Wishes And Pixie Dust

Follow the journey of a Wisconsin family of 4 who relocated to the Walt Disney World area in July 2011

Category Archives: Celebrations


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Going to Walt Disney World

What does it mean to be 24 miles away from Walt Disney World?  We thought we would share our perspective here.  Just a side note: our blog focus has been and will always be the issues surrounding relocation.   If you are searching for the latest merchandise displayed at the parks, or the latest news regarding refurbishments, this is not the blog to read.  There are several Disney blogs out there that provide that information, and we feel what we have to offer would only duplicate previously published news, and it is not worth our time to write about it nor your time to read it.  What keeps us unique is our primary focus on the issues surrounding relocation.

There is something magical about living here as a resident with the knowledge that we can go to Walt Disney World any time we can fit it into our life.  We don’t feel the urgency to go to the parks every day, and when at the parks, we are able to stroll about leisurely and not feel harried to fit every single attraction in.  As our son noted, he never has to feel sad about leaving Walt Disney World again, and he gets to see “his buddy” (Mickey Mouse) any time he wants.

We chose to purchase premium annual passes to Walt Disney World using the monthly payment plan that is offered to Florida residents.  The premium annual pass allows unlimited admission to all four theme parks, complimentary parking ($14 value per visit), 20% discount on merchandise purchased, special offers in regards to resort stays and dining, unlimited access to Disney’s Oak Trail Golf Course, ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex, Disney Quest, and the Water Parks.  Disney requires a down payment equal to the admission price of a one day ticket, and then monthly payments of $37.63 per person. Click here for more information.

We keep a box in the laundry room that is dedicated for items that we need when we travel to Disney.   We purchased insulated water bottles with a carrying strap from CVS for five dollars each, and it has been the best investment for us.  We fill up the bottles with ice water when we leave the house, then place them in a soft sided cooler filled with ice for the drive to Disney, and they really do stay cool for quite awhile once we are in the parks, which is impressive in the Florida heat.  The SuperTarget located in Kissimmee (4795 W Irlo Bronson Memorial Hwy) does sell them as well, with Mickey Mouse imprinted on the insulated carrier, for $8.99.   This store has an impressive selection of Disney merchandise, and if you have access to a vehicle, we recommend a stop here to check it all out.

As noted in our last post, it takes us approximately an hour to travel to WDW, given the waiting time at traffic lights and traffic in general.  Once in the parking lot, it is necessary to board a tram to take us to the front gates, or in the instance of the Magic Kingdom, to the Transportation & Ticket Center, where we will need to board a monorail or a ferry to arrive at the Magic Kingdom.

The Florida heat does not lessen as a resident, unfortunately.  We have been told by several people that it does get better, but after chatting with a CM about it, he told us that we will learn to not go to the parks in the summer!  Well we certainly doubt that will happen!  Though, on that note, we have not yet been to Animal Kingdom park due to the excessive heat.   We may brave a trip in the next couple of weeks, but we look forward to being able to explore the park at length when the weather is less blistering.

We typically try not to spend an entire day at any one park.  One of our goals while going to Walt Disney World is to try to avoid purchasing food or merchandise items unless it is planned in advance.  It is so tempting to stop for lunch or wanting to purchase that unique souvenir, but these items add up very quickly.  We have discovered that we really miss the dining plan; not only for the delicious food but also as a way to relax, escape the heat and refresh for the rest of the day’s activities.

However, as a resident we are able to take in a meal at any time of the year.  We plan to purchase Tables in Wonderland, which offers a 20% discount on all food and beverage purchases at participating Walt Disney World locations.  Annual passholders receive $25 off the purchase price of $100, and we anticipate that it will more than pay for itself over the course of a year.  For example, this Friday we have reservations at the Crystal Palace for our daughter’s birthday lunch.  The cost is $30.88 per adult, which equals $123.52 before tax and gratuity.  Twenty percent off would equal $24.70, bringing the balance down to $98.82:  one meal results in recouping a third of the cost!  If you mail in an application, it takes approximately two weeks to receive your card, but you may also visit Guest Services at any of the parks or Downtown Disney for immediate purchase.

Does the Disney magic lessen for us because we have continual access to it?  No, not at all. If anything, it leads to a deeper appreciation of the vision Walt Disney had, a desire to discover more about the man behind the mouse, and it allows us the ability to experience as much Disney magic as possible.


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Saturday Doings :)

When we started our blog, it was mainly for our own purposes, to keep track of different aspects of our move.  We feel honored that so many of our readers follow us regularly, and some readers aspire to follow in our footsteps and make their own journey to Florida to be closer to the Mouse.  🙂    In response to that, we attempt to post regularly, and to provide more informational blog posts that may help you with some of the major decision making that goes into a multi-state move.  There are times that we share a blog post, and think “Really?  No one is going to want to read that, it’s boring!”, and then we receive a few comments that encourage us that yes, you really want to hear about it!  Today we wanted to share with you what our day looks like three weeks before our move, to give you a feel of perhaps what to expect when you experience your relocation.

Saturday is typically a very routine day in the Vitek household.  We always begin with a trip to the library to return and check out different materials.  We are very heavy users of the public library, it’s not very often we miss a visit, and we intend to keep up the routine once we make the move.   We have two libraries in which to choose from in Clermont: Cooper Memorial and Cagan Crossings:  we will most likely select Cooper Memorial as the library we most often frequent as it is closer to us than Cagan Crossings.   Library cards must be applied for online, so we will do that the week of our move, so that they will be ready for us the following Saturday.

After the library we came home for lunch, and waited for a Craigslist exchange, twenty more dollars earned for our piggy!  We then went to our oldest son’s apartment again, then off to Festival Foods to do some grocery shopping.  We’ve been researching grocery stores in the Clermont area, and we do believe Publix will probably end up being our store of choice, although we’ve heard some good things about Sweetbay, so we may check that out as well. We pulled up the advertisement on the internet and the prices are quite comparable with what we are currently paying in Wisconsin.

We came home and unloaded our groceries, and went through the kitchen cabinets to see what else we could offer to Nick, and it ended up being quite a nice pile.  He will get more once we are down to our last couple of days, but it felt good to be able to clean out items and not have to pack them!   Saturday is also pizza night, and the big decision of where to order ensued.  We want to make sure that we have our favorites one last time, and tonight we chose Rocky Rococo, a large sausage pizza with breadsticks.  We waited to order until after 5:00, because we drive to pick it up, and we had another Craigslist transaction that netted an additional ten dollars.  We always watch a movie with our pizza, and tonight’s selection was Cars.  We still have yet to see Cars 2 in the theatre, but we plan to do that soon.

We did have a couple of minor *bad* things happen today.  One, the check engine light came on in the car.  We are hoping it’s just a glitch, as we just had the car undergo a 30 point inspection for the trip, including an oil change, and really can’t afford to put more money into the car at this point.  The second thing involved an accident with a glass of soda and our external hard drive.  At this point we’re not certain if any data is lost or if the device works.  The cord did get severely bent, however.    This is also another item that is not in the budget to replace.

Tomorrow we hope to finish up Ben’s room and make some progress in Catie’s.   The kids are a little nervous that their belongings will not be packed in time, but we keep reassuring them, that yes they will.  No toy gets left behind.  LOL  Nick is coming over on Monday to get some more of his things, and we plan to move the unwanted furniture into the garage, so we can Freecycle them.  We have a lot of odds and ends in the garage, and are going to be letting people come and take what they want.   Kind of like a free yard sale.  🙂

So that’s our day.  We didn’t get a huge amount accomplished today in terms of packing, but some days are like that.  We really like the fact that we’ve had plenty of time to sort through our belongings, so that we are not feeling hurried and rushed right now.  Six months notice was perfect for us; it was far enough away to not feel pressured to do everything at once, but close enough that we weren’t discouraged that it was so far away We do better with short term goals, but that’s just us.  You may find that a longer time period works best for you.

We wish all our American readers a very Happy Independence Day Weekend and please stay safe!  We’re planning a new blog post for Monday which highlights our local haunts, so please watch for that.   Mark is also working on a post that highlights a favorite Walt Disney World resort hotel, hoping to put that out later this week.


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Random Thoughts…

As we continue with our packing and moving forward with our dream of relocating to Florida, we thought this would be a good time to update you on different things related to our move.

Packing :       The boxes are slowly being packed, and we continue making our weekly trips to Goodwill. We are up to 47 boxes packed.  🙂   We have all our holiday decorations and supplies in plastic totes, and we have decided to transfer them to moving boxes, for two reasons.  One, it helps us to cull what we have, and two, it prevents probable breakage and ensures our holiday belongings will not be rolling inside a Mayflower moving truck!  We have not yet decided if the totes will be moving with us, or if we will buy new ones in Florida.

We did not reach our goal of completely packing the downstairs by Easter, but we have made a considerable dent in it.  Our oak video cabinets, secretary, and wooden fish stand are on Craigslist, but we have not had much success in obtaining a buyer.  We will leave them on there for now, but will soon be reaching a point (because of space issues) where we will need to make the decision to donate the items and forego the cash we may have earned from the sale. Another option is a rummage sale, but we really do not feel it is worth our time and energies to pursue this, to possibly earn a few dollars.

Medical :        We are making sure that all our medical appointments are scheduled in before we leave.  We are really fond of the doctors that we are established with here locally, and it will be hard for us to make the adjustment to find new ones in Clermont, but we don’t want that to be a pressing issue at first.   Vision and dental appointments have been taken care of, and the children will be obtaining physicals this summer before we leave.  This is a requirement of the school district in Clermont.  We are just waiting to finalize our housing plans in May, and then we will be able to obtain the appropriate form needed.

Soccer :      Our daughter is gearing up to begin her soccer season:  she will be able to attend all practices and games except for the final tournament, which we believe will be held on the Saturday after we leave.  The schedule is not up yet, so we don’t know for sure. We will need to purchase new cleats and shin guards this year, but she loves soccer and plans to continue it in Clermont once we move, so it is a worthwhile expense.   Due to our move, Mark decided not to coach her team this year, a decision we feel is best for all concerned.

It’s Getting Closer!      We are getting more and more excited as our moving date draws closer.  We are thankful that we have had time to sort through all our “stuff” and weed out the unimportant things.  We feel that we are on a good time table– we are under three months but we have a lot accomplished.  No, we did not meet our downstairs packing goal, but we are not far off from it.   In the month of May we should be able to finalize our apartment choice, which is awesome!, and while June and July will be busy months, we will not be frantic and stressed out because there is so much to do.  Jen plans to do some scrapbooking in May and June, as the craft room/sunroom will be the last room packed. We have discovered that staying organized is the key to a successful move.    We have tried to anticipate all our potential expenses and needs, set up a time table and work a little bit every day doing something in preparation for the move.   A box packed, or a file folder of papers shredded is one less thing that needs to be done in July.  Every night we listen to one of Lou Mongello’s podcasts, which really inspires us to keep moving forward and realize our dream of living in warm, sunny Florida with Disney World just a short drive away.

Thanks for following along!



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100 days and counting…..

As we reach the 100-day milestone, we thought it would be fun to make a list of 100 things that we plan to do once we are settled in Florida.   (We consider buying annual passes to Disney as part of being “settled”; so you won’t see it on our list!)  🙂  These are in no particular order, and certainly not an exhaustive list,  just thoughts that popped into our head.

1.  Resort hop. We have only ever stayed at POR-Riverside as a family, and we really want to experience each resort on property.  So even though our current goal is to live 20 minutes away from Walt Disney World, we plan to do weekend stays at each resort, over the course of a year or two, and really take in the charm and uniqueness each resort has to offer.

2.  Enjoy a Dole Whip

3.  Attend Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party

4.  Attend Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party

5.  Go on a Disney Cruise!   Right now with living in Wisconsin, the price of getting to the cruise has been a huge obstacle for us.    We’re of the mindset that if we’re going to spend that much money, we’d rather spend it at WDW!    Cruises are really very reasonable as long as you don’t have to travel over a thousand miles to get to one.

6.  Explore Animal Kingdom Park. There are so many areas of AK that we have not discovered simply due to the intense Florida heat, or lack of time available to us.  We have done the basics, such as Expedition Everest, Kali River Rapids, Festival of the Lion King, Nemo & Friends and Kilimanjaro Safari, just to name a few.  (There are more).  But it seems that there is so much more to Animal Kingdom to take in, and we are looking forward to being able to do that in the cooler Florida months, when we have the time to dedicate to it.

7.    Go to Magic Kingdom in the evening just for the parades

8.    Have brunch at Chef Mickey’s

9.    Ride the monorails, just for the fun of it

10.  Start a new tradition of celebrating birthdays at Walt Disney World

11.  Ride Splash Mountain at night during Wishes

12.  Ride Big Thunder at night during Wishes

13.  Listen to Lou Mongello’s audio guides while on Main Street/Adventureland/Fantasyland/Liberty Square and take the time to absorb all the details

14.  Have lunch at Le Cellier

15.  Watch Illuminations on a winter’s night, enjoying the fact that it is warm & there is no snow on the ground

16.  Go to Universal

17.  Go to Sea World

18.  Explore the beaches of Florida–kids have never been to the ocean before.  We plan to go to both sides of Florida:  The Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic Ocean

19.  Dinner with FL friends

20.  Being able to meet Facebook friends who do not live in Florida but come to Walt Disney World on vacation.  Shelley Urick Jones , we look forward to meeting you!

21.  Lou Mongello’s WDW Radio Meets of the Month

22.  Exploring the city of Clermont and getting to know our new home city

23.  Spending time in the Parks with Stephen and Judy Demeritt

24.  Meeting Marilyn Johnson in person!

25.  Go to Gatorland

26.  Enjoy the Osborne lights at the Studios as many times as possible

27.  Enjoy making new friendships with all our Facebook friends who live in Florida

28.  Walking through the World Showcase at Epcot while our kids are in school.  We have not been able to explore all the countries because of the kids not wanting to spend time there.

29.  The various shopping opportunities, not only at Walt Disney World, but at the many outlet malls in Orlando and the surrounding areas.  Ikea!

30.  Just enjoying the whole adventure of relocating to a new state!

31.  Day trips to explore Florida:  cities in particular that pop into our heads for no particular reason are Tampa, Naples, St. Augustine, and Jacksonville.

32.  Shelling at Sanibel Island

33.  Chuckling to ourselves in February when the temperature is 80 and sunny, knowing that back in Wisconsin it is probably blowing and snowing and bitterly cold.  Will we miss snow?  No we will not!

34.  Taking in Bob Jackson’s show at the Port Orleans Riverside resort!

35.  Staying at the Port Orleans Riverside resort for old times sake!

36.  Christmas shopping at Downtown Disney

37.  Riding down the Sassagoula River from Port Orleans Riverside to Downtown Disney (and vice versa)

38.  Exploring the cities of Lake County

39.  Visiting Celebration for leaf drop (to replace the Fall we will be missing in Wisconsin)

40.  Being there for opening day of the new Fantasyland

41.  Resort hopping at Christmas to see all the different Christmas decorations

42.  Counting garbage cans to make sure the Demeritts caught them all  😉

43.  Trying on every hat that is sold on Disney property

44.  Food and Wine Festival

45.  Enjoy a carrot cake cookie

46.  Visit Star Wars weekend

47.   Dinner, lunch and/or breakfast with Lou Mongello

48.   Movie at the Downtown Disney AMC theatre

49.  Trying all 500 flavors in the Coke Freestyle Dispenser

50.  DisneyQuest

51.  Enjoying the streetmosphere entertainment

52.  Festival of the Masters

53.  Going to the Night of Joy

54.  Flower and Garden Festival

55.  Holidays Around the World at Epcot

56.  Sounds Like Summer at Epcot

57.  The Candlelight Processional

58.  Finding a good Friday fish fry!

59.  Visiting the Kennedy Space Center

60.  Riding TTA during Wishes

61.  Sit at each of the Parks and take time to “people watch”

62.  MLB Spring Training

63.  Pick a fresh Florida orange from a tree

64.  Go swimming on a warm December day

65.  Enjoy a “work at home day” with Craig Petermann at Epcot

66.  Take a family Christmas picture at WDW

67.  Earn all the Gowalla WDW stamps and pins

68.  Be one of “those people” checking in all over Lake Buena Vista with Foursquare

69.  Move in to our new apartment in Clermont

70.  Find the best pizza places in the area

71.  Our first Saturday library visit to our new “home” library

72.  Stroll the Boardwalk

73.  Share a Kitchen Sink at Beaches & Cream with the family

74.  Wild Africa Trek at AK

75.  Pirates and Pals Fireworks

76.  Backstage Magic Tour

77.  Family Magic Tour

78.  Get a haircut at The Harmony Barbershop on Main Street USA

79.  The Pirates League with Ben

80.  Keys to the Kingdom Tour

81.  Walk through Fort Wilderness Campgrounds at Christmas to see the campers’ decorations

82.  See a University of Florida football game

83.  Stay in the Magic Kingdom until the wee hours of the morning to enjoy the peace

84.  Orange Bowl Parade on New Year’s Day

85.  Have a holiday sandwich at the Earl of Sandwich

86.  Have a diabetic friendly treat at Babycakes

87.  Go to Butterfly World

88.  Swim with the manatees

89.  Explore Florida’s state parks

90.  Visit the Everglades allligator farm  http://www.everglades.com/

91.  Hearing the word blizzard and knows it only refers to a waterpark or a DQ dessert!

92.  Go to Port Canaveral and watch the Disney ships leave port

93. Finding all of the local arts and crafts shows and fairs.

94.  Getting to see the White Sox play in Tampa Bay.

95.  Being able to get more exercise by taking walks and biking the trails of Lake County year-round.

96.  Enjoying the scenery of Florida, knowing that it will stay green year round, and not become brown and dead for six months out of the year.

97.  Enjoy a hot dog at Casey’s whenever we want one

98.  Sit at Cosmic Ray’s and enjoy an entire Sunny Eclipse show

99.  Take a yearly family picture in front of Cinderella Castle.

100. A family picture and mini-celebration immediately after we cross the Florida state line on our way to becoming Florida residents!


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Update- One Dream Deferred, One Continues

Sunday, September 19, 2010

Good evening all.  We had been quiet this past month but have an update to share. Jen’s dream of being a teacher was looking like it might need to wait, but through God’s graces she has now been able to switch schools and continue.

The “bad” news is that we will need to move back our moving date to June 15, 2013, about 9 months later than we had been planning.  This puts our countdown under the 1000 day mark today.

But, this brings good news as well.  Now, we’ll return to our loved WDW next August, in time to celebrate Catie’s 13th Birthday.

We continue to look forward to sharing our Adventure with you all.

Mark