Hola! I'm new.

[JenBlaze]

Hello, everyone!

I decided I'd come out of lurkdom and participate. My name is Jen, and I'm a mom of two anklebit.. I mean rugr.. uh, two kids. I am currently attempting to sweet-talk, cajole, and/or annoy my husband into using his upcoming bonus to take our 4yo daughter to see The Mouse for the first time somewhere in November or early December this year. Cross your fingers for me.

So anyway, nice to meet you all!

 

[HaleyB]

Welcome.

Book the trip and then tell him. It is easier to ask for forgiveness than permission.

LOL...

 

[CheapMom]

You have come to the right place. If you figure out the most econonomical way to do it you will be more likely to convince and we IZ cheap here on the budget board. Lots of good tips floating around.
Good Luck

 

[JenBlaze]

Well, I'm trying to be economical. I don't terribly know where to start, though - we don't qualify for most of the discounts on Mousesavers, and I don't know where else to look!

 

[mad4themouse]

Hi Jen,
My best advise would be to get an idea of approximately what the vacation would cost you. Your major expenses will be transportation, lodging, park passes and food. You already know what kind of budget you're looking at based on the size of your DH's bonus.

Meanwhile, order the free vacation planning DVD or video from disney.com. I can take several weeks to arrive so, do it now. Just watching it might be enough to convince your DH.

Then choose your dates. My own preference would be for early December based on crowd sizes, available discounts and the holiday decorations.

Get estimates now. Go to a travel agent and find out how much a package would cost you. Then break the package down into what you really want (UPHs vs. PHPs, car rental vs. Mears vouchers) and cost it out yourself. Have those numbers ready to show your DH when you brook the subject. Let him know that prices for the room may come down later with a code, the PHPs can be purchased now (before any price increase) and that the airfare could be anywhere between now and December.

Then go for the jugular. Remind him that the kids will not be young forever. Believe me, they grow up faster than you would expect! By 2nd grade, my DD no longer wanted to wear anything with a Disney princess on it (other kids would tease her). She wears Mickey and some other characters all the time now (DD is almost 14) but no princesses, no Pooh. And forget the character Meet and Greets! Do it now, while she still believes in magic and fairytales and happily-ever-after.

Good Luck! We have pictures of every WDW vacation we took but the most precious to me are the ones from our first trip when DD was 5 and DS was 4.

 

[Mari annie]

We are leaving today for WDW cannot wait to get out of this cold!

Disboards is the best source for information, I was in the hospitality industry for 15 years and have been out now a couple years , now I am home ft. I enjoy all the information the boards have to offer!
There's alot of boards/information out there but Disboards is excellent!

No matter where you go in WDW you'll sure to have a magical time!

I only have one thing to say, stay on property, it really encompasses the entire Disney vacation, and with kids it's just so much easier, get on the bus, between lunch or the afternoon, come back to the hotel, either lunch, have a swim or take a nap-
or a shower!
To refresh then hop back on the bus and go back for some more family vacation!
That's what we do and it makes for everyone to be so much happier and the vacation so much more enjoyable!

Good luck and welcome!

:

 

[disneysteve]

Welcome.
As said, this is a great source of info, especially for the budget-minded Disney traveler. The offsite hotels are plentiful, quite nice and quite inexpensive. Here and on the Orlando Hotels board you can get plenty of advice about where to stay, where to eat and how to get around efficiently.

Keep the questions coming. We'll be happy to answer them.

Steve

 

[westjones]

Staying off site can save a lot of money, but we love stayin on site. You have to break it down as to what are the things you want to do while you are there (we loved breakfast at the castle with Cinderella, but it is a lot cheaper to eat something in the room before you go to the parks).

Park hoppers are nice because you can move from park to park. I am looking at the 3 day ones that have been mentioned on this board (but I have yet to buy one).

This is a great board to give you ideas on how to save money. We tent camped at FW once just because we wanted to be 'on site' and we couldn't afford the resorts at that time. The new value resort, Pop Century, is delightful and we are going to stay there in September (but you can find cheaper rooms offsite). I am paying $69/night in September with a AAA discount.

Good Luck convincing your husband. Luckily, both me and my husband love WDW, so for us it is just a matter of coming up with the time and money to go.....but we are both always ready!

DJ

 

[starwood]

Once you start showing him all the great deals you've found here (and how much money you can save) I'm sure he'll come around.

 

[jenr812]

Hi Jen! I'm new too, and while I've already convinced DH I'm in planning mode now Your sense of humor is like mine. We'd get along just fine hehe! I agree that the DVD Disney sends out is great. Good luck convincing DH and planning your vacation!!

~Jen~
Nursing student & SAHM to Jessica(10), Jayden(5) and Jory(18 months)
Planning our first trip to WDW!!!

 

[jaross]

I have DH convinced that we can't go anywhere else for less because I know where all the deals are (I learned everything right here). It's actually true most of the time.

The planning DVD is great for getting the excitement started. I just talked with someone else who was dead set against WDW until they found out there were 5 championship golfcourses. Someone else fell for Braves spring training (Buccaneeers football trains there too)

Just tell us what his hot button is and we'll tell you how to push it!

Good luck!

Chris

 

[Soupermom]

Hello! This is the place to be. I've been planning our trip for June '04 since March '03. My biggest piece of money saving advice...get a Disney Visa. There is no annual fee and it has save me LOTS of money! First, the free Disney dollars. So far, I have accumulated over $100 for our trip...this is our dining/spending money. (I always pay my VISA off in full every month, so I consider this free cash for my trip) In addition, VISA sends monthly specials for many Disney items, including trip packages. I had already been researching for months and was ready to go AAA, when they sent me an offer I couldn't refuse. My family of four, (two kids) is now staying on-site for 5 days/4 nights at the All Stars. We have 5 day hopper passes that cover all parks, etc. and we get 100 additional Disney Dollars when we check in, plus other little goodies for the kids. I booked airfare on my own...our total for all costs (hotel, passes, airfare) is $1,500...plus the $250+ in Disney Dollars I'll have. I pay as much as I can with my VISA, and then pay it off every month. Just go to the Disney website and there should be a pop-up ad from VISA. Hope this helps!

 

[floridagirrl2]

Hola chiquita! No "attempting" about it. You MUST go. It can actually be a fairly frugal vacation, especially considering your children will have a LIFETIME of memories (there's the ticket--you gotta guilt-trip your guy into going ).

 

[tink2dw]

How To Plan a WDW Trip!!

Start by reading All the WDW Guide books your library has even if they are older ones. They will help you get use to all the Disney querks,like calling there employees castmembers,PS are a type of reservation for meals.

Right now you can start deciding what are the things that are "must do's" and "must sees." and decide the length of your trip.

Then decide on the tickets you will need here.
http://www.mousesavers.com/tickets.html

To keep an EYE on All the discounts for on-site and off-site resorts check here often and sign up for the MouseSavers.com newsletter to get all the best news.
http://www.mousesavers.com/wdw.html

For Air fares sign up at all the Airline Web sites that fly out of your airport that fly to Orlando or MCO in airline speak. Then Check Expedia,Travelocity for airline deals. Also check out the Transporation Board air,car deals.
http://www.disboards.com/

Start a WDW change jar to save for your trip.[there are many tips here on this
board!!]

Also you can decide where you will want to eat and start making plans to make your food budget and check the Priority Seatings Calculator to know when you can make PS's some are as far out as 730 Days.
http://www.wdwinfo.com/wdwinfo/dining.htm

Also to help decide where to eat you can find menu's at Deb's wdw site,this works 2 ways to see where to eat what,and how much it costs, to finalize the food budget.
http://www.wdwig.com/menu/menus.htm

Water Plan
The water in Florida smells and tastes like sulfer!! WDW sells bottled water for $2.50 each for a small bottle!!That can be a real budget buster!! SO a Water Plan in necessary. Here are some of the solutions That have been posted

1. Buy water filtering Britta Sports bottles.
2. If you Drive bring cases of your Favorite bottled water from home
3. Flying, Buy bottled water at Walmart near All Stars.
4. Send cases of your Favorite bottled water to your WDW Resort

Well,this should get you start on a thousand more Questions!! So,don't be shy! Ask away!! The kind members here will share what they know! So,check back often!!

tink2dw