Dave Ramseying to Disney!Some final thoughts 8/18

[999ghostslover]

What a great deal you found!! I always check retailmenot.com, I also check coupon mountain as well. Sometimes if I still can't find anything then I just google whatever store I'm looking for and most times I come up with a working code.

Yeah, a couple of minutes and you can save a ton.

I check a couple of sites for codes, but I have never gotten to retailmenot. I've also never done ebates but I have plenty of friends who do it. They have saved hundreds of dollars on the site.

I can't wait to hear all about the party!

Your kiddos are adorable! Are the boys loving MDO?

Ebates is great! They love it! It is 4 hours one day a week and it is at a church right in the front of my neighborhood. It has been wonderful. I even got to have lunch out with my husband last week. Alone! But it is weird being in the house without kids.

 

[999ghostslover]

Questions abound!
I have many questions right now…
Would you rather a LeCellier lunch or a Chefs de France dinner? The menus both look so good. I know ADRs are a long way off but I’m on WW. I think about food! A lot!
For dinner would you rather Akershus or 1900 PF? We have done neither.
I am using touingplans.com and it says that Brady’s birthday is a 2.9 at the MK and the other parks are like 5.5/7.5/7.6. We would like to do MK on his birthday. BUT on the overall calendar it has MK as a park to avoid that day. That seems crazy. A 2.9 and I should avoid it? Why?
My parents are deciding when they come here for Abby’s B-day. We are going to sit down and hash out a plan. They are leaning toward coming. Heavily. But they had such a wonderful time in Charleston and they are remembering how many years it has been since we all rented a big beach house. It has been a while. Sigh.
Abby originally wanted a DS for her birthday but now we are leaning toward an ipod touch. Let me know your thoughts!!

 

[BrooklynnsMommy]

Questions abound!
I have many questions right now…
Would you rather a LeCellier lunch or a Chefs de France dinner? The menus both look so good. I know ADRs are a long way off but I’m on WW. I think about food! A lot!
For dinner would you rather Akershus or 1900 PF? We have done neither.
I am using touingplans.com and it says that Brady’s birthday is a 2.9 at the MK and the other parks are like 5.5/7.5/7.6. We would like to do MK on his birthday. BUT on the overall calendar it has MK as a park to avoid that day. That seems crazy. A 2.9 and I should avoid it? Why?
My parents are deciding when they come here for Abby’s B-day. We are going to sit down and hash out a plan. They are leaning toward coming. Heavily. But they had such a wonderful time in Charleston and they are remembering how many years it has been since we all rented a big beach house. It has been a while. Sigh.
Abby originally wanted a DS for her birthday but now we are leaning toward an ipod touch. Let me know your thoughts!!

I would probably choose Le Cellier lunch and 1900 Park Fare dinner. I don't know about touringplans.com, but I have been in Magic Kingdom on pretty much every major holiday of the year and as long as you get there at rope drop you can accomplish everything you want to do with no problems.

 

[Lady Lallie]

I vote for Le Cellier, it's delicious. I haven't been to either Akershush or 1900 Park Fare but I'd go with 1900 Park Fare.

I wouldn't stress too much about park days and such. Like Jill said, if you get there at rope drop you won't have any problems.

 

[999ghostslover]

I would probably choose Le Cellier lunch and 1900 Park Fare dinner. I don't know about touringplans.com, but I have been in Magic Kingdom on pretty much every major holiday of the year and as long as you get there at rope drop you can accomplish everything you want to do with no problems.

Yeah, my dad was just telling about the Canadian restauant that was around the corner from where I grew up in NJ. He said they had the most amazing cheddar soup...So I think that settles it.
I think 1900 will win too. And I really want to see GF.
THat is good to know that you can't go wrong. When you don't have a park hopper it can be a little stressful as fa as when to do what.

I vote for Le Cellier, it's delicious. I haven't been to either Akershush or 1900 Park Fare but I'd go with 1900 Park Fare.


I wouldn't stress too much about park days and such. Like Jill said, if you get there at rope drop you won't have any problems.

oh we'll be there for rope drop...maybe before if we can get our pirate makeovers early!

 

[999ghostslover]

I want to plan a special dinner to for when my parents come in a week. They will be deciding once and for all if they are coming so I thought I would whip up some great Disney recipes. Now, I don’t mind saying that I am a great cook and a lousy baker. The dinner will be on a Sunday and it will be the day before my daughter’s birthday party so to an extent I want to keep it nice and easy because most of focus will be that. I am thinking I might make…
LeCellier Cheddar Cheese Soup—my one hard thing n the menu but my dad was just telling me about a Canadian restaurant that he used to go to in NJ and they had this soup and it was his favorite. The recipes have got to be close, right?
LightHouse Sandwiches (my dad tried to be very healthy)
Dessert??? Maybe try to Make Dole Whips or Mickey Rice K treats? But I don’t have a Mickey cutter . Maybe Magic Cookie Bars? I need an easy make ahead dessert if I don’t do Dole Whips. I really like the idea of Dole Whips. My mom doesn’t drink so this would be a nice “drink” and she loves ice cream
If you were going to make a Dole whip what would you do?
If you wanted to make an easy meal that is Disney inspired what would you include?
What if you were going to go all out?

 

[moparop]

On the DS vs ipod touch question: If those were my two options, I'd go DS I think. Most of her clasmates are probably DS kids so they can trade games or talk about it together. We opted to do the Leapster last year instead of a DS. At this point, I am glad we did not go the DS route because Doug is just not responsible enough with his Leapster to prove that he can handle a pricier item.

I am with Jill and would do Le Cellier lunch and 1900 dinner. The photos I have seen and the stories I have read from character interactions at 1900 are just awesome. I actually looked into changing our ADRs one more time to experience this.

I've never used touring plans info, but I wouldn't put much stock into park days at this point. Are you guys going to have hoppers? You can always do an MK morning, go back to the hotel for a nap, and then head to a park for the evening that rates higher?

Disney dinner: hmmm... I love the soup and sandwich idea. As far as the dole whip goes... I have a friend (Don't all stories start like this, but this one really truly happened to a friend and not me!) who craved Dole Whip during one of her pregnancies. She tried every recipe on the internet and bought a couple specialty kits and nothing came close. It was kind of a running joke every time I talked to her to find out what her latest attempt at the Dole Whip was going to be!

If I were feeding DH and I: Kona's wings, LeCellier's soup, Kona Tuna, and I am not sure what for dessert (which is pretty funny because I am a dessert fiend!)

For the family (which would be my easy), the fried chicken from 50s, mashed potatoes from CP, salad from LTT, and the smores from 50s for dessert or maybe a Kona cone for everyone!

 

[999ghostslover]

We will not have hoppers. The one time we had them we just got too overwhelmed. We only hopped one day. I just pretend they don't exist and know my choices are limited.
Good to know about the dole whip. That is funny...there are kits?
I think I might make Main Street Bakery ice cream cookie sandwiches. They use toll house cookies right?
Kona Tuna. Yummmm. That is a great idea!

 

[999ghostslover]

So how are we doing with the money stuff and this trip? And what about our household Dave Ramsey plan?
Well, first off the trip… We have been putting all of the extra money that comes to us in our trip budget. That has included…
$125 for referring a friend to build with our builder. We got $250 but my husband did not get a paycheck from his second job as a college professor because it was in between semesters and we didn’t want to move other stuff out of savings so $125 went to groceries for the week.
$100 in selling some stuff like a Halloween costume and some cloth diapers my kids have outgrown.
$75 in collected change. We are paying for nearly everything with cash so we accumulate change quickly.
$100 in various rebates. Those little rebate forms that take a few minutes to fill out.
And while we only use our Disney Visa for major purchases that get paid the next day (we do not walk around with them in our wallets) we have…
$100 in Disney Visa Rewards
Our total money raised has been $500. Our goal is 3K to be able to do it right. See below for what that entails. So we are 1/6 of the way there and not one dime of our salary or savings has been used. That is pretty incredible. What could you do at Disney with found money totaling $500? I bet a lot! Well, we have a long way to go. We will continue to work this plan to get as far as we can. We still have annual bonus and tax rebates coming up and I’m sure that money will come from one of those places. But I would like it to be as little as possible so we can keep working our Dave Ramsey debt plan. We are doing so good with that too. I’ll have to make that a different update. But let’s say that I came up with a little dance (think Balki and Cousin Larry) every time we pay off a debt and we have done that dance three times since we started in the spring. Yeah!
We have paid our $200 deposit. We owe the Mouse about $1900 more plus we need souvenir and extra food money. We will have two boys (3 and 20 months) who will be hungry and not on DDP because they are too young. Our goal will be that they can eat off our plate at many places. We also need two nights at the Hampton Inn near the Space Center because we will be visiting DH’s grandmother at the beginning of the trip. My husband stays at Hiltons for travel so hopefully he will get up one night on points. But he has not been traveling a lot and we are not even close. We wiped his points with our big trip this summer. And we need travel money for gas, food along the way etc. I am hoping 3K for the whole trip will cover it. We’ll see. I have already started stashing some stuff out of our other budgets for the trip. We’ll have two cases of water, lots of snacks and breakfast items ready to go. We’ll have autograph books and Disney clothing to get us through the trip.
Are counter service places still allowing you to get an adult meal for your child on plan? I know at sit-down they have to order off kid’s menu but last time a kid could get an adult QS meal. I ask because I think the 5 of us could easily survive off 3 QS meals depending on what we get.

 

[BrooklynnsMommy]

So how are we doing with the money stuff and this trip? And what about our household Dave Ramsey plan?
Well, first off the trip… We have been putting all of the extra money that comes to us in our trip budget. That has included…
$125 for referring a friend to build with our builder. We got $250 but my husband did not get a paycheck from his second job as a college professor because it was in between semesters and we didn’t want to move other stuff out of savings so $125 went to groceries for the week.
$100 in selling some stuff like a Halloween costume and some cloth diapers my kids have outgrown.
$75 in collected change. We are paying for nearly everything with cash so we accumulate change quickly.
$100 in various rebates. Those little rebate forms that take a few minutes to fill out.
And while we only use our Disney Visa for major purchases that get paid the next day (we do not walk around with them in our wallets) we have…
$100 in Disney Visa Rewards
Our total money raised has been $500. Our goal is 3K to be able to do it right. See below for what that entails. So we are 1/6 of the way there and not one dime of our salary or savings has been used. That is pretty incredible. What could you do at Disney with found money totaling $500? I bet a lot! Well, we have a long way to go. We will continue to work this plan to get as far as we can. We still have annual bonus and tax rebates coming up and I’m sure that money will come from one of those places. But I would like it to be as little as possible so we can keep working our Dave Ramsey debt plan. We are doing so good with that too. I’ll have to make that a different update. But let’s say that I came up with a little dance (think Balki and Cousin Larry) every time we pay off a debt and we have done that dance three times since we started in the spring. Yeah!
We have paid our $200 deposit. We owe the Mouse about $1900 more plus we need souvenir and extra food money. We will have two boys (3 and 20 months) who will be hungry and not on DDP because they are too young. Our goal will be that they can eat off our plate at many places. We also need two nights at the Hampton Inn near the Space Center because we will be visiting DH’s grandmother at the beginning of the trip. My husband stays at Hiltons for travel so hopefully he will get up one night on points. But he has not been traveling a lot and we are not even close. We wiped his points with our big trip this summer. And we need travel money for gas, food along the way etc. I am hoping 3K for the whole trip will cover it. We’ll see. I have already started stashing some stuff out of our other budgets for the trip. We’ll have two cases of water, lots of snacks and breakfast items ready to go. We’ll have autograph books and Disney clothing to get us through the trip.
Are counter service places still allowing you to get an adult meal for your child on plan? I know at sit-down they have to order off kid’s menu but last time a kid could get an adult QS meal. I ask because I think the 5 of us could easily survive off 3 QS meals depending on what we get.

That is awesome! You are well on your way. We are trying to get out of debt as well so that we can buy DVC. We have paid off both cars and two credit cards this year. I've got one card that should be paid off mid September. Also trying to get all the bills down so that when my oldest starts private school Kindergarten next year the monthly tuition doesn't hurt.

 

[999ghostslover]

That is awesome! You are well on your way. We are trying to get out of debt as well so that we can buy DVC. We have paid off both cars and two credit cards this year. I've got one card that should be paid off mid September. Also trying to get all the bills down so that when my oldest starts private school Kindergarten next year the monthly tuition doesn't hurt.

I know what that is like. We are supposed to snowball one payment into another but our car payment was a wash with paying for St. John's kindergarten this year. Where is your DD going to go next year? Where are you zoned? DVC would be our ultimate LIVE LIKE NO ONE ELSE. A long way off but definitely in the back of my mind. A cruise on the Disney Dream will be our reward for finishing baby step 3.

 

[BrooklynnsMommy]

I know what that is like. We are supposed to snowball one payment into another but our car payment was a wash with paying for St. John's kindergarten this year. Where is your DD going to go next year? Where are you zoned? DVC would be our ultimate LIVE LIKE NO ONE ELSE. A long way off but definitely in the back of my mind. A cruise on the Disney Dream will be our reward for finishing baby step 3.

This year I get to put the car payment toward debt. Next year that money will go straight to Madison Academy. We are zoned for Harvest Elementary. I have several friends who have children at St. John's. I know that DVC is a long way off still, but that is my ultimate goal.

 

[999ghostslover]

I know lots of Harvest MA kids. Let me know if you need a carpool. It is not fun in the morning. We live near Nance in Monrovia and I cannot wait for it to open back up. I think they shut it for a year the day I wrote St. Johns the check. We are zoned for Legacy and Abby is missing all of he neighborhood friends but I think it is wonderful to have school buddies and home buddies.
We were at MA last weekend with cheerleading.
Does Brooklyn go to pre-k?
My boys go to MMO at Mt. Zion.

 

[Lady Lallie]

You are doing so well with your budgeting. Marc & I really need to get back on track. We always seem to do awful with our money in the summer for some reason.

 

[999ghostslover]

Yes! Summer is tough. We have no real routine. I am amazed when you said on you PT that you had not eaten out since April. That is amazing. Good job!

 

[999ghostslover]

I am shaking with excitement!

We get to add two more nights at Coronado Springs. Wahoo!


We were going to drive to Titusville (near Kennedy Space Center) to visit with Tom's grandmother and stay at a Hampton Inn. Tom can usually get us a couple of nights a year for free thanks to work trips. But his travel has really slowed down (Thank you God!) and we were very likely going to pay for those days. That would have cost about $260 after taxes. Well, for $269 I can add two more night at CSR. And we'll get free dining. So now we will drive straight to Disney. Check in. Get some dinner. Wake up. Get some breakfast. Drive 45 minutes to Titusville and hang with Great Grammy all day. Head back at night. Get up in the morning already at Disney and start hitting the parks. Yeah!! My head is swimming with the possibilites. Two more ADRS and two more QS meals. That gives us options in a lot of our plans. I'm almost mad at myself for not thinking of doing this to begin with.
I am so happy that we won't have to unpack twice and reload the car. Anyway, I am so excited and he is too. Yeah!

 

[Lady Lallie]

That is a very good deal. Woo Hoo!!!

 

[moparop]

That's so awesome to hear how you guys are doing on debt and saving for the trip. We are down to one CC left and the balance is at half of what it was when we started. I hate that we got ourselves in this position, but it is so empowering to know how close we are to being out of it!

and adding two days onto your Disney ressies!! Sa-weet!!! Do I sense a call for CRT coming?

 

[999ghostslover]

That is a very good deal. Woo Hoo!!!

Thanks!! So excited.

That's so awesome to hear how you guys are doing on debt and saving for the trip. We are down to one CC left and the balance is at half of what it was when we started. I hate that we got ourselves in this position, but it is so empowering to know how close we are to being out of it!

and adding two days onto your Disney ressies!! Sa-weet!!! Do I sense a call for CRT coming?

I am not really a fan of CRT. Well, that's not true. Everyone should take their princess there once. Or go there once if she is a princess herself. But at 2 TS credits I don't think it is worth going back. It was the worst food we had all week last time and that includes all of our QS meals as well. I wanted to like it and the whole wishing ceremony and all of that is really cute. And the picture we got was beautiful. I would maybe try breakfast there in the future. I hate being down on Disney because I know that many people love it. We have friends (they have an only child, girl) who have APs and go 3-4 times a year and never miss it. But I just don't get it. They are also very thin and maybe they just don't like food like I do. 1900 PF will be our princess fix this time. And we may add Akershus for breakfast. We'll see.
But I am really excited to add two ressies. I am trying to find a way to fit in Raglan Rd. That is getting tricky. I have plenty of time to think it through but still.
That is great that you are getting so close to being out of debt. I find listening to Dave Ramsey's podcasts are really helpful. He is just so motivational. Love him!

 

[BrooklynnsMommy]

I know lots of Harvest MA kids. Let me know if you need a carpool. It is not fun in the morning. We live near Nance in Monrovia and I cannot wait for it to open back up. I think they shut it for a year the day I wrote St. Johns the check. We are zoned for Legacy and Abby is missing all of he neighborhood friends but I think it is wonderful to have school buddies and home buddies.
We were at MA last weekend with cheerleading.
Does Brooklyn go to pre-k?
My boys go to MMO at Mt. Zion.

I am the assistant director at Premier Preschool so both the girls go with me. It is a great set up because I get to see them throughout the day and I still get a paycheck and adult interaction. Brooklynn is loving PreK. She thinks she is so grown up since she has homework now.