Booking TOMORROW!!

Tomorrow, I plan to make my initial reservation. Here's what it will look like.

3 adults, 6 nights, 7 day park hopper - Port Orleans Riverside. This should be just shy of $2500. I don't plan to add in a meal plan just yet, though ultimately, I will have a table service meal plan- free or not.

I withdrew $200 from my paypal for it. Today is officially the 14th (even though it's 1am)- here is what I have in PP currently.

$300. This is after $200 was withdrawn to pay towards the vacation.

Here are my goals for January

Total of $500 in Paypal on January 31st. This makes my January earnings $700.



With my earnings, $400/month will go towards my Disney fund.
Anything over $400 will be split- $50 will go towards purchasing items for the trip (new swim suits, shorts, disney shirts, new {good} shoes for all 3 of us), gas gift cards, etc.

So for January, if I am able to hit $500, then I will put $450 towards paying off the trip. This will mean that out of $2500, I will have $650 paid down on it. SWEET!!!

I found a TA that will give me a $25 gift card for booking.

Booking!

I have already hit $400 for January, and have settled on my dates. As we are currently planning to drive down, my plans are to arrive in Orlando on Sunday, October 13th, and stay through the 19th- yes, 7 days!

Savings wise, my paypal took the $200 hit when I with drew the month for the down payment. I currently have $190 in there, and an additional $32 in unpaid invoices. This will make my total January savings up to $422.


We had originally planned to go down in April 2014. I have since revised that- my friend and her family wan to go in the fall, and we can drive together to save some serious dough. It doesn't hurt that they usually offer free dining during the fall, which again- saves some serious dough.

Going in the fall means one more thing. Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party! When I went in February 2012 to WDW with a friend, I came back chomping at the bit to go back with my family. Our original goal was October 2013- first up, free dining. Next up, non-peak time. Lastly- HALLOWEEN!

We are a serious Halloween family. We love dressing up, we love Halloween parties, we love decorating. It's just a lot of fun.

It should be of no surprise then, that I'm already plotting our Halloween costumes.

Daisy Daughter will be starring as the Cheshire Cat. She loves all things Alice. We found a cute t-shirt on clearance last night- purple and pink stripes. Perfect for Cheshire. She already has some purple jeans. All that's left to find is a fun tail and ear set, and make a fun smile on a stick for her to carrry and use.

Minnie Daughter will be starring as Alice- she's also an Alice fan. What I need to do now, is settle on a costume. Do we go with Burton's Alice? Or Disney's Alice? I love the Burton dress. It's gorgeous! But it's easier to find handmade Disney's Alice. And for Disney, I'd prefer to go with something handmade. Store bought just looks cheap. I'm not against it, but not for Disney.

Princess Mom will be starring as the Queen of Hearts. I already found a woman who makes the Disney style dress in all adult sizes from measurements. It's $100, but I'm willing to do that. Besides, it's a costume I can use for years after.

$1900 down.
$3600 to go.

2012 Disney Savings

January7th, 2013

Paypal: $234.90, with $53.90 in outstanding invoices
Bank: $73.06
Savings: $1500

Total: $1861.86

A Dream is a Wish your Heart Makes

Minnie Daughter just started Brave up, and the opening music of course reminded me that my heart is doing an awful lot of wishing lately.

I'm sure many of you have have seen the new Disney contest- 31 days of vacations given away. Of course, I am hoping against hope that I'm lucky enough to win a vacation.

But if not, I'll keep plugging away and doing what I can to earn enough money to take my girls there. I wish my son wanted to go. He had the chance once- he spent a summer in Florida with his Grandpa. Grandpa offered to take him to one of the parks. He opted to go to Downtown Disney to the lego store.

The same Grandpa is planning to take Minnie Daughter for a summer. He says a whole summer. I have my doubts- she's not as easy to manage. Mouse Son at the time was more than thrilled to simply have a video game system, and computer access. He basically went by his own schedule the entire summer. Sleep during the day, game all night, make his own tv dinner.

I know Minnie Daughter will not be content doing that every day. She is very much active, and wants to do things a lot. I'm not sure Grandpa knows what he's in for. But, at the very least, he will offer to take her to Disney, I'm sure. And she will jump on that offer.

In the mean time, my goal is $300 for January. So far, I have $96 in my paypal account, with $25 in unpaid invoices waiting in my account. Not a bad start, given that it's only the 2nd.

Doing this will mean being strict with my money. I will have to say no to doing little fun things this summer. It will mean curbing back Christmas a great deal (which is not a bad thing). Besides, for my girls, I'm thinking new suitcases for Christmas (since they have none, and I only have 1).

Here's to dreaming and wishing.

Dreaming of Disney

In my life, I've been lucky enough to get to Disney twice. The first time, I was 17, and went with a large group of dancers. We were lucky enough to be selected to dance at Downtown Disney in the Magic Music Days of 1995. Yes, that gives you enough information to age me.

The second time, due to some unfavorable circumstances, I was able to accompany a friend down with her two kids in February of 2012. It was a far different world to an adult, than it was to a mostly unchaperoned 17 year old, let me tell you.

For my entire adult life, I have dreamed of going back. The trip in 2012 was enough to wet the taste buds. I had hoped it would be enough to appease my love of all things Disney. Sadly, it was not. It made it worse.

I want my children to experience Disney. I want to experience Disney with my husband. I want to be able to give them that iconic Disney experience.

I've created this blog for a few reasons. Mostly, I want a place to dream. But really? I think my kids and husband are sick of hearing me moon over the Mouse all the time. The main problem with me mooning over the mouse, is that I can't afford it.

Not only do we have 3 kids, all 3 kids are over the age of 10, meaning a trip requires 5 adult tickets, 5 adult meal plans, and a hotel that sleeps 5. That means a suite, or two rooms. Port Orleans offers rooms that sleep 5, but only if one of them is an actual kid-sized kid. Not an almost-adult-sized-kid.

With all the kids, and the husband, I have come to a few conclusions. Or, rather, concessions. Mouse-son is almost 14. He's autistic. He has a fear of flying. And he has zero interest in going to see Disney World. Zero.

Mouse-husband wouldn't mind going, but he's not passionate about it. He would go, or he would stay home- he doesn't much care either way.

But Daisy daughter  and Minnie daughter  are in LOVE with the Mouse. They moon over the Mouse nearly as much as I do. Nearly. Neither would be content to just never go. It's a mission with the Disney Ladies of the house.

So here's the laid out plan.

Daisy Daughter turns 18 in April of 2014. Princess Mom turns 35 the day before. That's 15 months away.

For this April, the cost would be $3030 for Air, hotel, dining plan, and tickets (with park hopper). I plan to earn $4000 between now and then, but at the very least, I plan to have this booked by October. Comparatively? Just over $6,000 for 5 of us to go with air, hotel, dining plan, and tickets with park hopper.

It will be a Birthday trip. It will also be during off-season, which will help Minnie Daughter- she, like Mouse Son, is Autistic. She has a lot of issues with crowded spaces and noise. She does really well at coping with them, and I think her love of all things Disney will be enough to keep her happy.

And, I have already experienced Disney with a child who is very Autistic like in many ways. My friends son has Sensory Integration Disorder- he has a very hard time with many of the same things Minnie Daughter has.

This is my Dis-peration board.