Been busy havn't had a chance to frequent this thread and am super delighted by all the replies
hi Ottawa, i'm just down the road from you.
so are you an air miles collector?
Howdy fellow Canuck how about that weather finally getting away from -20C?
. And no we currently only have a cash back visa card but are thinking about getting air miles. Problem with me is that i'm constantly loosing cards and that is what happened last time I had an air miles card.
You could go swap out Disney tickets for Discovery Cove admission.
Discovery cove really does sound amazing and I hope to be able to do that one day. But right now my Disney obsession is too strong to even consider that yet
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These condos are in Windsor Hills.
The wife has been scouring all the options at Windsor Hills. The fact that many are Saturday to Saturday bookings makes it tricky since we need the Friday as well. There is the option of a cheap hotel for the Friday and then move over to Windsor Hill afterwards but we found a very affordable place that includes the Friday so figure its not worth the $50 savings.
I would try the opposite approach and instead of trying to whittle away at the budget, I would try to increase ways of making more money to bring along...
Garage Sale, PART TIME JOB (my own emphasis
), ask for Disney gift cards for any birthdays coming up, etc.
Disney gift cards is actually a great idea as my daughters birthday is coming up.
As for my emphasis on the part time job....Remember we are moving the trip up to May from September because we are burnt out
. I'm a full time stay at home dad during the day and work two jobs, one in the evening and the other on the weekend. Only way to increase the workload would be to upload my consciousness to a robot so that I can bypass the sleep requirements
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I think you're a little light on your transportation costs.
I used gas buddie to give me a trip estimator for the trip. However you are right in that I haven't factored in wear and tear for the trip as the millage is considerable.
And what about a hotel on the way down and back? Or will you drive straight through for 20+ hours with 3 kids?
Ha! You say that like 3 kids in the car for 25 hours isn't a delight! But in all seriousness it really isn't that bad. We've done this trip before as well as many to Myrtle beach (18 hours). We always drive straight through since i'm a night owl who has no problem driving all night, then sleeping in the car while the wife takes over, to then finish up the drive. With much of the driving done during the night that really cuts back on the kids angst. During the day we have all kinds of things to keep em busy. If any of em gets too rowdy...well I do have 3 of em. I figure I have one more then I really need so am considering just abandoning one at the side of the road if they act up as an example to the remaining two.
Having said that, I think that you also need to factor in groceries for the condo.
Reason I havn't factored that in is because those costs will be about the same as what I would be paying for groceries at home (actually might be lower because your food prices are considerably lower and we will be making very simple meals) and i'm only figuring how much more this trip would cost on top of my already existing budget.
You also haven't added anything for souvenirs. It's going to take a lot of willpower to tell the kids no when they see all of the merchandise that Disney offers.
Been to the world with them several times and it's never been an issue. Not only do I not have a hard time saying no (because in reality they are quite spoiled so no guilt at all) but they have learned through experience from such things as the candy section right before the cash at the grocery store that asking gets them nowhere.
Furthermore I always make sure each trip that they get the best souvenir that Disney offers. It's, in my opinion, the best value souvenir as the quality is top notch, it never diminishes or gets ruined, and lasts a lifetime. I'm of course talking about memories.........insert cheesy groan here.
At some point, economizing on a vacation makes the experience less enjoyable.
What I strive for is a balance between value and quality. I think I do a pretty darn good job of that and for me this part in the planning process is super fun. We get to mull over every single detail of the trip and argue back and forth (with the wife) over which place to stay and why, which snack over which snack etc etc. We never go for the cheapest option which would be like a $50 hotel room with no pool. But we also won't splurge on a deluxe room at the contemporary because we can get like 2-3 mid level trips for that same value which we would prefer.
No instead we are striking a balance this trip. We arn't preparing all of our food and neglecting the disney food options. We are eating in the parks around 1 meal a day with 1 snack a day apx. Alot of those meals are shared as the disney potions are huge. And this for us is fun because we get to whittle down the options to our top picks and really explore and apreciate all of our options.
Instead of the previously mentioned shady hotel room we have opted for a very spacious 3 bedroom condo at a very affordable rate that allows us to make many of our meals and also opens up to a resort with a pool and waterslide (what else could children ever need?).
While I agree with your sentiment that sometimes you can budget your trip down to such a level it is unenjoyable for my family we arn't, and never have, been at that point. Budgeting and mulling over all the value vs quality options truly is alot of fun for us in planning a trip. I just really try to bring the price down as much as possible and put that money saved into future trips.
It will make you really think how easy it is to stop and get a coffee. . Or a magazine without even thinking about it.
Done and done. How do you think my family of 5 is able to afford this trip in the first place?
. We actually went over our finances about a year ago with a fine tooth comb to distill our purchases down to exactly where our money was going. Fast food was inordinately high (Tim hortons coffee is my wifes weakness and mcdonalds is mine) and was one of the easier and more substantial cuts we made. Another thing I routinely do is renegotiate all my rates with insurances, phone plans, internet, tv etc.
investigate a Y.E.S. program for your kids in early september
I forgot about that! I'll have to look into it.
since your youngest is under 3 isn't she allowed as an infant?
Yep
. Not looking forward to full rates for my family of 5.
Again thanks all for your tips, suggestions, and comments. It really is what makes these boards great and the planning process so much fun.
