Sparky's Gone to the World- A TR 9/13/11-9/20/11 - Page 9 - PassPorter - A Community of Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and General Travel Forums
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Just finding your TR and joining in. All your plans look great and so happy you got your ADR's pretty much the first time around. I'm heading to the World about a month after you and feel like I'm a month behind what you are doing. I'm in the "lull" of planning right now.
Don't know if I'm too late about the b-day party stuff but until my son asks for a big party - he is getting something small. My son and nephew are one year and two days apart so my sister and I always split costs. They each invite 2 or 3 friends abut even if we go somewhere for the party or have at home, we each only pay half. Last year I was able to borrow a big inflatable slide and we just had an at home party.
This year - my son's 5th birthday, not sure what we are doing as we are going to Disney a week later so I'm thinking like you - movie and lunch, He does love Chick-fil-A so maybe just do something there at the playground.
Good luck I'll be interested to find out what you decide.
Thanks for joining in! I have been super lucky when it comes to my ADR's, so far in the 3 years of making them, I have always gotten the ones I wanted, and mostly on the first day that ADR's are open. Which is superb bc TS meals are a big part of what a vacation means to my family.
I had a small family cake and ice cream party on this past Mon. and have decided to go the route of the bday day with her bff. We will go see Cars 2, and go to lunch at Friendly's.
That is really cool that you can do parties together and save money. Of course WDW is so much better than any party.
Have a great time on your trip and thanks for commenting. I will be back soon with another update...getting closer now....103 days!!!
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Just caught up. The plans sound great. Your DD will love BBB and her new stuff. As far as birthdays go, we took DS to Disney the week after his birthday. On his birthday, we had cake and ice cream with family and then told Disney it was his birthday. He got a card in the room from Mickey, a phone message and a cupcake at our Character Breakfast. I think keeping it small is a good idea, too.
Thanks for the comments and keeping up with my PTR. I think my DD will definately love her stuff, I am so excited to give it to her. Suprised I can keep it a surprise as long as I have! LOL
Yes, I think small is good. Let the bigger parties come later!
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PassPorter's Free-Book to Walt Disney World It’s hard to believe anything is free at Walt Disney World; but there are actually a number of things you can get or do for little to no cost. This e-book documents over 200 free or cheap tips to do before you go and after you arrive. You could save a considerable amount of money following these tips. Perhaps more importantly; you can discover overlooked attractions and little-known details most people whiz by on their way to spend money. Click here to see free sample pages from the e-book! Get this popular e-book free of extra charges when you join the PassPorter's Club for as little as $4.95. A club pass includes access to all our other e-books; e-worksheets; super-size photos; and more! This e-book is also available for separate purchase in the PassPorter Online Store for just $5.95.
Well friends I am back for a new installment of my planning journey. Today is a special day to us PP and Disney Lover's alike...
90 days!!!
I couldn't believe when I thought about it the other day, that means in 45 days...I will be at the 45 day mark and final payment due. Crazy!
A couple of things have happened on the planning front.
I have been trying out some Survey sites online. I thought I would do it and anything I made I would put on the trip. This has been pretty cool so far.
I have gotten quite a few products to try out and give my opinions about. I can't tell you what they have been, it's a secret I promised I would tell noone, but they were goodies! Anyhow, I have been saving and saving all my rewards from doing these product testing and surveys themselves. I was waiting to see which ones actually paid out their rewards, because I admit I was skeptical. The only reason I tried it was because my friend, Kristin, from Couponing to Disney, recommended them on her site.
So the moment of truth came at the beginning of the month to see if I would reap the rewards. LOL Between May 16th and June 1st, I cashed in from 7 sites...for a total of $310.50 in mostly Visa/American Express gift cards and some cash (either Paypal or check). I got every single one of them! Some were practically instant coming in the same day, others took time but the longest one took 23 days. I am so excited! I put that money immediately on the trip. So I am now down to $460 including insurance, at this rate I think I might actually have the trip paid before the final payment date on July 30th! Never done that before!!
I still have 5 more sites to cash in for amounting in $250 in gift cards again. If those come through as well that brings it down to $210.
I mentioned earlier the fact of the Profit Sharing at DH job that they are terminating and we didn't know anything about it. Well that check should be coming in any day now. So that will pay for the remainder of the balance, my scooter, and most of the tips/extra meals and drinks. Leaving only spending money for DH and me to save for between now and then. DD has all her spending money thanks to holidays and gift cards.
I have a secret...from my DH....I have....a...change jar! Duh, duh, duh.......
I have opted not to tell him as I have saved change before in a big glass water bottle, the old style for coolers. I had $200 in that bottle, saved for 2 years and one day I realized he had taken almost all of it. I had some nickels and dimes left, maybe $20 worth. He had taken it to buy coffee's and gas. So needless to say I had stopped saving change for the past eh, 4 years.
Anyhow, I decided to start saving change for the trip and started in January. I now have saved on my own, $49.05. I need $5.95 more and that will pay for our mousekeeping tips, DME tips, laundry and our refillable resort mugs. I will continue to save though and that will be towards something else.
I am thinking that I will continue saving my change and put it towards our trip in 2014. I obviously won't be telling him about it. LOL Good idea though...does that make me bad? LOL
Today I also reserved our parking for while we are gone. I got a 25% discount for prepaying. Which is fine with me bc we have to go, we already bought tickets and it's off the list of things we have to pay for. So that is great! It ended up being $56 for the 8 days, not too bad.
So far so good on the planning front. I keep talking to everyone about the trip, and I know it will get worse as time goes on. Especially to my bff and my DH, I said to him the other night, "If I keep going over the ADR schedule then by the time we get there I will know things" LOL But it's true! I mean I do refer to my list but I will pretty much know. I almost know now based on days...like the 1st day, 2nd day, 3rd day, etc.
I guess that's all for now. I'll be back again, when I can say I am PIF!! Unless something comes up before then I have to share.
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"Sparky"(My first trip.)
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