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I get it. You want to go to Disney. Maybe you’ve never been before, or maybe it’s been just a couple of years since your last visit, but you have this aching in your heart that you just can’t stop. I’ve been there. You need your Disney fix. And your parents just don’t understand.

Convincing parents can be tough, really tough if your mother is anything like mine. So I wanted to give you my very own step by step guide to help you get to the happiest place on Earth. These ways are slightly… unconventional. But here’s how I convinced my parents to take my brothers and I to Disney in 2010.

Step 1

Ask your parents.

It’s easy, and important. Just say, “Mom, Dad, think we could go to Disney World this year?”

Don’t worry too much about their reaction. This is really just to give you an understanding of how difficult the task ahead of you is. Plus, they might say yes. But if you’re reading this right now you’ve probably already asked, or are anticipating a definite “no.” I asked my mom in 2009 and she said, “Well, we might do something else this summer, we could do something different… blah, blah, blah… no… no… blah, blah, blah…” (I think that’s how it went, word for word). I backed down. Or made it look like I did, anyway. Generally, the more you challenge the parents, the more you’ll irritate them, so it’s time to get creative.

Step 2

Begin your Disney invasion.

The key is to start subtle. You don’t want to annoy your parents, the goal is to make them find you endearing in your genuine efforts. Order your free Disney vacation planning DVD from the Disney website. Order it to your parents’ house, in one of their names.  They probably won’t watch it (but you can, they’re wonderful) and that’s not the point. The point is to get them curious about your determination.

Step 3

Step it up.

I got my two brothers on board (it’s crucial to have a united front with your siblings going into this) and we typed up 100 reasons why we should go to Walt Disney World. It had things on it like, “We’ll get to meet Mickey Mouse,” “We can ride Tower of Terror,” “I’ll let you wear your fanny pack and won’t even make fun of you.” Then we cut them up and hid them all over the house. The key here is to put them in rooms that your parents use (so hiding them in your room isn’t a good idea). Put them in their bathroom, bedroom, kitchen, computer room, living room, family room, mud room, etc. Tape some in obvious places, again, you want to pique their curiosity, make them laugh. Then get sneaky, tape them on the inside of cupboards, sides of fridges, places that could be overlooked, but would be spotted eventually. Also hide some in some very difficult places, just for fun (we’re still finding some in my house).

Step 4

Take it to another level.

Very similar to the above tactic, make the Mouse part of your house. I cut out a couple hundred tiny pictures of Mickey Mouse and left them around the house. On top of DVDs, in books my parents were reading, on the table, in the dog’s collar, etc.

Step 5

Make Disney unavoidable.

I live away from home most of the year, so I had to figure out the long-distance ways I could harass my parents. I wrote them down. My mom has Facebook, email, a landline and a cell phone. Each day, I would contact her via one of those with a Disney message. I would post on her Facebook wall, I found a photo of a random mom with Mickey Mouse and wrote, “This could be you this summer.” I would text her inspiring Disney quotes. I signed her up on the Disney website to have emails sent to her about Disney deals. I would call home when I knew my family would all be out, then let “It’s a Small World” play on the answering machine for a few minutes, and hang up without saying anything.

Step 6

Make it personal.

Have you been to Disney before? Put the photos out where your parents will see them. Make that picture of your whole family in front of the Magic Kingdom castle the desktop background. Any Disney stuffed toys? Put them on their bed, looking adorable.  Put on home movies from trips you took to Disney when you were younger. Watch them when your parents are home and likely to come in and see how cute you were when you met Aladdin in 1998.

Step 7

Wait.

At Easter in 2010, my  brothers and I were doing our annual Easter egg hunt around the house. No, we are not too old for this. You are never too old to race around the house and push your siblings out of the way for chocolate. Anyway, we were collecting eggs and something compelled me to check inside the microwave (I’m an outside-the-box kind of thinker) and there was a big chocolate egg inside. My youngest brother grabbed it and ran away, but my mum saw and called us into the family room. When we opened the egg, there was a decapitated Mickey head (from a PEZ dispenser [not as creepy as it sounds]) and a note that said, “You are cordially invited to come to Disney World to meet Mickey and his friends.”

It was magical.

It worked for me, and I hope it works for you.

If your parents don’t cave in, they are probably heartless and you’ll likely end up going camping 40 minutes from your house this summer. There is little you can do about this other than wait until your old enough to move out.

Of course, if finances are tight, you’ll have to be understanding. Look into ways you can do Disney on the cheap, there are some excellent websites with tips for this. Consider entering contests, Disney usually has some going on (I know they do right now) and so do other companies. Help your family to save up and see if you can go in a couple of years.

No matter what the case, good luck convincing your parents. It’s a hard job, but I’m sure you can do it.

With love,

Kyra