✨ A Disney Trip, Planned for Friends, That Became a Core Memory ✨
3/8/16
One of the very first trips I ever helped plan as an adult wasn’t even my own. It was for close family friends—people our age, with kids the same age, and the kind of shared chaos that makes you feel like extended family. We had so much in common, and they knew one very important thing about me: I love Disney. So naturally, they asked me to help plan their vacation.
And I didn’t just help. I planned.
🎢 Planning Down to the Minute
We mapped out everything:
When to enter each park
Where to stand for the fireworks
Dining reservations
And the holy grail of early-2000s Disney planning… FASTPASSES
If you know what a FASTPASS is, your heart probably fluttered just now. If you know, you know.
Every detail was accounted for—right down to which color to choose on Mission: SPACE. The spreadsheet said Green. It was written in green. It could not have been more obvious if it had been glowing.
🚀 The Text Message I’ll Never Forget
Then came the message I remember as clearly as if it happened yesterday:
“You said Mission Space would be fine. It was NOT fine. We are so sick.”
My first question: “What color did you ride?”
The reply: “Orange.”
My response: “Hmmm. I told you Green.”
And then the back-and-forth began—No you didn’t, Yes I did—until I sent the document as proof, which they still deny was on the original.
🤢 My One and Only Orange Experience
Now, the important thing to understand here is that I have ridden Mission: SPACE Orange exactly one time. One. Single. Time. Mission: SPACE Green? Maybe three times. I take Dramamine on cruise ships. I can become motion sick just thinking about becoming motion sick. (Okay, that may be a little dramatic, but you get the picture).
But… my son begged me.
We were already in line. The signs were everywhere:
Do not ride if you get motion sick.
Do not ride if you dislike small spaces.
Do not ride if…
And this continued through both preshows. At one point I looked at my husband and said, “I check off every single box on why NOT to ride this.”
Did I ride it anyway? Yep.
Did I stare straight ahead and follow every instruction like my life depended on it? Yep.
Did I spend the next two hours sitting in the World Showcase between Mexico and Norway, sipping water, nibbling baby bites of a Mickey pretzel, and saving spots for fireworks while trying not to move? Also yep.
But I digress…
💫 A Memory That Stuck
I wasn’t on that trip I planned. I don’t have a single photo from it. But the joy of planning it—and that hilarious, slightly dramatic Mission: SPACE exchange—has stayed with me ever since. It’s become one of those unexpected core memories that reminds me why I love planning trips in the first place: the excitement, the details, the shared anticipation, and the stories that live on long after the vacation ends. And if you take only one thing away from this post, let it be this: choose Green. Always choose Green.