Canadian Harmony
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jan 23, 2015
Well, I couldn't come up with anything fancy for my title, so I'm staying with this until I can!
So a bit of background I guess... I live just north of Victoria, BC and I'm retired from the Canadian Navy. My husband (B) is still a serving member. Our two girls are going to school in Duncan and they are two years and two days apart in age (R - 10 and M - 8). I had quit to open a store but it didn't make it past year 2, so I'm now working again, picking up temporary jobs while still applying for a more permanent position anywhere. I don't like talking about finances, but suffice it to say that we're working on options and doing okay for the most part.
I've been to DL once around 2000/2001, but the rest of the family hasn't. We've always planned on taking the kids to DLR, but we've never had the money. Recently our oldest has been approved for a disability designation through CRA which increases my tax return, and I've successfully filed 3/5 claims with Vetran's Affairs (still working on the other two, with a redress on a third!), which has allowed us to pay off a bunch of stuff and put aside money for this trip. Part of the idea for this trip came from R's dance studio. It is planning a Dance at Disney thing for next February for dancers 10+, and after looking into it I realized it'd cost $4500 or so just to send her and me as a chaperone (including dance fees, costumes, etc, etc, etc), so I asked DH why not send all of us instead? For that price we could all stay on site and enjoy some perks. He agreed - we've always wanted to go and now is a great time for the girls to enjoy everything the park has to offer.
So I started investigating for next February. While the prices were awesome and all, we'd only have a long weekend and if R wasn't dancing but watching her friends do so, would that impact her having fun...? So then I checked out September to celebrate our 13th wedding anniversary. We'd never taken a honeymoon after all... Prices were a bit higher but still do-able. But the girls would miss the first week of school, which is pretty important to them both. I realized their birthdays were the first week of October (mine is the week after) and after checking out the days there, I ran it by DH. He said that was a good time, and really, celebrating your 11th and 9th birthdays at DLR?! How awesome would that be?! Add into that MHP for a night and we're setting the stage for a heckuva great time!
I have to keep the amount down, and I think I've managed to do okay so far for what we're getting. But there's always more to save without sacrificing quality, right? DH wants to be more involved with the planning (so far he's been at arm's length), and I've created a spreadsheet on Excel to keep track of amounts which really helps me as I'm quite visual. So far this is what I have done:
Travel: We booked our flights, hotel and transfers through my step-sister, a TA at Marlin Travel via Alaska Vacations. This got me Air Miles, and because it's on my Air Miles M/C, I get to double dip. We're flying out of Victoria to Seattle then to SNA with Alaskan Air. We're taking the DRE to and from and then staying at the PPH at concierge level. After discussing how we could save $1030 by staying at PVI instead, DH said that the money was more than worth it for the breakfasts, the charge-to-room capability, the EE and MMs and general experience. I realized too, that because our government is giving us some more childcare money in July (for kids over 6), the amount we will get actually covers that extra bit. So in a way, the kids are paying for our upgrades
. The plan is to pay the trip off before mid-March so we can purchase MHP tickets and set up reservations once our 60 day window opens.
Tickets: Naturally my TA wanted us to get our tickets through her, but after lurking and stalking the boards, I have bought our 5 for the price of 4 PH tickets at Cheaptickets through Ebates (again, on the AM M/C). This way, we get to watch F! on the Sunday night(our arrival) if it's playing and I feel good about getting 6.8% back on the cost.
Timings: We're arriving on a Sunday afternoon and leaving early Friday morning. this gives us two full days at each park, enough time for rides and attractions, as well as a break between 1 and 3 (give or take) each day. The only thing I'm not crazy about is waiting around for the DRE each way, but with luck it won't be too bad. DH has never been so he'll probably want to check things out and none of us like crowds all that much (we can deal, but after a while it gets exhausting), so the break will be necessary.
Events: Seeing as how our first and third full days will be birthdays, and at some point there's going to be at least one MHP, I'm trying to pack in events and rides. R's birthday will be the Monday. Her birthday breakfast will be either at Mickey's or Minnie's (her decision) and I purchased that voucher at Orbitz through Ebates (3.75% back) and if the MHP is that afternoon/evening we're going to have a visit to the BBB prior to, so they're in costume. I'm going as Merida and can buy an inexpensive costume either at a thrift store or online (again, through Ebates) at Halloween Warehouse for under $40. The Wednesday is M's birthday, and her dinner will be at Ariel's Grotto - an early dinner/late supper sitting so we still get to see the princesses - and Ariel's her favourite so that works out great. We may end up doing A&E's B that day, but I need to check on our times. So far that's all I've come up with.
I have been playing around with Touring Plans to come up with optimal stuff to do on our days and it's been a big help. Once I have a more concrete idea as to what's happening with MHP, the 60th celebrations, and F!, then we can plan better. DH wants me to walk him through things this weekend so he gets an idea as to what's going to happen.
Food: I've already signed R up for a free sandwich with EoS and will be signing all of us up for coupons 2 weeks out. I tried the other place (the one that does TJ's and Naples and Uva) but it wants a US address so I gave up. If anyone knows the way to do this, I'd appreciate the tutorial! Only R's birthday breakfast will be a 'paid' breakfast, the rest will be free at the hotel. I have our lunch areas and snack places, as well as dinner (other than AG) plugged in as I've looked at the menus and I know what the family will and won't eat. I found coupons on Restaurant.com for HOB - $40 for $100 worth - so we're eating there first night. This will allow us to check out A&E'B for sometime that week. I'm hoping the dessert package will be available by then, so we can have dessert and see F! together.
Extras:
- I'm planning on getting some Disney GCs to hand out to each of us to use as souvenier money. I'm trying to figure out how to do this prior to arrival so I'm not travelling with a ton of money, but if it can't be done then I guess I'll have to suck it up.
- We'll also have $100 in cash per day to have for things like the Sillhouette Shop, fruit, etc.
- I'm going to make autograph books, based on some I've seen here, but with a few differences. As I do, I'll post the photos.
- I've downloaded and printed the pages from the Kid's and Adult's journals over at Mouseforless so I'm going to make up little books for that. I scrapbook, so these'll be great for that!
- I'm going to pre-purchase a PP+ before we go as well.
- Got great packing tips already!
- Trying to think of something to make us stand out a little to the CMs, without breaking the bank. Especially for Jedi Training!
I've been using Ebates, Air Miles, and Save-On-More Rewards cards to build up points. It's harder for AM now because Safeway is gone. I found that SoM has similar items in their catalogue. So, if I can't find what I want through Ebates, I go through Air Miles Shops and then Rewards to try to 'double dip' as often as possible.
I really appreciate the valuable resource this site has been for me so far!
So a bit of background I guess... I live just north of Victoria, BC and I'm retired from the Canadian Navy. My husband (B) is still a serving member. Our two girls are going to school in Duncan and they are two years and two days apart in age (R - 10 and M - 8). I had quit to open a store but it didn't make it past year 2, so I'm now working again, picking up temporary jobs while still applying for a more permanent position anywhere. I don't like talking about finances, but suffice it to say that we're working on options and doing okay for the most part.
I've been to DL once around 2000/2001, but the rest of the family hasn't. We've always planned on taking the kids to DLR, but we've never had the money. Recently our oldest has been approved for a disability designation through CRA which increases my tax return, and I've successfully filed 3/5 claims with Vetran's Affairs (still working on the other two, with a redress on a third!), which has allowed us to pay off a bunch of stuff and put aside money for this trip. Part of the idea for this trip came from R's dance studio. It is planning a Dance at Disney thing for next February for dancers 10+, and after looking into it I realized it'd cost $4500 or so just to send her and me as a chaperone (including dance fees, costumes, etc, etc, etc), so I asked DH why not send all of us instead? For that price we could all stay on site and enjoy some perks. He agreed - we've always wanted to go and now is a great time for the girls to enjoy everything the park has to offer.
So I started investigating for next February. While the prices were awesome and all, we'd only have a long weekend and if R wasn't dancing but watching her friends do so, would that impact her having fun...? So then I checked out September to celebrate our 13th wedding anniversary. We'd never taken a honeymoon after all... Prices were a bit higher but still do-able. But the girls would miss the first week of school, which is pretty important to them both. I realized their birthdays were the first week of October (mine is the week after) and after checking out the days there, I ran it by DH. He said that was a good time, and really, celebrating your 11th and 9th birthdays at DLR?! How awesome would that be?! Add into that MHP for a night and we're setting the stage for a heckuva great time!
I have to keep the amount down, and I think I've managed to do okay so far for what we're getting. But there's always more to save without sacrificing quality, right? DH wants to be more involved with the planning (so far he's been at arm's length), and I've created a spreadsheet on Excel to keep track of amounts which really helps me as I'm quite visual. So far this is what I have done:
Travel: We booked our flights, hotel and transfers through my step-sister, a TA at Marlin Travel via Alaska Vacations. This got me Air Miles, and because it's on my Air Miles M/C, I get to double dip. We're flying out of Victoria to Seattle then to SNA with Alaskan Air. We're taking the DRE to and from and then staying at the PPH at concierge level. After discussing how we could save $1030 by staying at PVI instead, DH said that the money was more than worth it for the breakfasts, the charge-to-room capability, the EE and MMs and general experience. I realized too, that because our government is giving us some more childcare money in July (for kids over 6), the amount we will get actually covers that extra bit. So in a way, the kids are paying for our upgrades
. The plan is to pay the trip off before mid-March so we can purchase MHP tickets and set up reservations once our 60 day window opens.Tickets: Naturally my TA wanted us to get our tickets through her, but after lurking and stalking the boards, I have bought our 5 for the price of 4 PH tickets at Cheaptickets through Ebates (again, on the AM M/C). This way, we get to watch F! on the Sunday night(our arrival) if it's playing and I feel good about getting 6.8% back on the cost.
Timings: We're arriving on a Sunday afternoon and leaving early Friday morning. this gives us two full days at each park, enough time for rides and attractions, as well as a break between 1 and 3 (give or take) each day. The only thing I'm not crazy about is waiting around for the DRE each way, but with luck it won't be too bad. DH has never been so he'll probably want to check things out and none of us like crowds all that much (we can deal, but after a while it gets exhausting), so the break will be necessary.
Events: Seeing as how our first and third full days will be birthdays, and at some point there's going to be at least one MHP, I'm trying to pack in events and rides. R's birthday will be the Monday. Her birthday breakfast will be either at Mickey's or Minnie's (her decision) and I purchased that voucher at Orbitz through Ebates (3.75% back) and if the MHP is that afternoon/evening we're going to have a visit to the BBB prior to, so they're in costume. I'm going as Merida and can buy an inexpensive costume either at a thrift store or online (again, through Ebates) at Halloween Warehouse for under $40. The Wednesday is M's birthday, and her dinner will be at Ariel's Grotto - an early dinner/late supper sitting so we still get to see the princesses - and Ariel's her favourite so that works out great. We may end up doing A&E's B that day, but I need to check on our times. So far that's all I've come up with.
I have been playing around with Touring Plans to come up with optimal stuff to do on our days and it's been a big help. Once I have a more concrete idea as to what's happening with MHP, the 60th celebrations, and F!, then we can plan better. DH wants me to walk him through things this weekend so he gets an idea as to what's going to happen.
Food: I've already signed R up for a free sandwich with EoS and will be signing all of us up for coupons 2 weeks out. I tried the other place (the one that does TJ's and Naples and Uva) but it wants a US address so I gave up. If anyone knows the way to do this, I'd appreciate the tutorial! Only R's birthday breakfast will be a 'paid' breakfast, the rest will be free at the hotel. I have our lunch areas and snack places, as well as dinner (other than AG) plugged in as I've looked at the menus and I know what the family will and won't eat. I found coupons on Restaurant.com for HOB - $40 for $100 worth - so we're eating there first night. This will allow us to check out A&E'B for sometime that week. I'm hoping the dessert package will be available by then, so we can have dessert and see F! together.
Extras:
- I'm planning on getting some Disney GCs to hand out to each of us to use as souvenier money. I'm trying to figure out how to do this prior to arrival so I'm not travelling with a ton of money, but if it can't be done then I guess I'll have to suck it up.
- We'll also have $100 in cash per day to have for things like the Sillhouette Shop, fruit, etc.
- I'm going to make autograph books, based on some I've seen here, but with a few differences. As I do, I'll post the photos.
- I've downloaded and printed the pages from the Kid's and Adult's journals over at Mouseforless so I'm going to make up little books for that. I scrapbook, so these'll be great for that!
- I'm going to pre-purchase a PP+ before we go as well.
- Got great packing tips already!
- Trying to think of something to make us stand out a little to the CMs, without breaking the bank. Especially for Jedi Training!
I've been using Ebates, Air Miles, and Save-On-More Rewards cards to build up points. It's harder for AM now because Safeway is gone. I found that SoM has similar items in their catalogue. So, if I can't find what I want through Ebates, I go through Air Miles Shops and then Rewards to try to 'double dip' as often as possible.
I really appreciate the valuable resource this site has been for me so far!
I'll take some photos and post those when I'm done. It's been a long time since I've been creative, so it's nice to get back to sketching and drawing again. The pages are perforated, so I can take them out of the book once signed and put into a scrap book after our trip (I'm big into scrapbooking).
