I could just cry...DH wants to cancel the trip AGAIN!

[bumbershoot]

They gave up birthday presents??? Oh how sad!!!

Huh. Disneyland WAS my son's present this year. It was a whole lot more expensive than what we usually get for him!!!


todzwife, is it also that since he's self-employed, he doesn't have vacation pay? I remember when I had my chiropractic practice, even if I had had the money to take a vacation, it would have been difficult, b/c every day away from the practice was money lost. But still, he's got to take vacations if he can!

 

[CrazyDuck]

I remember when I had my chiropractic practice,

OMG.... I didn't know we had a chiorpracter on these boards.... I'm gonna sneak on the ladies trip... I need an adjustment bumber! My back is killing me!!!

 

[todzwife]

Ok so there was a TOTAL change of plans I'm not sure WHY, but both DH and my dad were MUCH more open to going in October. So...new plan:

October 17-21 (well go Saturday, Monday and half of Tuesday)
Staying at Anaheim Plaza (Saving $80 vs. our 5 days at Hojo in Nov.)
No Blue Bayou (save what...$75?)
No Knotts Berry Farm for Thanksgiving (save about $200)

Just booked the Anaheim. I'm just glad we are going at all. I'm totally fine w/ a modified plan, AND this means we are going sooner.
Of course it's going to be busy so I'll probably get ridemax.

 

[CrazyDuck]

Yay... so what are you doing on Sunday? Instead of paying for ridemax ($15) why not just pay for a 4th day? It should only cost $15/ticket more!

 

[todzwife]

Yay... so what are you doing on Sunday? Instead of paying for ridemax ($15) why not just pay for a 4th day? It should only cost $15/ticket more!

We're probably going to go the the beach...my kids have never seen the ocean

 

[Gisele]

Oh that will be ever so nice for your children to be able to visit the ocean, it is beautiful, if you do not mind my asking, what geographic location do you and your family reside in? it sounds to be a state that is not close to any ocean.

 

[CrazyDuck]

Oh that will be ever so nice for your children to be able to visit the ocean, it is beautiful,

 

[JadeDarkstar]

out of the money i get i usely spend 600 on christmas and bday this year i did 100 each as a budget and the rest went to dl.
it will be good even my son knows hes going to dl is the bday present. and christmas.
just like next year mine will be wdw (then its a brake for a few years)

 

[todzwife]

Oh that will be ever so nice for your children to be able to visit the ocean, it is beautiful, if you do not mind my asking, what geographic location do you and your family reside in? it sounds to be a state that is not close to any ocean.

We're in New Mexico. Total Desert.

 

[bumbershoot]

OMG.... I didn't know we had a chiorpracter on these boards.... I'm gonna sneak on the ladies trip... I need an adjustment bumber! My back is killing me!!!

Ach, if only I were still practicing. Due to a very large number of events and feelings, I closed my practice and actually gave up my license in 2000, and other than hubby and son, I haven't put my hands on anyone since then (to adjust them). So I'm waaaaay out of practice, and now I've even hired someone else to adjust hubby and son (and me) b/c of being so out of practice.

 

[pixiewings71]

Well I guess thats the difference between you and me... I wouldn't even think to ask my kids to give up birthday and Christmas presents to get a trip to Disney! If I couldn't afford it and they wanted to go, then "I" would be the one to sacrifice something ($10 lunches, HBO, frappucchinos, whatever...) to make it happen for them!

Ummm, I don't drink frappucchino and I don't eat $10 lunches or whatever.... I make EVERY sacrifice to be able to take my kids to DL in fact we just got done with 14 trips in 12 months so please don't imply that I am a bad parent because my kids would give up birthday and Christmas to go. We didn't ask them to do that, they offered to do so when we told them we couldn't renew our AP's this year. THEY were sad, THEY offered, I have amazing children and if I could make it happen we would be at DL every weekend. It's just not realistic. And some people can't afford a trip to Disney without giving up extras, we aren't all made of money Sy, some of us are on very strict budgets, especially now with the mortgage issues and gas prices. That said, I took BOTH of my girls to DL for their birthdays this past year, they both had meals inside the park of their choice, they both got money to buy themselves a nice souvenir AND they both got gifts on top of that. My girls are not deprived in any way, even they know how lucky we were to have the last year of AP's and we are all looking forward to getting them again, and then we will probably make another 12-14 trips in 12 months because it's just too easy to do that!

We're probably going to go the the beach...my kids have never seen the ocean

Ahh, I love the beach. Your kids will love it too! Enjoy!! I'm so glad this all worked out for you!! YAY

 

[CrazyDuck]

Ummm, I don't drink frappucchino and I don't eat $10 lunches or whatever.... I make EVERY sacrifice to be able to take my kids to DL in fact we just got done with 14 trips in 12 months so please don't imply that I am a bad parent because my kids would give up birthday and Christmas to go. We didn't ask them to do that, they offered to do so when we told them we couldn't renew our AP's this year. THEY were sad, THEY offered, I have amazing children and if I could make it happen we would be at DL every weekend. It's just not realistic. And some people can't afford a trip to Disney without giving up extras, we aren't all made of money Sy, some of us are on very strict budgets, especially now with the mortgage issues and gas prices. That said, I took BOTH of my girls to DL for their birthdays this past year, they both had meals inside the park of their choice, they both got money to buy themselves a nice souvenir AND they both got gifts on top of that. My girls are not deprived in any way, even they know how lucky we were to have the last year of AP's and we are all looking forward to getting them again, and then we will probably make another 12-14 trips in 12 months because it's just too easy to do that!

I was not saying that you are a bad parent. I was just saying that I don't think kids should have to make sacrifices when it comes to financial situations regarding luxuries like vacation trips and Christmas presents. If you are going to take your kids to Disneyland then the parents should be the only ones that should have to make sacrifices. You don't tell little Jimmy "Sorry, I couldn't buy you a birthday present this year because we are saving money to go to Disneyland." Now if it was a necessity then that's a different story. You could tell little Jimmy "Sorry, I couldn't buy you a birthday present this year because I had to pay rent." You see the difference there? Parents sacrifice for luxuries, everyone sacrifices for necessities! Now lets talk about patience. Kids have none! It is ok if you tell em "Hey Jimmy, Happy Birthday! For your present I'm taking you to Disneyland in 1 week!", and little Jimmy will be Happy . You can't tell em "Hey Jimmy, Happy Birthday! For your present I'm taking you to Disneyland in 1 year!", because that would make little Jimmy mad ! At most you can stretch out a birthday present trip to Disneyland to 3 weeks! Anything longer than that you need to buy them a separate present and call the Disneyland trip a vacation!

14 trips in 12 months??? Someone here is made of money and it definately is not me!!!

 

[Sherry E]

I was not saying that you are a bad parent. I was just saying that I don't think kids should have to make sacrifices when it comes to financial situations regarding luxuries like vacation trips and Christmas presents. If you are going to take your kids to Disneyland then the parents should be the only ones that should have to make sacrifices. You don't tell little Jimmy "Sorry, I couldn't buy you a birthday present this year because we are saving money to go to Disneyland." Now if it was a necessity then that's a different story. You could tell little Jimmy "Sorry, I couldn't buy you a birthday present this year because I had to pay rent." You see the difference there? Parents sacrifice for luxuries, everyone sacrifices for necessities! Now lets talk about patience. Kids have none! It is ok if you tell em "Hey Jimmy, Happy Birthday! For your present I'm taking you to Disneyland in 1 week!", and little Jimmy will be Happy . You can't tell em "Hey Jimmy, Happy Birthday! For your present I'm taking you to Disneyland in 1 year!", because that would make little Jimmy mad ! At most you can stretch out a birthday present trip to Disneyland to 3 weeks! Anything longer than that you need to buy them a separate present and call the Disneyland trip a vacation!

14 trips in 12 months??? Someone here is made of money and it definately is not me!!!

Little Jimmy - for some reason, that name just cracks me up! Maybe Little Jimmy is made of money and nobody knows it yet?? If I understand correctly, Pixiewings and her whole family at one time had APs, so that is what you are supposed to do when you have APs - go as many times as you can squeeze in in your 12 months. Of course, you can cut back in other areas, like stay offsite, bring food, eat counter service and not table service and all that, but at least their admission was covered for the 14 times and that seems well worth the cost of an AP.

 

[jernysgirl]

I was not saying that you are a bad parent. I was just saying that I don't think kids should have to make sacrifices when it comes to financial situations regarding luxuries like vacation trips and Christmas presents. If you are going to take your kids to Disneyland then the parents should be the only ones that should have to make sacrifices. You don't tell little Jimmy "Sorry, I couldn't buy you a birthday present this year because we are saving money to go to Disneyland." Now if it was a necessity then that's a different story. You could tell little Jimmy "Sorry, I couldn't buy you a birthday present this year because I had to pay rent." You see the difference there? Parents sacrifice for luxuries, everyone sacrifices for necessities! Now lets talk about patience. Kids have none! It is ok if you tell em "Hey Jimmy, Happy Birthday! For your present I'm taking you to Disneyland in 1 week!", and little Jimmy will be Happy . You can't tell em "Hey Jimmy, Happy Birthday! For your present I'm taking you to Disneyland in 1 year!", because that would make little Jimmy mad ! At most you can stretch out a birthday present trip to Disneyland to 3 weeks! Anything longer than that you need to buy them a separate present and call the Disneyland trip a vacation!

14 trips in 12 months??? Someone here is made of money and it definately is not me!!!

If you noticed pixie did mention they had APs, so that makes it easier to fit in trips more often. And she was not making her girls sacrifice anything, she said that they volunteered because they would rather have the trip than presents. Some people just don't values things as much as experiences as a PP had mentioned.

I for one think that giving a trip for a present is totally ok. My kids would probably prefer it that way as well.

 

[pixiewings71]

I was not saying that you are a bad parent. I was just saying that I don't think kids should have to make sacrifices when it comes to financial situations regarding luxuries like vacation trips and Christmas presents. If you are going to take your kids to Disneyland then the parents should be the only ones that should have to make sacrifices. You don't tell little Jimmy "Sorry, I couldn't buy you a birthday present this year because we are saving money to go to Disneyland." Now if it was a necessity then that's a different story. You could tell little Jimmy "Sorry, I couldn't buy you a birthday present this year because I had to pay rent." You see the difference there? Parents sacrifice for luxuries, everyone sacrifices for necessities! Now lets talk about patience. Kids have none! It is ok if you tell em "Hey Jimmy, Happy Birthday! For your present I'm taking you to Disneyland in 1 week!", and little Jimmy will be Happy . You can't tell em "Hey Jimmy, Happy Birthday! For your present I'm taking you to Disneyland in 1 year!", because that would make little Jimmy mad ! At most you can stretch out a birthday present trip to Disneyland to 3 weeks! Anything longer than that you need to buy them a separate present and call the Disneyland trip a vacation!

14 trips in 12 months??? Someone here is made of money and it definately is not me!!!

Seriously Sy, did you even read my post? lol We had AP's, they were expiring, we told the girls we weren't renewing and THEY said "Mom, we will give up birthdays and Christmas if we can keep our AP's" I NEVER told them that would happen, I NEVER asked them to give anything up, THEY volunteered. We ultimately said no because we decided we need to pay some debt off first, after all we did take 14 trips in 12 months. And yes, we paid cash and used gift cards and rewards a lot but we also chose to charge some of the expenses so we need to pay those off before we can (in good conscience) go again.

And FTR, my girls do have patience, in fact they have a LOT of patience and neither of them would have any difficulties waiting for a trip to DL as a gift. Also, if we were doing that we would be going around the time of their birthdays so they would know well in advance "no parties, we are doing DL instead" and I can assure with 100000000% certainty that they would be absolutely fine with that! My girls are as into DL as I am, which IMO is a good thing. I wish you would just read what I posted instead of interpreting what you wanted, I also explained that they gave up neither Christmas nor birthdays, just that they had offered to do so because they would rather go to DL than have material gifts. We are very family oriented and we do a lot of things together, that matters to all of us more than getting gifts. Can I just take a moment and say "I have the BEST kids in the WORLD!!!!" My girls are so grounded and so self-sacrificing and I really don't know how I got so lucky....altho DD8 just come and tell me that DD12 is "getting on my nerves" LOL

Little Jimmy - for some reason, that name just cracks me up! Maybe Little Jimmy is made of money and nobody knows it yet?? If I understand correctly, Pixiewings and her whole family at one time had APs, so that is what you are supposed to do when you have APs - go as many times as you can squeeze in in your 12 months. Of course, you can cut back in other areas, like stay offsite, bring food, eat counter service and not table service and all that, but at least their admission was covered for the 14 times and that seems well worth the cost of an AP.

Thanks Sherry, yes, we did have AP's and we were all sad when we made the choice to let them expire. And we did stay at the HoJo or used our timeshare points so our stays were much cheaper after we upgrade, we went for long weekends (taking off on Friday and leaving Thursday after we were home from work) we ate CS or made our own meals, we took snacks in and our own water bottles. I also belong to MyPoints and was able to get gift certificates to restaurants in the area so we were able to save that way as well. You don't have to have a ton of money to make a trip to DL memorable, you just have to be together and have fun. And you know, we did and we loved it. And we can't wait to pay off some of our debt so we can start going back. Maybe not 14 times in 12 months but I would happily settle for 4 trips a year. LOL

If you noticed pixie did mention they had APs, so that makes it easier to fit in trips more often. And she was not making her girls sacrifice anything, she said that they volunteered because they would rather have the trip than presents. Some people just don't values things as much as experiences as a PP had mentioned.

I for one think that giving a trip for a present is totally ok. My kids would probably prefer it that way as well.

Thanks Jernysgirl, for reading the post. I would be super happy to get a trip to DL as a gift, no matter when it was given to me....heck I'd be happy to get an IOU this Christmas for a trip next Christmas! LOL Yes, I'm a diseyphile and I'm proud of it!

 

[CrazyDuck]

Seriously Sy, did you even read my post? lol We had AP's, they were expiring, we told the girls we weren't renewing and THEY said "Mom, we will give up birthdays and Christmas if we can keep our AP's" I NEVER told them that would happen, I NEVER asked them to give anything up, THEY volunteered. We ultimately said no because we decided we need to pay some debt off first, after all we did take 14 trips in 12 months. And yes, we paid cash and used gift cards and rewards a lot but we also chose to charge some of the expenses so we need to pay those off before we can (in good conscience) go again.

I read your post. I was not just replying to you though. I was just making a general statement. I'm glad you didn't allow them to give up their birthday and Christmas in lieu of AP's. If it was me though, I would not let them even know that we were not renewing them. My kids don't need to know that I can't afford AP's. They have enough to worry about like not peeing in their beds! Your kids are very lucky to have made that many trips to DL! Even when I lived 5 miles from DL we still never went more than 2 times a year.

And don't say you don't have a lot of money because even "going on the cheap" x 14 trips is still gonna cost you a lot on $$$. Just the gas for the 400+ miles you have to travel back and forth 28 times woulda set you back a couple thousand dollars! Now add in food and lodging x 14 trips... WOW I can only imagine!!! At least you got your moneys worth out of those AP's

 

[Sherry E]

Seriously Sy, did you even read my post? lol We had AP's, they were expiring, we told the girls we weren't renewing and THEY said "Mom, we will give up birthdays and Christmas if we can keep our AP's" I NEVER told them that would happen, I NEVER asked them to give anything up, THEY volunteered. We ultimately said no because we decided we need to pay some debt off first, after all we did take 14 trips in 12 months. And yes, we paid cash and used gift cards and rewards a lot but we also chose to charge some of the expenses so we need to pay those off before we can (in good conscience) go again.

And FTR, my girls do have patience, in fact they have a LOT of patience and neither of them would have any difficulties waiting for a trip to DL as a gift. Also, if we were doing that we would be going around the time of their birthdays so they would know well in advance "no parties, we are doing DL instead" and I can assure with 100000000% certainty that they would be absolutely fine with that! My girls are as into DL as I am, which IMO is a good thing. I wish you would just read what I posted instead of interpreting what you wanted, I also explained that they gave up neither Christmas nor birthdays, just that they had offered to do so because they would rather go to DL than have material gifts. We are very family oriented and we do a lot of things together, that matters to all of us more than getting gifts. Can I just take a moment and say "I have the BEST kids in the WORLD!!!!" My girls are so grounded and so self-sacrificing and I really don't know how I got so lucky....altho DD8 just come and tell me that DD12 is "getting on my nerves" LOL



Thanks Sherry, yes, we did have AP's and we were all sad when we made the choice to let them expire. And we did stay at the HoJo or used our timeshare points so our stays were much cheaper after we upgrade, we went for long weekends (taking off on Friday and leaving Thursday after we were home from work) we ate CS or made our own meals, we took snacks in and our own water bottles. I also belong to MyPoints and was able to get gift certificates to restaurants in the area so we were able to save that way as well. You don't have to have a ton of money to make a trip to DL memorable, you just have to be together and have fun. And you know, we did and we loved it. And we can't wait to pay off some of our debt so we can start going back. Maybe not 14 times in 12 months but I would happily settle for 4 trips a year. LOL

Thanks Jernysgirl, for reading the post. I would be super happy to get a trip to DL as a gift, no matter when it was given to me....heck I'd be happy to get an IOU this Christmas for a trip next Christmas! LOL Yes, I'm a diseyphile and I'm proud of it!

As a kid, I was always treated to DL "for my birthday." That was my b-day gift. I could usually bring one (or two) friends along, and I would sometimes get gifts too - some of them purchased at DL - but the trip itself was my b-day gift. That was 100% okay with me then, and would be 100% okay with me now! I am glad that, thus far, I have not had the funds to get an AP, because I know I would feel terrible when the time came that I couldn't renew it - and I don't even have kids! I would just feel terrible for ME!

 

[pixiewings71]

I read your post. I was not just replying to you though. I was just making a general statement. I'm glad you didn't allow them to give up their birthday and Christmas in lieu of AP's. If it was me though, I would not let them even know that we were not renewing them. My kids don't need to know that I can't afford AP's. They have enough to worry about like not peeing in their beds! Your kids are very lucky to have made that many trips to DL! Even when I lived 5 miles from DL we still never went more than 2 times a year.

And don't say you don't have a lot of money because even "going on the cheap" x 14 trips is still gonna cost you a lot on $$$. Just the gas for the 400+ miles you have to travel back and forth 28 times woulda set you back a couple thousand dollars! Now add in food and lodging x 14 trips... WOW I can only imagine!!! At least you got your moneys worth out of those AP's

If you're not talking to me then please stop quoting only me. The quotes imply you are speaking to me and no one else. And please don't tell me how much money I have, you have no idea. Yes, we did travel that much and do that many trips and yes we were very lucky we could do so. Again, we have a time share, we used our points for a couple of stays and our time share company gives us free stays a couple times a year as well. They want us to buy more so they give us free stays and other perks. Things like free meals and gas cards. That helped immensely with our travel expenses. And again, that's why we are taking a break, we need to pay those trips off before we charge more. We paid cash some of the times but we also used our credit card. Gotta get rid of that so we can have more fun. Besides, you live in HI, you've gotta be making some kind of money to live there! LOL I went to HI...oh man, like 11 yrs ago, it was super $$$ then, I'm sure it is now too. Gorgeous, but $$$.

 

[pixiewings71]

As a kid, I was always treated to DL "for my birthday." That was my b-day gift. I could usually bring one (or two) friends along, and I would sometimes get gifts too - some of them purchased at DL - but the trip itself was my b-day gift. That was 100% okay with me then, and would be 100% okay with me now! I am glad that, thus far, I have not had the funds to get an AP, because I know I would feel terrible when the time came that I couldn't renew it - and I don't even have kids! I would just feel terrible for ME!

LOL Sherry, we did feel bad. For the kids and for us! LOL We had such a great time at DL this past year, we feel so lucky and loved every minute...OK maybe not every single minute but the majority of minutes were loved by us all. LOL We are hoping that next year (2009) we can get new passes, as a Christmas gift I'm sure, but if we start using them at the beginning of 2010 we can get a full year out of it. Or we are talking about a trip to the World, I've never been and DBF went many many eons ago. LOL The kids have never been but I imagine they would love it.

 

[Sherry E]

LOL Sherry, we did feel bad. For the kids and for us! LOL We had such a great time at DL this past year, we feel so lucky and loved every minute...OK maybe not every single minute but the majority of minutes were loved by us all. LOL We are hoping that next year (2009) we can get new passes, as a Christmas gift I'm sure, but if we start using them at the beginning of 2010 we can get a full year out of it. Or we are talking about a trip to the World, I've never been and DBF went many many eons ago. LOL The kids have never been but I imagine they would love it.

I can't see how they wouldn't love it! There is a lot to love! As much of a sensory overload as DLR is, and as tough as it can be to squeeze everything in to one trip, and as draining on the wallet as it can be, I cannot even fathom what WDW will be like. Although, when one of my friends and her family went to WDW last December, the price of a full weeklong (6 or 7 nights) stay at Port Orleans was about the same price as three nights at the Grand Californian, so maybe it is not as bad as I think it is, pricewise?! Of course, there is no way to go to WDW and only see one or two of the parks. You have to see them all, and stroll around all of those resort hotels and there are so many more restaurant choices - it seems a bit overwhelming, really. But millions of people visit WDW every year, so it has to be manageable in some ways!