Very Merry Christmas Indeed! (Nov 2012)

[MarieLightning]

May I just start this by saying...

SQUEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE I'M GOING TO DISNEY!!!

*ahem*

Now that that's done...

Hello everyone my name is Marie, I live in Quebec, Canada, and November 11th 2012 will be the proof for me that dreams really DO come true

(I better hope my wife doesn't read this...)

Disney has been a part of my life for as long as I can remember, but Disney World (or Land) is not something I've ever had the chance to experience before. I blame it on the fact that my brother had to go and be a Canadian stereotype by playing hockey from the age of 7 to 16, which is not a cheap passtime, and so our vacation budget wasn't exactly high. Not that I minded - going camping for a couple of weeks with my family and godmommy's family was always great fun. But you know - Florida is a tad further away, and Disney restaurants cost doesn't exactly equal marshmallows bought at a convenience store!

I considered for a long time doing the International program and working at the Canadian Pavillion in Epcot (yes, I was willing to dress like a lumberjack *shudders at that representation*) but as, by the time I found out it even existed, I had just figured out what I wanted to do with my life and started studying for it, it just wasn't really ideal timing. I still wish I could somehow move to Florida someday and buy an annual pass to the Kingdom. Boy would I get some use out of that!

Anyways, a little over a year ago, I finished studying in Tourism, and in October 2011 I got a job for a travel wholesaler. Which meeaaans... DISCOUNTS! I'm not gonna give figures, but I couldn't have booked a trip to Disney without those discounts. No way no how.

So, when I started my job, I knew Disney was something I *had* to do, now that I had ways of doing it. A few things happened in the mean time, however - aka, I got married in April to my best friend who so happens to be American. She's from Michigan though, so I can't really rely on her to get me to Florida!

As she will be moving over here in September, and only then will we start looking for an apartment (I currently like with my parents, and I don't want to do the looking process without her), I figured, you know what? November's a good time. Right now, we don't have any serious monetary responsibilities - in less than a year, that will drastically change with a rent and bills to pay for.

After some bugging and begging and pleading, she agreed. Not that she's not excited to go - spending money is just worrisome to her. But by the 18th of May, it was a done deal.

We're going to Disney! ​

 

[MarieLightning]

Planning! I looove planning! Planning is my middle name! Or well, it would be if I had one

Don't judge, us French Canadian people don't do the English thing

Anyways

Here are the basics of this trip

There will be four of us going. Myself (duh), my wife Amber, my aunt (who'll be turning 60 while we're there!) and my uncle (who'll be turning 61 the day right before we leave!)

We'll be there from November 11th to November 18th, staying at the All-Star Music (we're on a budget people! I was pretty bummed when I remembered I could have actually booked the Art of Animation, but in the end, it's 70$ more per couple, and though to some that probably doesn't seem like a lot, we're on a pretty strict spending limit, and considering how little time we plan on spending in our rooms, I figured it doesn't really matter) on the Dining Plan. My wife and I will have the basic Magic Your Way tickets (no park hoppin' for these ladies!) but my aunt and uncle decided to opt for the Park Hopper.

I've already established the parks per day, and the dining reservations, but there's obviously a whole lot of holes in this planning! I don't entirely know what I'm doing, though I love to pretend I do XD since we're on a limited amount of time, and we have no idea when we'll be going back, we chose to go with the EMHs to determine which park to visit each day. There's also another very important factor called MVMCP included in this trip which will fall on my aunt's birthday exactly, which is perfect because she loooooves Christmas! (And so do I!)

So here goes the basic details of our week


Sunday, November 11th

Arrival into MCO at 11:55! Then we'll probably get lost around Orlando airport (I have no sense of direction, my aunt speaks little English and my uncle none at all, so my wife better get us out of there ) before heading over to our resort on the Magical Express After checking in, we're gonna head out for our first dining reservation!

Whispering Canyon Cafe, at 6:25 pm! We figured that after a long day of not eating much, that would be a pretty good plan


Monday, November 12th

Hollywood Studios
9 am to 11 pm (including evening EMHs!)

For that day, we've made reservations for Mama Melrose's at 12:20 pm, with the Fantasmic package for the 6:30 pm show! Sooo excited!


Tuesday, November 13th

Epcot
8 am to 9 pm (including morning EMHs )

No idea yet what we'll be doing on that day, except for our dining information! Reservation at Chefs de France at 6:00 pm. My uncle might actually be able to speak to someone there


Wednesday, November 14th

Animal Kingdom
8 am to 5 pm (including morning EMHs)

So, by chosing to spend only one day at AK, it was easy to pick that day since it was the only day with EMH that didn't clash with something else

We don't, however, have reservations at AK for dining. My wife and I are both pretty picky about food, and none of the menus we were looking at appealed to us. Plus, we really want to go to Pizzafari So instead, we made reservations at 6:00 pm in Downtown Disney, for Planet Hollywood! I've been to Planet Hollywood in New York and I loved it there, and my wife has never been so we thought that would be a good opportunity! My aunt and uncle have a different reservation, though at 6:00 pm in their case too, but at the Rainforest Cafe! They were looking to do it in Animal Kingdom directly, but when we saw there was one in Downtown Disney, we figured we might as well try to have as similar a schedule as possible


Thursday, November 15th

Magic Kingdom
8 am to 7 pm (including morning EMHs)

Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party
7 pm to 12 am (Yaaaaaay!)

I am sooo excited for that day, like you have no idea. I'm such a Christmas lover, I plan my Christmas presents all year around, I can spend hours wrapping them too cause I want them to look beautiful and flawless (that I take from my mom, last year she was up until 4 am wrapping presents one evening!), I would sing Christmas songs all year around and I just love that time of year so badly, so getting to experience MVMCP is gonna be amazing.

And then, I had to have lunch with my aunt that day since it's her birthday! We made reservations for the Crystal Palace at 12:15! Originally I wanted to go for dinner the day we got there, but the reservations available were too early, and then I didn't want to go for dinner during the Christmas event! I don't want to miss a minute of it! So we opted for lunch instead


Friday, November 16th

Epcot
9 am to 11 pm (including evening EMHs)

Second day spent at Epcot! I definitely want to do Soarin' more than once, so that's gonna be a good way of doing that

This is the second day my aunt and uncle have different reservations than my wife and I! We've made lunch reservations for Coral Reef at 12:15, and they have dinner reservations for 50's Prime Time Cafe at 5:30 pm! I wish I could have fit that one in somewhere, but without the Park Hopper, and wanting to do the Fantasmic package, I had to let it go. Oh well, it's popular enough that it'll still be there when I go back with my kids! My aunt is very excited though, especially since I told her people can get sent to the corner if they misbehave! And since my uncle doesn't speak English and will be completely clueless, she plans on tricking him into doing something that'll get him in "trouble" Too bad I'll have to miss that!


Saturday, November 17th

Magic Kingdom
9 am to 10 pm (no EMHs )

Last day of the trip, so I definitely wanted to end it at the Magic Kingdom! This is also the night where we decided to treat ourselves with our dining reservation - Cinderella's Royal Table for dinner, at 5:25 pm

Now, originally, my wife and I weren't gonna do the regular dining plan - we were gonna do the quick service because it was cheaper and we wanted to spend as little money as possible. However, after much talking, we decided to go with the regular plan, partly because of this meal. With how much it seemed like it was gonna cost just by itself, it almost covered the upgrade from quick to regular. But in the end, it was the Crystal Palace that did it. My wife gave in when she found out she could have a meal with Winnie the Pooh


Sunday, November 18th

Leaving day and considering we have to be at the airport at like... 9:40, no time for a Disney park either *le sigh* so this day is just gonna be getting up, getting ready to leave and then bye bye Disney

We'll be home in the afternoon, and then I guess I'll try to fight the sadness and withdrawal by writing up my trip report, putting up pictures and giving away souvenirs all day long!​

 

[MarieLightning]

Disney on a budget

So, I've already mentioned we're under a strict spending limit. To be fully honest, if it were just me, I probably wouldn't respect that rule I've always been a tad irresponsible with money when it comes to traveling - I like getting souvenirs for everybody, and I love trying to experience everything I possibly can. I figure there's no possible way of saying I'll ever be back again, so I don't want to miss out on anything.

My wife, on the other hand, has a very different mindset about money, which is good considering I need to learn to be more responsible, but it also means restraining some of the things I might have done otherwise (aka spend a whole paycheck in the Emporium).

Now, I'm heading off to the happiest place on earth, so there is no way I want to start arguing or fighting about money spending when we get there. Which means every dollar spent, more or less, has to be planned out beforehand. Here's how I've chosen to go about with this.

Survey/reward sites. Most everybody knows of those, but man are they annoying. Honestly, half the time I go to do a survey, before too long I'll get that irksome message that I do not respond to the criterias they are looking for. asdfghjkl. And since I'm Canadian, this seems to be made even worse.

After some searching though, I found two fool proof websites that will earn me spending money, even if it's at a snail pace. I would recommend them to anyone who's got some idle time on their hands once in a while and want to make an extra buck here and there (cause yes, you won't be making a fortune with either of those, believe you me).


Tellwut

This is a poll website. Plain and simple. There's no restriction (that I've seen) on nationality, because it's basically just picking what you think is too old to still be living at your parents' or what's the worst fashion crime for men

It works at a sloooow pace though. Depending on the poll, you'll get 5 or 10 points a piece (if it's a one question poll, 5 points, and if it's multiple questions, you get 10). You also have the oddballs that'll give you 15, but I've only come across them twice. You can also get points by creating your own poll, updating your profile and inviting people.

The rewards vary, mostly in the form of gift cards. You can get a 10$ Walmart or Amazon gift card with 4,000 points, 25$ with 10,000 points, and then Amazon has a 50$ one for 20,000 points. So yes, it's a slow progress, but if like me your departure is in November, it gives plenty of times, and you can buy American Express prepaid cards on Amazon, or Disney gift cards at Walmart!


MTurk

This one works by 'tasks'. People go on that website and put up various small tasks that people can get paid to do. Anyone can register, but your country of residence influences some of the tasks you're eligible for. They range in reward amount, from over 20$ to 1 cent a piece (and if you're Canadian like me, you'll most likely be closer to the low end of the spectrum than the other way around) and they can be as simple as doing a term search on google and giving the rating for the result, or they can be a request for graphic designs or a transcription of a 10 minutes college class recording.

Again, you don't make a lot of money from it, but when you've got free time on your hands, some of those tasks (even though they only give you ten cents per hit) are easily doable in a couple of minutes, and two extra bucks a day when you have over 100 days left before your vacation can easily add up!



So that's my solution for money spending. Everything I will spend in Disney World will come from these reward websites - souvenirs, extra snacks, proper breakfasts, etc.



There's also a few other small tricks that most people are already aware of, but that are good money savers.

For example, eBay for pin trading. When I first read about pin trading, I kneeew I had to do it. That's just so totally me, and I love those kind of things. But spending 7$ or more for one pin won't get me very far with a limited budget. So I got 50 pins for less than 30$, with free shipping, and two lanyards for 4$ each (Winnie the Pooh for my wife, Disney Princesses for me ). I admittedly might get a few more, cause from my half of those, there's 10 I want to keep, and I feel like 15 to trade won't be enough

Then, there's the ever popular autograph book. Of course I want the characters autographs! All of them that I meet! But to be fully honest, after looking at the official book designs, I didn't see any that appealed to me that much for close to 10$

Now, I'm a scrapbooking freak. When I go to the dollar store, I can easily come out of there with a bag full of crafting goodies, and I love making scrapbooks. I also happen to have a notebook full of blank pages, so my plan is to bring that and have each character sign on their individual pages. Then, when I get home, I'll match up each autograph with a picture taken with them in a scrapbook I'll make. Since I already have mostly all of the supplies needed, that'll be a practically free and more to my taste autograph book

Breakfast is something else. With the regular dining plan, we have two meals payed for every day. We've already established that'll be lunch and dinner, because my wife isn't a big fan of breakfast (aka the crazy girl doesn't like breakfast food ) Pancakes, waffles, bacon and eggs, none of that! However, she does eat the bad stuff like poptarts, so that's probably what we'll do - grab a couple of boxes at the grocery store, along with some granola bars, and those will be our breakfasts for most of the day - except on days where I decide to cheat and get a breakfast croissant

Then there's all the small things - rain ponchos, first aid, luggage charge for the airplane, tipping, etc. Well, tipping we can't avoid of course, so that'll have to be done to the best of our abilities and hopefully nobody will think we're cheap every other necessity we'll try and get as it goes on sale before we head over there. As for luggage fees, those are also something we can't avoid, but we've decided to cram all our stuff in one suitcase (my wife's is pretty big) and then use as big of carry ons as we can, so that's cuting down the cost by half (and since it's 25$ per bag per way, that's a 50$ savings).

Of course, if anyone else has saving trips they swear by, I'd be so happy if you could share them with me! Anything to appease the wife would be awesome ​

 

[MarieLightning]

I'm sooooo excited right now, my leg keeps bouncing up and down as I'm waiting for an answer from my reservation department.

With the new prices out with the free dining plan, I might be able to upgrade to a Moderate Resort, for less than I'm paying for the Value ones!

There might be a change fee of course, cause that's part of the deal, but then they just charge the change fee and reimburse the difference. And since there's a 72$ difference per person, and the change fee if 50$, I wouldn't even have to pay anything to make the change!

I really really hope it works out, because that would be so awesome. The one I'm looking at is the Port Orleans Riverside, and I love the general looks of it. I could do the French Quarters too for the same price, but somehow, the looks of the Riverside appeals to me a little more.

I'm just really hyped right now, and I keep staring at my inbox. Going from the All-Star Music to the Port Orleans Riverside would be so awesome, and definitely not something I'd even hoped for! I mean, I had looked into maybe changing for the Art of Animation resort, but even that was more expensive, and I figured for the difference in price and how much time we'd be spending there, it just wasn't worth it.

My work neighbor is probably gonna smack me too if I keep saying I'm excited, but I just can't help it. I haven't told anyone else yet, but hopefully it'll come through, and then I'll be so psyched to tell my wife, aunt and uncle about it!​

 

[vleeth]

So what hotel did you end up with?

 

[MarieLightning]

So what hotel did you end up with?

I ended up being able to upgrade to the Port Orleans French Quarter

Even with the change fee, we got refunded some money! We didn't go for the Riverside because in between the time I asked for it and the time they could answer me, the price went up and it more expensive. I didn't want to pay more money, nor could I take the decision for my aunt and uncle to do so, so we went with the French Quarter.

As it is, I'm more and more happy about that decision every day, with the knowledge of the size scale of FQ compared to Riverside. I'm sure the latter is amazing, but I'm more of a smaller resort type person!

My wife was really happy when I told her and showed her the pictures, especially after I mentioned it was cheaper and my aunt and uncle were really excited too! My aunt especially. She's sooo psyched for this trip, and it makes me really happy that I'm able to give her the opportunity to go again ​