Spend All the Money!
So yesterday I was checking my email, and I noticed one from WestJet (my preferred Canadian airline) about a current sale. I'm always intrigued by these emails, and usually end up pricing something out just to see. Well, this is actually a REALLY good sale, and the price for a flight from Edmonton to Santa Ana is one of the cheapest I've seen in awhile... I sent Luke the information since the dates I had priced out fell on his birthday at the end of January and he is very interested now as well. He loved the idea of going to
Disneyland for his birthday! (who wouldn't!?). He sent his sister a text to see if her and her husband would be interested in joining us, and she responded with "save your money, you guys need a new car" - which is true. We haven't actually booked anything, and I know the responsible thing to do is skip a California trip next year and buy a new vehicle but I really just want to book another Disney trip! I have no idea what to do, and the sale on flights is only good for another day, so we need to book it by tomorrow if we want to go. Our two previous Disneyland trips have been short notice and not Disney-centered, so we both really want to plan properly for once and see if we can cover even more with a good touring plan. So much to think about!
My mom and I did a mother-daughter trip earlier this summer where we drove over 13 hours to Vancouver to see Adele in concert. I had bought the concert tickets for mom for Christmas last year, and then I also paid for the hotel (birthday and mother's day presents - hotels in Vancouver are expensive!). We took mom's Jeep and she paid for all the gas. It was a really great trip, and I was talking to her a few weeks ago about doing another trip together in 2017. I originally suggested Vegas to go see The Backstreet Boys (I was a huge fan as a pre-teen, and I made my mom listen to them so often it turned her into a fan as well haha. Also, the last time I went to Vegas was with my dad, so I think it would be fun to have gone there with each of my parents'). But then this WestJet sale came out, so today I did all the math and showed her how much a Vegas trip would cost versus a Disneyland trip (flying into LAX since you can get direct flights from Edmonton). The Vegas trip I planned out was 5 nights at a much nicer hotel, but the price I had only included flights and hotel. The DL trip I priced out was 6 nights at a not-as-nice hotel (but walking distance to the parks), but my price I gave her included flights, hotel, shuttle to and from the airport and 4 day park hopper tickets for Disney (thank you Canadian discount which is also valid there!). The DL trip only cost a couple hundred dollars more, but once you pay for 2-3 shows in Vegas it would easily even out, leaving only money for food/souvenirs at each place. I will be paying for a portion of mom's trip (like her flight or the full hotel cost or something) no matter which destination we choose, as I like doing things like that for Christmas presents.
I don't think I could do two DL trips next year. If mom decides on the Vegas trip, it would be pushed out to March or April (maybe later to give us more time to save), whereas the California trip with her would be in February (if Luke and I go, it would be in January). I need to talk to Luke and my mom tonight and see what they think/want to do. I'm really hoping I can pull off at least trip to Anaheim in 2017! Otherwise, Luke and I have agreed that we'll aim for a trip there in November 2018 for Avengers race weekend - but I don't want to wait that long before being back in Disneyland!
. Good for you for doing almost 5km 3x a week! I did end up running 3 times this week, but only did about 2km each trip. I think what I'm doing is basically the couch to 5k program, all I've done this week is run for 1 minute and then walk for 2 and did that 7-8 times. I'll increase my intervals over time - I don't ask questions, I just follow the directions of my boyfriend who has run half marathons before haha.
. On the Sunday of the marathon, our plan was to be at Epcot and we currently had reservations for Le Cellier at 12:45 and Via Napoli at 6:35... and now we have a reservation at 8:30 for drinks and dessert in the Mexico pavilion. Basically our entire day is going to be spent sitting in restaurants eating - which isn't the worst idea since it will be only a day after Luke runs a half marathon. Also - Luke was inspired to make this reservation so we can watch Illuminations without fighting through crowds to find a spot to stand.
