We went from 5people to 14 to 10, 9, 8??!?! PTR 1 WEEK TO GO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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A friends SIL made this Yoda hat....I sure hope it fits him when we go to WDW!!!

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Casey at 3 months...time is slipping away!
 
I'm joining in on your PTR! :goodvibes

Have you ever thought about going in January 2013? It's kinda the halfway point from fall and spring. I've been twice in January and twice in the Fall and once in the Spring and January is my absolute favorite time to go. Low crowds, great temps so you aren't sweating all the time and the rain isn't very bad just quick storms if anything. Just a thought. :thumbsup2
 
Now that the big boys are in school I have to be mindful os state testing (as they can't miss it), and last night I was looking at picts of Lurkyloo's TR from F&W and my mouth was watering....major drooling going on!!! January would be nice, as we like ot go during low crowd and not too hot (although Sept is pretty hot!), but I fear that Jan would be too cold for the boys to swim.

Oh choices!

DH and I were talking last night about how we want to get our financial ducks in a row (we jsut got hte Dave Ramsey book) as money has been overly tight the past few months (catching up from maternity leave and only 66% of my pay). WE make MORE than enough but manage it poorly, so the next few months will be a buckle down of spending and figuring out our budget and in that budget will be vacation fund.

On our 2nd trip we took DH's parents...he dad was a great travel mate (we went off and did our own things with the kids and met up for meals or shows or even a few rides)......his mom not so much. Anyway DH said last night We should see if his dad wants to go on a WDW cruise with us (and hopefully pay!). His dad LOVES cruising, DH has yet to go on one and really had no desire to, however I guess if his dad pays...LOL!!!

I have some updates to give, but have been fighting a cold/sinus infection and Casey is cranky today as he jsut got shots...poor boy!
 
Now that the big boys are in school I have to be mindful os state testing (as they can't miss it), and last night I was looking at picts of Lurkyloo's TR from F&W and my mouth was watering....major drooling going on!!! January would be nice, as we like ot go during low crowd and not too hot (although Sept is pretty hot!), but I fear that Jan would be too cold for the boys to swim.

Oh choices!

DH and I were talking last night about how we want to get our financial ducks in a row (we jsut got hte Dave Ramsey book) as money has been overly tight the past few months (catching up from maternity leave and only 66% of my pay). WE make MORE than enough but manage it poorly, so the next few months will be a buckle down of spending and figuring out our budget and in that budget will be vacation fund.

On our 2nd trip we took DH's parents...he dad was a great travel mate (we went off and did our own things with the kids and met up for meals or shows or even a few rides)......his mom not so much. Anyway DH said last night We should see if his dad wants to go on a WDW cruise with us (and hopefully pay!). His dad LOVES cruising, DH has yet to go on one and really had no desire to, however I guess if his dad pays...LOL!!!

I have some updates to give, but have been fighting a cold/sinus infection and Casey is cranky today as he jsut got shots...poor boy!

The pools at WDW are heated and I have swum in January, I just don't hang outside too much after I get out and it's worked for me but I can see your concern with your boys swimming.

I'm trying to save up for maternity leave and such right now, it is all such a headache.

A free cruise would be fantastic! I'll cross my fingers for you! :yay:
 

We have been in July of 08, May of 09, Feb 11, and we just got back from our 11 day trip in September. My favorite time of all of those was February. It never rained. It was not so hot and I still went swimming during the day. I ate at Ohana's for dinner and it was the best meal I have ever had at WDW.
 
I am hoping that Disney will smarten up and have a BOY themed character meal...Either Pirates or Toy Story would be great. Yes there are those who say what about Crystal Palace or CM or Cape May, but those are really for everyone and since the 'girls' have princes meals it would only be fair (and would make them a ton of money!!!)

I agree! I have said over and over that they would make money just on my family alone if they'd offer a Buzz & Woody-themed meal! Why on earth don't they do this?


So what are some MUST DOs on your trips?

We just have to go to Le Cellier for the cheese soup (and, of course, a steak!) and my kids love 1900 Park Fair b/c they like to see Mary Poppins and the Mad Hatter. Then we pretty much just park ourselves in the line for the Toy Story ride at Hollywood Studios for most of the rest of the visit. :rotfl:

I don't think you're nuts for planning a WDW vacay with a new baby, btw. My newest addition is not yet 3 months old, but I've already planned a fun vacay with my MIL and my 3 kiddos (who will be 4, 7 and 4 mos) for next month. YAY for taking babies to WDW! :banana:
 
I can't wait to hear more about your plans! Your little one is so cute! I've never been in Fall, I would love to. I've done Feb, July and August on our trips. We'll be taking our two DSs with us and are trying to decide between February 2013 (Youngest DS will be 1, Eldest 3) or October 2013. I so want to see those pumpkins! Plus I figure if we stay near the end of October into November, we can do MNSSHP sand MVMCP! Can't wait to hear more!
 
Coming back from a LOOOOOOOONGGGGGG break!!!

I have some photo updates and such to do but wanted to say we are planning a trip!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! DH called me today and this is how our conversation went

DH: You can make payments on a WDW vacation right?
ME: Yes, you need a $200 deposit, then have up until 45 days befreo you go to pay off the rest (thinking he was asking for someone at work)
DH: OH good, start looking into prices
ME: For who?
DH: Us!!!!!!!! I got bit by the WDW bug today and want to go back!!!



I must say he made me a happy lady! We are looking at fall 2013, which would fall before Cody turns 9 and Casey turns 3. We are going to shoot for Free dining and are looking at 10 days.

He totally made my day today!

Plus, now, I don't have to surprise (sneak attack) him with a trip (and in turn have him get mad at me!!!). SCORE!
 
The plan is for another fall trip per DH's request. I sat online tonight to get estimates for the different resorts with airfare and dining (and free dining) and it seems as if we will go with ASMo...again. Financially it jsut makes SOOO much more sense than anything else and this is really the last time we can use it (Casey will be under 3 so we can ahve the 5 of us in a room).

I would love to stay at a different resort, but am happy to be going at all! We are looking to go 10 days/9nights again and flying out of Philly. I am debating on telling the kids or not (of course we wouldn't tell them to much closer to the actual trip). I think they will LOVE the surprise, but I worry how Cody will do.

In January he was diagnosed with Aspergers, ADHD, Anxiety and Tourettes. He is VERY high functioning but he still needs to be prepared for things. This is partly why I have been away from the Dis for so long. Life with 3 kids, one special needs, a baby (now toddler) and working has been sooooo crazy. That and we are now involved in lawsuit against the school district because they say Cody does not require an IEP (Individualized Education Plan) and would not give us an outside evaluation when we asked. WE are hoping to solve this soon (in the next month or so) and that it goes in our favor, if it does not we will not be going to WDW as we will have to pay back my ILs the money for the lawyer (if we win, the district has to pay the lawyer fees back).

In June my mom moved to Vegas. Some days it is like she is still in NYC as we talk on the phone, but other days it makes me sad to think of her so far away. She still has not sold her house so I don't know if she will be 'gifting' us any money, but we are not counting on it (this way it will be a huge bonus if it happens).

Tomorrow I will post some updated picts of us.......oh and my skinny hubby!!! He had gastric bypass in May and is already down 65lbs. I would love to hear some info from anyone who went to WDW after Bypass. He has a card from the dr for smaller portions and such.......oh crud, I just realized I will have to loose weight as well...don't want to be chubby in our picts when DH is so skinny!!!!

ok, off to load some picts onto photobucket, if I remember how!
 
Here are more recent pictures of all of us

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Cody (age 8)

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Shane (age 7)

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Randy, my DH, with our good Friend, Joe (DH is on the left)

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Casey (14months) and I

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Just Casey, cause he is sooooooooo cute!
 
Welcome back!
We recently went through a lot of issues with my oldest son, Nathaniel, who is also 8. No Aspergers but he has a lot of anxiety and depression. It's been a challenging time.
So glad you get to plan a trip for next fall!

Amanda
 
Really unsure if we should tell the kids or surprise them with this trip. This may be the last time they are young enough to 'enjoy' a trip (as in when they are 14/15 they may not be so excited to be going to WDW). But I like the idea of each week in the Summer doign a theme night. Watch a Disney Movie, do some Disney activities, have Disney food and so on. I think this may be a good way to count down the weeks until our trip.

The only issue with this is next June my mom is flying home for my neice's graduation and plans to take the big boys back to Vegas with her to spend a month or so. There goes 1/2 the summer. So I could wait and tell them when they come home and then we can do the theme nights?

Either way, we won't tell them until the trip is about paid for. I am not one for telling my kids something unless I KNOW it will happen.

I started a 'savings' spread sheet of all that we have to save (package, parking for airport, tips, souvies, extra food). It's a lot when you add in all the extras!!!! We pay cash for our trips as we have NO credit cards (other than our debit). My bonus for last month is $400, so that will go into a separate account, as will other 'extra' money we get.

DH just sold some model firetrucks for $75, so that goes in the Disney fund! I also have $75 in Disney giftcards. Last trip each pay day I would get a $25 or 50 gc if our budget allowed, and we used that for our spending money/tips. We asked for WDW gift cards for b-days and such (which would be another reason to tell the kids!) so the kids had their own spending money.

I have recently joined some Facebook 'Yardsale' pages and will be posting some stuff on them to try to get more Disney money (and get rid of clutter!).
 
With a Disney trip on the horizon comes my obsession with SR, Ebates and Mypoints.

Currently I have $40.28 with SR, $35.84 with Ebates and over 14,000 points with mypoints!!!!!

I will have to talk to DH to see if we are going ot do TRex again, and if so, I will use 7,500pts for a $50 Landry's GC which will take care of a big chunk of that and rumor has it a Walgreen GC can be cashed in for a Disney one at Walgreens stores, so the other 7,500 points may be cashed in for a $50 Walgreen which in turn will be cashed in for a $50 Disney one.

Last night I posted a bunch of stuff to local facebook online yard sale pages, no nibbles yet, but we will see!!!! Hubby also has been putting some model firetrucks up (get rid of the clutter!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)


Tonight I work at the hospital. I have started doing 2 nights a week to make extra money...the orginal incentive was for the roof so we could get back to Disney...not sure what we are doing about the roof right now. We get a pretty nice tax return and in the past we have paid off our trip with it, but with me working extra I am hoping to pay a little each month then use the tax return for the roof.
 
Our trip is just too far away. I know planning is half the fun, but I wish it were time to REALLY plan. You know when the 180 day mark get there and you can plan and book your ADR's, look over park hours to decide what parks on what days. That is the planning I LOVE.

For now I have been reading other PTR, getting ideas for things to do (Pirates cruise fireworks). Last ngiht we went to a local diner for dinner and we were talking about 'the next time we go to Disney' (so the kids wouldn't catch on).

Cody's fav ride........POTC
Least fav ride ....TOT (we went on it in 08, he was SO excited to ride a big kid ride, but got scared and said he almost died!)
Fav place to eat......Chef Mickey

Shane's fav ride......he can't decide, but says his 2nd fav is KS
least favorite ride......he can't think of one
Fav place to eat.......Chef Mickey (the place where the monorail comes in, they have mickey waffles)

DH's fav ride..........Soarin
least fav ride...........IASW
Fav place to eat........9 Dragons or 'Germany'

My fav ride.........KS
Least fav ride......can't really think of one
Fav place to eat........I really can't choose one, as long as it's a meal I don't have to cook, I am happy!


It was nice to finally be able to talk Disney around hubby (as before I was doing the thinking and talking to myself, but now that he is on board for another trip, I do not have to hide my excitement!).


Currently our front porch is the 'junk' room. If something doesn't have a home, it goes there. It looks like an episode of Extreme Couponing mixed with Hoarders. It is supposed to be my craft room. I really have to get motivated to get it cleaned up/out so I can make it into a craft/sewing room so I can start to do all the things I have pinned on pinterest!!!!!

Not feeling the best today, so I think I am going to put the baby down for a nap and then lay down on the couch and watch some garbage TV!!!! I really should go down in the basement and do some cleaning down there as tonight is garbage night and I have a ton of garbage down there........hmmmmmmm.

I'll let you know later what I did, if anything!
 
Hi! Joining in!

Thanks for stopping by my PTR! How exciting to have a trip planned. I was having a hard time when we didn't have our next trip planned, it will be 17 months between our trips.

My youngest is 10 days older than Casey. She was born on May 3rd, 2011.

I have never stayed at ASMu, just All Star Movies. I think my parents stayed at All Star Music though when they came down to visit me.

We went in October one year and I loved seeing all the Halloween decorations and the weather was great. We have gone twice in May and I don't think we will go back at that time again as it rained ALOT! Our last trip was in the beginning of June and it was nice and not too busy. It will be interesting for our next trip over Thanksgiving as I know it will be very busy but I really want my family to see the Christmas decorations as I have.
 
Hi! Joining in!

Thanks for stopping by my PTR! How exciting to have a trip planned. I was having a hard time when we didn't have our next trip planned, it will be 17 months between our trips.

My youngest is 10 days older than Casey. She was born on May 3rd, 2011.

I have never stayed at ASMu, just All Star Movies. I think my parents stayed at All Star Music though when they came down to visit me.

We went in October one year and I loved seeing all the Halloween decorations and the weather was great. We have gone twice in May and I don't think we will go back at that time again as it rained ALOT! Our last trip was in the beginning of June and it was nice and not too busy. It will be interesting for our next trip over Thanksgiving as I know it will be very busy but I really want my family to see the Christmas decorations as I have.

Thanks for stopping by!!! We haven't stayed at Music either but I am thinking about it this time, only for the fact that the bus stops there 1st!!!!! LOL! I imagine, being we are creatures of habit, we will go back to Movies though!

I hope, once the kids are a bit older that we can go down around Christmas time, but right now I just can't see spending money on a trip when we have Christmas stuff to worry about too. Growing up I went many years over Thanksgiving break so I saw some Christmas stuff and would love to see it again (that was a number..haha, a great number...of years ago).
 
Just a quick post before I head off to bed. I ended up doing nothing this afternoon but get a few more things posted to the online yardsale..got a nibble on 1 thing, but that's it.


Tonight I worked and the entire time I just kept telling myself "Disney....Disney....Disney....." you get the idea. It was not an awful night, just not a great one either. I certain work for my money when I am there!
 
Tonight I took the big boys to see DIary of a Wimpy Kid. It was actually better than I thought it would be!

Before the movie we went to Walmart and looked at the back to school stuff and I found a Mickey 3 ring binder and page separaters and Mickey wipes. I am hoping the wipes stay till out trip. I can now start our planning journal. I was just going to use the one we had for our last trip, but this is a cuter folder!

Picts to follow this weekend at some point! I have to dig out our old folder and hte planning pages I have!
 
Here are the promised picture of my new planning book and wipes!

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I posted more stuff on the FB online buy/sell/trade pages and have some stuff pending pick up! Granted nothing huge, but every little bit will go into the fund!

DH looked into Legoland prices and was SHOCKED....the cost of the tickets as well as a rental car, he said no way. Any one go yet? Worth it? I know sometimes they have B1G1 deals.

The bonus to doing the B/S/T pages is that I am getting rid of clutter, which means more room for my craft room!!!!
 
I've been away for a few days, glad to see I didn't miss anything :rotfl2:



I've recently started posted stuff on local Buy Sell Trade pages and so far I have been doing ok with it. It gets rid of junk (I have a habit of buying gifts and then forgetting I got them!) and makes me some money. I have a pick up scheduled for tomorrow and then another sunday....and right now the page is hopping a woman is up to 15 items!!!!!!!!!


I also have cashed out some of my online rewards stuff.........

Saving Star account for $26.10
Ebates for $34.70

Then I ahve Sunshine Rewards for $40.78

Plus we have $90 from some stuff that I have sold and DH has sold, so next week I will take the cash to the bank

So we now have a total of $191.xx!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WE pay cash for our trips, so this will be a challenge (in a good way!) to see how fast I can save it up!!!!


I have not gotten a chance to put together my planning book yet, we went to CT for an overnight so a goodfriend could do some photos of the boys. Trying ot photograph a 15mo is HARD! Like REALLY hard!!!! I can't wait to see the finished work though! I'll share them once I get them.

Ok off to make some zucchini quiche and get together stuff for my drop offs tomorrow!!!!!!

(the woman that was up to 15 things, is now over $50!!!!!!!!!!!!! Which is more money and a lot less clutter!!!)
 














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