A lot of our furniture/electronics/carpet was ruined. So we HAD money saved up for spending on the trip and a lot of that had to go to emergency repairs and things.
OK.
If I absolutely NEED money due to an emergency then we have ways of getting it. At the moment, I'd really rather not touch those ways (emergency credit card).
I just gotta ask...did replacing things after a huge storm and a flood NOT hit your threshold of "emergency"?
Hopefully flood insurance will reimburse us though!
Can't you call your agent and discuss your coverage? See what will be replaced/reimbursed? Then once you KNOW, put those *emergency* purchases on the emergency credit card, since it will be reimbursed, and then your cash reserves you had saved for this trip would have been saved.
I just wonder what is considered an emergency, if making emergency repairs after a flood isn't considered one?
Have you already factored in your regular grocery & gas budget for that week? I figure when I'm on vacation, there's an extra $50 in gas for our two cars and $150 in groceries that I'd normally be spending - that $ becomes part of our vacation spending. If you haven't - that might give you a little wiggle room.
Good reminder.
Also, your refillable mug should work at AOA during your time there. We did a split stay in November and ours worked through the end of our 2nd hotel stay even though we bought it at the first.
The mugs last for 14 days now.
If you are able to scrap up Money for Disney stuff. The
walmart and Targets near buy have tons of Disney stuff cheaper. Also since you have a car there is a
Disney's Character Warehouse at the Orlando Premium Outlets .. Great
Disney store outlet..
I definitely agree. I thought that Target and Publix had a lot, but then I ended up at a Walmart in February and WOW do they have a ton of Disney stuff. And so cheap.
You can get airfare credits or reschedule the flights to another date by paying a fee. Eat the fees and get a refund for the WDW package and room reservation.
Definitely a good thing to *look into*. Compare the fees and when the credits would expire to the cost of the tickets and when the two can travel. I don't have one feeling one way or the other, but I would find all the information and make a decision based on the finances. Who is to say the trip couldn't happen fairly soon, if postponed right now? Get a notebook, call the airlines to see what the fees would be and when they would expire. Check on future dates and the airfares you see now. Check around with other hotels. Call Disney to see IF they are willing to help you out at all, or what the change fees might be.
Most importantly, look at EXACTLY how your family might eat at disney, and see IF the dining plan actually makes sense for you!
We can argue all day about it, we can give our own situations...but what's important is YOUR situation. Did you choose the plan because it makes sense for you? Or did you choose the plan because that's what you thought is a good idea? Make a *financial* decision for the dining plan.
I never realized until now how much Dis'ers hate the dining plan.
It is already paid for. Tips are being covered by someone else.
Why would someone "ditch the dining plan" under those circumstances?
If doing the plan as-is works for them, then it works. But if it doesn't, then it might be a good idea to drop it and buy food OOP. The big question is IF the OP has actually checked! We don't know.
If they eat in the way the dining plan causes you to eat, then it works. If they are more like my family, where it doesn't really, then it makes no sense to have the plan.
Oh! Can you get doggy bags at disney restaurants? That would be awesome! I would definitely bring those back to the hotel for meals later!
The problem is keeping things fresh for the day without making the family sick. Do you have a soft cooler or two with some gel ice packs?
Good idea. Make several loaves of that, and it's filling AND high in calories to keep you going.
my husband says he has an emergency credit card
That just stuck out at me. He says he has one? I hope you know the amount you can charge on it?
when MANY families are coming into Disney with packed lunches.. Just no one talks about really here on these boards.
Of course they do. We're reading the opposite threads.
If she calls up and says we had a flood, we have to make changes or we have to cancel disney is gonig to waive any change fees and help them out. There is a reason for this, it's not the people changing resorts for other discounts that the fee is designed to help stop.
They might very well do just that. I hope she checks!
We have a significant amount in savings and other things, but flat out refuse to touch it for anything it isn't meant for, Disney or not.
How about after a flood?
Target no longer offers pharmacy rewards
.
And even more, in my area at least, Target Pharmacy is now CVS.
avoiding the stress of worrying what people order etc to me is worth keeping the plan that you have paid for.
But that works for you because that works with how you eat. Our family doesn't follow the dining plan model at all, so we would still be getting things OOP, or we would not be eating what we want to eat.
It doesn't depend on the fees to cancel, b/c military reservations can be cancelled with no penalty until 5 days prior and she can drop the dining plan without it changing the entire package; I've done it.
Hope she booked it that way!
Not sure she did. I think she said her tickets don't have hoppers, and someone said the military tickets ARE hoppers. And she seemed a bit surprised by the idea of Shades of Green. I hope this thread will open her eyes to things it didn't seem she knew about before.
I will still advocate cancelling AoA. I'll point out that the rack rate for an AoA suite over Memorial Day weekend (which is day 6 & 7 or her stay) is $461 for Cars or Lion King Suites and $471 for Nemo Suites. The Armed Forces Salute Military Discount for a value is 30%, so she's still spending $322-$329 per night on a suite (plus tax). Canceling AoA and moving off site would save them a bundle. Caribe Royal has a 1-bedroom quite with 2 queen beds and fold out couch for $135 per night plus resort fees through MouseSavers. Two nights, all in, is $348. Or ... vrbo has 2-bedroom condos for less than $100 per night (Bryan’s Spanish Cove is $228 for 2 nights, all in) and they OP can cook her last dinner in her condo.
I love that you actually checked for the OP.
I thought tipping housekeeping was pretty standard at any hotel. I would never think it was optional. Isn't there an envelope? I could be wrong about the envelope at WDW, we left a note and cash on the table-mousekeeping was always leaving us little adorable surprises.
It's not. There are plenty of people in this world who have no idea about tipping housekeeping.
And at WDW it is literally an untipped position. They should NEVER expect it, because that's what their job description said, that it's not a tippable position.
No, there is no envelope.
I can't believe people would tell someone not to go on a trip bc they won't be able to buy Disney food.
No one has said that.
Can you imagine driving off site to McDonalds the last day of your vacation?
I can't imagine McDs, but we get SO sick of Disney food and prices that we often, happily, go offsite for food. OUR personal favorite is Sweet Tomatoes. Sign up for their emails and they often send discount codes.
If she has, then she didn't use the military discount of 30-40% off room rates and the ability to buy substantially cheaper tickets. I surely hope she didn't do that.....
Same. But I really don't think she booked with a military discount. I feel like she would have said that if she had.
I certainly understand why she doesn't want to change anything. It's a lot of work to make all your plans and it's fun to dream about how wonderful it will be staying at one resort or another and how much your kids will LOVE it. I totally understand dreaming about the "mouse life".
Totally.
Heck, we kept a planned trip to
Disneyland when DH was in a flurry of job interviews because his department was being moved to ND and they hadn't offered him a position there (aka a layoff). I get it. I just hope the OP finds the costs of changing things around or even delaying the trip.
I also hope she calls her insurance agent to find out more about what will be covered and what won't be.
