Help me spend $500

[okeydokey]

At Cirque you can get 5 category 3 seats next week for 315.24. That will still leave money for a nice dinner somewhere and a pick a pearl for yourself. What a nice thing for your Mom to do.

 

[Iowajes]

Okay- so this is a budget board...

Is it essential you spend it on something ELSE?

Or can you earmark something you already planned and say the gift of $500 covered that. Anything at Disney is something fun; none of it is practical, even if you say it went to the hotel room. And you get to keep your own $500...

Since you say this was a super budget trip, you are now $500 on your way to your next trip...

 

[TravelMommy]

is called now. We also got some great photos in the area located after the Figment Ride in Epcot, great family photos in front of Cinderella's Castle, etc. If this is one of your last family trips, you could get some great photo keepsakes. We did the Illuminations Cruise for my Parents 40th Anniversary a few years ago, it was great. What a nice relaxing way to see the show!(I think it was $275.)

 

[ceecee]

Illuminations Cruise

We did this in May for DD's graduation and it was great. You can share it with another family to bring the cost down. We also did a photo shoot (DD's Senior photos and family for our 25th anniversary) with a Disney Photographer at the Beach Club where we stayed (you can choose location) it was only around $95 and he gave us a USB with 85 photos which I developed at Snapfish. It was so much fun!

 

[elaine amj]

A special non-park day. Do something fun like renting a water scooter/bikes/horseback riding/fishing/surrey bike. Maybe an activity at the campground you've always wanted to do? A nice breakfast/lunch and then a super nice dinner in a resort hotel. HDDR?

I do like the Cirque idea. I saw one in Vegas and I've been wanting to take the kids. We saw one locally that was a travelling Cirque du Soleil show in an arena and it was disappointing.

 

[danygirl]

Get an awesome family portrait done

 

[pocomom]

Okay- so this is a budget board...

Is it essential you spend it on something ELSE?

Or can you earmark something you already planned and say the gift of $500 covered that. Anything at Disney is something fun; none of it is practical, even if you say it went to the hotel room. And you get to keep your own $500...

Since you say this was a super budget trip, you are now $500 on your way to your next trip...

Normally I would do just this, but I want to respect my mom's intentions. We are not struggling; we just didn't want to go over a certain budget because we have other things we are saving for. I know what she wants is for us to have some experience/thing etc we wouldn't have otherwise.

 

[pocomom]

So many great ideas! Looking into everything!
I would add another day at the parks, but our schedule doesn't really allow us to enjoy another full day at parks. We have some other commitments on the non-park days.
As far as lunch, we will be packing it in , not going back to the RV. I started doing it for budget reasons , but actually prefer it for dietary/time etc. reasons. maybe lunch on the non-parks days though.
Thanks for helping me plan a magical trip

 

[Jajone]

Hoop de do revue. My kids loved this and is a really fun way to celebrate anything.

 

[kreckl]

Do you have a good camera? While Photopass can be great, we prefer our own, candid photos. One of my Disney favs is in the MK when he took a second to squat down to say hello to a duck, with the castle in the background.

We take short videos too ( love having voices saved!) and can create slideshows and photo books of our trips.

What about your kids- inexpensive cameras to get their perspectives? My son often takes pics I LOVE. You can get a decent kid friendly camera inexpensively.

Could you fit in a waterpark trip? We have a blast there. The Hoop is fun!

What would you like? Maybe a trip to one of the Disney spas for a pedi/massage?

 

[kreckl]

Just thought of something else- are you doing MNSSHP? We did that once, and included a visit to the Pirates League. It was so fun! We all did the makeup/accessories/experience. The adults wore cheap Halloween tshirts from home and the kids got pirate patches, swords, etc that came with their costume choice. It was a splurge but something to do once as its special and we have great photos from that night!

 

[Claire&TheBoys]

Hoop Dee Doo Revue is fun if you haven't been - and would be so convenient since you're staying at FW.

Tickets to MNSSHP would be another great choice.

 

[tink2dw]

Silhouette of the family with the frames

Picture passport and favorite character frames and one for Mom, too.

Character Wind Chimes for each bedroom

Character penny Bank

Disney Pin Lanyards, for pin trading with CM's

All a round WDW there are Penny Flattening Machines that give you a unique views of WDW the last I knew they cost the penny and $.50 to press they.

A Character Hat for ever one and the name put on them

Favorite Character keychains for everyone and Pens

Autograph books for the kids with sharpie pens

Buy Character Shirt or Sweatshirts for everyone

Character BUFFET Meals

 

[Iowajes]

All a round WDW there are Penny Flattening Machines that give you a unique views of WDW the last I knew they cost the penny and $.50 to press they.

I LOVE pressed pennies. If you only use the penny machines- you could get 980 of them with the $500! You'd have 20 cents to spare.

Of course, they have quarter pressing machines too, so that changes the calculations.

 

[kerplop]

Memory Maker if you don't have it or get a nice camera!

 

[kathy884]

Okay- so this is a budget board...

Is it essential you spend it on something ELSE?

Or can you earmark something you already planned and say the gift of $500 covered that. Anything at Disney is something fun; none of it is practical, even if you say it went to the hotel room. And you get to keep your own $500...

Since you say this was a super budget trip, you are now $500 on your way to your next trip...

I like this comment / thought.

Not to be a scrooge or anything, but the parks by themselves for us are really fun and special. So is just being in Orlando. The special experiences we've done there IMHO were overpriced and not worth the money to me. lol // I'd probably use it for a few counter service meals in the park (not need to go back and cook at the RV is you're not in the mood to do that) and save the rest.

Just my opinion: People love Cirque du Soleil and if you are interested in seeing one of their shows the one in Orlando is similar and better priced than most of them in Las Vegas. It's less dark than the Vegas one. Cirque, though, is just not my thing.

Special Disney cruises, desert parties, dinner packages, to me just aren't worth it either. Anything like this I've done, I've just done once and wasn't really all that impressed.

If your kids would like to do horseback riding, the little power boats, etc. from Fort Wilderness, I think that would be a reasonable splurge too as another poster indicated.

It's your birthday, though, and we are all different and all think different things are cool and fun to do. And it's also your opportunity to do something frivolous and fun. So have a great trip and do whatever you want to do.

 

[lauradis]

I LOVE pressed pennies. If you only use the penny machines- you could get 980 of them with the $500! You'd have 20 cents to spare.

Of course, they have quarter pressing machines too, so that changes the calculations.

oh my youngest would be in pressed penny heaven.

 

[kreckl]

So....??? What did you do??