An obsessive planner's 2nd annual Once-in-a-lifetime trip CANCELLED :( 3/22

[Twoboysnmygirl]

 

[DrMomof3]

Awesome!!!!!

Amanda

 

[Pixiedust530]

I'm following along! Looks like you've got it all figured out. I think the 6 day base tickets are the way to go. Just makes more sense if you ask me!

Thanks for finding my PTR also! Happy planning! I lok forward to reading more!

 

[-Hope-]

I'm following along! Looks like you've got it all figured out. I think the 6 day base tickets are the way to go. Just makes more sense if you ask me!

Thanks for finding my PTR also! Happy planning! I lok forward to reading more!

Hi Stephanie!

I'm very happy with the decision to get the six day base tickets. We'll spend a bit more on food but I just decided to make everyone drink the free water and it all came out the same.

 

[Victoriasmom98]

FREE WATER FOR ALL!!!!!

 

[-Hope-]

We had another Disney Day today! Our theme for this week was...
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.

CLUB COOL ​

I used to have a Coca-cola themed kitchen and I still have a few of the things laying around so I put those out and Karen printed out some great pictures from Club Cool to theme our table...

I had a recipe for a base mixture to use in making your own flavored sodas...

In addition to the club soda and sugar for the base we also had some flavored extract and juice to put in for flavoring...

The girls had fun mixing the ingredients...

Tasting their experiments was also quite an experience...

In fact, that's pretty similar to the reaction she had when she tasted the Beverly at Club Cool last fall...

The cups with the clear plastic domes and red straws were frozen Cokes from Burger King- just like the ones they have at Club Cool. It was a fun day and the girls played in the basement (since it was SNOWING outside!) while Karen and I chatted about Disney and life.

We already have plans in the works for our next DD two weeks from now but you'll just have to wait and see...

 

[-Hope-]

I've been stressing myself out about the budget for a few weeks now. I've been trying to save for our vacations but it seems that something keeps getting in the way; the car needs new tires, the kids have outgrown their clothes, the homeowner's insurance is due, etc. I REALLY don't want to dip into our savings for these trips because right now it's already less than we like to keep it. Honestly, I think I'm just feeling guilty about spending money on something that isn't important to Robbie (he's not even coming with us). So, I've spent the morning trying to find ways to slash the budget without a big impact on the quality of our trip. What I've come up with so far...

-I cut out Sci-fi from my TS meals. I originally intended for this to be our one and only TS meal and thought the kids would enjoy the theming. However, Kya really wants a character meal so the breakfast at Tusker House is more important. I wasn't really sure about a mid-day ADR anyway because it seemed like it could be stress inducing to get there on time in the middle of touring. Plus, this meal was going to cost us about $80 (including tip) for burgers and milkshakes, it wasn't really too difficult to cut this one out. So, Tusker House breakfast and Rose and Crown dinner will be our TS meals for the week and I'm pretty happy with that.

-I cut out all of our CS meals as well. We'll still have some snacks in the parks but there is nothing at CS at Disney that I feel like I MUST have. The kids would only eat burgers, chicken strips and fries all week and it seems silly to spend lots of money on these things. So, I started a thread over on the budget board asking for suggestions for sack lunches (my kids don't like lunchmeat so I was at a loss). I just posted it this morning and its already got some GREAT ideas in it.

-I found a cheaper hotel for our drive down and back. I realized that I could stay at a place that didn't serve the "free" continental breakfast for about $20 less per night. We can have fruit and bagels for breakfast and save ourselves the $$.

-I'm also in the process of trying to become a Cha Cha guide. I still have to take the test but I want to do it when I have no distractions because you only get one chance. If I pass the test (which I really think I will) I'll be able to answer questions online that people text in to the website. For every question I answer I'll get 10 cents. So if I answer 33 questions per day, which should take less than an hour, I can earn $100 a month. I think I can do more than 33 most days but I don't want to overestimate what I'll earn before I try it and see what I can do.

So, altogether I cut $300 from my WDW budget and am hoping to add at least $800 in income, through Cha Cha, to the overall vacation budget. I think I can, I think I can, I think I can...

 

[Victoriasmom98]

You sound like you've been giving this a lot of thought. I'm sure it will work out for you & the kids!!!

 

[Twoboysnmygirl]

Good ideas! I agree about the CS meals, they will be the first thing to go if I have to start cutting corners! Oh and I'm bringing my crockpot, I think! How many dinners do we have planned at the house, 3? Rey wants to bbque for one of them, but the others I figured I would at least have the food slow cooling all day and arrive home to a ready meal instead of having to cook!

 

[-Hope-]

You sound like you've been giving this a lot of thought. I'm sure it will work out for you & the kids!!!

Thanks Ann.

Good ideas! I agree about the CS meals, they will be the first thing to go if I have to start cutting corners! Oh and I'm bringing my crockpot, I think! How many dinners do we have planned at the house, 3? Rey wants to bbque for one of them, but the others I figured I would at least have the food slow cooling all day and arrive home to a ready meal instead of having to cook!

We actually have 4 meals planned at the house but one of them is a light meal before heading to DTD where we'll get a snack as well- so probably just sandwiches or something like that. Bbq and slow cooker meals sound like a good idea as well. I actually just bought a low-carb slow cooker cook-book full of some yummy ideas.

 

[Pixiedust530]

I would cut TS meals also...but we are doing the DDP so that isn't actually a concern for us. It sounds like you've got if figured out though. AWESOME!

I just went and checked out the Cha Cha Guide thing. It sounds really neat. You'll have to let us know when you've taken the test. I'm curious what it's like. I wouldn't mind doing something like that!

 

[-Hope-]

I would cut TS meals also...but we are doing the DDP so that isn't actually a concern for us. It sounds like you've got if figured out though. AWESOME!

I just went and checked out the Cha Cha Guide thing. It sounds really neat. You'll have to let us know when you've taken the test. I'm curious what it's like. I wouldn't mind doing something like that!

We stayed on-site w/ free dining the last time we went so worrying about how much we'd spend on food is new to me- I think just telling the kids, one snack per day and we'll bring the rest in with us will be the easiest thing for us.

I'll let you know, I'm going to try to do it in the morning before the kids are out of bed and I'll let you know. If you decide to join I'll PM you my email address as we'll both get credit if you join through an existing guide.

 

[3princesses+aprince]

Hi Hope! Love the club cool Disney night. Awesome idea. My girls would love to do that. I LOVED club cool! I also love the baggalini, very cute!

 

[-Hope-]

Hi Hope! Love the club cool Disney night. Awesome idea. My girls would love to do that. I LOVED club cool! I also love the baggalini, very cute!

Hi Pam! The Club Cool day was very fun, the girls really seem to love it when we can think of hands on things for them to try.

I love the baggalini too! I've used it several times when I need a bigger than average purse or when I wanted to take my camera somewhere but not lug along the camera bag- it works great!

 

[OhioDisneyLover]

You found some great ways to slash your budget.

 

[-Hope-]

You found some great ways to slash your budget.

Thanks, I'm feeling really good about it.

 

[Charlefours]

I think you found some good ways to save money. Just out of curiosity--if Disney releases FD again, will it still be more affordable to stay off-site? I have browsed the rentals before but knowing that you also have to pay for parking, I just wonder if it is worth it.

 

[-Hope-]

I think you found some good ways to save money. Just out of curiosity--if Disney releases FD again, will it still be more affordable to stay off-site? I have browsed the rentals before but knowing that you also have to pay for parking, I just wonder if it is worth it.

For us it is much, much cheaper to stay off-site, even with FD. We can only afford to stay at values so we still have to pay OOP for our TS meals. Also, we're getting the discounted homeschool tickets which we wouldn't be able to do with FD. All together we're saving about $500 by staying off-site even if they offered FD.

 

[-Hope-]

Further proof that absolutely everything is open to debate on the DIS... my sack lunch suggestions thread is devolving into a discussion about why people don't want to pack a lunch and if the ideas presented are "over the top" or not.

Honestly, I don't understand why people take the time to comment saying they don't do the thing the OP is asking for help with. : I just skip over questions people ask that I can't help with but some people just feel COMPELLED to offer their opinion.

 

[DrMomof3]

Love the Club Cool idea!!!
I think you can totally cut TS and bring lunches. I would probably bring PB&J so I'm no help. we do eat some meals in the villa and bring our own snacks to the park ( my kids have rarely, if ever, had Disney snacks!).
Sorry people are so caught up in their own self-importance and can't answer a reasonable question.

Amanda