We're not going back 5 years but this is our 5th trip in4years!WERE BACK,NEW tr link

[CRSNDSNY]

Diane, do you have a June use year?

 

[DWGal210]

Diane, I have really really enjoyed your other TRs so I am now along for the ride on this one too!

I hate snow days too - when we went in June 2008, we really had to make sure and plan out at least a week after school was supposed to end for school days. They don't build in any of those for us, either. But it worked out OK, I am hoping it does for you too!

 

[dddisrunner]

Diane, do you have a June use year?

No, our use year is December

Diane, I have really really enjoyed your other TRs so I am now along for the ride on this one too!

I hate snow days too - when we went in June 2008, we really had to make sure and plan out at least a week after school was supposed to end for school days. They don't build in any of those for us, either. But it worked out OK, I am hoping it does for you too!

WELCOME!! Thanks so much for joining us again!!

 

[dddisrunner]

As most of you know, Disney's new 2010 promotion is "Give a Day, Get a Day"! Bryan and I always thought it would be a great thing to do but when we found out how much it would help us too we jumped at the chance to participate! One afternoon, Lesley called me and told me that you could use your one day tickets that you receive for donating your time, towards the purchase of our annual passes! It was a win win situation!!! So we got to work and registered on the Disney site and then began our search for an opportunity that would allow our whole family to get involved!

We found an organization that helped foster children!! PERFECT!! Our mission was to collect 5 NEW items per family member from a list that the organization provided! We registered on a Sunday and had 2 weeks to gather everything! The boys each chipped in some of their own money and in turn we let them choose which items they wanted to buy! The list had things such as:

clothing
make up
activity books
toys
reading books
sports equipment
calculators
school supplies
book bags
feminine hygeine products
scarves
hats
crayons
puzzles
etc.

We ended up doubling our requirement and had 40 things to drop off! If we had more time I am sure we could have gotten our families more involved! Here is a few pictures of our donation...It doesn't look like much but we were proud!

Our scheduled drop off time was between 1-4 yesterday 1/24/2010. The drop off location was about 25 minutes away! When we arrived we had to hand over our family worksheet...

They then asked us if we wanted to bring our items to the sorting room! We were so excited to get a little more involved and the boys were so proud to help sort out the items that we had purchased! I asked if they had seen a pick up since the Disney promotion began and she said that on Sunday's the ONLY people who are allowed to drop stuff off are the one's associated with Disney's promotion and she said the response is nothing short of AMAZING!! We dropped our stuff off at around 2:15 pm so they had only been open for 1 hour...see if you can see the incredible amount of donations on all the tables!

Don't mind the boys faces, they were embarrassed that I was taking their picture! That only shows a few of the room FULL of tables!

Well, with our mission complete it was time to leave, but BOY what an amazing opportunity and a very valuable lesson/experience for the boys!!



Up next.....Our dining plans!!!

 

[MomsGoneGoofy]

Driving to disney is so much fun!!! There are so many times when I can't stand my family but there's something that makes everyone easier to put up with when your on the way to disney

But then there is the drive home

 

[toddlers_mom]

Wow, that's an awesome turn out for the GAD promo for only one day!

I'll stay tuned to see what happens with your teaching position. Hopefully it turns out to be a win-win situation!

PS. Your boys are adorable! I'm totally hoping that mine turns into the jokester

 

[Trentmom]

That is wonderful. What a great learning experience for your boys


Disney is really benefiting so many charities and organizatios.. They are amazing

 

[Charleston Princess]

Okay, your volunteer activity is really cool and such a great experience for the whole family! We are making blankets for ours!

 

[Happydog]

Great way to do something for others and take advantage of the promotion from Disney -- they are giving too, and I think that is a great way for them to make it worth it for us as well. We are making blankets over spring break, when my mom is here, it is something for the boys to do and we can all do it together. I like that there are all sort of activiites that can be done. I don't mind buying the fabric because I know it is going to kids who will need the extra TLC that the blankets will bring.

I am looking forward to hearing about your plans! I think we will be there for a few days that overlap! As well as the cruise! Let me know if you do go the Car train route -- I can answer any questions!

 

[Queenofallthings]

It makes my heart so happy to hear everything everyone is doing for GAD!! This past Christmas instead of having a gift exchange at work we decided we would work with the Boys and Girls Club and we had a Christmas Dinner at one of our inner city schools. It moved me beyond belief at how thankful both the children and parents were. We made 4 gift baskets to give away as door prizes and when one family came to choose their prize the little girl wanted the "movie night basket" and her mom said "no dear, we need the one with the food"...I was done...what we take for granted these people can't. Next year Jasmine is going to come with me...I think it will be something we do every year now.

 

[IluvXU]

Great fun Diane. Perfect way to get the boys involved. We have our day of volunteering in Feb over President's Day weekend- yea!

Excited to see your dining plans.


I feel for you and the snow day mess... I was there last year!

 

[CRSNDSNY]

No, our use year is December

HI Diane!
I'm not sure of the specifics of your point situation, but you are able to have member services juggle your points around (even with existing reservations) so that you use banked and/or borrowed points before you use any current points for a reservation. They just need to reallocate your points.

But again, I do not know the specifics of your situation. I hope it all works out for you!


And what a great way to get involved! I'm glad to hear you and your family were able to do the give a day, get a day promotion!

 

[mylag1rl]

Thanks for sharing your Give a Day experience. I have always wanted to take my boys to do something like this as well just to show them how fortunate they are. Glad you had a good experience. Can't wait to hear your dining plans.

 

[dddisrunner]

But then there is the drive home

Oh yes, the dreaded drive home!!! Thanks for reading/posting!!

Wow, that's an awesome turn out for the GAD promo for only one day!

I'll stay tuned to see what happens with your teaching position. Hopefully it turns out to be a win-win situation!

PS. Your boys are adorable! I'm totally hoping that mine turns into the jokester

Thanks so much for all of your sweet compliments! Glad you are here and following along!

That is wonderful. What a great learning experience for your boys


Disney is really benefiting so many charities and organizatios.. They are amazing

Thanks so much! It felt really good to do it!!

It makes my heart so happy to hear everything everyone is doing for GAD!! This past Christmas instead of having a gift exchange at work we decided we would work with the Boys and Girls Club and we had a Christmas Dinner at one of our inner city schools. It moved me beyond belief at how thankful both the children and parents were. We made 4 gift baskets to give away as door prizes and when one family came to choose their prize the little girl wanted the "movie night basket" and her mom said "no dear, we need the one with the food"...I was done...what we take for granted these people can't. Next year Jasmine is going to come with me...I think it will be something we do every year now.

WOW, your post had me in tears!!! Thanks so much for sharing your story with me!! Yes, next year you should bring Jasmine!

Great way to do something for others and take advantage of the promotion from Disney -- they are giving too, and I think that is a great way for them to make it worth it for us as well. We are making blankets over spring break, when my mom is here, it is something for the boys to do and we can all do it together. I like that there are all sort of activiites that can be done. I don't mind buying the fabric because I know it is going to kids who will need the extra TLC that the blankets will bring.

I am looking forward to hearing about your plans! I think we will be there for a few days that overlap! As well as the cruise! Let me know if you do go the Car train route -- I can answer any questions!

Thanks so much! The blankets sound GREAT! We are leaning towards the autotrain!!! So I definitely might have some questions!!

Great fun Diane. Perfect way to get the boys involved. We have our day of volunteering in Feb over President's Day weekend- yea!

Excited to see your dining plans.


I feel for you and the snow day mess... I was there last year!

Thanks Laura! I am sure you will have fun volunteering, it feels GREAT!! The snow day mess is NUTS and we might get more on Fri/Sat!!!!

HI Diane!
I'm not sure of the specifics of your point situation, but you are able to have member services juggle your points around (even with existing reservations) so that you use banked and/or borrowed points before you use any current points for a reservation. They just need to reallocate your points.

But again, I do not know the specifics of your situation. I hope it all works out for you!


And what a great way to get involved! I'm glad to hear you and your family were able to do the give a day, get a day promotion!

Thanks for your help, the problem lies in the fact that we borrowed and they will not let us now bank them or trade them for other points! We had a blast doing the GAD promo!!!

Thanks for sharing your Give a Day experience. I have always wanted to take my boys to do something like this as well just to show them how fortunate they are. Glad you had a good experience. Can't wait to hear your dining plans.

Thanks so much! You should try and take your boys, it was GREAT!!!

 

[carissanboys]

I was thinking to myself that it had been a while since you updated. And then I checked and realized I wasn't subscribed.

Love the volunteer idea! I have thought about being a foster parent so many times over the years. And how wonderful that they've seen such an increase since the Disney promotion started.

 

[dddisrunner]

I was thinking to myself that it had been a while since you updated. And then I checked and realized I wasn't subscribed.

Love the volunteer idea! I have thought about being a foster parent so many times over the years. And how wonderful that they've seen such an increase since the Disney promotion started.

Thanks Carissa!! It was AMAZING to see all that they have collected!!

 

[timandlesley]

Hey Diane.

Just checking in to see what's going on here. It looks like you already have a great following, I'm jealous!!

I love hearing you plan for your trip, all the while knowing Bryan is being grumpy, Eric is complaining about how he can't ride any rides, and Matt thinks he's a British Man named Chad. How do you make it through each day??

I'm looking forward to hearing more!!

Tim

 

[swwake]

I'm back and I'm in! Remember me? I've been away too long. Looking forward to reading your PTR as we plan for our next trip this October (I hope!)

 

[dddisrunner]

Hey Diane.

Just checking in to see what's going on here. It looks like you already have a great following, I'm jealous!!

I love hearing you plan for your trip, all the while knowing Bryan is being grumpy, Eric is complaining about how he can't ride any rides, and Matt thinks he's a British Man named Chad. How do you make it through each day??

I'm looking forward to hearing more!!

Tim

Thanks Tim!!! You know us TOO WELL! I am not sure how I make it through the day Glad you are here!!!

I'm back and I'm in! Remember me? I've been away too long. Looking forward to reading your PTR as we plan for our next trip this October (I hope!)

Hello there! OF COURSE I remember you! How are you? Thanks for stopping by and joining us on this adventure!!

 

[dddisrunner]

Hello there everyone! Sorry for the delay in posting an update...our lives have been turned a little upside down here and I will "show" you why in just a minute!!! First, I promised you some dining choices!!!

We are strongly considering the deluxe plan again..it worked very well for us last summer and it was GREAT knowing that we didn't have to budget for any additional food because the Deluxe plan was plenty!

We have breakfasts scheduled for

Akershus (yes, I convinced them to go back! Secretly I think they REALLY enjoyed it! )

Tusker House

Crystal Palace ( love those empty Main St. mornings)

Boma

Lunches are scheduled for:

Tutto Italia
Liberty Tree tavern
San Angel
Sci Fi

Dinners are at:

Biergarten
Ohana
50's Prime Time
Teppan Edo
Narcoosee's
Boma
LeCellier
The Plaza

We will be sharing a few meals with Lesley, Tim and the kids too! Should be fun!!

The Plaza, San Angel, Biergarten and Boma breakfast will all be new to us and we can't wait to try them!!


So, we have decided after many years of putting it off to finally redo our bathroom. At this very moment, I have a toilet, vanity, sink top, sink faucet, bath faucet, bathtub, light fixture, exhaust fan, tile and grout sitting in my LIVINg ROOM!!!

Here is what the bathroom currently looks like!

I will be sure to share the progress with you all on here! Thanks for tuning in!!


Coming up: What do you mean we're going to be 4 miles from Disney and we're NOT staying on property????