I can’t find a job, so let’s go to Disney! Maybe just a time or four?

lovedonaldduck

DIS Veteran
Joined
May 19, 2009
Messages
795
My name is Jennifer, I am a wife, mother, and accountant…At least I was an accountant until I was unexpectedly laid off in February. I have had an unbelievably hard time finding a job since then, I am currently working part time as a bookkeeper but still looking for a full time position. On Monday, I return to a company I’d love to work for for my third interview. Fingers crossed.


TRIP NUMBER ONE

Being unemployed, and now underemployed, has put a halt to any spending on fun. Luckily, my mom is missing Disney as much as I am and is willing to pay for a short girls trip. As a side note, growing up we didn’t have very much money, I never did without and I don’t feel like my childhood was lacking at all; however my parents wish they could have done more for me. My dad’s second career is much more lucrative than his first, so my parents are continually very generous to my family. I know how blessed I am and I am very appreciative. My dad also travels for work which is why this will be a girls only trip!


My girls are 10 and almost 5, Peyton and Charlotte.


Here are Peyton and I at a concert last month.

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Peyton is getting ready to go into 5th grade. She is 10 going on 25! She is super smart but not very athletic. She is excited to be a Safety Patrol this coming school year and is racing me to the mail box every day after school trying to find out who her teacher will be. She dreams of being a country singer, unfortunately for her, she is just as tone deaf as her mom.


Here are Charlotte and I.

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This little princess is my constant companion, definitely a mommy’s girl. She is a very caring and compassionate little one, she genuinely cares how other people feel and worries about them. She loves her ballet classes and can’t wait to start taking gymnastics.


Lastly, here are my mom and the girls on our last trip in May.
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The girls call my mom Bunny, so that is what I will be calling her in the report. She was able to keep both of my girls from the time I went back to work from maternity leave until they were almost 2 years old. She is still available at a moment’s notice if someone is running a fever and my husband and I both have to work. We are very blessed to have her and also to have her close by. She is close with both of my girls, but she and Peyton have a special bond.

TRIP NUMBER ONE

We have Florida resident seasonal passes (which no longer exist) which means that we have to deal with blackout dates over the summer. A few weeks ago, my mom asked when our blackout dates were over because she is itching for a trip. Add to that a case of strep throat for Peyton that required Bunny to keep the girls for a couple of days, and I was given my marching orders to get a trip booked with the following direction:

Peyton wants to stay at Art of Animation

Bunny wants to stay at Pop Century

Charlotte wants to stay at a cabin in the woods, otherwise known at Fort Wilderness Cabins

Bunny insists on doing the nighttime safari and will be out of town the weekend before the girls start school.


Next time, I’ll let you know how I did at filling the above requests.
 
Following along... We aren't a rich family either and can't go every year, much to my dismay. Love the nickname Bunny... I'm a nana, kids say I'm way to cool to be known as Granny LOL
 

I'm following along and looking forward to hearing how you work all those requests out :)
 
Woohoo... can't wait to see how this all turns out!

D~
 
following!
can't wait to hear the rest!

:welcome: Thanks for following along.

Following along... We aren't a rich family either and can't go every year, much to my dismay. Love the nickname Bunny... I'm a nana, kids say I'm way to cool to be known as Granny LOL

:welcome: My mom's first name is Bonnie and growing up my cousins called her Aunt Bunny.

Can;t wait to hear where you wind up staying.

:welcome: The big reveal will be below!

I'm on board for this trip too!

:welcome: Gear up, by the end of the year this will be 4 trips!

I'm following along and looking forward to hearing how you work all those requests out :)

:welcome: We won't be able to stay at all of the resorts, but I'll do my best to keep everyone happy.

Woohoo... can't wait to see how this all turns out!

D~
:welcome: Thanks for coming over!

D~[/QUOTE]

Sounds like fun! Enjoy!

:welcome: I am ready for a trip, it's been too long.

Following! Can't wait to hear whose resort request won :goodvibes
:welcome: And the winner is.....



So I priced out all of our options, but once we made a decision, I threw that piece of paper away :rolleyes1 The "cabin in the woods" was over $700 - looks like Charlotte may need to find a job! A Little Mermaid room at AoA was about $300. The winner ended up being Pop Century at about $250. I was hoping I could sway everyone to AoA since a girls trip will probably be my only chance to stay in a Little Mermaid room, but since Bunny is paying the bill and wants Pop Century, I am happy to stay there. She's never stayed before, so she's looking forward to it.

Here are the girls and I on our one and only stay at Pop, Summer of 2014.

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As of now, our plans are as follows:

Friday - Bunny, Charlotte, and I will pick Peyton up from school once she is done with Safety Patrol around 3:15. We will be packed up and ready to go so we will hit the road straight from school. It's usually about a 2.5 hour drive but I think we will hit Orlando around rush hour, so I'm giving us 3 hours. We will most likely drive directly to AK so we can get a few things done before the park closes.

We have the following FP+:
6:15-7:15 Kali River Rapids
7:25-8:25 Kilimanjaro Safari
8:25-8:45 The Jungle Book: Alive with Magic

We will either head straight to Kali or straight for food. I know my group will be starving but I'm hoping I can get them to do Kali first so we can head to KS later in our FP window so we can get closer to nighttime.

Saturday - Peyton decided we should head to Epcot since she thinks this is a full day park :)

Here are my drenched girls last time we were at Epcot in May.
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We have the following FP+:
9:30-10:30 Soarin/Test Track - we will split up for this one because Peyton won't ride Test Track and Charlotte won't ride Soarin' - I may try to do rider swap so each girl can ride their favorite twice and I can get a turn on Test Track
10:30-11:30 Character Spot
11:30-12:30 Living with the Land - I'm not sure we'll use this one

We have a lunch reservation at Tutto Italia at noon. I'm not sure if we'll keep it or not, or I may move it a little later in case we want to do Living with the Land. We've never eaten there. After lunch we'll work our way around the World Showcase. We'll be skipping the new Frozen ride unless it has a super short wait, I'm not holding my breath.:sad2:

Sunday - a short day at Magic Kingdom before we head home
We have the following FP+:
11:05-12:05 Jungle Cruise
12:10-1:10 The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh
1:20-2:20 Peter Pan

We will head straight to Fantasyland in the morning to do some of the girls favorites. We have a 10:35 breakfast reservation at Crystal Palace - we've never been for breakfast before. After Peter Pan we'll shop our way out of the park, hop a bus back to Pop, hit the gift shop there, and then head home. It will be a quick trip but we'll have a ton of fun! We love our girls trips because we can shop and pin trade as much as we want. :love:

That pretty much does it for this trip. Next time I'll share plans for my October trip!

 
TRIP NUMBER 2

This will be my 5th Annual Girls Trip to the Food and Wine Festival! This trip has evolved over the years but what remains the same is that it is a time for some of my mommy friends and I to head to Disney and escape real life and responsibilities (and husbands and kids) for a few days. We started out with a much bigger travel group and a much bigger room and a more ambitious itinerary 5 years ago. We've changed things up over the years and I believe this year will be the best year yet!

We rented DVC points and we're staying in a studio at the Boardwalk Villas for 2 nights. We've considered adding a 3rd night but the husbands really aren't on board for that.

On this trip, I get to travel with 2 of my best friends in the whole world. We've known each other since our oldest kids went to daycare together. Those kids are now 10 and starting 5th grade! Even though we don't see each other every day like we once did, we have grown closer over the years.

Here we are out to dinner last year.
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A, J, and me!

Here we are last year.
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A, me, and J

Since this is the 5th time we've done this trip, it's getting pretty easy to plan.

Thursday -
We will drop the kids at the bus stops/school and head out. Not sure if A or I will drive this year, but we should be on the road by 9am at the latest.
We will head straight to Boardwalk, probably getting there a little before noon. If our room is ready, we will unpack. If not, we'll leave our bags with bell services and walk over to Epcot.
We will eat and drink our way around the World Showcase at least once.
We will stop in random gift shops and shop as slowly as we want to.
We will head back to the room to get ready for dinner.
Taxi to dinner, dinner, taxi back to Boardwalk.

Friday -
We will sleep in, eat croissants from France while we drink mimosas in our room, and try to arrive at Epcot around 11am so we can stay ahead of the crowds in the World Showcase.
We will eat and drink our way around World Showcase, repeating our favorites from Thursday.
We will do more shopping.
We will head back to the room for a rest.
We will head back to Epcot, stay in the room, or hang out around the Boardwalk.

Saturday -
We will sleep in, eat croissants from France while we drink mimosas in our room. Pack up and pack the car.
We will head to lunch.
We will head to DHS for grown up rides.
We will walk back to Boardwalk and drive home arriving home around dinner time.

Not too exciting but one of my very favorite weekends of the year. Next time I'll share our matching shirts for this trip as well as our dining reservations and FP+ plans.
 
Sounds like a great mom's weekend. Can't wait to see your matching shirts! How far of a drive is for you?
 
Both trips look awesome!!! I cannot wait to hear more and to see the shirts! :woohoo:

D~
 
I'm loving the Girl's trip itinerary! No amount of time is too much time drinking around the World :drinking1
 












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