I have so much to write about and zero time to write the past few days! Today obsession is a new Disney Rewards Visa cardholders discount being offered the week we'll be in Disney World. Upon learning about it, I promptly applied for the card...something we've been intending to do for like two years! Theoretically I'll be able to call tomorrow morning at 7:00 AM and change my existing reservation to include the free basic dining plan! That will be like a $540 savings for our family! Rock on!
I have to admit, though, that I'm feeling a little scammy. I don't have the card in hand, nor will I for several weeks. So I paid off the vacation tonight via the official Disney website with that new card. When you apply through the site you're giving instant approval. So while I don't have a card number or anything, I can rack up some debt. LOL Better yet - debt that is repayable over the course of six months interest free! Thankfully we're not in the financial position that this should be a problem, but I see how easy it is for folks to get in deep very quickly!
Why would I pay off a vacation when I plan to get a discount on? I'm creating documentation, you see. It's proof that I am, indeed, a Disney Rewards Visa cardholder. I'm in for like $1500 with them, therefore eligible for the discount. Do I sound compelling? I'll let you know how it turns out tomorrow. Keep your fingers crossed for me! And then keep them crossed that I get all the work done that should have been done today whilst I was clicking all over the world wide web to figure out if I could make this work. *sigh* Yet still...I'm literally counting the days until we go. I can not wait!!!
Showing posts with label vacation. Show all posts
Showing posts with label vacation. Show all posts
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
Sunday, September 14, 2008
The Disney planning continues
I've said it before. I've spent hours and hours and hours and HOURS and HOURS planning our upcoming trip. It's par for the course, though, as this experience is no different than our previous three trips. I'm beginning to wonder if it's an obsession. Is it because I love planning things? Possibly. I'm already Christmas shopping, deciding which cookies to bake and contemplating a Christmas dinner menu. Is it because I want to make sure the trip runs smoothly? Also possible. I been to Disney World once without a plan and that first day was miserable and frustrating to me. We promptly returned to our hotel room with maps, a laptop and a phone to make reservations. What I think is the ultimate reason for my compulsion to hit all quality WDW trip related sites, though, is how happy thinking about this upcoming trip makes me! Today it is 2 months 3 weeks and 6 days until we go. Thank God we have a really busy fall to help time pass in a pleasant way otherwise I'd be going nuts!
I did something funny last week. I found out DisneyWorld.com is looking for their 2009 Moms Panel. They accept up to 20,000 applications and accept 16 parents. Nice odds, huh? Anyway, I couldn't resist applying. Cause, ya know, I have soooo much extra time. But I couldn't resist. I love talking about Disney World! I have to participate in online communities and talk to a select group of friends who fall into the category as to not drive my mother and husband crazy! I feel like there should be some version of AA for Disney World vacation addicts.
The only downfall of getting accepted to be on the Moms Panel is that it will only fuel my desire to go to WDW more. The compensation for this position is a free trip, though I would return home from it on Tuesday and go on my own scheduled trip on Saturday. Don't get me wrong. I'll take it! Though it would rock to spread out my fun a bit. Matters not, though...a 1 in 1250 chance doesn't make me put a lot of hope in being chosen.
I did something funny last week. I found out DisneyWorld.com is looking for their 2009 Moms Panel. They accept up to 20,000 applications and accept 16 parents. Nice odds, huh? Anyway, I couldn't resist applying. Cause, ya know, I have soooo much extra time. But I couldn't resist. I love talking about Disney World! I have to participate in online communities and talk to a select group of friends who fall into the category as to not drive my mother and husband crazy! I feel like there should be some version of AA for Disney World vacation addicts.
The only downfall of getting accepted to be on the Moms Panel is that it will only fuel my desire to go to WDW more. The compensation for this position is a free trip, though I would return home from it on Tuesday and go on my own scheduled trip on Saturday. Don't get me wrong. I'll take it! Though it would rock to spread out my fun a bit. Matters not, though...a 1 in 1250 chance doesn't make me put a lot of hope in being chosen.
Sunday, September 7, 2008
Why did I not knock on wood?
Our plan, for our December Disney trip, is to take our older daughter out of school for five whole days. On some level this feels very very wrong to me. My parents NEVER let me miss school for vacation. Once during my junior year I was allowed to leave a few hours early, but much discussion was had about it prior to the final decision being made. When talked with my mom about this upcoming trip, she was definitely wary, the say the least, about her granddaughter's truancy.
I talked to many moms about it and everyone assured me I should go for it. I succumbed to the temptation and booked with the caveat that if our kindergartner missed time due to illness, we would choose another time to go.
Today, a mere two weeks into the school year, she has a fever. We'll have to get through the night fever free and walk up perky for her to go to school. I normally have a 24 hour fever-free rule, but we'll see since it appears she just has a cold. *sigh*
Little one's health is, of course, my first concern. But...it's hard to not already be a little disappointed. I'm a bad mom for not surprising my kiddos on our way south rather than building it up from the minute I book it. :-( When will I learn?!?
I talked to many moms about it and everyone assured me I should go for it. I succumbed to the temptation and booked with the caveat that if our kindergartner missed time due to illness, we would choose another time to go.
Today, a mere two weeks into the school year, she has a fever. We'll have to get through the night fever free and walk up perky for her to go to school. I normally have a 24 hour fever-free rule, but we'll see since it appears she just has a cold. *sigh*
Little one's health is, of course, my first concern. But...it's hard to not already be a little disappointed. I'm a bad mom for not surprising my kiddos on our way south rather than building it up from the minute I book it. :-( When will I learn?!?
Saturday, September 6, 2008
Ahhh, the magical Disney memories!
As I've mentioned, we love Disney World. The task of planning the trips exhaust me, but they really are great. I honestly feel blessed to live in an area where it's a feasible drive. If I had to fork over an extra $1000 for airfare, we could never go as often. And obviously going often is a priority to us as our 5 1/2 year old daughter will be embarking on her 4th trip in December.
Our last WDW vacation was last September. It was amazing! For those Disney novices, for the past several years, Disney has offered their dining plan for free in the fall. Since we were just dealing with a preschool schedule then, we thought nothing of taking our older daughter out of school to travel. This coming year, with the start of kindergarten, we didn't want to take her out so close to the start of the year, so we've missed out on 1) free food and 2) fall festivities. I just saw this blog documenting the start of the beautiful autumn decorations going up throughout the world. Ahh, the memories! Be sure to click. I've borrowed one of her images, but there are loads of other great ones. She's really captured how Disney has a knack for really knocking a theme out of the park - pun intended.
Our last WDW vacation was last September. It was amazing! For those Disney novices, for the past several years, Disney has offered their dining plan for free in the fall. Since we were just dealing with a preschool schedule then, we thought nothing of taking our older daughter out of school to travel. This coming year, with the start of kindergarten, we didn't want to take her out so close to the start of the year, so we've missed out on 1) free food and 2) fall festivities. I just saw this blog documenting the start of the beautiful autumn decorations going up throughout the world. Ahh, the memories! Be sure to click. I've borrowed one of her images, but there are loads of other great ones. She's really captured how Disney has a knack for really knocking a theme out of the park - pun intended.Friends of our are on their way home from WDW as we speak and I'm jealous. I can't wait another three months to go!! I want to go nooooooooooooooooooooow! :-)
[photo courtesy of http://www.disunplugged.com/]
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
The time suck of planning a Walt Disney World vacation
Let me be the first to say that our family loves Disney World like nobody's business. My children are 5 and 3 1/2. The 5 year-old will be embarking on her 4th visit this December. She went when she was 13 months, 2 1/2 and 3 1/2. The poor child hasn't been there in over a year! Such a travesty!
Let me not lead you to believe, though, that this is all for the kids. My husband and I are huge fans too. Now we don't go all the way by wearing Mickey crocs and mouse ears in the parks. But this trip is definitely something we can't keep ourselves from planning time and time again. We had decided, after our trip last September, that we would probably not go again until this coming June as we didn't want to take our budding kindergartner out of school for a week. Yet when we started talking about the crowds during the summer, we just couldn't bring ourselves to endure them. We will be going again in December and my parents will be coming with us.
While I thoroughly enjoy all of the fantastic websites out there chock full o' information about the parks, getting there, the hotels, the restaurants, etc etc etc, I find myself sucked into that vortex only to emerge hours later. I would be ashamed if there was some hidden camera hooked up to my laptop that tracked how much time I've spent developing our itinerary. It didn't help, of course, that we were originally planned for December 6 - 12th and now we've moved that to December 13th through 19th.
For the millionth time, I've just gotten off the phone with the lovely people at the Disney Dining hotline trying to move a reservation we have at Chef Mickey to an earlier time. I will call another million times before our trip...that is unless I get the ressie I want. And let's be honest, even if I do, I'll still probably call again trying to change something else. *sigh* Is it an addiction?
I read the Disboards all the time, contributing my experiences and opinions and tucking away others. Honestly, the people there are the only ones I have to talk about my upcoming and past trips. My family is sick of me. Any conversation that starts with "When we go to Disney World..." is prompted replied to with a great big old eye roll from my husband. My mom is more subtle, but I sense some exasperation over the topic from her too.
All of this planning is bittersweet. On one hand, I love it. I love putting every detail together in an effort to see every parade, miss every fireworks display (the girlies are terrified), eat at our favorite establishments, ride the best rides with minimal line wait time and, and, and...the list seems endless. On the other hand, it annoys me greatly that you need to plan out every minute of your day. A vacation is supposed to be about relaxing a bit and going with the flow. I've learned in WDW, that going with the flow leaves you hungry and frustrated.
As I mentioned, my parents are coming with us this trip and that should be a unique experience. Dad is disabled and mom also has heart problems. We typically do a lot of hustling from place to place and little sitting down and resting. This trip is likely to have a lot more of that. It'll be a different mindset for hubby and I. It'll be worth it, though. Our girls are so so excited that their grandparents are coming. And my parents are so excited to be back at WDW after 30 years and at Christmas time - which I will say firsthand is amazing!
Let me not lead you to believe, though, that this is all for the kids. My husband and I are huge fans too. Now we don't go all the way by wearing Mickey crocs and mouse ears in the parks. But this trip is definitely something we can't keep ourselves from planning time and time again. We had decided, after our trip last September, that we would probably not go again until this coming June as we didn't want to take our budding kindergartner out of school for a week. Yet when we started talking about the crowds during the summer, we just couldn't bring ourselves to endure them. We will be going again in December and my parents will be coming with us.
While I thoroughly enjoy all of the fantastic websites out there chock full o' information about the parks, getting there, the hotels, the restaurants, etc etc etc, I find myself sucked into that vortex only to emerge hours later. I would be ashamed if there was some hidden camera hooked up to my laptop that tracked how much time I've spent developing our itinerary. It didn't help, of course, that we were originally planned for December 6 - 12th and now we've moved that to December 13th through 19th.
For the millionth time, I've just gotten off the phone with the lovely people at the Disney Dining hotline trying to move a reservation we have at Chef Mickey to an earlier time. I will call another million times before our trip...that is unless I get the ressie I want. And let's be honest, even if I do, I'll still probably call again trying to change something else. *sigh* Is it an addiction?
I read the Disboards all the time, contributing my experiences and opinions and tucking away others. Honestly, the people there are the only ones I have to talk about my upcoming and past trips. My family is sick of me. Any conversation that starts with "When we go to Disney World..." is prompted replied to with a great big old eye roll from my husband. My mom is more subtle, but I sense some exasperation over the topic from her too.
All of this planning is bittersweet. On one hand, I love it. I love putting every detail together in an effort to see every parade, miss every fireworks display (the girlies are terrified), eat at our favorite establishments, ride the best rides with minimal line wait time and, and, and...the list seems endless. On the other hand, it annoys me greatly that you need to plan out every minute of your day. A vacation is supposed to be about relaxing a bit and going with the flow. I've learned in WDW, that going with the flow leaves you hungry and frustrated.
As I mentioned, my parents are coming with us this trip and that should be a unique experience. Dad is disabled and mom also has heart problems. We typically do a lot of hustling from place to place and little sitting down and resting. This trip is likely to have a lot more of that. It'll be a different mindset for hubby and I. It'll be worth it, though. Our girls are so so excited that their grandparents are coming. And my parents are so excited to be back at WDW after 30 years and at Christmas time - which I will say firsthand is amazing!
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