Our Celebration of a Sad Occasion...Oct 2016 PTR

[oopsiDAISY]

Hello friends! Welcome to another oopsiFAMILY report!!!

Our lives have changed SO MUCH since I was last very active on the Dis-boards. You can get to know our family better, if you want to, by clicking on the links in my signature. I have written a few reports on here in the past….

Allow me to introduce ourselves. Here we all are on our Disney cruise last October:



I’m your host, Connie, aka oopsiDaisy. I work as an Admin Assistant at a local university. I love to read, love Disney (as we all do), love my family, and love to have fun. I have made so many special friends here on the Dis-boards, many of whom I have gotten to meet in person. This is me:



Next in the line-up is my DH, Brian. Brian works in “inside sales” for a nationally known computer company. Brian LOVES Star Wars. He enjoys playing computer and video games to relax, and he loves Star Wars. Oh, had I mentioned that already? Oh, and he loves Star Wars. Yeah. That much. Here is my manly Jedi:



Meet our oldest daughter, Jillian. Jillian is a junior in high school. She loves Star Wars, Marvel, and Disney…all about equally. She recently turned 16, and has become way more grown up and independent than I prefer, but she still loves to spend time with us, so that is better than some parents of teenagers can say. LOL Our sweet Jillybean:



Next we have, Charity. Charity is our newly minted teenager. Charity is the life of the party. This girl is a social butterfly who loves to have some fun. She’s her mama’s daughter, for sure. Charity loves hanging out with friends, spending hours watching YouTube (but, we won’t let her), and playing basketball. She has been on her school team for three years now. She has not decided if she wants to try for the high school team yet. Our Sweet Charity:



And our little caboose is Gabe. Gabe is a nine year old BOY. He is ALL boy. Every day, and every minute with him is an adventure. He loves to dress up in a costume of whatever character or super hero he happens to be watching, into, or thinking about at any given moment. He is the life of the party in our home, for sure. The family character:



Now that you have been introduced to our family we can begin this PTR properly. Here are our trip details so far:

October 5-10 at Caribbean Beach Resort with four park days

October 10-11 at Cabana Bay Beach Resort at Universal with one park day


Stay tuned for what I hope will be a fun PTR filled with trip plans, Disney movie nights, vacation countdown activities, and just whatever other craziness we find ourselves in.

 

[oopsiDAISY]

Your Index to Fun
Introductions
How Did this Trip Happen, and What's Up with the Title?
oopsiFAMILY Updates
Planning and Countdowns
Pre-Christmas Stuff
Christmas with the oopsiFAMILY
Let the Countdown Fun Begin ~ #1: ADR Choices!
Countdown Activity #2: Parade and Countdown #3: Tangled Movie Night
Countdown Activity #5: Cruise Meet!
Countdown Activity #4- Disney Roadtrip Playlist
Countdown Activity #6- Food, Glorious Food!
Countdown Activity #7: Brother Bear Movie Night
Countdown Activity #8: "Dinner's on Me" by Kylo Ren
Countdown Activity #9: Coudtdown Chain
REALLY BIG NEWS
Let's Make History!
Easter Travels and Countdown Activity #10
Countdown Activity #11-YUM!
Countdown Activity #12: A Walk Down Memory Lane pt. 1
A Walk Down Memory Lane pt. 2
Sweet Charity
Countdown Activity #13: UP Movie Night

 

[oopsiDAISY]

How did this trip come about, and what is up with the Title???

Shortly after we got home from our October 2014 cruise, Brian and I started saving for a 20th Anniversary trip to WDW…just the two of us. We were going to go in October 2016 to enjoy the Food and Wine Festival. Just to put some photos in this post, here is a snapshot of Brian and I on our way out the door for a date night during our Oct 2013 off sight trip:



We also knew that we would be taking another Disney trip of some sort in the Spring or Summer of 2017. For several years now, we have told Jillian that SHE could choose our Disney vacation, parks or cruise, for her senior year in high school.

Fast forward to this past summer. Brian and I had managed to save close to $2000 for our anniversary trip, and we still had over a year to keep saving. It was going to be a great one. I wanted us to fly, stay in a deluxe…it was going to be EPIC.

Well, then our Pastor announced that our church would be offering the Dave Ramsey Financial Peace University class, and he wanted the church leaders to take the class….Brian and I are church leaders. Short version is this: we took the class, felt convicted, decided to get out of debt, cancelled our anniversary trip to use that saved money to begin the debt pay-off. I was crushed. It was such a HARD decision to make. We knew it was the RIGHT decision for our family, but BOY was it HARD!!

Since that time, we have been faithfully chipping away at the mountain of debt we have (two car loans, student loans, one major credit card, one small credit card). We have managed to pay off the small credit card. My car will be paid off in January, and our goal is to pay off his car in six months after that. We were also able to get new tires on my car and buy Jillian’s car…all with cash. We have been committed to this, and we are doing it.

Fast forward again, to last month. It was time to start talking about Jillian’s senior year vacation. We wanted to plan it out, price it out, and be able to budget for it way in advance. She had several options to choose from: Disney Cruise, Disney Land and Sea trip, Disney Parks. We talked and she asked if there would be any way to throw in a day at Universal to see Wizarding World. Back to the pricing drawing board…Yes, it is possible. So that is what she chose. And the completely ironic part of this? We are going in October 2016…during Food and Wine… exactly when we would have had our Anniversary trip that we decided to cancel. We feel like this is our reward for doing what we felt was right, and staying committed to it.

So, what sad occasion will we be celebrating? Jillian’s senior year of high school, the impending doom of her graduation, and quite possibly her last family vacation with us for a while.

 

[Pluto0809]

I'm here!! Still haven't finished your Cruise TR but I didn't want to get behind on this one.

Of course I know your family pretty well but I still enjoyed reading your intro. It's amazing how much the kids have grown since the first TR of yours that I read. I think it was the one with the attack squirrel.

Congratulations on working towards being debt free. Jim and I decided we were not going to run up debt when we married so that was why I didn't go to WDW for over 12 years. But believe me it's a wonderful feeling once you get there. We still have a mortgage but that is it and it's wonderful! Now I pay for all of our trips ahead of time. Of course I'm sure it was a bit easier for us since we don't have kids. Even more admiration to you for doing it with three kids.

Oh, if you have any Universal questions please feel free to ask. I've been twice now with the main focus being on the HP section so I may be able to help you if needed.

ETA: Just realized I was the first to post! Whoo hoo!!

 

[Chicago Mo]

Dang nab it!!! Not first!!!!

Wonderful Introductions!!! I just adore your family! The girls are BEAUTIFUL and Gave is such a handsome young man!!!
YAY for you getting out of Debt!!! SO PROUD OF YOU!!!

by the way YOU LOOK FANTASTIC!!! So does Brian...

Can't wait to read along!

 

[mickeystoontown]

I'm here! What wonderful introduction pictures! I admire you for making the right financial decisions...it's tough sometimes isn't it? So very glad that you are able to go back to Disney and to Universal to boot!

 

[momabaarjo]

I want to follow along...congrats on being "adults" and knocking out some debt! I am a huge Universal Fan...I will gladly cheat on Mickey with Ron Weasley! CBR is one of my favorite resorts too!

 

[IowaTater]

We'll be there about a week after you guys.

Congrats on paying off your debt! Thankfully, DH and I paid off our credit cards and immediately cut them up. I will fully admit we are not good with credit cards so it's just safer to live without them. We do still have student loans and soon-to-be a car payment so we understand how difficult getting out from underneath all that can be.

Looking forward to reading all your plans!

 

[cajunfan]

I can not believe how grown up the girls have gotten! Your son has grown too, but the girls have really transformed into young ladies!

We will miss you by a few weeks next year! We are planning 10/28/2016-11/8/2016 at Art of Animation.

 

[oopsiDAISY]

I'm here!! Still haven't finished your Cruise TR but I didn't want to get behind on this one.

Of course I know your family pretty well but I still enjoyed reading your intro. It's amazing how much the kids have grown since the first TR of yours that I read. I think it was the one with the attack squirrel.

Congratulations on working towards being debt free. Jim and I decided we were not going to run up debt when we married so that was why I didn't go to WDW for over 12 years. But believe me it's a wonderful feeling once you get there. We still have a mortgage but that is it and it's wonderful! Now I pay for all of our trips ahead of time. Of course I'm sure it was a bit easier for us since we don't have kids. Even more admiration to you for doing it with three kids.

Oh, if you have any Universal questions please feel free to ask. I've been twice now with the main focus being on the HP section so I may be able to help you if needed.

ETA: Just realized I was the first to post! Whoo hoo!!

Paying off debt really does feel great. I am so ready for the new year to roll around. Paying off my car is going to free up a really good amount of money each month to apply to that debt snowball.

I will surely have questions about Universal for you, my friend. I actually tried to go on the Universal section of the Disboards yesterday, and it just felt so WRONG! I shut it down rather quickly, LOL! It really was a bit overwhelming, since it was all so foreign to me. I grew up with Disney, I have NEVER been to Universal. I really would like to have an idea of where to eat and what the estimated cost will be for our family to eat two meals there. We need to budget for that since it will be OOP, no dining plan. Any suggestions?

Congrats on being first commenter!

Dang nab it!!! Not first!!!!

Wonderful Introductions!!! I just adore your family! The girls are BEAUTIFUL and Gave is such a handsome young man!!!
YAY for you getting out of Debt!!! SO PROUD OF YOU!!!

by the way YOU LOOK FANTASTIC!!! So does Brian...

Can't wait to read along!

Second place...this is what you get for beating me to Ariana's TR:


We are still in the baby steps of getting out of debt, but it does feel good to be making headway.

for the generous compliments!

I'm here! What wonderful introduction pictures! I admire you for making the right financial decisions...it's tough sometimes isn't it? So very glad that you are able to go back to Disney and to Universal to boot!

It IS tough to stay on budget!!! I am the girl who LOVES to have fun...and sometimes my idea of fun costs money, LOL! I just keep the end result in mind: debt free retirement and more money for Disney!!!!

I want to follow along...congrats on being "adults" and knocking out some debt! I am a huge Universal Fan...I will gladly cheat on Mickey with Ron Weasley! CBR is one of my favorite resorts too!

Oh, do I have to Adult today? So, here is a confession...we are going to Universal because my kids are big HP fans....but I have never actually watched any of the movies all the way through, or read any of the books. Please don't leave my PTR!! I promise, I AM a great person...really I am.

We'll be there about a week after you guys.

Congrats on paying off your debt! Thankfully, DH and I paid off our credit cards and immediately cut them up. I will fully admit we are not good with credit cards so it's just safer to live without them. We do still have student loans and soon-to-be a car payment so we understand how difficult getting out from underneath all that can be.

Looking forward to reading all your plans!

to you, too! Oh cool, do you have a PTR going? I would love to follow along!

We will definitely be cutting the cards as soon as we get them paid off...except for one. We will be keeping the Disney Rewards card. In all fairness, that one has a pretty high interest rate, so we pay it off EVERY month, without fail. We use it to get the rewards money to help with OOP spending on our Disney vacations. When we charge something to it, we automatically move the money from checking to savings to have the money there to pay it off each month. We have had it for about three years now, and have not ever left a balance on it.

So glad to have you following along, hope I can make it worth your time!

 

[oopsiDAISY]

I can not believe how grown up the girls have gotten! Your son has grown too, but the girls have really transformed into young ladies!

We will miss you by a few weeks next year! We are planning 10/28/2016-11/8/2016 at Art of Animation.

I know what you mean about the girls. You always hear that time flies, but it REALLY flies once you have kids. It is hard at times to cherish the moments when those moments are of screaming, colicky babies, mischievous toddlers, and sassy tweens. But wow, when those teen years hit...stuff gets real, and in moments you feel like you are losing them forever.

Lynn, my friend...you need to finish your TR!!!!! I read the whole thing...and then it stopped mid-stream!

Just sayin'...

 

[oopsiDAISY]

Like I said in the opener, many things have changed in our family since our cruise. I thought I would use this next post to give some updates for those of you who have been hanging around the oopsiFAMILY on the Disboards for a while.

Our most exciting change was THIS happening:



Brian FINALLY graduated from college!!! Many of you know PART of the story, but may not know that this was an EIGHT YEAR journey for us. Brian had started his college career in 2007. But, we had some life altering things that happened on our family, and he left off in 2009. I ended up leaving the job I had worked for seven years to begin working at the University where I am currently employed. After about three years here, we decided our family was ready for him to pick up again with his college program. Needless to say, his graduation was something we all felt we played a HUGE part in. Two months after getting that degree, after twenty years in the aviation industry, Brian got a new job. The company he works for has a very extensive training process, and he is still in it. BUT, he loves his job so far, he loves the company…and the pay is already exponentially better, and he does not even have his own client list yet. We are blessed!

Another big change for our family came this past September. Jillian turned 16. This meant she not only got her first job and first paycheck, but also this:



Her first car. That week in September was a SAD, SAD week for this Mama. As we sat down to our first family dinner after she got her job, I just about had a meltdown at the table…the table with only four of us sitting there to eat. It dawned on me that life was not ever going to be the same from that point on.

The last big change for our family starts this January. Now that Brian has his degree, it is time for this to happen:



That is MY college acceptance letter. It has taken a very long time, and a very long process to bring me to this place in my life. I had a boss that I hoped to work for until forever. However, he was promoted to University President this past summer. He always gives an illustration that I love when he is talking to prospective students. When you go to the fair (or Disney) there is a sign beside the rides. The sign says “You must be This Tall to ride the Ride.” He talks about how the job market in today’s world is much like that…you must have a college degree to ride many of the really good employment rides. Well, I am here to tell you…I want to advance in my position at the University, so I am doing what it takes to be tall enough. This will be so hard for me. It has been a LONG time since I have been in school, and even then…I hated it. But, there you have it. I am just going to do it. And I am sure you all will get to hear about the journey as I take it.

Enough about non-Disny, real life stuff... from this day forth, there will be much fun and planning to discuss!

 

[Chicago Mo]

Second place...this is what you get for beating me to Ariana's TR:

Ya know what? I LOVE MY GIF MORE THEN ARIANA'S!
I adore Lucy!!!! So i win!!! na na.

It IS tough to stay on budget!!! I am the girl who LOVES to have fun...and sometimes my idea of fun costs money, LOL! I just keep the end result in mind: debt free retirement and more money for Disney!!!!

It is.. I am currently calling a friend of mine who is Number 1 on the coupon board in the nation. So i cam calling her in to help me out.. she will get me back on track. just so i can spend all that money on our next trip...

We are still in the baby steps of getting out of debt, but it does feel good to be making headway.

for the generous compliments!

I am so proud of you guys.. you really turned your lives around and i am taking a step in your direction!!!
You deserve the compliments! Love you!

BUT, he loves his job so far, he loves the company…

this is the best news ever,.

It dawned on me that life was not ever going to be the same from that point on.

so sad. i do not want this day to come.

I want to ride the Executive Assistant to the President ride,

OMG! SO HAPPY FOR YOU!!!

 

[Pluto0809]

I really would like to have an idea of where to eat and what the estimated cost will be for our family to eat two meals there. We need to budget for that since it will be OOP, no dining plan. Any suggestions?

I know you said you don't want to go to the Universal forum but the Where to Eat Thread is really good and has menus and prices listed. I know for sure since you are going for HP you will need to eat at either the Three Broomsticks or The Leaky Cauldron. Those are the two HP restaurants. Both are CS. Even if you don't eat at them you will need to go in and explore because they are so well themed to the movies. We ate at Three Broomsticks and enjoyed it. Make sure you try at least one Butterbeer when you are there. The frozen variety is my favorite.

Others that Jim and I liked were Bubba Gumps (very pricy), Hard Rock (not bad price range but very loud and hopping so if you don't like that it might not be for you), Finnegan's, And Lombard's. Jim also loved the Simpson's Food Court (Fast Food Boulevard) but I thought it was just OK. The only one we really didn't care for was (surprisingly because it gets great reviews) Margaritaville. We found the service awful and the food just OK. Jim loved his Hard Rock burger way more than the Margaritaville one.

I put together a list of the rides and what I thought of each one for D~ when she was planning. If you would like me to forward those to you I would be happy to. Just PM me your e-mail.

Brian FINALLY graduated from college!!!

Congratulations!!

That is MY college acceptance letter.

Congratulations again!! I know you can do it!!

I thought I quoted the Jillian part about getting her license but must have missed it. She deserves a congratulations also.

 

[condorthb]

bump

 

[oopsiDAISY]

Ya know what? I LOVE MY GIF MORE THEN ARIANA'S!
I adore Lucy!!!! So i win!!! na na.

It is.. I am currently calling a friend of mine who is Number 1 on the coupon board in the nation. So i cam calling her in to help me out.. she will get me back on track. just so i can spend all that money on our next trip...

I am so proud of you guys.. you really turned your lives around and i am taking a step in your direction!!!
You deserve the compliments! Love you!

this is the best news ever,.

so sad. i do not want this day to come.

OMG! SO HAPPY FOR YOU!!!

I thought that Lucy GIF was perfect for you, LOL!

Okay. couponing..Good luck with that. I tried couponing, and I ended up spending MORE just to use a coupon I had. Silly me. We have an Aldi in our town, so that is where I end up getting groceries for CHEAP. For clothes, unless we have birthdays or Christmas, we are thrifters. Yep. we shop the thrift stores. Want to hear a funny story?

My former boss, who is now Unviersity Pres, had a conversation with me the day his promotion was announced. He was telling me that he really wanted me to come over with him, but it would take a bit of time to make it happen. (Hence why I am biding said time going back to school.) Anywho, he was commenting on the current Ex. Coordinator and how she dresses. To quote him: " She just doesn't dress professionally at all. I would not have a problem with it if she would dress more like you." I was DYING laughing on the inside, since 90% of my wardrobe is thrift or hand me downs from my awesome BFF!!!

I know you said you don't want to go to the Universal forum but the Where to Eat Thread is really good and has menus and prices listed. I know for sure since you are going for HP you will need to eat at either the Three Broomsticks or The Leaky Cauldron. Those are the two HP restaurants. Both are CS. Even if you don't eat at them you will need to go in and explore because they are so well themed to the movies. We ate at Three Broomsticks and enjoyed it. Make sure you try at least one Butterbeer when you are there. The frozen variety is my favorite.

Others that Jim and I liked were Bubba Gumps (very pricy), Hard Rock (not bad price range but very loud and hopping so if you don't like that it might not be for you), Finnegan's, And Lombard's. Jim also loved the Simpson's Food Court (Fast Food Boulevard) but I thought it was just OK. The only one we really didn't care for was (surprisingly because it gets great reviews) Margaritaville. We found the service awful and the food just OK. Jim loved his Hard Rock burger way more than the Margaritaville one.

I put together a list of the rides and what I thought of each one for D~ when she was planning. If you would like me to forward those to you I would be happy to. Just PM me your e-mail.

Congratulations!!

Congratulations again!! I know you can do it!!

I thought I quoted the Jillian part about getting her license but must have missed it. She deserves a congratulations also.

We will probably go with the HP themed restaurants. Commenting on the Bubba Gump, Hard Rock, Margarittaville, etc. When we are on vacation, Brian specifically requests that we eat where we CANNOT eat at home. Living where we do, we have a chance to eat at most of these types of restaurants, so we will go with the HP counter service places, I am sure. I will definitely use that thread to check menus and prices. I would VERY much appreciate the Word doc you sent D~ about the rides! We will have just the one day, so we want to maximize our time. I will FB messgae you with my email address. THANKS!

Thanks for the nice words of encouragement, friend!!!

bump

Thanks for Bumping my thread! Do you plan to follow along?

 

[momabaarjo]

I promise I won't hold not being a HP against you and leave.

I like Brian's request about not eating someplace you can get at home...that is how I flow to! I try to stay away from chain/theme places too like Bubba and Hard Rock...but sometimes I cave because each place is a little different. I have only eaten at Three Broomsticks...it is okay, but really why you are going there is because it THREE BROOMSTICKS...they have pretty good fish and chips...but the best thing of all is BUTTERBEER...I prefer frozen.

 

[ljcrochet]

Can't wait to read all about our your plans.

 

[Chicago Mo]

There is NOTHING wrong with a thrift shop! Those places are AWESOME! find some really cool stuff!!! and see that more people should dress as FANCY as you to get the promotion! LOL great story!
i wish i had them closer to me.

 

[jedijill]

Wow, lots of changes in your lives! Congrats on your hubby's degree and good luck with starting your journey!

If you are a AAA member, you can show your card to get 10% off most places in Universal. You really should read the HP books before you go...all the wonderful details will have more meaning and the books are really, really good!

Jill in CO