I warned you, I am a Disney adult. We just got back from a trip to Disney this past Friday (for future readers, that’s Black Friday 2025). I mentioned on my last post that I recently lost my dad. Coming up on this holiday season, I wanted to be anywhere but here.

Prior to booking our Disney trip, we discussed several options.

We looked into Disney World and Disneyland. Nick nor Anniston has been to Disneyland. Disney World is my favorite, but Disneyland is pretty great too! We were already within the windows of booking dining reservations, etc., so we ruled those out initially.

My family loves snow skiing. I do not. I love the experience of going to the mountains, but I relax in the cabin while they exert their energy. I’m come back rested and energized. They come back tired and sore. I think I know who’s winning there.

One of the options we discussed was Park City, UT. Utah is a state Anniston hasn’t been to, and they love to ski. I’ve skied Park City, and it has a lot of really great skiing. For reference, I said I didn’t enjoy skiing, not that I couldn’t ski. So I was willing to go back, but planning last minute was expensive and we go to Colorado every spring break.

Another option was Chicago. Chicago is my very favorite city. Anniston has dreams of attending Northwestern for college, so we go there often. Last year, Anniston and I took a girls trip the weekend prior to Thanksgiving and it was so fun. There’s a ton of holiday activities, and Northwestern typically has their last home game and senior night around that time. It was on our short list.

We also checked into heading to Phoenix or Philadelphia. Anniston has never been to either cities or either states. We looked at our regional airport and picked from direct flight options. From Philadelphia, we talked about taking trains to other states near by. This sounded like a fun option, but with limited time to plan, flights were SO expensive.

We settled on Chicago. It’s a direct flight. It’s our favorite city (or at least the favorite for two of us) so we’re familiar with it and its offerings. The day I went to book the flights and hotel, everything had almost doubled in cost. What was going to be a cheap trip, quickly turned into an expensive and lengthy trip. In order to save on the flights, we had to extend the trip days. But then that extended the hotel stay. You catch my drift.

On a whim, I decided to see how many Disney Reward Dollars we had saved up.

Disney Pro Tip: if you’re wanting to go to Disney often and earn reward dollars that you can use to book vacations, at Disney restaurants or directly in the parks for merch, a Chase Disney Visa card is the card for you. We use it for a lot of purchases and pay it off each month. I’m not here to promote credit card debt. Don’t overspend!

Back to the story. We ended up having about $2500 worth of dollars (we hadn’t been since 2021) to use. Between that and the hotel discount (standard Disney offer), booking at a value resort ended up costing around $1500 for the hotel and park tickets.

I quickly checked flight options. While there weren’t any direct flights, there were slightly less inexpensive flights. I also had flight credits from my other card, a Capitol One Venture (also a use and pay off each month situation). Our flights cost about $900 for the three of us. Is that all the flights cost? Nope. But I’ll explain in another post. This one was going to be a trip recap, but honestly, I’ve got too many words for one post. We’ll call this one a planning post and I’ll follow-up with a trip recap another day.

Once we had the flights booked, I hustled to make some dining reservations. A lot of the good ones were snagged since I was inside the booking window during one of the busiest weeks of the year. We were able to snag:

• A lunch at Be Our Guest
• A dinner at Roundup Rodeo BBQ
• A dinner at ‘Ohana
• A dinner at Jungle Navigation Co. LTD Skipper Canteen

Again, were these our final reservations? Nope, but at least we had some.

Next up to book, Lightning Lanes. We ended up booking the Lightning Lane Multi Pass and some Lightning Lane Single Passes. Was it worth it? In short, no, but I think it had more to do with the week and the crowds. If it had been another, less crowded week my answer would probably be different. However, I’m not going to cover this here. I almost think this is another one that deserves a post of its own.

Side note: This is a real ride photo from Haunted Mansion. We weren’t posing. We didn’t know it was going to be taken. But it showcases our personalities pretty accurately.

Last thing we planned prior to takeoff? Outfits. Anniston and I love to Disney Bound. Nick participates, but not by choice. He’s a good sport though. We typically decide on a theme for the day and then plan outfits accordingly. We chose:

• Monday at Magic Kingdom: Mickey and Friends
• Tuesday at Hollywood Studios: Toy Story
• Wednesday at Epcot: Alice in Wonderland
• Thursday at Animal Kingdom/Magic Kingdom: Winnie the Pooh

You guessed it! Outfits in another post. lol. I told you. I may be the worst blogger ever. I hate when a TikTok has 7 parts. But I also hate a TikTok that’s 12 minutes long. Pick your poison, I guess?

So that’s how we came to land on Disney. Definitely not the planning that normally goes into a Disney trip, or really any of our trips. It was last minute and chaotic, but it was also great and fun.

So with that, I’ve left you with a not-so-helpful how we planned post, but a promise of better info posts coming. You’re welcome.

Stay curious, stay caffeinated, and stay a little LindSwept.