We Are Not Going To Disney...well We Cant Pass Up That Deal!

[LauraAnn630]

Let me introduce us!

Me - My name is Laura and I’m a Disney addict.
My main goal in life is to find ways to get back to Florida!

DH - His name is Aaron. He tries to find ways to keep our money in the bank!

DS - Zak is 10 years old. He rides everything but is afraid of Dinosaur.

DS - Joe is 4. He hates lines and loves to talk to strangers and swim.
Ya just cant take your eyes off Him for a minute!

FIL - Papa Joe , a great Papa but lets the boys get away with everything.
You want it he’ll buy it!

MIL - Grandma Judy, a very upbeat, positive, fun and young Grandma.
More strict with the boys, thank goodness!



HOW WE SAVED $1,135.00!!
We were NOT going back to WDW for a year or two! Then my DH got a very nice bonus from work! He was so excited ,as was I.
I said, “ WoW! We could go to Disney/Florida on that easy!”
DH said, “My boss said I shouldn’t tell YOU about the bonus!” Just wait till I see him! JK

DH was going in for knee surgery so I nicely tell him not telling me about the bonus would be a deadly mistake!! He agrees and assures me he would never not tell me, that would be wrong.

DH goes in for surgery and everything goes fine! I come home and get the kids settled and hop on line.
I immediately see the FREE DINING offer. OMG its being offered at the same time DH said he would like to go next time we go! My Disney brain starts racing and I’m thing to myself…


Should I consider taking the kids out of school for a Disney trip? It would be there second week of school. The free dinning is such a great offer! Do I ask recovering DH in hospital if we can go? How fast will this offer sell out? I decide to call DH in the hospital and run it by him.

First I ask him how he’s doing. Thank God, he’s just fine! I tell him about this amazing free dining offer
Disney has going. He doesn’t hesitate when he says, “Book it!”

Theres something about free food. FREE FOOD just makes DH happy! It’s a $600.00 savings for us!


At this point we are all screaming and dancin’! DS (10), and DS (5) and myself are all high fivein’ each other! I tell my DH this time we will get a better deal on the flight too!
(I don’t know how I’m going to do this??? We never get a good deal!)

 

[ktink]

Congrats Laura! We'll be going for free dining Sept 2-9! Can't wait to hear all the great details, where are you staying, what are you dates, etc.

Glad to hear that your DH is doing well. I don't think there is a better cure than a free dining promo!

 

[LauraAnn630]

Hi! ktink, The free dining is irresistable! DH is home and better than ever! His knee surgery went so well, hes a new man. I might have trouble keeping up with him this year!

You guys will there when we are!

 

[winkers]

So was your dh on good drugs at the time you asked him??

 

[LauraAnn630]

winkers So was your dh on good drugs at the time you asked him??

That is hilarious! As a matter of fact, HE WAS! LOL

I never thought of it that way.

~Morphine, Helping more families get to Disneyworld!~ lol

 

[ktink]

I never thought about doping DH up, I'll have to try that one!

 

[LauraAnn630]

So, I hop on-line and try to book ASMO with free dining. I GET it! We’ve never stay at Movies! We always stay at ASMU. Every time we get a code they end up putting us there. We love love love it! But this time MOVIES! This is great! I go to pay for it. The person signed in has to be the same name on the credit card. Well, I’m signed in and I need to use DH credit card! I have to make DH an account and sign it and start all over! I tried and tried but couldn’t get the ASMO. I ended up booking ASMU. We are still happy! VERY HAPPY!!

After our huge celebration and discussion about what we really want to do on our NEXT TRIP! The boys and I get on-line and go to the ticker site to see how many days till we go! We make our ticker and realize we have NEVER started out counting down this low before! Schools out soon and all we have to do is get through the summer…that’s always fun… Well be on our way before we know it!!
I get the boys bathed and in the bed. I have to find this great deal on our flight tickets…UT-OH

THE REAL PLANNING STARTS!

I start looking for these cheap flight tickets. All I found was the same old prices I always find. For the 4 of us $1,200.00!! Someone had mentioned flying out of another city. I thought that couldn’t make that much of a difference could it? We live in Parma, Ohio. Yes, where Drew Carry’s from.
So I try to find flights out of Akron. Same ol’ high prices! I'm going to
need some pixi dust!

This is what always happens. So Ill keep looking till I find something. I still have time.

I wake up the next morning, get my coffee and hop on-line to check the board and e-mail. Im looking through a thread seeing who’s going for FREE DINING! As I am reading I see people are making ADRS already! OH MY GOSH! I have never planned a trip when I can book our package and start making ADRS. We were at 149 days on our countdown. I should be making our ADRS! What was I thinking?

Later that night When I could get the whole family together I asked them where do you guys want to eat?
‘OHANA’S!, ‘OHANA’S! ‘OHANA’S! ’OHANA’S!
That’s all they cared about! Me too! lol

Well in order to book our ADRS we needed to know where we will be. I check the Disney parks calendar. We like to be in the parks that will be open late. First of all, we are not early risers and we like to come back to the resort to swim in the afternoon. Then head back to the park. So this is what I came up with…

Sept 1: Arrive at ASMU at noon. DQ and DTD CS: Wolfgang TS: ‘Ohana
Sept 2: MK TS: Chef Mickey’s
Sept 3: TL TS: Spoodles
Sept 4: Epcot TS: Coral Reef
Sept 5: AK TS: Donald’s Rest.
Sept 6: Kennedy Space Center TS: ‘Ohana
Sept 7: Pool day


I’m not going to sweat the CS ones. We know what we like or maybe well try something new. We have never been to Wolfgang’s, Spoodles, Coral Reef or Donald’s Restaurantosaurs. So, I am looking forward to trying new places.


So I get things set up and DS tells my DH parents ,
“GUESS WHAT????! WE ARE GOING TO DISNEY AGAIN!!”

DMIL says, “ What? I thought we were ALL going together the next time?”

UT-OH!

 

[rentayenta]

So was your dh on good drugs at the time you asked him??

You and your mood enhancing drugs to get what you want! I love it!


And I agree, how could you NOT take this trip?! Can't wait to read more!

 

[LauraAnn630]

rentayenta, I told my Dh about everyone telling me the drugs made him say yes!

He laughed and said it probably helped but the free dining was what got him!

 

[LauraAnn630]

Well, DMIL is always planning at trip. Europe, Italy, Ireland… But she keeps talking about when we ALL go to Disney. She was actually planning at Florida trip at this time that didn’t include us or Disney. So what, I’m going to sit around and wait and wait for them to say lets go???? I don’t think so.

I immediately invite them to come along. I told them we are going Sept 1 - 7. Why don’t you guys come with us. I told them about free dining, now’s the time to go!!! They said they will think about it.

A week goes by…. So, I ask them are ya commin’ or what??? They need more time to decide. If they do come want to stay off-site. What? Why don’t people listen? I’m thinking they need to decide quick or they will be OUT on the free dining. We decide we will meet for brunch and talk about it in a few days. That’s not how we would handle a free dining offer. I guess not everyone is like us. I know, its hard to get.

So, I have a few days to get the info together so they can decide. I typed up the pros and cons to staying on and off-site. With the free dining its really a no brainer! Why would anyone want to pay for their meals and parking and miss out on the extra hours? Not to mention ME verses renting a car every single day.

They decide to book ASMU with free dining. We are excited they decide to come along. Then…

DMIL says all our ADRS for dinner are to early. Could we please change them to later times?
They think they will go with us to some of our ADRS. They didn’t want to go to Donald’s or Chef Mickey’s.
Whatever….I change the other ones to later times and add 2 adults. For each one I got a new confirmation number.

Ok that’s done and everything will work out for everyone!!

NO not yet!



MORE CHANGES…OH NOOOooo
DFIL is insistent on taking us to the Kennedy Space Center. He said it’s a must do! We will love it!
I’m a little bitty bit upset about giving up a day at TL or BB. But, I love these people and I want them to have a good time too! DH decides he will add on the no-expire to our tickets. Okay that will work. That insures another trip!! I’m all for that. I am worried that we wont go to DQ. I don’t know why I’m worried about that but I am. Maybe we will just check in and go swimming , walk around DTD then got to ‘Ohana’s? The plan is to go to DQ while MIL and FIL walk around DTD. Hopefully well go to DQ as planned but if we don’t with no-expire on the tickets it will be okay. We have never been to DQ. I’m not so sure I will like it so much. Same with DS (5). Id rather be at Typhoon Lagoon. I can’t make up my mind. Maybe me and DS
(5) should skip this and save the tickets??? We will have at least 4 passes left on our tickets for another trip. OMG another trip! Whooo HOOO!

I dont know what to do?

 

[LauraAnn630]

Later in the week DMIL calls to tell me. They would like to go to all the same ADRS. Which is better anyways. Why wouldn’t they want to go with us to see the characters. I wont wait in line in the parks to see them. Sometimes at Epcot or to see Buzz and the Gang. Its not like the buffets have mac n cheese and hotdogs! I told them there will be a ton of food that they will like. So I chance the last 2 ADRS. That’s all set now! Whew! Well get in an hour early for Donald’s Restaurantosaurus. That will be a nice time to take pictures and video. FIL love to do video!

Then DMIL says she doesn’t think there are snack that they will like. So I sent them the big list. If you cant find something on that list then just give us your snack credits! GEEZ Even side salads and fruit are
on the list. They act like they only eat food that good for you. Well if that were the case they wouldn’t be chubby! LOL I think they will find plenty of snacks and food they will be quite happy with!

A GOOD DEAL ON OUR FLIGHT! NO WAY! FINALLY!


Now the flight!! Ahhhh! Just cant find a good price. I decide to look at lights from Detroit MI.
That’s when I found Air Tran Det .to Orl. all 4 of us for $675.00 TOTAL! I’m thinking its really not that
far from us. DH goes there a lot for business. That’s a savings of $525.00! That’s a bit of money. We figure gas will cost us about $50.00for gas to get there and back. No layovers too! We decide to go for it. So we will leave our home at 4:00am and head out to Detroit to catch our flight at 8am. Or maybe well leave the night before? I dunno yet. DH say we don’t sleep anyways! But the truth is we eventually fall asleep, ya know, around 3am! LoL If we went the night before we could get a little sleep. But, wed still have to get up at 4am to shower and get to the airport 2 hours early. Guess we’ll just leave from home. Im thinking since we are coming home on a Friday and we will still have the weekend. Maybe we will stop and see one of DH company ships. DH does all the computers on the ships. So, maybe we will spend a night in MI on the way back.

NOW WE ARE DOUBLE DIGIT DANCIN’!!

* package and DDP booked 1,200.00 paid - $530.00 balance (includes room, DDP, no-expire tickets & Ins)
* flight booked and paid!
* ADRS (aint changin’ em)
* fridge swap

I’m very excited to be DDD (Double Digit Dancing!) Everything’s getting paid off…Whew! We are saving all our quarters and pre 1982 pennies. I have them in M&M holders. We already have enough. I cleaned all the pennies with penny bright. I would like to do more quarter presses this time. They look better than our penny ones.

 

[LauraAnn630]

Trying to get caught up here. So, I can read everyone elses pre-trippy!

SHOPPIN’ FOR THE TRIP!
Of course I am buying things we will need along the way. Every time I go to the store I find something.
I put a box in the corner of my room and throw things in as I get them. I’ll mail the box down 10 days before we go. I’m thinking it will cost about 25.00 to 30.00. Its better than the suitcases being over weight. Then I can pack more clothes too! I might use that same box to mail stuff home. So far I have bought…

Ohio State rain ponchos (last year someone stole them off our stroller!)
paper plates
Paper towels
Napkins
Plastic disposable bowls for cereal in the morning
plastic wear
Mister fans
Water shoes
Sunscreen
Floaties
Adult beverages
Bug spray
Dryer sheets
Laundry soap
Stain stick
Visors
Ziploc’s
Water cameras
Pool towels
Address labels to send stuff home
dish soap and brush to wash out resort refillable mugs
Extra shoes
Coffee pot …coffee, sugar, powder creamer
Blender (for drinks)
Might put some baths stuff like...shampoo, hairspray, lotion

I’m buying everyone summer clothes. I hope some of them will make it till September!


MOUSEKEEPING ENVELOPES!
I made envelopes for mousekeeping. I think they came out good. They will be happy to get a tip!
I had fun making them. I am proud of my mousekeeping envelopes! I showed them off to my DS (5) and he wanted to keep them for his self.

Heres a few I made...

I have no idea why they are so big! It didnt matter what size I made them they came out to big!!

Anyways they are smaller envelopes, they are not all blurry. They look good! I am very proud of em'!



GROCERY DELIVERY!
I’ve decided to go with Garden Grocer. You have to order $50.00 worth, I think? We wont need that much.

I was thinking…

Cereal
Milk
Water
pop tarts
Cream cheese
Bagels
Sm. Veggie tray
Sm. Fruit tray
Bag of chips
Maybe the laundry soap?

That will be about $50.00 + $12.00 delivery fee. We will eat breakfast in our room. Taking turns showering and getting ready. So when we get to the parks no one better say, “I’M HUNGRY!”
No time to eat now, I’m headin’ to PIRATES!!

I bet thats going to be to much. But Id rather have it than not!

Am I forgetting something? I always think Im forgetting something important.
Guess well buy what we might forget. Funny thing is I never forgot anything.

Oh yea I did, last year we forgot the cord that goes from the camera to the laptop.

 

[LauraAnn630]

THE HUGE SURPRISE!!
THINGS CHANGE AGAIN AND WE CANT BELIEVE IT!!

DH gets this in e-mail!!!​

DH gets an e-mail from Disney for a free upgrade to SSR!
He calls me to tell me he just got this free offer to upgrade to SSR! I tell him, “No, that cant be so.”
He tells me he’s going to forward me the e-mail. Well, I don’t even look at it. Why would Disney give me a free room at a DVC resort?

Later that night I look at the e-mail. I cant believe it. I tell DH we have to call on this in the morning!!
DH, “SEE! I TOLD YOU!!”

“What will we do about your parents?” I ask him. We cant say see ya, were staying at SSR!

DH get up early and heads to work. He calls Disney and upgrades us to a 1 bedroom villa at
Saratoga Springs Resort and Spa!! I tell him, “We cant do this! We cant leave your parents at ASMU”
He proceeds to tell me he’s already talked to his Mom and they totally understand.
I’m still not happy about it. We need to have our rooms at the same resort! I ask him to call back and see if
we can get his parents upgraded. We are shot right down! We are told no one can be upgraded without getting an e-mail code of there own.

Not taking no for an answer especially since so many people on the Disboards had there whole party upgraded! DH calls back.
He tells the CM he got an e-mail to upgrade.

The CM tells him, “No, you didn’t because we didn’t send you one we sent your son one.”
DH a little bit flustered now says, “Well, he must of forwarded it to me, I dunno?”

The CM puts him on hold.
We are squirmin! WOW she knew that he didn’t really get the e-mail!! We are busted by Disney!

Finally she comes back on the line. They agree to upgrade Papa and Grandma!!!
Thank goodness! We are so happy! I really didn’t want to have separate resorts!

Thank You Disney!​

 

[mlill]

Congratulations on the upgrades! That's wonderful! You guys are going to love SSR! You better start saving now for your DVC. Once you stay in a 1 bedroom villa, you won't be able to go back to a regular room! I can't wait to read about your trip when you get back.

-Michelle

 

[ILMICKEY]

Oh my gosh!! You are having fabulous luck with your vacation! I am so happy for you.

Stamps. That is one thing you didn't have on your list. I hate looking around for them.

Can't wait for more!!!!!!