ª"˜˜ª¤.¸Official Team August 2013 Thread!¸.¤ª˜˜"ª&#9733

[pigletto]

Originally Posted by Loreli
Question of the Day?

What do you want as souvenirs? Do you have something in mind or do you bring a "wad of cash" for an impulse purchase?

We give the kids money and have them earn before we go. They usually each have $100. DD spends money to bring things home for her friends and never buys herself a thing so I end up getting her something anyway lol.

DS will spend every single penny in the Lego store in a heartbeat.

I always buy each of us a Christmas ornament on every trip. It was getting expensive though so now we pick one as a family. Between those and the ones I have bought at the Disney store I have a enough for a Disney tree.

That's how I got the idea to surprise them with an ornament for the Christmas trip they don't know about this December.

I will go the Christmas store in Disney and have them made in August. They have big glass Mickey Ear Christmas balls that you can have personalized. Each will have the name of the child and say "Surprise Christmas Trip!" with the dates.

I will hand them to them to open as we are decorating the tree and you bet I'll be filming
They won't think it's weird that I am filming because I got a new camera and swore I was going to film and take more pictures this year and I have been. I can't wait!

 

[thetorit]

Question of the Day?

What do you want as souvenirs? Do you have something in mind or do you bring a "wad of cash" for an impulse purchase?

My last trip was just my best friend and me, and we had just graduated high school. We worked extremely hard to save up all of our money from our after school jobs for MONTHS to pay for our trip, and then we blew it all on crap. I have ONE souvenir that has lasted this long, and it's a Cinderella Minnie that I gave to DD. Not making that mistake again! No impulse buying for me. I have already planned what each person is getting. (And DHs gift is a day of rest! Ha!)
Grampa will be there though so I'm sure my pretty princess will still be thoroughly spoiled

I will go the Christmas store in Disney and have them made in August. They have big glass Mickey Ear Christmas balls that you can have personalized. Each will have the name of the child and say "Surprise Christmas Trip!" with the dates.

I will hand them to them to open as we are decorating the tree and you bet I'll be filming
They won't think it's weird that I am filming because I got a new camera and swore I was going to film and take more pictures this year and I have been. I can't wait!

Mom of the Year

DH doesn't normally want a souvenir...just to eat a lot! Actually he'll probably spend his souvenir money on beer!

I think we have the same husband......

 

[poohlover4life]

Question of the Day?

What do you want as souvenirs? Do you have something in mind or do you bring a "wad of cash" for an impulse purchase?

We are "wad of cash" people lol. I love looking at stuff in advance to get an idea but the ability to buy something I find and not having to worry about it makes me feel more like i'm on vacation lol. Although, I always end up getting the same thing every year anyway lol sweatpants and a cool hoodie. Which I wear ALL YEAR LONG, …ya know, till the next trip to keep me happy lol.

 

[Disneylover99]

Question of the Day?

What do you want as souvenirs? Do you have something in mind or do you bring a "wad of cash" for an impulse purchase?

I hate souvenirs. Souvenirs are like clutter to me!!!!! I think it's because my husband and children love to shop! I'm actually happy to pay my baggage fees on AirTran. It makes my family pack lightly going down and pack lightly going home because we just bring two pieces of luggage for our entire family of four. It helps to reign them in.

Now that you know how I feel, this is my one little splurge.....pick a pearl. It's nice and small and easy to pack!

My kids just want to shop, shop, shop at the Lego store.

As for my husband, it's his birthday at the end of August when we travel. So I buy him little gifts for his birthday....usually Grumpy paraphanelia (t shirts, mugs, etc....) because he's just such a fun loving guy in that August humidity.

We don't carry much cash. We mostly charge it all!

 

[Loreli]

Question of the Day?

What do you want as souvenirs? Do you have something in mind or do you bring a "wad of cash" for an impulse purchase?

I plan on bringing much more $ than my kids know about for souvenirs. We get 3 paychecks in August because there are 3 pay day Fridays in that month. They are both saving their own $ and will have around $35 or $40 each saved up by the trip so it won't last very long. The additional $ will be their "welcome surprise." I want to really spoil them as this will likely be their only trip as children.
I now, after reading the reply posts, want a hoodie and picture frames.

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

Do it!! And make sure you do it at Japan...they do a ceremony there that they don't do at BC or DTD. We had so much fun picking our oyster, and I wound up with the biggest pearl of the group at that session.

It will have to be at DTD this trip.....no theme parks for us (we are getting waterpark AP's only....we don't do well at the theme parks in the heat of the summer). Hopefully it will still be a neat experience, even without the ceremony.

I am hoping the settings they offer are somewhat reasonably priced. I am not looking for "cheap", just not super-expensive .

 

[HPCrazy]

Question of the Day?

What do you want as souvenirs? Do you have something in mind or do you bring a "wad of cash" for an impulse purchase?

It varies per trip. The last several trips I've budgeted to include some monorail items for my Christmas display. Something else I usually pick up are the sticker sets that have the park logos on them to decorate my album when I come back. I also used to get the park souvenir booklets until they went to the individual parks now I don't bother with them anymore because they seem too cheap.

 

[pigletto]

It will have to be at DTD this trip.....no theme parks for us (we are getting waterpark AP's only....we don't do well at the theme parks in the heat of the summer). Hopefully it will still be a neat experience, even without the ceremony.

I am hoping the settings they offer are somewhat reasonably priced. I am not looking for "cheap", just not super-expensive .

Gina I am sure I have read on these boards of people getting their settings online or Ebay or something. I remember it because I thought if I ever do pick a pearl I would look and see what I could find. So if you find the ones at DTD too expensive or not what you are looking for I think there are other options. If I see anything I'll let you know

 

[YukiPhnx]

My gosh, it all seems like we share the same husband! My DF doesn't get anything either, he just wants to drink. And since his birthday is during our trip, I'll be buying him drinks around the world.

I always get the obligatory hoodie and picture frame with the year on it. And maybe a magnet frame. I've started a collection of those 3-D puzzles you can buy in Mitsukoshi in Japan. They're so cool and look great when displayed! Also going to do the Pick-a-pearl in Japan again.

Another reason to choose them is that their selection of settings is much larger, if you plan on getting it set there. E-bay mostly sell necklaces settings that cage your pearl so if you want earrings or a ring, Mitsukoshi is the place for it.

 

[momto3gr8boys]

It will have to be at DTD this trip.....no theme parks for us (we are getting waterpark AP's only....we don't do well at the theme parks in the heat of the summer). Hopefully it will still be a neat experience, even without the ceremony.

I am hoping the settings they offer are somewhat reasonably priced. I am not looking for "cheap", just not super-expensive .

They have some very inexpensive settings. I got a horseshoe that I wear on a black cord. I just took this picture now, so even though it is almost 3 years old, you can see it still looks new, and I want to say I didn't pay more than $20 for it.

 

[zabache]

I had never heard of pick a pearl before. This is in Epcot?
We'll probably take some money and buy a picture frame, the ears, an autograph book and that's about it. If there is something that really stands out then I might purchase it. We like to use our money on food a lot, lol. My DD might save up a few dollars to buy herself something. We're thinking of getting the photo pass plus since we love getting pics on the rides and were doing some character meals.
I need to learn how to do better braids. My hair is long and curly but I hate having it in my face. I'm always doing the ponytail but I want to switch it up.

 

[momto3gr8boys]

I had never heard of pick a pearl before. This is in Epcot?
We'll probably take some money and buy a picture frame, the ears, an autograph book and that's about it. If there is something that really stands out then I might purchase it. We like to use our money on food a lot, lol. My DD might save up a few dollars to buy herself something. We're thinking of getting the photo pass plus since we love getting pics on the rides and were doing some character meals.
I need to learn how to do better braids. My hair is long and curly but I hate having it in my face. I'm always doing the ponytail but I want to switch it up.

You can pick a pearl in DTD, at the Japanese Pavillon in Epcot or at a stand near the pool at the Beach Club.

 

[squirrel4569]

Question of the Day?

What do you want as souvenirs? Do you have something in mind or do you bring a "wad of cash" for an impulse purchase?

I'm a fan of the dated merchandise. I also like to find things that are somewhat unique and can't be purchased at our local Disney store or online. I've managed to get some cool deals on the "spend X and get Y for Z" deals. I have picked up a watch the past two trips, beach towels, luggage for the kids, a blanket and a bag for my wife.

We got Christmas ornaments last year as we were there during the holiday season and that stuff was all around. I'm also a fan of polo shirts with the WDW or dated logo on them. I didn't get one last year because I waited on it and when I went back to get it they didn't have my size.

We're probably going to give the kids a $50 gift card to give them a lesson in money management.

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

Gina I am sure I have read on these boards of people getting their settings online or Ebay or something. I remember it because I thought if I ever do pick a pearl I would look and see what I could find. So if you find the ones at DTD too expensive or not what you are looking for I think there are other options. If I see anything I'll let you know

Ooooh, Ebay.....I would not have thought to look there. Thanks for the tip!

They have some very inexpensive settings. I got a horseshoe that I wear on a black cord. I just took this picture now, so even though it is almost 3 years old, you can see it still looks new, and I want to say I didn't pay more than $20 for it.

That's gorgeous. So simple and so pretty!!!! Exactly the kind of thing I am looking for!

 

[Koh1977]

They have some very inexpensive settings. I got a horseshoe that I wear on a black cord. I just took this picture now, so even though it is almost 3 years old, you can see it still looks new, and I want to say I didn't pay more than $20 for it.

http://s1279.photobucket.com/user/c...6-416b-9897-3b1783c84417_zpsafda5024.jpg.html

Do they have Mickey head settings??

Sent from my iPad using DISBoards

 

[squirrel4569]

I forgot about some other souvenirs. We had in the past done the build your own Mr. Potato Head but I think this year we're going to do a Droid Factory R2-D2.

Last trip we started doing the penny machines too. We'll probably continue that on this trip.

We've also gotten custom ear hats on the previous two trips and will likely do that again this time. The first time we were able to really customize them at DTD with patches, different ear combos, etc. Now we can just customize with their names. The DTD folks said that the store got to be very chaotic and messy with all of the patches and add ons getting scattered and tossed everywhere.

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

Do they have Mickey head settings??

Sent from my iPad using DISBoards

I would like to know that, too.

I did find this:

http://www.etsy.com/listing/87930591/pearl-cage-mickey-head-silver-charm

but I I'm not sure if this seller will ship to Canada .

If you click on this link, and scroll quite a way down, there are several pick-a-pearl setting photos with many of the prices:

http://www.easywdw.com/uncategorize...pop-spirited-beasts-pearl-settings/#more-8572

 

[momto3gr8boys]

Do they have Mickey head settings??

Sent from my iPad using DISBoards

I don't recall seeing anything that "said Disney" such as Mickey heads. But that may have changed in the past few years. I never really looked at settings except for the one time I did it.

Sent from my iPad using DISBoards

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

So....for a dreary Friday (at least it is here ) QOTD:

Who has done a preliminary subtotal of your vacation costs? Is it more or less than you thought? Higher or lower than previous trips (if any)?

For us, its not the highest we've had, but its not the most economy vacay either. Here's our numbers so far:

Airfare: for 3 from Syracuse &

Accomodations: 8 nights at Sheraton Vistana Resort (2 bed/2 bath villa) = $2052 (Booked as a package through Jetblue Getaways)

Food: $1245 (from the time we leave the house until the time we walk back in)

Attractions: $550 (3 waterpark APs, Showcase of Citrus, mini golf, Cocoa Beach)

Rental vehicle (midsize SUV): $231

Gas & parking: $175 (includes cost for rental vehicle AND airport parking)

Total: $4253 ($177.21 pp, per day)

All numbers factor in tax and tips (where applicable)

I am sure my food number is high....it always is....but I like to over budget for food costs to be sure we never have to pass up that steak dinner (or dessert, or alcoholic drinks) if we feel like splurging. I also account for all tips in the food budget, snacks, groceries from Walmart or Publix, etc.. We have two character breakfasts in that budget too.

I was almost thinking of adding a day at DC until I totalled it all up, but I dunno now.

 

[pigletto]

Oh Gina.. are you going to make me total this?
Ok.. here goes. It's not too bad actually..

Flights with Airtran and Southwest including bags & early bird check in- 1100 (got a credit on my Southwest flights twice!)
Bonnet Creek (2 bdrm, 2bath)for 8 nights -1006
2 Priceline nights at the Airport Marriot- 130
Car rental so far- 261
Tickets.. I think we'll renew our AP's so I'll include half the cost for this trip 825

Groceries, Gas, Meals out, Waterpark tickets and misc.-1400

We are looking forward to doing quite a few meals in the condo, and we have Tables in Wonderland for any meals out.

So $4622 total for this trip for four of us for 10 nights.

I highly doubt we'll go through that entire 1400. The kids have their own money and we are probably only going to have one meal a day out if that, but it's nice to bring more than I think we'll need.

So apprx. 128.38 per person per day for 9 days. Didn't divide it by 10 because even though it's 10 night we leave later in the evening on the Friday.

ETA) No airport parking because we get dropped off.

Gina.. I hear you on the DC thing. We decided there was no way we were adding Unviersal when one night onsite and two day tickets were going to add $1000!