July 2024

My husband and I are seriously considering selling our Disney Vacation Club membership. There, I’ve said it out loud.

The past few trips to Disney properties, namely Disneyland in California and Walt Disney World in Florida, have not lived up to the memories we cherish from earlier trips to these venues. There’s a few reasons for this, and at the top of the list is the cost. Even with our prepaid accommodations, a trip to WDW for four or five days costs an incredible (to us) amount of money. From park tickets that are way over $100 per person, per day, to the cost of meals, to the cost of extra like ride photos and whatever “FastPass” is called this week, to now having to pay for the (non-)Disney bus from Orlando International Airport to the park… it’s just too dang expensive.

And honestly, the “magic” I once found in Disney seems to have dwindled a bit. It is impossible to escape the outside world. It used to be that you passed under the big arch and things were more colorful, the cast members were groomed to a certain standard, smiles were brighter, and in general, you were leaving the big, frustrating world behind for a while.

Now, Disney wants you constantly on your phone, with meal reservations and ride reservations and photo reservations. The male cast members that were originally required to be clean shaven and now required to grow a “neat, short beard” during their vacation, in actuality are all scruffed up to “meh, I didn’t shave for two days and I’m not brushing my teeth anymore”. Exiting attractions is often through the “back stage” area, where we see Mickey without his head on a smoke break. There’s more and more money required for anything beyond getting through the gates.

The magic has broken our bank a bit.

Yes, as I’m constantly reminded by my husband, I have old fashioned expectations for this modern world. I get that. That’s why there’s no one on our lawn. But when you’re paying sums of money equivalent to several house payments for a week in the Floridian humidity, you want a little bang for your buck.

I recently stumbled across this four hour review of the now closed “Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser” two day immersive experience. A lot of what is mentioned here can be attributed to the entire Disney experience.

It’s quite sad to me.

I love the sound of the classic analog synths of the late ’70s and ’80s. I stumbled across a YouTube channel that features these wonderful sounds, and here’s a sample.

Here’s a recreation of “Holiday” by Madonna.

I wasn’t even 10 minutes through the first meeting of the day when I realized that I was starting to feel way too stressed on a Monday morning. Since my meetings start at 07:00, this was not a good precedent for the work day, let alone the work week.

I stepped away from my office desk for a few moments, hugged my husband, and gave Truman some nice pets. He wanted treats. This improved my mood.

A few more things happened at work and I decided it was time to take a few moments and just let my brain reset. Enter my daily dose of Solitaire.

After getting through a couple of goals, I’m feeling better.

Sometimes I have to step back to improve my mental state instead of just trying to plow through the situation. I’m sure the afternoon will be quite productive and ultimately I will have a productive work week.

It’s good to remember to breathe once in a while.

Monsoon season has continued on and I’m enjoying it very much. The afternoons and evenings have been showing promise of some good, albeit slow moving, storms on a regular basis. The pattern looks like it’s going to kick up a bit in the beginning of August as the eastern Pacific Ocean starts doing its typhoon things.

Weather is so interesting, especially with all the change going on.

While I’m always interested in capturing moments of life via video captures and photos, I’ve been trying to take some time each day with my phone in my pocket and enjoying the world around me, just for me. I went for my morning walk, leaving the iPhone behind for 35 minutes and I feel like it was a great way to start the day. This is something I used to do all the time before the smartphone era. Some of my best memories are of me alone in the woods behind my parents’ house just walking, exploring, and lost in my own thoughts. It’s a practice I need to get back to on a regular basis.

I’ve never understood how so many folks, especially those of the younger generations, walk around with earbuds or headphones on all the time. But then again, I don’t understand how private pilots can fly around listening to music in much the same fashion, especially since an airplane engine is a world of music of its own.

I will always be thankful that I am solidly part of Gen X, in that I’ve seen the world without 90% of this technology and I’ve seen all the wonderful things current technology can do. Couple my generational placement with my higher than average memory and I can keep all this loud technology around us in perspective.

The sunrise was beautiful this morning. As hues of pink and orange appeared over the Santa Rita Mountains to the east, I stopped my walk for a few seconds to watch the rays of the new day peek over the ridge. I smiled. I said “thank you” to whatever forces in the universe listen to that sort of thing. There was no impulse to catch the moment digitally, it was impossible with my iPhone back home.

And that’s a brilliant way to start the day.