"Mommy, is this Disney World?" - *We're Back!* October 1-9 2011 PTR

[CJDisneyMommy]

I just finished your PTR and you are an awesome money saver! How did you get all of those gift cards for free? I know one was from the credit card and insurance, but what about the others?

I love that you are putting stuff out for her each day. I think I'm going to start collecting items to put out for my DS each morning too. BTW your DD is too cute, especially in her little 4th outfit!

Thanks for all of the awesome ideas, I can't wait to see more!

 

[sissy_ib]

I love your "theme" outfit idea! I'm steeling it lol
Looks li,e you have a great vacation planed, have fun! Cant wait to read your trip report when you get back.

 

[amberdburke]

I just finished your PTR and you are an awesome money saver! How did you get all of those gift cards for free? I know one was from the credit card and insurance, but what about the others?

Most of my giftcards came from RewardTV. You answer questions about shows that you watched on TV from the night before (it's ran by Nielsen). You collect points and cash them in during their "Sweepstakes" time. You have to be on the computer at the exact time, and there are a lot of people trying, so I don't always get one, but I have gotten several.

The Starbucks cards came from Swagbucks, which I personally find very time-consuming and don't really do anymore.

Whenever I buy anything online, I always buy it through MyPoints. You get so many points per dollar on each purchase. This is where I got my Rainforest Cafe GC, and to me, they have the best prizes.

I also do MySurvey. It's a super easy survey site, but they only take applications at certain times.

The Visa GC all came from the Cars2 Kellogg's promotion. You get 1 point for every specially marked box. 4 points= one $5 GC. I am a couponer, so I get cereal for really cheap anyway, and this made it practically free! I have noticed that it's getting harder to find the boxes though.

Hope this helps!

 

[amberdburke]

I love your "theme" outfit idea! I'm steeling it lol
Looks li,e you have a great vacation planed, have fun! Cant wait to read your trip report when you get back.

Steal away! I couldn't get my DH to match, so we agreed on "themes." I can't wait to write my TR when I get back! We are almost to the 2 month mark, but it feels like it will never get here!

 

[figmentswife]

Hello....not that you need any tips, but I thought I would share with you (and others) what we have done or will be doing (next trip this October).

We make "travel bags" for my kids. The kids get these bags when we hit the road. This trip will be a personalized disney shoulder bag. We put things like books, workbooks, crayons, markers, pens, travel book, candy, chips, drinks in them. Keeps them occupied for the 8 hour drive.

Also my DD will celebrate her 10th birthday while we are there, and for her birthday she will wake up to balloons, and a birthday shirt (we want everyone to know it is her birthday) and a "happy birthday" tiara. There will be a large box in the room with instructions to open gift #1 (a watch) then with that one, next set of instructions...she will be instructed to check her watch every 1 1/2 hours and open the next gift....this will continue until she has opened 10 gifts (haha, get it, it's her 10th birthday)

I LOVE your idea of matching outfits and I think I am going to steal it. I also love your gifts every day idea.

Great job. I hope she enjoys Disney half as much as you have enjoyed planning this for her.

 

[amberdburke]

Hello....not that you need any tips, but I thought I would share with you (and others) what we have done or will be doing (next trip this October).

We make "travel bags" for my kids. The kids get these bags when we hit the road. This trip will be a personalized disney shoulder bag. We put things like books, workbooks, crayons, markers, pens, travel book, candy, chips, drinks in them. Keeps them occupied for the 8 hour drive.

Thanks for the ideas! We have a DVD player in our van and it is the ONLY time she's allowed to use it, so that keeps her occupied pretty well. Thankfully DD is really good in the car - usually some books, some suckers, and her MagnaDoodle, plus the Veggie Tales CD and we're good for hours at a time

Great job. I hope she enjoys Disney half as much as you have enjoyed planning this for her.

My Grandma keeps asking what I'm going to do if she doesn't enjoy it, but I don't really see that happening. She loved it at 8 months, so I can't imagine her hating it now that she knows all the characters. She is a really well-behaved kid and not given to many tantrums, so I'm sure she'll do great!

 

[amberdburke]

Added to our Gift Card page - We got two more free cards in the mail yesterday! Hope everyone's summer is going well. It has been SUPER hot here. We just got our roof replaced, and our insurance covered (most of) it, so that was a huge relief! We are almost to the 2 month part of our trip Plane tickets continue to go down, so maybe we will be flying instead of driving

 

[ZFamily5]

You're getting so close! Is Paisley getting excited?

 

[amberdburke]

You're getting so close! Is Paisley getting excited?

She tells EVERYONE that we are going to Disney World. She told the nurse at the Drs. office this morning. Then she tells them she's getting her haircut, she lists people that she's going to hug, etc. To say she's excited is an understatement. However, I don't think anyone is as excited as me!

 

[amberdburke]

Hobby Lobby is having a great sale right now - their plain shirts are half off, so I decided to attempt to make us some AK shirts.

I am going to use the animal print patterns to cut out Mickey heads and sew them to the shirts - at least that's what I'm going to attempt

If it works out, I'll put the pic up.

 

[ZFamily5]

I'm glad she's so excited! I can't wait to read your TR to see all of her reactions to things! I hope the shirts turn out well! I was going to try to make some using iron-ons, but never got around to it...maybe next trip!

 

[ZFamily5]

Just had to throw this in: Thing3 and I are watching Toddlers and Tiaras on TLC and there is a little girl named Paisley! In my opinion, your Paisley is much cuter!

 

[Donaldswife]

Added to our Gift Card page - We got two more free cards in the mail yesterday! Hope everyone's summer is going well. It has been SUPER hot here. We just got our roof replaced, and our insurance covered (most of) it, so that was a huge relief! We are almost to the 2 month part of our trip Plane tickets continue to go down, so maybe we will be flying instead of driving

Keep watching those flights, we LOVE flying and never drive to the world. If you can get a direct flight it is only two hours and you arrive fresh and not worn out from the long drive.

Seems like half my neighborhood has had their roof replaced. We had ours inspected and no damage from the hail storms. Guess we are lucky, though our house is 10 years old and my DH was hoping to get a new roof!

Can't wait to see how your trip goes.

 

[amberdburke]

Keep watching those flights, we LOVE flying and never drive to the world. If you can get a direct flight it is only two hours and you arrive fresh and not worn out from the long drive.

This is very true, although trying to keep Paisley contained for 2 hours on an airplane gives me a small panic attack I guess if we just explain it's like a car and she has to stay buckled up maybe she'll be ok. If we only had to pay for 2 of us, flying would be significantly cheaper, but since we have to pay for her too, it makes it really expensive.

 

[amberdburke]

Just had to throw this in: Thing3 and I are watching Toddlers and Tiaras on TLC and there is a little girl named Paisley! In my opinion, your Paisley is much cuter!

I saw that too - I hate hearing her name so much now. There is a Disney show (the ANT Farm) with a Paisley too. I really hope her name doesn't become popular.

Oh, and I think my Paisley is cuter too

 

[amberdburke]

I got the shirts finished! Here is the cost breakdown...

Shirts (50% Off at Hobby Lobby) - $5.75
Handkerchiefs - $1.98
Thread - $1.00

So, 3 shirts for under $9.00.

 

[cam&phoebsmom]

I am in-I am also doing a pre-trip but we are going for the next big Holiday-Thanksgiving!

I also have a "P" princess but mine is Phoebe. I think the name Paisley is very cute. I think especially after you have taught it is even trickier to find a good name, LOL.

We drove down with our DD when she was almost 3 and we LOVED the freedom of having a car while there. I have done the same thing with getting little trinkets here and there to save us $$$ while in the parks.

My friends have made fun of me b/c I coordinate our outfits but I have a 9yo son so he is not so much into Disney shirts so I usually do colors vs. Disney themes. I think it makes the pictures come out better.

I hope you are able to get another daycare family in so you are not so stressed before you go

 

[ZFamily5]

Love the AK shirts! So cute!!

 

[amberdburke]

I think especially after you have taught it is even trickier to find a good name, LOL.

You are so right! There are SO many names that are off-limits because I have taught kids with those names. I did have a Pheobe in my daycare, and she was a delight, so I still enjoy that name too

 

[ZFamily5]

So sorry I keep posting random things, but I just had to share this! My dad uses a website called restaurant.com to buy gift certificates for going out to eat! I was messing around on the site just now and you can buy a $25 gift certificate for $10 for Garden Grove!! There are a couple of other Disney restaurants with gift certificates for sale, but I just wanted to share!! Again, sorry for posting random comments.