Tuesday, January 1, 2013

Setting New Sights

The Original Dream Goal

Being a Disney fan for many years, one goal was to visit all of the Disney theme parks around the globe.  In June 2007, I piggy backed a two resort trip by visiting Hong Kong Disneyland followed by Tokyo Disneyland Resort with its two parks, Tokyo Disneyland and Tokyo DisneySea.  Mousefest 2007 offered the opportunity to visit the 4 parks at the Walt Disney World Resort during the festive Christmas holiday Season: Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Disney Animal Kingdom and Disney MGM Studios (pre name change in January 2008).  The original Disneyland and Disney's California Adventure (prior to the name change) were visited during the 2008 DPN Westfest event in May.  That fall brought a trip in October to the Disneyland Paris Resort.  With the entrance into Disneyland Paris and taking those final steps into the Walt Disney Studios Park brought the complete goal to fruition.  Within an a short 16 month window the goal became reality! 

The New Dream Goal
On April 8, 2011 a new goal was born.  Disney had firmly announced with a ground breaking ceremony, a twelfth theme park to be located in the Pudong district in Shanghai, China would be opening.  The estimated date for completing the park would be late 2015 or early 2016.  This sparked the idea of visiting in a single trip each of the Disney parks around the globe ending up with a visitation to China for the opening of Shanghai Disneyland.  A trip that from my home in Honolulu hitting each resort location would generate approximately 23,000 air miles.

So Why This Blog?

Once aspect of goal setting is to make a commitment in believing your goal is possible.  I've shared this goal already with some people and the FIRST response is always about the cost; then comes the time commitment to make such a trip.  Is is going to cost a lot?  Probably multiple tens of thousands of dollars.  Is is going to be a huge time commitment?  If you figure one day in each park, that's 12 days by itself and we know that some parks need more than one day.  Add to that additional days to visit the international cities and let's not forget the flight time, so the trip will be at least four weeks if not even as long as two months.  I am committed in making this new Disney dream come true so it's being published to the blog-o-sphere.  It will allow me to throw out some ideas and get feedback.  It might spark others to dream for that seemingly impossible dream.  I might find other like minded individuals that can band together.  This is just the first step.  I've got my passport, do you?
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2 comments:

  1. Meandering MouseJanuary 1, 2013 at 11:40 PM

    Don't forget that you will need to apply for and pay for a mainland china visa to get into Shanghai. It's a multiple day process which requires handing over your passport and application. You must have the large visa sticker in your passport for entry into the country. It will be the only stop on your journey where you can't just get stamped in with a visitor visa upon arriving at the airport. It's $120 bux or more but the visa is good for a year. I took advantage of my visa by crossing the border from Hong Kong into Shenzhen this past year just to squeeze some more value out of the thing. Last, Shanghai is a challenging city full of scams so do your research. That is one city I wouldn't want to do the first time solo. Steve and I had some difficulties there and even Steve said he was glad he had a "wingman" during that first trip out there. In short, Mainland Chinese are the most unhelpful people I've ever come across. You might as well be a ghost over there as they pay you no mind other than trying to run scams on you. It will be interesting to see how Shanghai Disney shifts the cultural paradigm with cast member training. My upcoming Disney Goals are to return to Hong Kong to experience Mystic Point in 2013, return to Paris when the Ratatouille attraction opens (will be using the same ride system as Hunny Hunt), and then Shanghai Disney when it opens. Good luck with your goal. It's doable...absolutely doable.

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  2. Meandering MouseJanuary 3, 2013 at 3:00 AM

    You're forgetting one last location if you're truly to visit EVERY Disney park worldwide. Castaway Cay :) I'd highly suggest experiencing DCL as part of your "dream." Since you've been to all the other parks, why not throw something different into the plan? The Fantasy is the most INCREDIBLE ship sailing the seas. Gorgeous. Castaway Cay is always my favorite port of call as you get off the boat and everything is FREE just like on the boat..can't beat that.

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