a trip to Disney World, but with a lighthearted tone.  I’m a geek about this topic, and I’m not afraid to make fun of myself about it a bit.

Who Am I?

Hi, my name is Dan!  I love planning trips to Disney World – when my day job and other responsibilities are frustrating me the most, I unwind by planning my next trip to the happiest place on Earth.  I’m…

• A lifelong fan of Disney Animated Features, a huge fan of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Star Wars, and Pixar.
• A child-at-heart who went to the Walt Disney World Resort twice as a young child, and then rediscovered the parks much more recently as an adult and tries to visit as often as he can.
• A guy who isn’t afraid to admit that whenever he sees the Main Street Electrical Parade, he gets misty-eyed, or that the Wishes fireworks make him cry everytime.  As does Soarin’, for that matter.  As do Mickey Bars.  (Ok, maybe not so much that last one.)
• A dad to twins, aged almost-three, who cannot wait to share the magic of Disney World with them.
• A compulsive planner – I’ve jokingly referred to myself as having a Type A+ personality – it’s like Type A but even better – who evaluates all the options available, plans everything in exacting detail, and then rolls with changes.
• A computer programmer who likes building systems to answer his questions and adapting them for others to easily use.
• A person who truly values spending time with his closest friends, including vacationing with them when possible.

Why This Blog?

Let’s be real.  There’s quite literally hundreds of different blogs, podcasts, etc. on the topic of Disney in general, and easily dozens on the topic of Disney trip planning itself.  But I’ve yet to see one that tackled the topic in quite the way I’m looking to handle it (chronologically), and in great detail.

I hope to provide a different perspective that people will find useful when planning their own trips.

I also have some tools in the works that will be helpful when budgeting for the trip, deciding whether to stay onsite at the resorts or offsite, and even identifying what parks/attractions/etc. interest the members of your group most so you can plan a large group trip.  Not everything will I be building from the ground up, however – there are already some tools, books, etc. that I find useful and will heartily recommend.

Even if you aren’t a serious planner, there’s a few minimum things you should consider when going to Disney.  Small things you can do that will make a big difference in the quality of experience that you have.  I’ll try and call out these items as I come to them.

Anything Else?

Well, yes, actually.  A blog without readers is nothing but a diary, and while this diary will be useful to me as I plan my own next trip to “The World”, I hope that others will find use in it too.  Please share it with anyone you think would be interested.  Also, if you have any questions about anything I’ve posted, Disney trip planning in general, or anything else, honestly, drop me an email at dan@twoyearstilears.com.  I will make an effort to answer all questions or refer you to a resource that can.  This is a passion project for me, so it’s a joy to work on – and that includes talking to you about your own questions and helping however I can.