Cruising, Wining, and Disney Dining - Two 2012 PTRs in One! **TR LINK UP**

[Rora]

YAY for a new PTR!

2012 is a big year for you too! DCL AND the big 3-0!

I can't wait to see the Royal Rooms! The mods are a lot of fun- I think you will enjoy it! That said, AKL is one of my favorites-- I wouldn't complain if you stayed there instead!

Girl, I'm so pumped for 2012 too! Count down commence!

PS. Love your Disney Fund!

 

[jenny105]

Hi, Jenny!! So glad you started this! I'm excited to hear about your money saving plans-- $100 from flea market sales?? That's awesome! I wish we had something near us!
You'll love being at Disney with just Kris-- it's super romantic.

Hi! Glad you made it over!

I was shocked we made that much - both times! It's $10 to rent a table and I thought we'd be lucky if we made $50. We're planning to go again in a couple weeks. We'll just keep going until we sell the rest of what we have. It's amazing what people will buy!

POR looks like a quiet, romantic place. I meant to ask you, if I haven't already (I can't remember!). Have you ever had dinner at Boatwright's?

YAY for a new PTR!

2012 is a big year for you too! DCL AND the big 3-0!

I can't wait to see the Royal Rooms! The mods are a lot of fun- I think you will enjoy it! That said, AKL is one of my favorites-- I wouldn't complain if you stayed there instead!

Girl, I'm so pumped for 2012 too! Count down commence!

PS. Love your Disney Fund!

Hi Rora!!

I'd love to stay at AKL but it would be almost another $1000. I guess I could always drop a night off of my trip if I really wanted to stay there but I like the idea of staying for a full week. If Disney released a special TA deal to us like they did back in 2009 (I was able to stay at WL; both the room and the tickets were 50% off and I added dining to it, great deal!) I'll be able to swing it. But for right now I'm sticking with POR.

Hopefully the Disney Fund keeps growing!!

Have you got big plans for 2012??

 

[jenny105]

Hi everybody!

I deposited more money to my Disney Fund today! I try to budget my gas, toll, and lunch expenses for two weeks between each paycheck. If I have any money left over, it goes into the fund.

$7.35 - left over from EZ Pass budget. I spend a ton of money on tolls going back and forth to work. I spent less than usual the past couple weeks because of the 4th of July weekend and days off.

$16.25 - left over from gas budget. Same reasons! Less days spent traveling to work.

For a total of $23.60 which brings my grand total to $57.30! Only $1,692.70 to go!

When I wrote about my fund, I forgot to mention that I also put change into a container and whatever I have leftover from my lunch money for the week goes into a separate container:

The Disney popcorn bucket is for singles (and sometimes larger bills) and the green margarita glass is for change. I have no idea what I have in there right now but at the end of every month I'm going to figure it out and add that to my fund!

I also ordered a book (Pretty Little Liars: Twisted..I know I'm 28 but I love those books and the show!) from Barnes & Noble through E-Bates so that should get me about $1 back. I've been getting surveys through www.MySurvey.com but I haven't been able to complete them for the max points so I've only been getting 5. I'm up to 520 points from 505 last week. Slow week! Kris also joined and he's been getting like 5 surveys a day! I'm pretty sure he surpassed my point total already.

In other Disney related news, I'm going to see Winnie the Pooh tomorrow! I can't believe I'm going to see that before Harry Potter 7.2 but I promised my sister I'd go see HP with her. We're going to see it next Wednesday and I'm probably going to bawl like a baby when it's over. It's the end of an era!

Speaking of me and my sister, we went to see U2 last night and it was phenomenal! I'll post pictures from the show this weekend!

Thanks for reading!

PS - Exactly 11 months from today, Kris and I will be cruising!

 

[mrssmith06]

Hooray for adding money to your fund!

You'll love Winnie The Pooh... I took my kids to see it today and we all loved loved loved it!!!

 

[ZFamily5]

Yay for more money in the Disney fund! Every little bit counts! Can't wait to see what you think of Winnie the Pooh! We all loved it!

 

[jenny105]

Hooray for adding money to your fund!

You'll love Winnie The Pooh... I took my kids to see it today and we all loved loved loved it!!!

Winnie the Pooh is so cute! I love the previews I've seen. All of the times are really early though! Nothing is showing past 7.

Yay for more money in the Disney fund! Every little bit counts! Can't wait to see what you think of Winnie the Pooh! We all loved it!

Every dollar and cent helps!

I have a stuffed Winnie the Pooh on my bed. I'm such a little kid at heart.

 

[ZFamily5]

Every dollar and cent helps!

I have a stuffed Winnie the Pooh on my bed. I'm such a little kid at heart.

When I was younger my whole room and our bathroom was a Winnie the Pooh theme! My sisters and I each have a Pooh blanket for our rooms, but since I'm the oldest I got 2 Pooh blankets! One from the store and one that my Great Grandma made for me! Boy, is my family talented at sewing!

 

[jenny105]

I want to add some general life updates to this PTR to make time pass quicker! It feels like that anyway everytime I update This is the first of many since we have a year to go!

My sister and I went to see U2 on Thursday! U2 is her all time favorite band and I'd probably say they're mine too. She took me to my first U2 concert about 10 years ago and I've seen them numerous times since then. I was really excited about this concert because this was my first U2 show since 2005, during the Vertigo tour.

I had the day off so we headed down to Philadelphia early. We picked up sandwiches on the way, proceeded to our lot (we were pre-paid), and hung out for a little while and tailgated. Our lot was the VIP Lot, that came with our ticket package, which I also think was the employee lot. There weren't many people parked there when we arrived around 1 pm.

Lincoln Financial Field - Home of the Eagles

We hung out for awhile eating, drinking a couple beers, and listening to U2 cds. We heard the sound check from the lot which was pretty awesome. Around 4:30, we got up to find out where our VIP Dinner was. Again it was part of the ticket package.

Again, we heard the sound check. Last time, all we heard were the instruments. This time we heard Bono singing!

The dinner was supposed to start at 5 with a raffle at 6. Of course, they were running late and we weren't let in until 5:30. They tried blaming it on the band. Yeah, that didn't fly. My sister and I were near the front of the line so we had no problem getting in once they finally opened the gates. First, we got our VIP lanyards and our U2 swag bags which contained a program, U2 luggage tag, and U2 fleece blanket. We also got raffle tickets for a backstage tour (we didn't win ) We stopped at the bar to get our complimentary drink and grabbed some food. My sister had read on blogs that it was appetizer food but we got salad, lasanga, philly cheesesteak, and BBQ pulled pork. It was pretty good!

The view from our table:

All of the trucks it takes to transport that huge stage (you'll see what I mean in a minute!)

The SBA Club where the VIP Dinner was held

Across the lot from Lincoln Financial Field is where the Phillies play

Downtown Philadelphia off in the distance

The top of U2's massive stage

My sister and our swag bags

Showing off our lanyards

We hung out in the VIP area for a little while and checked out the merchandise at one of the little shops. I ended up buying a tank top. It was only $20! I was surprised because they're usually $40 at least. I changed into it for the show We also went the area in front of the stadium, that had outdoor bars and eateries. The stadium was very nice! After checking the place out a little bit, we decided to find our seats. We were section 119, lower level, side of the stage. Awesome view!

The Claw!

The opening act was Interpol. I've heard of them but have no idea what they sing. After seeing them, I still don't know.

My sister and I in front of the Claw

These guys hang from the top of that giant thing filming the whole show. Crazy!

Finally, David Bowie's 'Space Oddity' started and we knew that was their cue. They showed U2 on the screen walking out to the field and the lights went off and everything was pitch black. Then 'Even Better Than the Real Thing' started and we were ready to rock!

The Edge!

Bono!

The stage had bridges that would move around and allow the guys to walk on the outer portion of the stage (if you've ever seen U2, you know what I mean). The Edge and Adam Clayton are on the bridges in this shot.

They actually played inside this thing for 'Zooropa'

I took some video too, that's posted on my facebook for any facebook friends that want to check it out.

Halfway through the show, my camera died! Ah well. I wasn't too upset because I just wanted to enjoy the show. My favorite part had to be when they played 'Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me.' I've never heard them do that live and I loooove that song. He had a microphone that extended from the top of the claw that he could swing on during that song. It was awesome! Right after that, they went into 'With or Without You' one of my favorite songs ever.

I can't say enough great things about them. U2 is easily, hands down the best concert I've ever been to. They blow everyone else I've ever seen out of the water, no comparison. We're going again on Wednesday, this time at the Meadowlands. No VIP but it doesn't matter, as long as I'm there!

Thanks for reading!

 

[ZFamily5]

Sounds like you had a great time! How'd you manage to get VIP tickets?

 

[jenny105]

When I was younger my whole room and our bathroom was a Winnie the Pooh theme! My sisters and I each have a Pooh blanket for our rooms, but since I'm the oldest I got 2 Pooh blankets! One from the store and one that my Great Grandma made for me! Boy, is my family talented at sewing!

Cute! Can they make me a Halloween costume since they're so talented at sewing?

 

[jenny105]

Sounds like you had a great time! How'd you manage to get VIP tickets?

My sister is part of the U2 fan club and she got an email about it so she jumped at the chance. It was worth it!

 

[ZFamily5]

My sister is part of the U2 fan club and she got an email about it so she jumped at the chance. It was worth it!

It sounded like it was worth it! And it looked like you had great seats!

 

[jenny105]

It sounded like it was worth it! And it looked like you had great seats!

It was definitely worth it! We had a great time and an awesome view.

 

[arbolita]

Question for you...how many surveys have you guys gotten so far? I had one when I first signed up, and nothing since. I can't figure out if there's something I'm missing about how to get them.

 

[jenny105]

Question for you...how many surveys have you guys gotten so far? I had one when I first signed up, and nothing since. I can't figure out if there's something I'm missing about how to get them.

It took awhile to get them. I got maybe one after the welcome survey. Kris didn't get any for the first week he signed up and now he gets like 3 or 4 a day! It varies on what they're looking for and what type of surveys they have that month. I usually get two or three surveys every couple days.

 

[jenny105]

Happy Friday everyone!

I made another deposit to my Disney fund today. Kris and I had stayed at a Ramada when we went to the Poconos last month and I just got the commission check back. Usually, AAA only gives us a percentage of our commission, but when it's our own personal travel we get the full amount back. So I got a check for $15.58 and deposited it in my Disney fund account today for a grand total of $72.88! $1,677.12 to go!

I'm also planning on making a $40 payment toward our Disney cruise later on today, $20 from me and $20 from Kris. That would bring my balance down to $90 and Kris down to $250. We're getting there!

My survey points have also gone up since my last update. I was at 520 last week and am now up to 925! Thanks to Arbolita because I got 150 points from her signing up as a referral A few more surveys and I'll be able to cash my points in for some cash toward my Disney fund!

In general life update news, I went to see U2 again Wednesday night! They were awesome as usual. I don't have any pictures this time because I forgot my camera. Our seats were all the way up top though so I probably wouldn't have wasted time taking pictures. I just wanted to enjoy the concert. I also saw Winnie the Pooh and Harry Potter 7.2 this past week. Winnie the Pooh was so cute but super short. I can't believe I spent $11 to see it! Ah well. Harry Potter was excellent although I was so sad walking out of that movie. I look forward so much to the Harry Potter films and I can't believe it's all over. Twilight just doesn't do anything for me (although Taylor Lautner and Robert Pattinson are quite nice to look at ). I'm looking forward to the Hunger Games movies beginning because I loved the books so much. I'm really hoping they don't screw the movie up!

Is anyone else dealing with this excessive heat?? It was 90 degrees at 8 am this morning! It's supposed to be 105-110 degrees today. Ugh. Thank goodness for air conditioning. I just hope there are no power outages because of it.

Hope everyone has a great weekend! Kris and I are supposed to go to the flea market again Sunday so hopefully we'll have more money to put toward our cruise. Wish us luck!

 

[ZFamily5]

It's really hot here too! At 7 PM the other night it was 95 degrees! Heat index today is around 110!

 

[jenny105]

It's really hot here too! At 7 PM the other night it was 95 degrees! Heat index today is around 110!

Ugh, I don't even want to be outside. I prefer sitting inside with the AC on full blast!

 

[ZFamily5]

Ugh, I don't even want to be outside. I prefer sitting inside with the AC on full blast!

We did a garage sale with friends today! Luckily, it was at our friend's house and they have a pool! Needless to say, the kids were swimming the whole time!

 

[arbolita]

I'm not too far south of you, and we're definitely getting the heat/humidity! I actually don't mind it so much.