Wishes And Pixie Dust

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


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The Eye Before The Storm

There comes a point in every move where you are lulled into a false sense of security.   You think there’s no need to alter your daily schedule too much, there’s still plenty of time to pack boxes and make arrangements.  You go on with your routines, only to discover two weeks have passed, and you realize you really are behind schedule, and thus the “storm” begins.  We feel right now that we are in that “eye before the storm”, the calm period when everything feels okay.  Our goal, however, is to make sure the hurricane storms dissipate to sunny skies, and we never see the storm clouds on our horizon.

We wanted to share just what our daily life looks like lately.  The kids are now out of school for the summer, and we’re just enjoying the laziness and schedule-free qualities of not needing to set alarm clocks or rushing dinner times.  During the day we are packing boxes or sorting through items; today we made a run to get more paper rolls for packing, and we were graced with free shorter rolls today.   Apparently an individual had come in about an hour ahead of us and bought all the large rolls, but we were given the shorter rolls, and to be honest, we probably received just as much paper and saved twelve dollars in the process!

As we reflect on first making the decision to move in January to it now being almost the middle of June, things have gone pretty much according to plan.  We had anticipated saving a little more money than we have, but we’re still in the comfortable zone, and well, it is what it is.  We made the decision to hire professional movers and we stand behind that decision one hundred percent.    Yes, it may seem like an extravagant cost, but we have items that have sentimental value, and other things that just would prove to be too much of a hardship to replace.  We have disposed of a lot of our possessions, which we know has probably halved our cost of the move, but we choose to keep the items that matter to us, to provide security to our family.  Let’s face it, moving across several states is a huge life decision that will require many months of adjustment.   By choosing to transport some of our items with us, we are helping to ease that transition, and our apartment will seem more like a home.

We are keeping our storm clouds at bay by making sure we accomplish a few things each day in regards to the move, whether it be packing boxes, taking care of items on Craigslist, or just simply making lists.  By not procrastinating, and doing the move in little chunks here and there, it really has become not that painful.   We are grateful that we do not have the worries of needing massive amounts of energy and strength to move boxes and furniture, nor the stress of driving a moving truck across several states.  For more times than we care to remember, we have been there, done that, got the t-shirt, and are simply not doing it again.

We anticipate that our lives in Florida will basically be the same as our lives here in Wisconsin, only with much better weather and lots more to do in our free time.   We know it’s not going to be an easy process, but with the promise of being able to visit Walt Disney World at a whim’s notice, and meeting our Floridian (and non-Floridian) Disney friends who have been cheering us on for several months, we know it will be well worth the effort.


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Getting, and Staying, In The ‘Disney Mood’

I’ve been asked how to stay in the Disney mood during down times, blah days and just for inspiration when needed.  As we hit our 40-day countdown, I’m happy to share some of the things we do to get in, and stay in, the Disney mood.

First is our collection of Disney music.  Music from the movies, TV shows and theme parks take up a huge chunk of my iPod and iTunes library.  An easy way to get the magic going.  I keep a selection of our favourites in the playlist on the right for you to enjoy.

Second, I listen to Disney podcasts on a daily basis.  Some come out weekly, some more and less often; but I always have some ready to listen to every day (even going back to older past episodes.  These are great shows giving excellent information and they all entertain while informing.   I can highly recommend all of the podcasts on my list below to you.  I start with my “Top 6” and then list, in no particular order, all of the podcasts I listen to weekly; all are available on iTunes.

  • The WDW Radio Show – My number 1 can’t miss podcast.  Hosted by the amazing Lou Mongello, a true Disney ‘genius’.  I’ve listened to WDW Radio from its beginning; having been a huge fan of Lou’s since the days of the long-gone and fondly remembered MouseTunes podcast.  Lou is my favourite source of Disney information and he has many rotating regular guests (Jim Korkis, Tim Foster, Beci Mahnken and others) who bring an excellent mix of Disney History, current news, reviews, travel tips, ‘Top Tens’ and just plain fun to every episode.  Lou is the author of The Walt Disney World Trivia Books (Volumes 1 and 2) and the Producer/Host of the Audio Guides to Walt Disney World.  He also hosts a weekly live video Disney Newscast every Wednesday at 7:30pm ET.  No one I know pursues their dream with a passion quite like Lou does, and his Disney credos of “If we can dream it, we can do it.” and “Keep moving forward.” are ones we follow as we move forward with our Dream.
  • WDW Today – My number 2 can’t miss podcast.  Matt Hochberg, Mike Newell, Mike Scopa, Len Testa, Annette Owens and an unlimited number of special guest hosts provide first-rate information and reviews along with current news.  They answer listener questions on a variety of subjects and always know their stuff.
    Matt Hotchberg also hosts several Hollywood Studios web sites.
    Mike Newell also owns and operates MouseWorld Radio (www.mouseworldradio.com), a great online radio station for Disney music and theme park music lovers.
    Mike Scopa is a regular contributor at AllEars.net.
    Len Testa is the co-author of the Unofficial Guide to Walt Disney World (a must read) and creates the touring plans available at TouringPlans.com.
  • Be Our Guest WDW Podcast – My number 3 can’t miss podcast and another I’ve listened to WDW Radio from its beginning.  The BOGP team of Mike, Rikki, Pam, and Debbie are always entertaining and informative combining reviews with ‘how to’ and trip reviews from many guests.  Mike also runs the Magical Mouse Radio station on Live365, an awesome collection of Disney music and Park Loops.
  • Betamouse – An awesome podcast for those of us who are both Disney and tech geeks.
  • PassPorter’s Disney and Beyond – If you are a fan of the PassPorter guides or just want to listen to a family-driven show bringing you family-friendly tips on WDW and beyond; this is a ‘must listen’.
  • The WDW News Today Podcast – Tom Corless and his group always entertain and inform.
  • Disney Film Project Podcast – A great new podcast delivering awesome reviews and in depth discussion of favourite Disney movies.
  • WaltCast – An overlooked and underrated podcast featuring interviews with many great celebrities.
  • Disneybrit Podcast – A UK-based podcast giving insight into the Disney Parks here and overseas.
  • Inside the Magic
  • Your MouseCast
  • WEDway Radio
  • inner mouse
  • DestinationD
  • MouseVent – A seasonal Christmas series of short podcasts from many different Disney podcasters.
  • Magical Definition Podcast – Lou Mongello’s former MouseTunes partner, Nathan Rose, hosts this podcast.  And if you’re a fan of Jim Hill, he co-hosts this informative show.
  • Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Pod
  • MouseStation
  • LaughingPlace.com Disney Podcast
  • Disney Dudes Podcast- A show with a little “zing”, Wayne and Trace have a very unpredictable format, but this show is strictly ‘Adults only’.
  • Magic Never Ends – An occasionally updated podcast/vidcast sharing the Disney Parks Magic through the eyes of a young family.
  • The DizFanatic “Ears On Ears” Podcast
  • Remember the Magic
  • Mr. Frank’s Wild Ride (mrfrankswildrides.com)
  • The DIS Unplugged
  • Mousetalgia
  • WDW Memories Podcast
  • WDW Fan Boys Podcast
  • Mouse Lounge Podcast
  • Character Breakfast – Disney Variety Show
  • A Window To The Magic
  • Trapped on Vacation
  • MouseChat
  • YWaitDiz – A new podcast that gives info and ride audio from your favourite attractions.

I also enjoy reading many Disney sites, news sites and blogs.  My ‘ongoing’ list:

I’ll start off with the one we follow most ardently right now, the blog written by our good friends (and fellow WI to FL relocators) Amy and Craig Petermann.

And finally, I enjoy the many Tweets and Facebook updates from our many online Disney friends.  You all bring smiles to our faces every day.  🙂

~Mark.


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Preparing for the Road Trip

Our first experience with driving down to Walt Disney World was in August 2009, and because it was our first time, we were a little apprehensive, not sure how all five of us and our “stuff” was going to fit comfortably into a family car for a 21 hour trip!  As it turns out, it was the event that memories are made of.   With three drivers, we had great experiences, we were able to rotate out drivers and got a lot of great pictures.  Of course no picture is better than this one:

As we approach the 40-day mark, we wanted to share what we are doing to get ready for the long drive.  This time we will have two drivers and four people, which will give us a little more leg room in the car, which we will need to transport the two laptops, portable DVD player and netbook.  We are fortunate in that we have sizable trunk space, which mainly will hold our clothes and the personal items that cannot be put in the moving truck. We do plan to use the space saving bags that can be vacuumed shut to hold our extra clothes.  We will arrive in Clermont on July 25; however the moving truck may not arrive until August 1st, so we need to bring all our summer clothes with us.

AAA:      We highly recommend signing up for AAA if you are considering long-distance travel.  It provides peace of mind that your regular car insurance roadside assistance can’t offer.  It also offers discounts for lodging and other businesses, as well as the free Trip Tik personalized itinerary and maps for all the states you are traveling through.  We do have GPS on our phones, but we discovered the phones aren’t always accurate, so it’s nice to have a back-up written plan.  With AAA, we find that the membership fees pays for itself yearly, even if we don’t plan on traveling long distances in a particular year.

The Next Exit:     This is a book that provides a complete guide of what is available in terms of food/gas/lodging/camping/shopping amenities at every interstate highway exit. We found this invaluable for our 2009 trip, and have purchased the 2011 Edition.  It runs for about ten dollars on Amazon.  If you purchase the online version for $14.95 from www.thenextexit.com , you will be able to download a free iPhone app.

Snacks/Meals:     In 2009, we planned a picnic lunch for our first meal.  We decided to stop in Indiana, just after crossing the state line.   We typically buy deli ham, swiss cheese and chips:  things that are non-messy but convenient to eat.  We plan to make this our Friday dinner meal, and we will also have a small soft cooler that we intend to fill with soda and snacks.  We bought it at Big Lots for under $20, and it’s perfect because it’s more narrow than a typical cooler and will fit between the kids perfectly.   This will help prevent paying gas station prices for drinks and snacks, at least for part of the trip.

Tune-Up:  We will be bringing the car in on Thursday for an oil change and to make sure it’s in good condition for the trip.  In particular we are having the air conditioning system, shocks and exhaust looked at.  We just met with our insurance agent and he recommended dropping comprehensive and collision coverage on our car, but we plan on keeping it at least until we get settled in Florida.

Sun Pass:  We were on the fence as to whether we needed Sun Pass, or if we would just pay the tolls as we pass through them.   With living in Clermont, we don’t anticipate that we will need to pay tolls when we go to Disney (Clermont residents please correct us if we’re wrong), but we would need to pay tolls if we travel in to Orlando or make trips to the coasts.  We decided the convenience of Sun Pass is worth the purchase of a transponder unit.  (We preferred the transponder to the sticker for personal reasons).

We are really looking forward to the drive, not only because it brings us to our new home, but because we enjoy road trips, and plan to use Twitter/Facebook to document our travels.  We’re thankful that we were able to sell our second car, and bring only one car to Florida, which saves hugely on expenses, and also allows us to experience the drive together as a family.

Thanks for following along~   


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The Beginning of Our Dream

It probably comes as no surprise to our readers that we are in full-frenzy packing mode right now.    This afternoon I was sorting through papers and came across a magazine that I knew I had to share with you.  The magazine is dated June 2008, so we would have purchased it after our December 2007 trip to the World.   Take a look at the headline underneath the magazine title and don’t you agree that this is an absolutely perfect statement as we prepare to relocate to Florida next month!

We do consider Florida our next perfect place to live!  As we draw closer to our move, I keep thinking about why we are choosing to relocate our family.  It’s not all about the weather, although it was very freeing to dispose of all our winter gear.  Unless you live in a cold weather state, you have no idea how good this feels!    It’s not all about Disney, although we both admit that we are enthusiastically looking forward to that first walk down Main Street USA as Florida residents.

“Why are you moving?” is a common question that we hear lately, and it mainly comes from individuals who can’t imagine uprooting their families and moving away from everything they know and hold dear to them.  It may be that some of our readers are considering this very question:  “Can I really do this, and relocate my family across several states?”  Our answer is definitely, yes, you can!

We have felt for quite awhile that Wisconsin is not where we are meant to be.  Yes, the desire came in 2006 after our first trip to Walt Disney World, but I suspect the feeling had been dormant for quite awhile.  It started as nothing more than a hope, that someday, in the future, we will do this.  The obstacles seemed insurmountable, and we believed that only if we won the lottery, could we make our dream come true.  It’s not that we believed we would win the mega jackpot, we didn’t have faith in ourselves to believe we could make it happen without a miracle occurring.

I think that is the single most important thing we want you to take away from our experience.   Walt Disney said it best:  “If you can dream it, you can do it.”  Believe in yourselves, and your ability to make your dreams a reality.    Please visit The Relocated Tourist for an awesome blog post The Dealings of a Dream, posted in May 2011, that really explains how to jump start your dream of relocation.   The only thing we would like to add is to say that our move is different than the Petermann’s, which will be different from yours, because we are different individuals with families who have different needs.  Don’t be afraid to customize your move to meet your needs, and don’t feel as if you have to do everything that we do.

Have a magical Disney day!

–Jen


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Setting Goals. Or Not.

[Artwork done by our lovely daughter, Princess Cate!]

One of the biggest challenges we have faced in our move thus far is finding the time to prepare for the move, while continuing to live our lives as normal.  We have been fortunate as we have allotted ourselves six months for the move.  Incredibly, four months have already passed us by, so we expect to step up the packing progress as our time here in Wisconsin comes to a close.

We originally set goals of packing areas by a certain date.  That didn’t seem to work so well, so we moved to setting a goal of one packed box per day.  This method seemed to flow until last week, when life got busy with prom, concerts, soccer, doctor appointments and rehearsals.  The thing with setting goals, is that you need to allow for the unexpected to occur.  One wouldn’t think this would apply with packing boxes.  Unless one has a son who has to play with every toy for two minutes before it gets packed.  🙂  It’s all good, though.

We are stepping away from setting specific goals and just trying to concentrate on getting it either packed or moved out.  The current area we are focusing on is the sunroom.

The desk area is unusable.

As this room seems to be the dumping ground for all miscellaneous paper piles, the challenge is to pack what is not needed.

Our oldest son Nick has already secured his apartment here, and will slowly be moving his belongings out in July.   He was fortunate enough to be able to take advantage of an offer that gave him his first month’s rent free, so this saved on needing to rent a storage unit and stay in a hotel for a week, as his original plan was to find an apartment for August 1.  He will be taking our couch, a chair and other pieces of furniture, which will allow us to use our furniture (and more importantly our beds) until the very end.  He will also be on the receiving end of most of the kitchen appliances and supplies, as well as whatever food is left.

In other news, we have paid our security deposit on our apartment, and will be setting up an account with Progress Energy so that it is all set to go when we arrive in Florida.  Our goal is to spend our first night in Florida in our new apartment 🙂  We may need to purchase air mattresses to accomplish this goal, as we won’t be able to shop for our beds until we arrive.  We will be setting up an account with Bright House for our cable and internet, but will wait until we arrive to make this appointment.

We have found a wonderful Yahoo Group, Clermont Connection Cafe, which has already given us a wealth of information, from lovebugs to wholesale clubs to doctor referrals. Everyone we’ve had the opportunity to talk to who lives in Clermont is very friendly and welcoming to us, something we’ve appreciated immensely.  We look forward to being a part of this wonderful community.