It is truly hard to pinpoint the exact moment I became a true Disney Dork, but I would credit a large part of it to when my parents first took me to Walt Disney World as a child. I was about 5 years old and although my husband thinks I am crazy when I tell him, I still have vivid memories from that trip. I remember eating at Garden Grill and thinking Chip ‘N Dale were absolutely hysterical. I remember my dad going up to Goofy any time we saw him and telling him that he “wanted to be just like him when he grew up.” I remember my amazement as I visited Mickey’s Toontown Fair at Magic Kingdom and my sister and I still talk about how we wish we could have taken our kids to that attraction.
Fast forward about twenty years when one of my best friends and I ran the Disney Princess half marathon and I brought my husband (Trevor), then fiancé, to Disney World for the first time. It was a whirlwind weekend. We arrived late Fright night, we walked over 11 miles in Magic Kingdom on Saturday and immediately after I completed my run Sunday we drove home. During the car ride Trevor told me that he could imagine and looked forward to us bringing our future family there for years to come. I knew I had definitely won the husband lottery (although I am not sure he even knew what he had just signed himself up for with that comment). Now pictures of our family vacationing in the Most Magical Place on Earth cover the walls in our house and the memories we have made will be cherished forever.
2020, the year when life changed more than we could have ever imagined… We had just welcomed our second baby boy, and within three weeks we were all in quarantine and in the middle of a global pandemic. I asked Trevor what he thought about me pursuing the idea of being a travel agent, specializing in Disney. He looked at me without hesitation and told me to go for it, as it was an idea I had mentioned several times in the past. On paper, I already had the perfect job. An outside sales job for a fantastic company, company car and phone, insurance for myself and both of our boys, not to mention a stable salary with opportunity for bonuses. While it was a great job, I knew that there was no amount of money I could make doing it that would make me love it day in and day out. Many friends and family probably thought I was out of my mind to even consider leaving, but I am so very thankful for the ones who took me seriously and pushed me to pursue my true passion.
There is just something about the undeniable magic you experience during a Disney vacation, no matter what age you are when you visit. To be able to alleviate the stress of planning for clients and help them to experience the magic themselves is what energizes me every day. Follow along with me as I offer tips and tricks of Disney, travel and continue to explore this whimsical world of mine all while raising two very energetic little princes!
What A Whimsical World 