Our friends LOVED Disneyland... As if it was possible for them not to. You can check out their take on Disney and their pictures on their blog, here: http://danforthfour.blogspot.com/
Maybe while you're there you'll even stay a while and see what they're about. They're a great family and I love having them in my life!
Thursday, February 28, 2013
Monday, February 18, 2013
Paying it forward
My husband and I host a small bible study group at our house on Sundays. As a group we wanted to be very purposeful in supporting our missionaries, so we "adopted" a missionary family from our home church. We'd pray for them, keep up to date with them (and vice-verse), hang out with them when they're in town, etc. Saturday, I received a picture text from them showing that they were in CA and enjoying the lovely 85 degree weather. This sparked off a conversation on what they were going to do while they were there since they have 2 young kids. In a very short amount of time we found out that they'd only be there for a few days and wanted to go to Disney but opted for Knots Berry Farm because Disney was too expensive... Without hesitation the decision was made to go online and get their family tickets to the Magic Kingdom of Disney Land. There was just no question. They wanted their kids to be able to see the cool things that America has to offer before they head off, long term, to Africa later this fall... And there just really is no place cooler than Disney.
I hated making the decision without the rest of our small group being there but when we met the next day they all completely understood why it had to be made so quickly and were all very supportive of the idea. I'm very grateful to have such generous and Godly people to love on and to help me love on others. The Danforths (missionary family) are there today making memories that will last a lifetime. I'll post a link to their blog once they've documented their memorable adventure!
I hated making the decision without the rest of our small group being there but when we met the next day they all completely understood why it had to be made so quickly and were all very supportive of the idea. I'm very grateful to have such generous and Godly people to love on and to help me love on others. The Danforths (missionary family) are there today making memories that will last a lifetime. I'll post a link to their blog once they've documented their memorable adventure!
Saturday, February 2, 2013
Planning and other fun tips
When should you go?
At what time in the year you go to Disney is a pretty personal matter. You may only have certain times when you can go due to work schedules, holidays, etc. So, while this is by no means a must, here are some things to consider when planning the dates of your trip.
At Epcot, they will head towards Soarin’ and Test Track.
At Animal Kingdom, they head straight back to Kilamanjaro Safaris.
At Hollywood Studios, Toy Story Mania is the main attraction with some people heading towards Tower of Terror and Rocking Roller Coaster.
1.Are you okay with pulling your kids out of school for the trip?
If so, then going during the less busy seasons is a highly recommended option. I have a link, below, with when the crowds are their lowest. In general, the best times are After New Years but before Spring... After Spring break but before Summer vacation early November, and the first two weeks of December. Going during a slow period will allow you more time to relax and enjoy all that Disney has to offer. It will also be easier on your kids (and your nerves) if you don't have to stand in line for hours at a time. If you're not okay with pulling your kids out of school, the below link can also help you sort out the "least of evils" as it were with when to go.
2. What kind of budget are you working with? Again, the site I have linked up below also ranks when it's more and less expensive to visit the parks. Knowing that information may also help gauge exactly when you and your family want to go.
Other Fun Tips:
Another great website that I found with fun tips and tricks is My 101 Best Disney World Tips. It's full of nice tips for whether your staying at a resort on Disney property to fun little "Easter eggs" that around each of the four parks.
My favorites are below:
19. It’s important to know where the crowds are going to go as soon as the park opens.
At Magic Kingdom, they will head towards Splash Mountain, Big Thunder Mountain, Fantasyland (mainly Dumbo and Peter Pan) and Space Mountain.At Epcot, they will head towards Soarin’ and Test Track.
At Animal Kingdom, they head straight back to Kilamanjaro Safaris.
At Hollywood Studios, Toy Story Mania is the main attraction with some people heading towards Tower of Terror and Rocking Roller Coaster.
22. FASTPASS is a wonderful program that Disney offers all their guests. Fastpass essentially reserves you a spot in a shorter line during a specific hour during that day. To get your Fastpass ticket, you will look for the Fastpass machine located outside select rides. You insert your park ticket and it will give you a Fastpass ticket with a return window printed on the front. When the time comes for you to redeem your Fastpass ticket, return to the ride but use the Fastpass entrance. You will then get to skip ahead of all the people in the regular queue and you will feel like a celebrity! See the park map for all the details on which rides have Fastpass.
** Bonus tip from my pastor and cousin: Have one parent wait in line with the kids to meet a Disney character (or do some shopping or other activity) while the other parents races off to whatever the "BIG" ride is for your family and gets the fast passes. That way you know you'll be able to ride that ride when you're ready and won't have to wait in line.
** Also, while it's true that you can only get one set of Fastpasses at a time, that doesn't mean that you must use it in the allotted window that it shows you. It only means you have to use it anytime from that appointed time on out. So if you know you're going to want Fastpasses for other rides and aren't ready to ride the "BIG" one yet (for our family it will be Splash Mountain) then go get another set of Fastpasses as soon as your allowed to. That way you'll save yourself more time and effort.
37. Rope Drop – Want to experience shorter lines, cooler temperatures and smaller crowds? Just make it to the park about 45 minutes before it opens. This will ensure that you enter the park in front of the crowds. We can typically squeeze in about 10-12 rides in the first hour the park is open. It will take you 3-4 hours to ride that same number of rides later in the day!
41. You can get in line for an attraction up until the park closes. So if the park is closing at 9 pm, as long as you get in the queue at 8:59 pm, you will get to ride!
58. If one of your souvenirs breaks while you are on vacation, Disney will replace it for FREE! Just take it to the nearest store that carries that product and let the Cast Member know the issue. On the last trip, we had to replace 3 different items including a pen that ran out of ink and a lanyard that broke.
And THIS is by far my most prized tip that I found:
62. You do not have to carry your packages around with you all day. You can either have them sent up to the front of the park to pick up on your way out or if you are staying on Disney property you can have them sent to your resort’s gift shop (next day).
Friday, February 1, 2013
Budgeting tips
Here are some of the things I've picked up along the way while planning this trip. If you're on a tight budget like my family, these tips will be helpful in making your trip a reality.
Budget:
1. Go through your finances. Understanding where your money is already going will help you to understand what you need to fix in order to save up what you need. It will also help you to have a better picture of what you can afford to put aside each paycheck.
2. Understand the costs. Look at ticket prices, airfare (or gas if you're driving Plan to put a specific dollar amount aside every week (or every paycheck), and hotel pricing. Be real about how much you want to be able to spend on food and trinkets/souvenirs. Our families budget started at $5,000 (we're also doing a day at universal).
3. Do the math. Now that you have an idea of how much you need, and you know how much you could afford to stash away each paycheck calculate how long you'd have to save up for to make this trip a reality.
4. Don't be discouraged if it's going to take you a long while to save up. The journey is almost as rewarding as the actual destination. I promise! It's amazing how good it feels to see the progress you're making.
Tips on how to save money:
1. Buy the tickets! No really, as soon as you have enough money to at least purchase the park tickets, do it. The count down for expiration doesn't start until the first time you use them. So purchase them as soon as you can. Disney raises their ticket prices a couple of times a year so you will really save money if you do it this way.. I bought our family's tickets in April of 2012.. By doing that, I've already saved around $150.00. Imagine how much that will equate to when we actually go in 2014?
2. Drive. If your kids are good at handling long car rides and...more importantly, you're good with being in a car for that long with your kids.. Just drive there and save yourself the airfare. Even with gas prices rising it would be less expensive.
3. If you're going to fly, shop around for discounted airline tickets. My family and I know better than to trap ourselves in a car with each other for more than a few hours... So we're flying. Thankfully, there's an Allegiant Air within good distance from us and they fly directly to Orlando. You can bundle your airfare, car and hotel with them or just airfare and car (what we're doing). They also offer other add-ons like kids eat free coupons for a certain dollar amount per child... and prices tend to go down the closer you are to your actual booking date. Right now, if were were to go in May our package would be just a little over 1,300.. I'll let you know if that goes up or down the closer May gets (yes I know we're not going until May of next year... but that's the thing about Allegiant, you can't book that far in advance..which is fine).
4. Buy groceries once you're there. Make sure you get a hotel that will actually have a fridge for you to put food in (doesn't have to be a big fridge, just enough for some basics). You can bring food into the park so don't waste time buying meal plans or buying the food there. Just get some staples (snacks, poptarts, muffins, bread, the types of things your family likes for sandwiches, some fruit, etc.) and then pack them up in a soft sided cooler or your backpack when you go into the park.
5. Pack light. Make sure you get a hotel with a laundromat. That way you can bring enough clothes for only 1/2 your stay and then do laundry one day while you're there. Much easier than over packing and then trying to figure out how you're going to get all of those souvenirs home. Plus, depending on how long your stay is, you might be able to fit it all as carry on for your flight and that will save you some dough. And even if you can't use it as carry on.. You may be able to fit all of your spouses items and yours into one bag and then your kids into one bag and that will save on how much you have to pay for check bags.
6. Don't add park hopper to your tickets- It's your call but there's plenty to do at each park for an entire day. No need to hop from park to park. However, if your family really is only mildly interested in any one park then park hopper may be a nice option to spend 1/2 a day at one park and then 1/2 a day at another.
7. Know your resources. Reach out to family and friends. Someone you know has connections somewhere. Me? My mother works in reality and was able to hook us up with a timeshare voucher for around $200.00 for a weeks worth of lodging. My cousin works at Disney world and is able to give me even more tips and tricks (which, I'll gladly share here).There are also plenty of websites and Pinterest boards out there with park information and tips on how to score good deals throughout the year. My favorite is www.allears.net.
8. Don't buy drinks. Seriously, just bring a few water bottles in with you and bring your favorite flavored drink packets. Ice and water are free at the parks anyways and, really, do you need the pop? It just makes you more thirsty.
Budget:
1. Go through your finances. Understanding where your money is already going will help you to understand what you need to fix in order to save up what you need. It will also help you to have a better picture of what you can afford to put aside each paycheck.
2. Understand the costs. Look at ticket prices, airfare (or gas if you're driving Plan to put a specific dollar amount aside every week (or every paycheck), and hotel pricing. Be real about how much you want to be able to spend on food and trinkets/souvenirs. Our families budget started at $5,000 (we're also doing a day at universal).
3. Do the math. Now that you have an idea of how much you need, and you know how much you could afford to stash away each paycheck calculate how long you'd have to save up for to make this trip a reality.
4. Don't be discouraged if it's going to take you a long while to save up. The journey is almost as rewarding as the actual destination. I promise! It's amazing how good it feels to see the progress you're making.
Tips on how to save money:
1. Buy the tickets! No really, as soon as you have enough money to at least purchase the park tickets, do it. The count down for expiration doesn't start until the first time you use them. So purchase them as soon as you can. Disney raises their ticket prices a couple of times a year so you will really save money if you do it this way.. I bought our family's tickets in April of 2012.. By doing that, I've already saved around $150.00. Imagine how much that will equate to when we actually go in 2014?
2. Drive. If your kids are good at handling long car rides and...more importantly, you're good with being in a car for that long with your kids.. Just drive there and save yourself the airfare. Even with gas prices rising it would be less expensive.
3. If you're going to fly, shop around for discounted airline tickets. My family and I know better than to trap ourselves in a car with each other for more than a few hours... So we're flying. Thankfully, there's an Allegiant Air within good distance from us and they fly directly to Orlando. You can bundle your airfare, car and hotel with them or just airfare and car (what we're doing). They also offer other add-ons like kids eat free coupons for a certain dollar amount per child... and prices tend to go down the closer you are to your actual booking date. Right now, if were were to go in May our package would be just a little over 1,300.. I'll let you know if that goes up or down the closer May gets (yes I know we're not going until May of next year... but that's the thing about Allegiant, you can't book that far in advance..which is fine).
4. Buy groceries once you're there. Make sure you get a hotel that will actually have a fridge for you to put food in (doesn't have to be a big fridge, just enough for some basics). You can bring food into the park so don't waste time buying meal plans or buying the food there. Just get some staples (snacks, poptarts, muffins, bread, the types of things your family likes for sandwiches, some fruit, etc.) and then pack them up in a soft sided cooler or your backpack when you go into the park.
5. Pack light. Make sure you get a hotel with a laundromat. That way you can bring enough clothes for only 1/2 your stay and then do laundry one day while you're there. Much easier than over packing and then trying to figure out how you're going to get all of those souvenirs home. Plus, depending on how long your stay is, you might be able to fit it all as carry on for your flight and that will save you some dough. And even if you can't use it as carry on.. You may be able to fit all of your spouses items and yours into one bag and then your kids into one bag and that will save on how much you have to pay for check bags.
6. Don't add park hopper to your tickets- It's your call but there's plenty to do at each park for an entire day. No need to hop from park to park. However, if your family really is only mildly interested in any one park then park hopper may be a nice option to spend 1/2 a day at one park and then 1/2 a day at another.
7. Know your resources. Reach out to family and friends. Someone you know has connections somewhere. Me? My mother works in reality and was able to hook us up with a timeshare voucher for around $200.00 for a weeks worth of lodging. My cousin works at Disney world and is able to give me even more tips and tricks (which, I'll gladly share here).There are also plenty of websites and Pinterest boards out there with park information and tips on how to score good deals throughout the year. My favorite is www.allears.net.
8. Don't buy drinks. Seriously, just bring a few water bottles in with you and bring your favorite flavored drink packets. Ice and water are free at the parks anyways and, really, do you need the pop? It just makes you more thirsty.
A little background is required
I was not always so obsessed with Disney. Heck, at one point, someone could say I was actually somewhat normal. I've been to Disneyland approximately 3-4 times since I was a child. The last time was about 10 years ago. On that last occasion I was newly married and I was ridiculously excited about going. My new husband had never been to Disneyland or Disney world and I saw this as a great opportunity to share an important part of my childhood with him and have something we could both love. It took us 1 year to save up the money to go and I was worse than a kid in a candy store with glee at the planning process for our trip. When we finally went cheeks hurt from all the smiling I did when we were there. Disney truly is a magical place. I figured it was only magical because I associated it with my childhood and, well heck... They play nothing but happy music all day long!
Afterwards we decided that someday we'll go back and we'll go to Disney world since neither of us have experienced that. We knew we wanted to start a family so we decided we would wait until we were done having children and that they were at the age where they could really appreciate and participate in most (if not all) that Disney would have to offer. Knowing it was that far off down the road made it easy to just shelve any excitement and, for the most part, forget about the idea all together. Things were calm.
Then we had our two boys and time flew by quickly. About 1 1/2 ago we knew that the time was getting near and if we were going to make it a reality... Let's start the planning and the saving. We knew we'd really want to have a great time and Disney world is expensive so the plan was to go in 2014. As usual, I designated a notebook and started jotting down the different things we would need to budget for and explore various way to save money.
THAT'S WHEN THE OBSESSION STARTED
First nice and slow.. Who doesn't like to find a good deal? Who doesn't get a tiny high when they know they've saved money? But, over time it has built in intensity to the boiling point.... To the point where we bumped up our trip by 6 months because the thought of waiting 22 more months was unbearable... But 15 months seems relatively do-able.
Here are the things I blame for my illness:
1. My cousin works for Disney world
2. My pastor and his family also love Disney world and had all sorts of fabulous advice for me.
3. The Internet..... It's just so much easier to access all sorts of helpful information than it was 10 years ago.
4. The sheer delight in my children's eyes anytime they see anything Disney related
5. The nostalgia of my joyful times and Disneyland.
6. The fact that this trip is a complete surprise to my kids and I'm picturing the overwhelming wave of joy that will hit them when we go.
7. Pinterest.... no really, pinterest is wonder full.....and evil!
8. We got the Disneyland Kinnect game for Christmas.. So we go to Disneyland practically everyday.
9. My good friend, Sommer, is going with her family in June and she's allowing me to be her unofficial travel agent.
So now all I can think about is Disney and what we can do while we're there and how much fun we're going to have etc etc. etc.
To spare my family and friends the grief of having to listen to me talk about this upcoming trip non-stop on my facebook page, I'm taking it up to making my own blog. A little get away where I can spout off all of the things I'm finding and enjoying without having to force it upon others. haha.I figured, worst case scenario, I'll go back to fooling people into believing I'm a normal and sane person once more.
So there it is.. The background of why I'm obsessed with Disney. My intent with this blog is to share the fun things I've learned (whether it's a useful tip or a fun Disney trip craft project) and just have a release for all of this pent up obsession. I hope you enjoy it (whether it's to simply laugh at the crazy or because you're crazy like me).
Afterwards we decided that someday we'll go back and we'll go to Disney world since neither of us have experienced that. We knew we wanted to start a family so we decided we would wait until we were done having children and that they were at the age where they could really appreciate and participate in most (if not all) that Disney would have to offer. Knowing it was that far off down the road made it easy to just shelve any excitement and, for the most part, forget about the idea all together. Things were calm.
Then we had our two boys and time flew by quickly. About 1 1/2 ago we knew that the time was getting near and if we were going to make it a reality... Let's start the planning and the saving. We knew we'd really want to have a great time and Disney world is expensive so the plan was to go in 2014. As usual, I designated a notebook and started jotting down the different things we would need to budget for and explore various way to save money.
THAT'S WHEN THE OBSESSION STARTED
First nice and slow.. Who doesn't like to find a good deal? Who doesn't get a tiny high when they know they've saved money? But, over time it has built in intensity to the boiling point.... To the point where we bumped up our trip by 6 months because the thought of waiting 22 more months was unbearable... But 15 months seems relatively do-able.
Here are the things I blame for my illness:
1. My cousin works for Disney world
2. My pastor and his family also love Disney world and had all sorts of fabulous advice for me.
3. The Internet..... It's just so much easier to access all sorts of helpful information than it was 10 years ago.
4. The sheer delight in my children's eyes anytime they see anything Disney related
5. The nostalgia of my joyful times and Disneyland.
6. The fact that this trip is a complete surprise to my kids and I'm picturing the overwhelming wave of joy that will hit them when we go.
7. Pinterest.... no really, pinterest is wonder full.....and evil!
8. We got the Disneyland Kinnect game for Christmas.. So we go to Disneyland practically everyday.
9. My good friend, Sommer, is going with her family in June and she's allowing me to be her unofficial travel agent.
So now all I can think about is Disney and what we can do while we're there and how much fun we're going to have etc etc. etc.
To spare my family and friends the grief of having to listen to me talk about this upcoming trip non-stop on my facebook page, I'm taking it up to making my own blog. A little get away where I can spout off all of the things I'm finding and enjoying without having to force it upon others. haha.I figured, worst case scenario, I'll go back to fooling people into believing I'm a normal and sane person once more.
So there it is.. The background of why I'm obsessed with Disney. My intent with this blog is to share the fun things I've learned (whether it's a useful tip or a fun Disney trip craft project) and just have a release for all of this pent up obsession. I hope you enjoy it (whether it's to simply laugh at the crazy or because you're crazy like me).
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