The “We are going in 2013 but not sure when” PTR

[mom2clr]

I had started a pre-trip previously when I thought we would be going in August 2012. However, life got in the way and the trip was canned. So here I am again, hoping to finish this report and start an actual trip report.

We did end up going in May ’12. It was a tough trip as DBF isn’t a Disney fan and put up with the trip for me and the girls. The baby caught some sort of virus and was extremely ill. Her fever hovered at 104 the day before we came home. DD4 did have a great time so it wasn’t a total wash. Needless to say, I feel like we need a do over (but will probably leave daddy at home. )

On to the details: The possible “When”…

After our May trip this past year, I promised C (DD4) we would go back when I went back to work. I had no intention of returning to work until next year when she entered kindergarten (our town is full day so I would only have to concern myself with daycare for the baby (D)) Anyway, when this current opportunity fell into my lap, it was no brainer. My schedule is Mon-Wed for 4 hours, 15min away. Good money for part-time work. C is remaining at the daycare center for PreK as opposed to going to the town program and D is being watched by C’s classmate’s mommy. Everything literally fell into place so I felt as though it was in the cards. With all that said, the first thing out of C’s mouth was “now that you are working, when are we going to Disney?” So, since mommy doesn’t break her promises, I decided to make the trip next year as opposed to waiting until 2014.

The reason for the title is rather simple. I have a few options and have not figured out what is going to work for us until about February.

Plan A: Before C was born, I wanted to take her for her 5th birthday (February) to MK and eat with the princesses. However, DBF’s 40th birthday is at the end of the month. He has allowed me to stay home and be with the girls and he is absolutely deserving of a big bash for his birthday! Since I was not working for so long, my savings have depleted a bit and doing 2 back to back celebrations would be too much financially. So I will do DBF’s party and push back trip to May.

Plan B: May is a good time as I liked the timeframe this past year. Weather was hot but humidity was not a problem at all. Then I started thinking about my sister (Y) and niece (S). We had originally planned a trip for Aug 2012 but when my sister was diagnosed with breast cancer in July ’11, we felt it would be better to postpone. So, the idea of going in August came to mind.

Plan C: End of August would work for me and my sister as C and S start school after Labor Day. We can take advantage of (hopefully) free dining or at a minimum the lower crowds at that time. I am not crazy about the heat & humidity or threat of hurricanes, but we’d be at Disney and would make the best of it.

So there you have it, the many options at the moment. My sister will know by February if she will be able to make the August trip. If she cannot, May it is.

Next post, the “Who”.

 

[mom2clr]

The Who http://disboards.com/showpost.php?p=46496033&postcount=3
The Where http://disboards.com/showpost.php?p=46496059&postcount=4
Savings Plan http://disboards.com/showpost.php?p=46501534&postcount=7
Life http://disboards.com/showpost.php?p=46559028&postcount=13
Sandy http://disboards.com/showpost.php?p=46575790&postcount=14
Sandy Pt 2 http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=46618571&postcount=15

 

[mom2clr]

Sorry for big pics. Trying to figure out how to make them smaller.

My name is Natalie and I’m a stay at home mom to 2 amazing little girls. I currently went back to work part-time at a former co-worker’s business. I am doing the same work I was doing at our old company so even though I have been out of the work force for 3 ½ years, it’s been great. We decided at the time the best thing would be to remain at home. I finished up my undergrad and while looking for work, found out we were pregnant with baby #2. We were living in central Jersey at the time and decided with 2 kids in the mix, that moving back to North Jersey closer to our friends and family was the ideal situation.

C is 4 ½ yrs old and smarter than her dad and I put together. She is quick and observant and we definitely have to be aware of what we say around her now. Lol She is in PreK and already reading. This has become a problem as she is always now over our shoulders trying to read everything we are looking at. She LOVES the princesses. She doesn’t discriminate and loves them all equally. This upcoming trip will be her 5th.

D is 19months and the reason for the new grey hairs on my head. Lol She is a tough cookie and definitely a different child than C. Love her nonetheless and as I say, we are still getting to know each other.  She recently has taken to “Mina” (aka Mickey). Whenever she sees anything Disney, her face lights up. She was 13 ½ months on our trip in May and poor baby got some sort of virus (she was sleeping a lot but I thought she was just tired. It wasn’t until the day before we left that the high fever came on. Horrible experience…) The few times she was awake she did enjoy the scenery. I’m hoping when we go back she will be able to enjoy it a bit more.

(I will post pics of my sister and niece if they decide to come. ) My sister is currently in remission from the breast cancer. So far so good. It was a scary year and I’m just glad we are in a better place. She has never been to Disney so I would love nothing more than to share it with her. My niece is currently a freshman in high school. She is a typical teenager. Lol Great kid though. This would also be her first trip.
Next up the “Where”….

 

[mom2clr]

The resort question is a biggie right now. My 3 options are POP, AOA or POFQ. My friend’s babysitter is a castmember (works summers) so I’m hoping she will be kind enough to share her discount. My friend said she would talk to her. (I never asked. She mentioned it as she knows I am planning. Certainly not trying to take advantage. )

Ideally I want to stay at POFQ. If the discount is good, then that’s my choice for May. If not, POP worked well for my trip with C in 2010. If we go with my sister, either 2 rooms at POP or AOA would suffice. If CM discount is good, then a suite.

So many variables! That’s probably the worst part of planning in advance. Too much time for “if”s!

Air: I have United miles that will expire in Dec ’13 if I don’t use them. I have enough for 3 one way tickets so airfare is half covered.

Dining: C is a picky eater so I never thought it would work for us. This past trip, with DBF joining us, I think we would have benefited from it. D would still be under 3 when we go, but she can eat!! I feel that with the dining plan, we will have plenty of food to share between the 3 of us. I will have to research a little more to see if it makes sense for us.

Tickets: Going with my sister may allow us to do the YES program thereby saving on ticket cost. Have to wait for that information to become available.

So, there you have it. This vague plans as there’s not much I can do now, but wait. I am “planning” the May trip at the moment but if my sister can do August, all my work will be in vain. Lol

I have been asked by my sitter to plan a June trip for her so I will be working on that until my plans become concrete.

 

[rebeccaariel]

You've got a very clever daughter on your hands for her to ask right away when you were going to WDW after you went back to work! She reminds me of myself as a child and both your daughters are completely adorable! You're very lucky!

POFQ is one of the resorts I'm considering for my next trip (that and POR), so I understand the appeal!

I was at Pop at the end of August, and it was great! I really liked the food court and the buses were really efficient and never TOO crowded. I'm sure you'll agree it's the best value resort by far.

As for the dining plan, I found it very convenient! You definitely get lots of food. I probably could have shared with a twin But I'm sure there are people on here who could tell you definitively whether or not there's enough to share with a child.

I look forward to following your travel plans as they progress! Good luck with everything!

 

[mom2clr]

You've got a very clever daughter on your hands for her to ask right away when you were going to WDW after you went back to work! She reminds me of myself as a child and both your daughters are completely adorable! You're very lucky!

POFQ is one of the resorts I'm considering for my next trip (that and POR), so I understand the appeal!

I was at Pop at the end of August, and it was great! I really liked the food court and the buses were really efficient and never TOO crowded. I'm sure you'll agree it's the best value resort by far.

As for the dining plan, I found it very convenient! You definitely get lots of food. I probably could have shared with a twin But I'm sure there are people on here who could tell you definitively whether or not there's enough to share with a child.

I look forward to following your travel plans as they progress! Good luck with everything!

Hi! Thank you so much for your input. I tried POP when I did a last minute solo trip (July 3-4) and liked it so I booked it for my trip with DD4 (then 2 1/2) in September. The food court by far was fantastic. I also liked the not sharing buses situation. At POFQ, we shared with POR once or twice the entire time we were there (both in 2010 & this past May).

As far as food, I could easily eat a kids meal but with DD1, that's not an option. I should be skinnier with how little she let's me eat. Always takes food right out of my hands.

I was also considering POR if my sister and niece join us but am afraid we'd be squished in a room. Plus everyone's family routine is different.

 

[mom2clr]

I told DD4 we are going to start saving for the trip. I have read some great ideas on how to save money that I think she will be able to understand. We will be doing the usual piggy bank route. DBF is the type who walks and change falls off of him. I told her whenever she saw daddy’s change falling, she was to take it and put it in the piggy bank. I would like to get a container of some sort and decorate it with Disney stickers so we can get a visual of what we are doing. I also read here on the Dis of a couple who would take their $1 bills on Sundays and put them away. I have started doing that myself and can see how quickly it can add up. Since I am only working part-time, I am taking 10% of my measly pay and putting that in a separate savings account. It should be enough to cover our tickets if anything.

If anyone has ideas on a coins container I can make, I would love to hear about it.

 

[rebeccaariel]

If anyone has ideas on a coins container I can make, I would love to hear about it.

Here's a picture of the little jar I made to store my Disney money. It's not much, I just got a jar from my local home goods store and some glitter foam with a sticky back from the office supply store. I cut the glitter foam in a Mickey shape and stuck it on the jar and voila! It's not much, but it does the job. Another idea is to find an actual Disney piggybank and use that for your coins.

 

[mom2clr]

LOVE IT!! I was planning on hitting the Dollar Tree tomorrow and see what I could find. I just want to be able to help her "see" that we are working towards something. She is smart, but she is only 4. I told her once a month we would go to the bank and put the coins and dollar bills into our special Disney account. I opened an account at TD Bank so she could help with the coins at the machine.

Thanks so much for the picture!

 

[mom2clr]

So I started putting a budget together for DBF's 40th birthday party and I began to think that a May trip may not be fiscally possible. August is still an option, but the truth is, unless, my sister will be joining me, I was thinking of pushing it back to November during Jersey week. DD4 will be in kindergarten and would miss 2-3 days of school.

I know, I know. It's only kindergarten, but we strongly believe she should not miss a week of school for a vacation. As of right now, I would have to pass it through DBF to convince him to let me take her out and miss those 2-3 days. (Might have to ask my teacher friends to weigh in )

I have those air miles that expire Dec '13 so I need to figure out when we can go. One more "what if" to add to my list.

 

[rebeccaariel]

I know some families are really against pulling their kids out of school for vacation, and I fully respect that. My parents pulled me out of school more than once for vacations and I never fell behind, but I suppose it depends on both the specific child and the school/teachers and how accommodating they are. I do completely understand your concerns.

I would highly recommend the last week of August. I went from August 27th-September 3rd, and the crowds were basically non-existent. It was really wonderful! We also got a free dining plan, which was awesome.

 

[mom2clr]

I know some families are really against pulling their kids out of school for vacation, and I fully respect that. My parents pulled me out of school more than once for vacations and I never fell behind, but I suppose it depends on both the specific child and the school/teachers and how accommodating they are. I do completely understand your concerns.

I would highly recommend the last week of August. I went from August 27th-September 3rd, and the crowds were basically non-existent. It was really wonderful! We also got a free dining plan, which was awesome.

I'm not really worried about her falling behind, but she is my "routine" and "schedule" kind of girl so I would hate to disturb her process. But for Disney, I may be able to take a chance.

My concern with August is the heat, humidity, potential hurricanes...lol We have gone in September and thoroughly enjoyed the low crowds so I guess it could work.

As I've said before, the downfall of planning so far in advance is all the different scenarios that run through my head! Something always pops up that makes me question what I already thought I had decided on.

 

[mom2clr]

I went to the dollar store and bought DD4 a piggy bank. She wrote "Disney" on it and decorated it with stickers. (I will upload pic tomorrow).

Prepped for Sandy and am hoping to get a few more items tomorrow after DD4's soccer game tomorrow. Looks like we will be stuck indoors Sunday evening through Mon-Tues. Going back to dollar store and Michael's for some craft projects to keep my girls entertained.

 

[mom2clr]

I have 2 sick kiddos on my hands (strep ) but now with the antibiotics kicking in, they are getting back to their rambunctious selves.

We are stuck home (for at least 2 days so far) due to Sandy so I am planning on some Disney planning.

Girls and I are watching Tangled at the moment. Going to scrounge up all the change in the house and put it into our new piggy bank. Maybe I'll get inspired and create a planner binder...that's if the girls let me. It's only 11 and they are already stir crazy.

YouTube will be my friend today.

 

[mom2clr]

Being home for almost a week has us with a severe case of cabin fever!! The weather has gotten cooler, but we have been able to take a walk through town the last few days. The gas situation here is nuts so I'm conserving the gas I have. Super lucky we didn't power so we have at least been able to watch TV and use our electronics.

Having all this time though has now caused me to rethink all new possibilities:

Feb or May: maybe a mommy/daughter trip?? If DBF is willing to stay with baby for 5 days, I'm seriously considering it. She could easily spend the day with the sitter (right now she only stays with her Mon-Wed 9-3) and he doesn't have to miss work. Something to consider.

Can't wait for some sense of normalcy to return to our area...