Disney for $0 (long story)

[westjones]

This story was so touching! It made my day! I hope they have a magical trip.
DJ

 

[Shelby5514]

What was that old saying? Where's there's a will, there's a way! Now turn her on to ebay for some spending $$$.

 

[DisneyGirl83]

This story was so great..I hope they have a wonderful time!!!

 

[lauraljp]

This is the first thing that popped into my mind when I heard this story--


When you wish upon a star, makes no difference who you are
Anything your heart desires will come to you

If your heart is in your dreams, no request is too extreme
When you wish upon a star as dreamers do

(Fate is kind, she brings to those who love
The sweet fulfillment of their secret longing)

Like a bolt out of the blue, fate steps in and sees you thru
When you wish upon a star, your dreams come true

Hope they have a magical trip!

 

[APB513]

What a wonderful story. I'm so happy for your cousin. I hope she and her family have a fabulous time at WDW!!

 

[bettyann29]

Thanks for sharing her story!! I got goosebumps when I read it.. Truly magical..

 

[Alice28]

That's so wonderful!

 

[Aneylii]

What an awesome story

Thanks for sharing!

 

[Helene]

I think I will plan a surprise for my family next year. I always include DH in my obsessive vacation planning, I think he (and the kids) would love to be surprised.

Thanks for sharing!!

Helene

 

[isyt]

Okay I know I am tired but this has me tearing up !! I hope they have a pixie dust filled vacation !! It sounds like they deserve it and I think there story has inspired many of us to look at our extra money (including me) that we think we don't have.

 

[Littlemotherhaywood]

What a wonderful story

 

[threeboysmom]

This story made me cry this morning, Thanks so much for sharing! I hope your cousin and her family have a magical trip this summer!

 

[Luv2Roam]

That is great. Lowering debt is certainly important. But so is enjoying life with your kids! You never know what tomorrow will bring.

 

[Third times a charm]

Your cousin's story is a great one, thanks for sharing it with all of us!!

I'll have to check my change jar, but I'm thinking DH has been raiding it alot lately for vending machine money for work!

I know, I'll start another change jar somewhere he won't think of!!

 

[xpor2geechica69x]

Here’s a story I thought I would pass on.

My cousin adores Disney. If she has her way, she takes her family to Orlando at least once a year.

However, 3 years ago she and her husband bought a house. That was OK. What wasn’t OK were all the unexpected problems they found with the place. In the end they had to take out a major loan and max out their credit cards to get everything fixed. So she and her husband came to a difficult decision for them. No Disney holidays (or any holidays) until the loan and credit cards were paid off.

Like I said, that was three years ago. They still have 2 years to go before they will be free from this unexpected debt. But as you can imagine, my cousin is starting to miss Disney something bad.

Four weeks ago she was over for dinner and I got to talking to her about Disney’s free dining plan. My cousin had no idea that Disney did this and was fascinated by the idea of it. (She was also surprised with the magical express they now offer) She asked me a few questions and had me help her go online and take a look how much it would cost to bring her family (two pre-teen boys) – really she was daydreaming more than anything. With late August dates we found very cheap airfares. Combine this with a Value Resort stay, the dining plan and some strict budgeting and we figured the 4 of them could go for a week for $2,600 inclusive of everything. The problem, though, was this was about $2,600 more than she could afford.

I didn’t think anything more of about this. But last week she gave me a call and told me what she had been up to. I guess this trip was all she could think about. So she decided to see if there was anyway she could swing it.

First off she dug out some airfare dollars she had earned but forgotten about. She and her family had consented to take a later flight when her flight was overbooked. Each coupon is worth $100 and she has 4 of them.

Then she finally decided to count all her change. She has been colleting change since college. She always knew she would use it for something special and now was the time to break into it. It took her an entire weekend even with a coin sorter, but it was worth it when she came up with $900.

So now she’s up to $1,300 – halfway there. So she really starts to think. Then she remembered the watches. Our grandfather collected watches. When our Grandmother passed away, my cousin got 5 of the watches. There’s no way she would ever sell 4 of them, but the fifth watch doesn't really fit the collection. It’s big and gaudy and ugly and no one likes it. So she decided to get it appraised and maybe get a few dollars for it. Then what do you know, it turns out the fake looking gems are real and it’s worth $1,000 retail. The guy at the jewelry store offered her $800 for it and she took it.

So now she is just $500 short.

This is where I was able to come in. Before my cousin bought a house, she and her husband purchased a pretty nice trailer. It so happens that I need a trailer for 4 or 5 weekends over the next few months (my daughter’s softball team will compete in a bunch of tournaments.). So I offered $500 for the use of their trailer for these weekends – which is a great deal for me. She hemmed and hawed for about half a second before happily accepting.

So there it was, a Disney trip without spending any cash or borrowing any money. She got the money together and booked the trip.

I was just talking to her and she told me about telling her family. She got her family together on Easter and told them the Easter Bunny had brought them a week in Orlando. Of course her boys go crazy. Her husband, though, is fuming. He figured she had broken their word to each other and put the whole trip on their credit cards. But when she told him what she had done he pretty disolved in a pool of tears. I guess he was missing his trips to Disney as well.

WOW That is awesome. That is a magical store. I am so glad to hear that things worked out so good for them. Another thing is the fact that this trip came together the way it did is going to make the trip alot more special and ever more magical.. Tell them all to have fun..

 

[Making_Memories]

Even though some have said they should have put the new "found" money towards their debt.....I think that the 5 years they agreed to no vacations is way too many years out of your childrens lives to not vacation, especially to Disney! I noticed they are preteen boys the OP mentioned. In a few more years Disney with mom and dad might not be as "cool". I say go for it now as these years and memories they will have from the trip are truly priceless.

 

[MossMan]

Even though some have said they should have put the new "found" money towards their debt.....I think that the 5 years they agreed to no vacations is way too many years out of your childrens lives to not vacation, especially to Disney! I noticed they are preteen boys the OP mentioned. In a few more years Disney with mom and dad might not be as "cool". I say go for it now as these years and memories they will have from the trip are truly priceless.

I agree with this poster. So I don't want to leave the impression that my cousin and her husband had forsaken all holidays. This isn't the case at all.

They had just decided to forgoe any expensive vacations. They still go camping a lot. And though they might not get to Disney as often as my cousin would like, those boys really aren't missing anything. Their summers are spent fishing, canoeing and hiking. If you are an 12 or 10 year old boy, trust me when I say this is just about as good and spending your holidays at a theme park.