Which of you is the mother??? Staying young and going back to WDW!

[dsnycrzy]

Hello Everyone,

1st I must say this...

100 Days until Disney

I can not believe it! I started planning in January but just started our countdown calendar at 150 days!

I have started a pretrip report last year and it was so nice to keep track of my progress on trip prep by sharing with you guys so I thought I'd do it again.

Ok a little about myself and my mini me's.
I am a single mother of 4 wonderful biological children. My profession and love is being a preschool teacher and I'm suprised to say I miss it since I took a year off to raise my little stink.
So heres the group:

Fabulous and over 40 although most people dont believe me


My wonderful DD who will be turning 20 in 2weeks (where does the time go? I still remember the trip down the hall from the OR after having her and the room I was in with her after she was born as if it was last week) She works at Walmart full-time and will start her basic college classes at our local college during summer semester.


This is one of her best friends, Kadeem! I took him to WDW with us last year and now he's a fan. He is actually in the Army now and stationed in South Korea


This is the other side to this silly triangle, Eric (known as E)! I am taking him this year since he is home from college. He did 1 year of college in upstate NY but due to financial reasons, had to come back home. I will help him with his financial aid papers so he can continue what he started.

I was so so very proud of these 3 guys for all graduating high school with full potential. By that I mean no babies, my drug issues, no arrest, etc. Peer pressuere is real and although they all went to different schools, they leaned on each other for support. 3 inner city kids destine to get OUT of the cycle.

That was one busy week bc they all graduated within the same week. Anyway one more player in that crew is...

My DS Keyvis! He's graduating next year and has all these wonderful guys to look up to as well as his big sis! He attended the graduations and witnessed the hype and love and wants a dose of that.

My little munchkins

DD10 Diamin! She is still a big kid although that peer preesure is school is showing up slowly but surely
And..

DS1 Kashmir, Loves all things Disney Jr and the spoiled munchkin at home.

With this started, I will continue. I get so busy sometime especially doing our disney party nights (which I post over in the family section in a Disney Party thread.

I have had many things happen to me and my family this year that tried to shake my soul and had me realize a depression I never knew. It took a toll on my whole family but we are recovering nicely I must say. I will explain more later but for now, off to start our 100 days to disney party.

 

[dsnycrzy]

Well my 100 Days countdown was stalled by a 2 hour power outage. Now that all that is over, I am trying to figure out what our dining plans will be for our trip.

I am getting ahead of myself because I never laid out my plans...
Our dates are August 5th to the 23rd. We board the auto train on the 5th and check-in to CBR on the 6th-10th. On the 10th-22nd we booked a very cute vacation home that I know my little ones will love! The big guys...well Im not sure how they will enjoy sleeping in a princess room or mickey &friends/Pooh room
Here are some pics of the vacation home we are going to stay at:

Looks really nice and I cant wait to stay here.

Well I am going to head over to the Family boards and add in a few disney night pics since I'm so behind.

Thanks to the ppl who viewed although I dont yet have any DISfriends following along yet.

Tomorrow I will touch on the horrible things that occurred this year and the reason we are really looking foward to this trip.

 

[oopsiDAISY]

Hello!!! Joining in from the Movie Night thread! That vacation home is ADORABLE!!! Please let me know how it goes staying there. We are staying off property at a timeshare condo with my parents this October. Finances have been bad this year, and we are not going to get to go to WDW at all on the trip, it will just be a FL vacation instead of a Disney vacation. But we plan to be back in 2014 for a full on Disney vacation.

We enjoy staying on property and using Disney transportation, but in the spirit of saving $$$ I am interested in seeing what the savings are in staying off property at a home like that. We are a family of five, so we always have to fork out the extra $$$ for a family suite when we stay on property. Here are some specific questions I have:

-How much per week are you paying for the vacation house?

-What is the savings as opposed to rooms on property?

-How did you find the house?

-Are you able to get multi-day passes to the parks at any sort of discount? Do you get them directly through WDW or do you use a web site like mousesavers.com or a travel agent?

-Do you eat the majority of your meals on property or at the vacation home?

-How much do your typically spend on parking while you are visiting the parks?

Please feel free to tell me to mind my own business if you do not want to answer these questions. I won't get offended. LOL!!!

I look forward to seeing your plans unfold as I consider this option for our family!

 

[wiigirl]

Joining in.

 

[dsnycrzy]

Thanks so much for joining wiigirl and oopsiDAISY

oosiDAISY I can identify with the family of 5 thing since lil stink snuck in. He still goes in as an infant but that wont be for long but Im afraid that once he is recognized as a occupant, my 2 big kids will no longer go with me to WDW as their lives will be into other things like jobs and college. Surely bittersweet My Vacaction home is the new thing I'm trying this year (I always try to do something new each year), I found this home on ebay and for 12 nights the total cost was $1010 with all tax and fees I put a deposit down and Im left with a balance of $910 which you will see my ebay challenge to pay that off. So it turns out to be less than $85 a night for a 3 bedroom home where everyone has their own sleeping space, free washer and dryer, free wi-fi and more than one tv & bathroom, not to mention the use of the kitchen,thank goodness. This house had such a wonderful Disney theme to go with the wonderful price that I couldnt see not taking this offer after all the other $1,500-1,900 offers I was getting

Breakfast in the resort and the home is basic. Cereal especially since they have refridges in the rooms now. Bagels and cream cheese, poptarts, juice boxes for the little one but usually one or 2 of us will walk to the food court and fill everyones cup I NEED MY COFFEE OR ELSE I BECOME A MIXTURE OF GRUMPY, SLEEPY & ANY VILLIANS COMBINED. I also have fruits & snacks since I make a stop at Walmart our 1st day and throughout our trip. Dinners I keep simple, they have microwavable meats, I love the rottisore chickens but they have meatloaf, roasts and turkey too. Some mac and cheese, microwaveable rices and veggies. I AM ON VACATION TOO.

As for parking, I will try to do most of our Disney park days while onsite to avoid that cost but if not, that goes on my finance walls (explain later).

Tickets I get from undercovertourist since they have free shipping. That way when I get enough for one ticket, I order it ASAP before I wiggle myself into buying something else leaving me playing catch up

Hope that answered your questions and feel free to ask me anything. We are all here to help and make other peoples trips magical on a budget if so be.

Next up: Why my trip is much needed

 

[dsnycrzy]

Ok so I need to go back a little. I grew up in the inner city, Bronx NY and was in the mist of crime and didnt think anything of it because it was my everyday life. At the young age of 19yrs old I moved to DE with my DB (who later became my husband)and soon found out I was pregnant with my DD that will be 20 yrs old soon (that was fast). Once I became someones parent, I knew I did not want my child to grew up seeing the things I saw and dealing with the issues I had to so I made the decision to move to DE leaving all my friends and family in NY (I must say I am SSSSOOOO proud of my mother who let me leave. After all, I now have a 19year old and I would fall apart if she went to her own apartment nevermind a few states away). Anyway, I came here, got on my feet, was working and finally got my 1st place. My Db wasnt mature enough at the time to "live" for the person brought into this world so we parted ways. Around this time, my Dmom lost her job in NY due to the daycare closing so I invited her down thinking she can use a change. By now I was 21 and fully into single mommy mode! full-time student, 2 jobs-1 full and 1 part-time. My mom was great to have here with my DD. Around this time I met a nice guy (or so they seem in the beginning) and fast forward to 2 more kids later and brought both my DSis down to rebuild their lives. Now dont get me wrong, I live in the inner city of DE but it is NOTHING like the Bronx & it has its share of crimes, none of which really affected me until recently.

After working in the preschool profession for years, I had my baby which was so unexpected. His 1st year was AWFUL!! My older kids were always in a daycare that my mother or myself worked at so I felt a sense of safety. Well My job now was in the Head Start program with ages 3-5 ONLY so no babies and unfortunetely my mom passed away by suprise in my car as I was driving her to work at the daycare in 2000. So for my 1st time ever I was going to have a baby in a daycare that was all alone. With that being the case, I looked for the best daycare that was in my area and just so happens that a very highly spoken of daycare was a few blocks from me. It was so "advanced" that they charged an extra fee monthly on top of the tuition. I did a budget with his dad and decided how to make this happen at least until he was 3 and then go to Head Start for free. Well in the 1st 4 weeks, he caught 5 viruses on being RSV. Livid was putting it mildly since Im in that profession and in an infant room with babies WHO CAN NOT MOVE YET, only the teachers can be tranferring these illnesses from baby to baby. My son was in and out of the hospital so much! Id be out of work weeks at a time, they would call me to come get the baby often because the RSV weaken his lungs so he was ALWAYS have breathing/asthma issues. it was so stressful and alot of times scarey.

Again fast forward and its time to focus on my Big girls graduation present which was a Kia Soul that she has wanted since it came out. I kept the secret so well and this was her face as she walked out the door on her way to the university where they have the ceremony...
2012 Kia Soul


She was so happy, who would know the ways that this happy day would rock our holiday.
P.S I just dont like photobucket being it resizes your photos whenever it chooses to.

Now the craziness...

 

[dsnycrzy]

Ok graduation over, Everyone is happy including me because I no longer had to drive her to her part-time job and pick her up. A week after her graduation I went out to run some errands and she calls me and say "Mom a mailman dropped a certified letter off from your job" All I could think of was all the time I took off for my son. Sure enough... I was fired. Ok this is with a $200 car payment now. I am a very spoiled lady. My uncle and aunt are very good to me since I was the only one of my 2 sister who took care of my mom (at a time I was working 3 jobs and going to school because my mom needed a heart transplant and someone had to play her bills. My sisters didnt help AT ALL.) So just about anything I want or need help with is just a phone call away. They are the reason I go to WDW so often. I love them and I am super grateful for them. So after talking to them, they both told me to stay home with my son for a year, that was a request from heaven, thanks mom, and they have my back. so I went on planning my trip to disney and had a blast.

After we got home and the kids were back to school, I found myself getting bored so by chance I was looking for some monster high stuff for my DD10 since she just loves them and found something I thought I could get into and enjoy with the bonus being making some money. This is how this turned out:

I took these simple 3 story barbie houses and made them...


Into Monster High Mansions:
[

I also did smaller houses for the guys:
/

I made 2 big houses, 2 small house and 2 bakeries. All sold except for one small house.


I was over the moon at the amount I made from these houses that I spent maybe $60-$75 for the big ones and $40 for the small ones. $100 in supplies which I still have tons of for this holiday season. So needless to say I was looking forward to a great Christmas...so I thought.

The downside to doing these houses was that I enjoyed it so much that I would spend hours on end standing and doing these, maybe from 8am to 3am with breaks to make the baby breakfast & lunch and then for dinner. So when I would lay down Im sure I was out cold

Well one night, Dec.14th actually, I laid down at maybe 3:30A.m, woke up to my DD asking me if I had seen her keys. My response as always was that the baby had them and so she snatched her spare and left out the front door to buy some new sneakers that were coming out on that day. Two minutes later she walks back in asking me where her car was Where ever you parked it was my response! Within minutes we noticed that the little furniture that I had in my kitchen window...WERE OUTSIDE IN THE GRASS AND THE SCREEN WAS HALF WAY UP AND THE WINDOW WAS OPEN A LITTLE (remember it is December, so I wouldnt have the window open), I then realize that someone must have walked in the backdoor which was UNLOCKED. This is what bothered me the most, every night before closing my eyes, I always checked ebay to see if anyone else put a house up for sale so that I could guage my price for my houses, then I lay my phone NEXT TO ME and fall asleep. After realizing that someone was in my house, I run to the LIVINGROOM COUCH WHERE MY BABY,10YR OLD DD & MYSELF FELL ASLEEP AND WHERE MY IPHONE WAS TO REALIZE IT WAS ALSO GONE!!!!!!!!!!!! SO someone walked in my backdoor, came close enough to me and my babies to take my phone and took not only my DD car keys but my car keys as well. I was so hurt and extremely upset. That feeling soon turned to anger. Since it was a Saturday and I couldnt get my locks changed and they had my house keys as well, I was not able to sleep but somehow dont think I would have been able to anyhow. I had things pushed up against each door, the kitchen window that they tried to come in and I refused to go to sleep until I saw the sun come up. Obviously my house designing was over because I was a wreck. I called the insurance company to find out my home insurance bill was NOT being taken out of my account as I had set up but billed...TO THE WRONG ADDRESS so my phone was not covered . Days go on and people are telling my DD that her car is spotted on the other side of town but we could never caught it. If you think it can not get any worst, stay tuned because it does!!! COLOR]

 

[dsnycrzy]

Ok there was no finger prints since someone used gloves with little "grippie balls" on them was what I was told. From that day on, the Wilmington police has not been helpful in solving my case. I figured out why as the days went on because my momma used to tell me common sense aint so common. I finally called Sprint and realized I was up for an upgrade on my phone (I would have never looked into this had this not happened), while looking over my plan, I realized my DS was also up for an upgrade. I couldnt let this burgular steal my entire holiday season so since they wanted iphone 5's I used some of the money from the houses and got to upgrades, iphone5's. My DD and I swooped and I took her iphone 4S. My son was overjoyed because thats all he wanted for Christmas, my DD as well. My Baby DD I also couldnt disapoint so I started finishing up her monster high houses and "maul". I started feeling a little better. I was thinking we would get the car back, the insurance will pay for the repairs, we now have new locks and an alarm system, yea Im gonna be ok then BOOOOM!!!! I'm thrusted back into depression when my son walks in looking like he seen a ghost asking me if I have insurance on his iphone! Giving him the dumb face I said "Boy you know Sprint doesnt cover iPhones". Then he says "Well this boy stood me up and put a gun in my face and stole my phone"WHAT THE #$%%%^%$###" Ok why do people wanna "bleep" with my kids???? Any mother out there knows I am put in a position where I am ready to die for mines!!!! Did I call the cops? of course not, He knows who did it and the streets will handle him because hes always in trouble anyhow and we know the cops could be in my classroom with their common sense. I was just beyond hurt and mad and frustrated. I was so scared for my son but happy he just got his phone taken because apparently I must have moved back to the NY streets I grew up on. My uncle immediately tells me he will replace his phone to try to calm me down and stop me from stressing but that is not the issue. 2 days later my DD gets a call from the insurance co.while at work (she took up another job at walmart to help out once I lost my job) saying they had the car. Its now 9pm Friday night!! She is over the moon with joy!!! Her best friends are home, one from boot camp and the other on Holiday break from college and they talk about all the things they need to do to her beloved "CoCa" as she named her car. But the police had had the car for over a week by now and it was sitting in a tow yard. I was scared I would have to pay for all those days they had it which I was not prepared for the week after christmas. When asking the police department why I wasnt notified, you will NOT believe the answer... WE CALLED YOU BUT COULDNT REACH YOU. Let me guess...DID YOU CALL THE NUMBER TO THE PHONE LISTED IN THE POLICE REPORT AS STOLEN OR THE ALTERNATE????? You can guess that answer, where are the brains down there Monday morning, I contact the yard and ask them if they have the car, they say yes. My DD is dressed and ready to be reunited with her baby. I tell the guy we are on our way to get the car and all I hear is "mam, you cant drive that car ANYWHERE, it has extensive front end damage, in my opinion, its totalled" Oh lord I have to go upstairs and beak this news to my DD who starts screaming and crying again someone has hurt my child and that mama bear from the inner city is trying to do the right thing! When we got there, this is what we saw...


She immediately broke down crying again. We searched the car hoping for my phone with no luck however I did find my car keys (I did mention they stole those as well, so every night I was praying they didnt come back and steal my car).

The insurance paid one month of a rental and I had to pay a month befor this was all said and done.

Fast forward to last month. Years ago this girl saw a Kia Soul white Tiger designed in the lobby of the kia dealer and asked me and my uncle for it. Being a new driver we both said no. We go back to this dealer last month and walk all over this lot with the sales man and not seeing anything she was interested in until hidden behind a huge SUV was this...
[

She drove it home that very day. Its funny because although it is a 2011 it is what they call a plus one model. All the bells and whistles. Her other car was so basic that it didnt even have visor mirrors, no dancing speakers or sunroof but this one...has all that and more. She has named her "Blanco

This experience has undoubtedly made us closer. I am happier knowing that things will happen that are out of my control but the good always wins. That new blanco came with...NO CAR PAYMENT And right after that sprint got insurance on their phones and all our phones are registered. My mommy said dont mess with her baby's. After going through all that, my aunti told me to plan my trip and get the heck outta here and enjoy maybe my last 3 week trip with all my kids. My DD is sure she will have to quit Walmart because they will not let her leave for 3 weeks but decided to work full time up until WDW then do school full time and concentrate on only that for a semester. Im well aware that next year may be totally different because my son will also be out of high school and most likely working and in school.

So I like a challenge so my aunt told me by the end of June I need to give her a figure on what I still need for my trip. I love a challege so here we go /COLOR]

 

[dsnycrzy]

That was a little tramatic to relive but Im smiling knowing Im going to get into my happy subject

My first challenge I am doing is my ebay challenge. I found my vacation home thru ebay, paid my downpayment thru paypal so thought "Why dont I get that part of my vacation for FREE" Yes I said free! With me being 41 years old I believe my baby is the last of that chapter so all his summer clothes and baby sneakers, etc went on. Then my DD gave me some sneakers and clothes to sell. Then my DS hands over a few things. I have to get DD10's summer clothes out as well as mines and my maternity clothes (yes I still have them). I started my 1st wave and here is what I have so far...

Not bad I must say. I take one day a week and get the stuff together and list it. I cant wait to watch this happen and I will keep you posted. MY total goal is the entire $910 which is left but I will be happy with $500 of it. None of this will come out of my budget and clean out my house of some clutter

Next up is what I have called my "Wall Of Finances"

This is how we started out. Only thing at this time that was paid was both Amtrak auto train reservations. My DD refused to leave her beloved Blanco home for 3 weeks I DONT BLAME HER. But she also has an older brother who now lives in Orlando that they are very close thanks to social media especially since someone killed their baby brother over a year ago in NY. It took that for the older brother, his girlfriend and their new baby to leave the city. Anyway, she will be with him and her new niece while down there so she needs her car.

I printed out a fake ticket for everyone so they can see their ticket move down to the yellow as I order it. So as of today this is how it looks...


I had 2 universal tickets left over from another trip and I ordered one and a 5 day ticket from undercovertourist
I love this site because since shipping is free, if I get the amount for 1 ticket, I can just order it rather than taking into consideration maybe a $7 shipping however times I ordered 1 or 2 tickets ( needed 8 tickets all together).

Next is my countdown calendar:


To keep us in our Disney state of mind, we do Our disney nights at least every Saturday but sometime I sneak in a simple weekday one as well.

My goal in the end is to just need spending money from my aunt. Lets see if I can pull it off.

 

[dsnycrzy]

Hello dissers
I have listed things on eBay today and was going to continue until tonight but was stopped because I have a "listing limit". Apparently if I don't ship stuff out almost ASAP I get a bad grade . I explained to the eBay rep that although the person pays for their stuff, I don't have immediate access to their shipping portion & being unemployed I usually have to wait until Tuesdays when I get a few dollars. Such a vicious cycle. But anyway, I reached my max


Whatever sells, counts towards my 40 & whatever doesn't, I can relist or put something else on. So Monday I will be back at it.

I also picked up this cute little play packs for travel or Disney movie nights


They also had Ironman but my son doesn't know who that is yet. Walmart checkout is where I found these.

 

[oopsiDAISY]

WoW, you have been busy!!! Thank you for answering my questions about the vacation home! You will have to let me know if it is as nice as the pictures indicate because that is CHEAP! That would be so perfect for us and it looks perfect for your family too!

A lot of our 2012 trip was funded from selling items on Craigslist. Cannot wait to see how your "fundraising" efforts go too!

Yes, you all have been through so much, this is a much deserved vacation to say the least! Time to step away from the work, hardships and heartaches of reality into three weeks of FUN and relaxation!

 

[Alysa]

Whew! That was a stressful year! Poor you! I'm sorry to hear about all your trials but I'm so glad everything is working out and that you are on your way soon! You must be so proud of all your kids. That's amazing about all the selling you are doing. Can't wait to hear more good news! You are keeping your mum in heaven busy looking out for all of you!

 

[dsnycrzy]

Hello,
OopsiDaisy I will let you know for sure. Her reviews were very good so Im hoping everything goes well. I wish I knew more about Craigslist because I have a treadmill & a 60in tv taking up tons of space in my living room closet. When the tv went out, my uncle told me to just buy a new one & get rid of that one but I don't know enough to know why the picture went out & it's not the bulb (happened before and we replaced the bulb & it was fine but this time, that didn't work). The threadmill I bought from my neighbor for $75 to get my baby weight off thinking I would have a hard time since I was 40years old but as usual, it fell right off so I wasted that $75 and gained an eye sore.

Alysa- yes it was very stressful but I remember my dad always saying "what don't kill ya, will make you stronger" (if only he & my mom would know that those little sentences of inspiration would help me when they were gone but you know when we were younger, we used to do this as in what the heck are you even talking about but I'm glad I really was even though I didn't care to).
Well our family conquered that family task and we WON!!! We recently found out the guy who robbed my son is in jail and so is the boy that I think came into my house which is his cousin. What so sad is that parenting is I hard job. I know this because when I said biological kids in my 1st post is because I have always been motherly. I have nurtured and raised many children that I didn't give birth too including up to 6 of my sisters kids. The guy that I think robbed me...USED to live in my house a few years ago! Fed him, gave him a place to sleep and adult supervision when his mom & grandmother threw him out at 16 yrs old. Then he needed an adult to take him to the clinic (these kids will get themselves in trouble I tell ya) because he needed treatment, who did he come too? He repaid me by stealing not only my iPod but 2 other iPods during that summer. The cousin who robbed my son also has parent who practice the Art of Piss Poor Parenting! Why would you have babies to become a produce of negative I will never understand but that is why I am so so so proud of my kids and my parenting skills because as I said peer pressure is real & they considered these guys friends as with their other best friends. But with those friends, they still followed the right path.

Ok rambling again
Ok trip updates: I ordered another ticket last night



And I got these shoes on eBay for $5 plus $6shipping & 2 sandals for DS saving one pair for WDW. I know only Disney obsessed people would appreciate my shoes. I will wear them to Downtown DISNEY

Ok I'm off to pick up DD10 from after school & my DS from his school because they went on a school trip to six flags today! Tah Tah for now

 

[oopsiDAISY]

LOVE the shoes!!!!! I want them! And congrats on getting another ticket!!!

 

[dsnycrzy]

Hello all,
It's been a busy couple of weeks. I actually registered to finish up my last year of college. I am so lucky to have my family allow me to be a single mom for a year but this isn't for me. I feel like all I do is doing errands & with the baby. I'm ready to go back to doing what I'm passionate about which is. I will have a math class 2nights a week for 3 hours each and an online history class. We return from WDW on a Friday and that very Monday we will all be in full swing. DD10 will start a new school, the baby will be in daycare for the 1st time in a year and a half. DD starts college classes as well and DS will be starting the 1st day of his last year of high school. Only bright spot is that my Monday class isn't until 2pm. So I can get everyone on their way and have time to help the baby get adjusted for a while. He will be my bittersweet part of this all. I picked him up from daycare late May 2012 & I've been with him everyday ever since. My class ends at 3:30, I'll be to get him in record time, then rush home to see how DD10's day went.

Ok enough about that I have made some dents in my budget. My ebay goal for this month was to make $400 & $400 in June & maybe $200 in July. Well as of right now,5/15 (while typing this someone just bid on an item. ) This is where I stand...

I'm awaiting a $25 payment and I have $25 worth of stuff bid on but I listed 17 things today and 3 sold buy now paid now. I have bumped my goal to $550 for this month.
My aunt who was the reason I started my eBay challenge went shopping for my trip and mailed all these goodies to me.

Blankets for the train & room, cups, bracelets, Mickey phones, towel, pencils and pens, plates and utensils, fuzzy Mickey slippers,etc. I was in Mickey heaven when I opened these boxes. I saved it all for our trip and didn't let the little ones see.
82 days as of today and looking forward to buying a ticket next week too
Ta Ta for now!

 

[dsnycrzy]

OK I NOW HAVE A BIG SECRET!!!!! Over in the transportation thread I stumbled on a conversation about the Auto Trains fares dropping from time to time & refunds. I checked a few days ago and my fare was still cheaper. Today I checked my reservation and it had dropped from the other day but was exactly the same as what I paid. So I decided I'd check for the 3rd since our ressies were for the 5th (don't want to add too much more to my resort budget) and it was exactly the same and they had lower level seats available. So I checked my DD's reservation for the 3rd and it actually went down by $45 so I added DS who will turn 2 while in WDW, and his cost... $45!
So now I'm gonna let them believe we are still leaving on Monday knowing by Monday we will be there already. Now how do I break this to them???

 

[dsnycrzy]

Ok time to do an itinerary to keep me on track.
1st I am happy to say I ordered 2 more tickets

So now the ticket portion of my financial wall looks like this...

Ok Since adding the 2 days to my trip, I had to find somewhere to sleep so I thought I'd step out of my Mickey earsand stay on site at Universal. Put in my dates for the 2 days to check prices & with AAA it was $285 so I figured that was doable & the express line option would be great for my teenage Harry Potter Fans. I call, give my dates, card number & the lady says they will charge me for the 1st day now but then said $285. I look back at my screen and that's per day Then $18 per night times 2 cars and $25 per night for the 5th person. Final cost for those 2 nights...nearly $700. Ok give me back my darn Mickey ears! That's crazy so by staying 1night we get the perks for 2 days so here's my itinerary with one nights stay.
8/3 Board Auto Train
8/4 Arrive at RPR at 11ish. Universal by 1. Dinner at NBA, pool, shower, sleep.
8/5 Dress & pack book bags, check-out, early morning entry to IOA, lunch at Bob Marley's. Check-in to CBR, nap, Walmart, resort dinner, pool.
8/6 NOT SURE YET
8/7 AK Rainforest Cafe ADR's 5:15, Pool
8/8 HS Hollywood & Vine ARD's 11:25 (arrive at 11) (only myself &2lil ones, big kids sleep in?) Sci-Fi ADR's at 5:55, Fantasmic
8/9 Sleep in, hotel hop for pics, pack up some, pizza night, pool
8/10 Load cars, ck-out CBR, LBV mall outlets, ck-in to Vacation House, Walmart, Dinner in, pool/tv night.
8/11 Relax Day- Eat-in (NO MONEY DAY) pool/tv.
8/12 Epcot lunch at Sunshine Food Ct, Dinner at house.
8/13 Millenia Mall or just shopping (school clothes & supplies).
8/14 Rest, Walmart for , set up for DD's Pool Party, Planet Hollywood for Dinner.
8/15 MK lunch at Peco Bills, Dinner at house or McDonalds if in route.
8/16 BB, Lunch & showers at house, Dwtwn Dis?
8/17 DQ Dwtwn Dis, T-Rex, DJ & Party by the water.
8/18 TL, Showers at house, Waffle House, Fill Car.
8/19 Day trip to Miami
8/20 Sleep in, Extra park day if we didn't use already.
8/21 Pack & clean some, Ponderosa for lunch, Walmart for train snacks, pool/tv.
8/22 Clean up last of stuff, load cars, fill tanks, brunch, train.
8/23 Arrive home and prepare for a super busy week! My DD20 & I will be full-time students, my DS17 last year of H.S, DD10's 1st day of middle school, DS1's 1st day at daycare in over a year.

Now I could possibly change my mind and stay 2 nights at RPR just because we won't get to enjoy that resort but I can't wrap my head around the $700 price tag when the extra night at CBR is only $135! Taa Taa for now!

 

[dsnycrzy]

Hello all,
I am well aware that no one is reading this but me but it keeps me on track and amazes me like... IT'S BEEN 2 WEEKS SINCE I'VE BEEN ON HERE! 2weeks??? The time just escapes ya. Anyway there are now a few NEW adjustment to our trip and my life. First of all I am back in school for the summer one class is strictly online and the other is Monday & Wednesday nights in a math lab with computers but you do 90% of your work online at home. The struggle for me is not opening a new tab while doing my work on the & typing disboards.com. I reward myself with dis time if I do XY &Z, that helps.
An update on my eBay challenge:

Not bad and I still have a month before I have to pay off the vacation home

So I was reading someone's itinerary and they were staying at AoA and since your dates for the vacation home are in stone, I tried doing some magic. Since we are going 2days earlier and booked at RPR at universal for a night, I was going to hop over to AoA but there was no rooms available for the 1st few days. I lucked up towards the end of our CBR stay. It lowered that stay bc our last day was a originally Saturday with us paying the weekend rate for Friday. So instead of Tuesday to Saturday (paying a few dollars extra for Friday), we are staying Monday to Friday . We leave there and check into AoA. My little ones are gonna flip a wig!!! I'm not telling until we are pulling in, Im going to let them believe we are going to the vacation home
Up next is our new itinerary

 

[dsnycrzy]

Ok our new Itinerary:
8/3:leave house at 1030-11 heading for the Auto train.
8/4:Arrive at RPR shower & at universal by 12-1pm. Dinner at NBA Restaurant, pool, resort pics.
8/5:Ck-out RPR, IOA by 9-10, lunch at Bob Marleys at 1or 2. Ck-In CBR,nap,resort dinner, pool. My DS's BDay
8/6:resort pics, Walmart, hotel hop for pics, another resorts dinner (ASMU?),pool.
8/7:AK, Rainforest ADR's 5:15,pool.
8/8:HS, Hollywood Vine ADR's 1125 (checking in at 11& crossing fingers we get in early), meet up with big kids at 12ish, Sci-Fi ADR's 555, fantastic.
8/9:ck-out of CBR, ck-in to AoA, resort pics, POP pics, lunch & dinner at AoA, pool, naps & more pool .
8/10:ck-out of AoA at 11, Ponderosa Buffet, LBV Mall, Vacation Home ck-in, Walmart, eat-in, pool & tv.
8/11:Relax day, laundrypool& tv NO MONEY DAY!
8/12:Epcot, lunch at Sunshine Food Court, dinner eat-in pool & tv.
8/13:millennia mall or/& outlet malls, dinner eat-in.
8/14:rest, Walmart for for DD BDay Pool party. Planet Hollywood dinner.
8/15:MK, Peco Bills lunch, Casey's Corner dinner doing Main Street Parade.
8/16:BB then downtown Disney.Dinner ?
8/17Q, T-Rex dinner, party by the water (not sure of the name of this DJ Party thing but I love this).
8/18:TL, Pizza or Waffle House.
8/19:Miami (never been so we will wing it)
8/20:Extra park day if not used already or relax day.
8/21:cleaning day, laundry, pack, eat-in, Walmart for train snacks.
8/22:clean last of stuff (tubs, fridge,etc.), ck-out of vacation home, gas station, Shoney's for lunch, leave Kissimmee at 1pm for auto train.
8/23: Homevacation over for about 350 days bc planning for summer 2014 began on the train

Ok if your reading this, opinions are welcome.

 

[Alysa]

Congratulations on getting so much paid off already! Good for you!
Itinerary sounds great!
Hope you are enjoying school too!