I have not had the opportunity to blog about our very big adventure as a family of five this year. As you can probably tell, we as a family love Disney. We were fortunate enough in the past to make a trip every 18 months to 2 years. However we have not been to Disney World since 2017, almost three full years. Matt andI had some conversations and then present an idea to Lily, Kendall and Zach. They were immediately on board. Today, I am going to share with you the plan and the process.
The plan!!! Instead of birthday parties, large Easter baskets and a huge Christmas celebration, we are planning 3 separate and unique trips to Disney World over the next year. The kids also suggested that we not do our annual beach trip in order to use that money toward Disney as well.
In August, we will fly in on a Saturday, spend Saturday evening in a park, probably Hollywood Studios, Spend all day Sunday at Magic Kingdom and enjoy breakfast at Ohana’s with Stitch on Monday morning before flying home. We are planning to use a gift card to purchase food on this trip with only one character meal. Originally, we had wanted to attend a Halloween party during this trip but I was able to book flights at a very low rate prior to the Halloween party dates so we thought just make the best of it. It is always fun at Disney!
In December, we will again fly out on a Saturday. This trip should include the Christmas party, Christmas around the World via Epcot and the Christmas tree trail at Disney springs and at least one additional fun day at a park. We are planning to return on Wednesday but I have not booked flights yet in order to make sure we get to attend a Christmas party. We have purchased the Dinning plan that includes two meals per day. So I am sure we will have at least 4 character meal if not more!
Our final and biggest trip will be in April 2021. We are going to drive to Disney on Thursday and spend 10 days enjoying all that Disney has to offer. We are considering a split stay which would mean 2 seperate hotels. We are also looking at which dinning plan will be the most beneficial to us.
The process-
Currently, we have purchased and paid for airline tickets, hotel and tickets for the kids in August. Matt and I are considering annual passes so this will be purchased separately. A gift card with $780 will be purchased with Matt’s third paycheck in July. This is the amount that the Disney Dinning Plan would cost. I am anxious to see if we have any money left. This will include $210 for our meal at Ohana’s. If we have any left from this gift card it will be used to help pay for the December trip or will be used in April for the food or sounievers.
We have paid the deposit for our December trip. Birthday money and Christmas money will be used to pay for this trip along with extra work for me in Guam. The goal is to use airline miles to cover our flights as well.
April Trip- We are currently working on selling items that are no longer being used in our house. The goal is to also have a yard sale in May that will cover the deposit and also apply any remaining amount to this balance. We will be using our Tax return for this trip as well. Matt’s third check in December will also be directed to this trip.
We are all so excited. We currently have two separate count downs going on. One for the August trip and a second for the April trip. Stay tuned and help use on the journey!