luvbeinamom
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- May 11, 2009
- Messages
- 188
Hi all!
Let me introduce myself. I am Amy, homemaker, mother of two girls, wife to an amazing man, Floridian, lover of all things Disney and currently planning another trip to the magic.
I went to Disney once when I was around 7 and was left with only vague memories of standing in lines, being hot and walking a VERY long way to our car to eat lunch from a cooler under the shade of a tree. My next visit was for Grad Nite. Not many memories there either. It was dark, I didn’t really care for the place and we really didn’t have that much time to explore. I remember riding a few things (Big Thunder Mountain Railroad at night was cool), shopping a little, but mainly I remember standing around a lot.
Then came marriage as they say. My then boyfriend took me on a date to Disney. I thought it was a little odd since we had to drive two hours to get there and we were only going for the day to Animal Kingdom of all places, but it was his choice, he was paying and driving, so of course I happily obliged. And wow! I fell in love. Head-over-heels, no-looking-back, love. Not with the man, but the mouse! Through no fault of my own the addiction to Disney started. (I later fell in love with the man too!
)
Now, after almost 9 years of marriage, two children and one tough move to North Florida, we are without a doubt an entire family addicted to all things Disney.
Our very first trip to Disney together
To brief you on our past Disney trips, we are occasionally Florida passholders. We usually get passes every other year depending on already planned vacations and the budget. Sometimes we get the seasonal pass, sometimes, like this past year to now, we get the regular annual pass. Our first trip as a family of four was November 2005 and we’re pushing 20 visits since then. Our oldest was 2 and our youngest was just 3 months old on their first visit.
I prefer to stay on Disney property and our resorts have included all of the values (POP being our favorite), Port Orleans Riverside, Caribbean Beach Resort, Coronado Springs (CSR is our favorite Moderate), Beach Club and Animal Kingdom lodge. I haven’t chosen a favorite Deluxe resort since there’s still so many to try!
Now, I won’t be shy, we usually go on a budget. We go during value season, get the passholder room rates, pay for meals OOP and share most meals, we get a few snacks and next to no souveniers. My kids have always been very happy with store bought souveniers outside of the parks.
That brings me to our next trip. This will be our last on this year’s passes as they expire in July and we’ve decided to experience Disney a little different. I say “little” because to a lot of you, we’re still doing it on a tight budget. I can’t help but get a twinge of jealousy when I read about these 14 night stays at the Poly with Deluxe Dining!!
On to my magical trip though…
We’re staying for 7 nights (5 nights was the longest in the past), we purchased the quick service dining (our first dining plan ever!), the kids each get $20 a day on souvenirs and I have a lot of little surprises in store for them. The only way we’re able to splurge on the other things is because we’re staying at POP Century for $63 a night ($72 for Fri/Sat) and the passes have already paid for themselves with 3 trips totaling 13 nights under our belt for the year. Living in Florida helps. We’re almost 5 hours away now that we’re in the panhandle, but we can still drive there!
Ok, so the details, right?!? I'll start with a pic of who we are and then post in a bit about the planning. As you can see we leave in less than 3 weeks!!!
This is us
DH 33
Me 32
DD6
DD4
Let me introduce myself. I am Amy, homemaker, mother of two girls, wife to an amazing man, Floridian, lover of all things Disney and currently planning another trip to the magic.
I went to Disney once when I was around 7 and was left with only vague memories of standing in lines, being hot and walking a VERY long way to our car to eat lunch from a cooler under the shade of a tree. My next visit was for Grad Nite. Not many memories there either. It was dark, I didn’t really care for the place and we really didn’t have that much time to explore. I remember riding a few things (Big Thunder Mountain Railroad at night was cool), shopping a little, but mainly I remember standing around a lot.
Then came marriage as they say. My then boyfriend took me on a date to Disney. I thought it was a little odd since we had to drive two hours to get there and we were only going for the day to Animal Kingdom of all places, but it was his choice, he was paying and driving, so of course I happily obliged. And wow! I fell in love. Head-over-heels, no-looking-back, love. Not with the man, but the mouse! Through no fault of my own the addiction to Disney started. (I later fell in love with the man too!
)Now, after almost 9 years of marriage, two children and one tough move to North Florida, we are without a doubt an entire family addicted to all things Disney.
Our very first trip to Disney together
To brief you on our past Disney trips, we are occasionally Florida passholders. We usually get passes every other year depending on already planned vacations and the budget. Sometimes we get the seasonal pass, sometimes, like this past year to now, we get the regular annual pass. Our first trip as a family of four was November 2005 and we’re pushing 20 visits since then. Our oldest was 2 and our youngest was just 3 months old on their first visit.
I prefer to stay on Disney property and our resorts have included all of the values (POP being our favorite), Port Orleans Riverside, Caribbean Beach Resort, Coronado Springs (CSR is our favorite Moderate), Beach Club and Animal Kingdom lodge. I haven’t chosen a favorite Deluxe resort since there’s still so many to try!
Now, I won’t be shy, we usually go on a budget. We go during value season, get the passholder room rates, pay for meals OOP and share most meals, we get a few snacks and next to no souveniers. My kids have always been very happy with store bought souveniers outside of the parks.
That brings me to our next trip. This will be our last on this year’s passes as they expire in July and we’ve decided to experience Disney a little different. I say “little” because to a lot of you, we’re still doing it on a tight budget. I can’t help but get a twinge of jealousy when I read about these 14 night stays at the Poly with Deluxe Dining!!
On to my magical trip though…
We’re staying for 7 nights (5 nights was the longest in the past), we purchased the quick service dining (our first dining plan ever!), the kids each get $20 a day on souvenirs and I have a lot of little surprises in store for them. The only way we’re able to splurge on the other things is because we’re staying at POP Century for $63 a night ($72 for Fri/Sat) and the passes have already paid for themselves with 3 trips totaling 13 nights under our belt for the year. Living in Florida helps. We’re almost 5 hours away now that we’re in the panhandle, but we can still drive there!
Ok, so the details, right?!? I'll start with a pic of who we are and then post in a bit about the planning. As you can see we leave in less than 3 weeks!!!
This is us
DH 33
Me 32
DD6
DD4
I feel like Im 10 planning a birthday party or something.
Maybe I'll run into you
