Sorry kids! We're going to the DARK SIDE!

[momofboyz3]

Hi~ as I'm planning a WDW trip, I'm thinking over Universal, but never been and have no clue anything about this "dark side". My boys are 14, 14 & 10 so this might appeal to them. I'm going to start reading your report & look forward to hearing all about your plans.

 

[mrsabbott]

Hi~ as I'm planning a WDW trip, I'm thinking over Universal, but never been and have no clue anything about this "dark side". My boys are 14, 14 & 10 so this might appeal to them. I'm going to start reading your report & look forward to hearing all about your plans.

Honestly, I hadn't even considered Universal for my kids before, but after researching it I think it will be a blast! I would say your boys are the perfect age to enjoy it! It does seem to be geared more towards older kids, as the rides are more "thrilling" although it seems like there is stuff that my youngest will enjoy. From pics and reports, it seems like the dr. Seuss area is pretty amazing! Hubs is a big Seuss fan and is looking forward to it!

Anyhoo, the rest of this week is going to be a busy one! They are calling for snow and icy weather this weekend. It kind of ruins our weekend plans in a way. This Sunday is my son's dedication and Pod's baptism! Big day for our family and several out of town family members were planning to attend. These storms may make travel for them impossible. We still plan to celebrate, but our extended family may not get to be a part of it.

Friday, Hubs is taking Punky on a daddy/daughter date. The rest of us are doing our normal pizza/movie night tradition. Saturday, I am babysitting (more money for the vacation fund!!).

I guess I will need to go to the store and stock up on one or two things just in case these storms are worse then they are predicting for our area. They say this time next week the temps will be 0 degrees!!! Brrr!

 

[mrsabbott]

16 more weeks to go!!

Storms didn't hit us as badly as some areas. Unfortunately, our family can't make it tomorrow for our festivities because it DID hit THEM pretty hard!

Today, we're taking it easy. Catching up on laundry. Kids played out in the snow for awhile this morning and I made snowman pancakes for breakfast. Now, we're watching Christmas movies on Netflix.

The kids are officially getting new luggage for Christmas from my mom. She got Buds a Cars suitcase with little wheels. She ordered the girls monogrammed duffel bags from LLBean. She got each girl a different floral pattern..

I really want to get this camera for our vacation! The reviews on Amazon were okay.. it's not super fancy or expensive, but I like that it's waterproof and hopefully I can get some great pics on our vacation with it!!

 

[mrsabbott]

15 more weeks! With the holidays, time is flying by..
I got contacted by Chase today.. Someone stole my Disney Visa number and charged some stuff online. Thankfully, the fraud was detected early! Now, I have to check all my other card transactions to make sure they are all legit. Last place I'd used that card was at McD's for a coffee back in October!!
Wondering if I should consider using mostly cash while we are vacationing..

 

[mrsabbott]

12 weeks and 2 days until we leave for our vacation! Time is just FLYING by!!

Hope everyone had a lovely holiday! Our Christmas was wonderful! The girls' LL Bean bags are awesome! Slightly smaller then expected BUT they hold quite a bit! Very sturdy.. Buds also got a Cars suitcase that is super cute! So, we all have luggage for the trip now!

MIL got us all $25 Disney gift cards! We're planning to go visit the Disney boardwalk one day during our vacation and hopefully we will get some use out of them! I'm going to have to look and see if there are any stores that will accept them there! Surely there is.. She also gave us each $50 cash.. I've got the money put away for souvenirs. I'll most likely spend mine at Honeydukes!!

The biggest surprise was that I got the waterproof camera that I was wanting! I had no idea that my mom even knew that I wanted it. I had to get a memory card and a case for it.. which I got. The little case has a clip that I can put on my camelback while at the park. It also has room for extra batteries! I can't wait!!

On the downside.. my car broke down today. We were planning on getting some needed work done on it but were hoping to wait until tax time. But Hubs thinks that it is the transmission and that is NOT something we knew was wrong with it. There were absolutely no signs that something was wrong.. we were heading to the bookstore and didn't even make it to the end of the street! It is going to be very expensive and probably max out my credit card to fix it. *sigh*

 

[momofboyz3]

Argh!!!!!! I'm so sorry about your car ~ that really stinks
Glad you had a nice holiday and you got some great gifts. You must be excited as every day is one day closer to your trip.
I spent about an hour looking at rides and hotels on you tube!

 

[mrsabbott]

Yeah, it's a bummer. There are a few other things that need working on that we were waiting until after tax time to do.. we're going to go ahead and get it all done at once. The total estimate.. $4600!!

I wish we could afford to just buy a new car. The transmission is $3200.. bright side is that everything is covered under a warranty once it is fixed and they said that it will take less then a week to get done.

You know.. I haven't thought of looking up stuff on you tube!! I have a feeling I know what I'm going to be doing the next hour or so!

*edited to add*

So, I just spent some time on you tube and I'm getting excited about our vacation. Hubs and I were talking and since we are basically spending $3200 more then we planned on our vehicle, we are going to have to cut back a little on our vacation plans. Since Bessie (my Suburban) will be running smoothly (I hope!) then we will probably NOT be renting a van to drive down there. We were hoping to do a little more eating out but that will be limited. We are still going to go to T-Rex.. especially since I found out that they accept Disney gift cards. Not counting the kids' gift cards, Hubs and I have about $50. Plus I should have $20 on a Landry's gift card via Swagbucks! We will also cut back on a few extras.. I probably won't spend as much as I was hoping at the WWoHP. I should have enough for a Butterbeer and maybe a couple things from Honeydukes.

The kids have their own souvenir money though. $50 each plus a $25 Disney gift card each. Not too shabby! We still get to stay at an awesome resort and get FREE tickets to some awesome parks! And I have a new camera to capture pictures of it all!

 

[momofboyz3]

I know, I love looking at the parks, rides and resorts on youtube! That's tough with finances, ESP when there is that sudden emergency. Arghh! I know I wanted to do another WDW trip this year, but $5500 is a bit crazy to do 2 yrs in a row. So after a bit of research I found universal and that won't come close to that amount (I hope).
Anyway, you have your resort and parks done and that's the most important other than food. Sounds like you have a good plan! Those gift cards are great

 

[mrsabbott]

Officially 12 more Fridays!
I was going through my wallet and found a $50 Disney gift card that I had forgotten about! How fun! I also have about $50 in Starbucks gift cards.. I figure there will be plenty of those between here and there!

I've decided our halfway point will be Marietta, GA. I'd hoped to stay in a nicer room or suite overnight, but we are going to go for cleanliness and economy over luxury! Found some options online that are reasonable. I will make reservations when we are a little closer to our leave date.

Never been to Marietta but I remember the name from a song. That and trip adviser recommendations are why I chose it.

I almost forgot.. All 3 of the girls have Nintendo DS's now. We found them used with games. I need to look into getting together some car entertainment for the trip. It helps to have a few new little things to make the long drive seem bearable. Dollar tree is a wonderful place for that sort of thing!

One thing I need is a bathing suit. This is much harder then it looks. 4 c-sections and a big weight loss has left my tummy a little.. Meh. I need slimming, stylish, modest, with good support and coverage.. Most store bathing suits don't give me this so I have to order online.. Found a tankini type suit but were talking $200!! Yikes!

Well, I have plenty of time to shop around..

 

[mrsabbott]

I'm not sure if I've mentioned this before, but when I am stressed out.. I plan vacations. I've planned at least a hundred vacations that we have never taken (but may one day..) because it is a way of dealing with the pressures of life..

Life is really pressing down on me right now, so I've gone into full vacation planning mode!

I have been mentally planning what I am going to pack (including spending over an hour looking at bathing suits online) and deciding against a few things we were going to get for the trip. I really wanted to get "thing" shirts for all of us to wear. It's not a necessity, so that is out. I've been thinking about what to pack for the kids as well. I've got a mental list of things I need to buy for the trip also.

I've been researching hotels in Marietta.. I also found some amazing deals at hotwire.com. We were going to splurge on the room, but decided against it and we will save money in the long run!

I know that y'all are probably bored to tears with this.. but this is keeping me from flipping out about the $5175 that I don't have to spend but must in order to fix Bessie..

So, we are going to leave Friday morning as planned. Not leaving super early.. but not real late either. Plan to partially pack on Thursday night, sleep in a little Friday morning, eat a good breakfast, get ready, finish loading up the car, and hitting the road before noon. It says that Marietta is about 6 hours. I figure we'll stop once or twice along the way.. Not sure if we will eat lunch or just snack a little along the way. After we check into the hotel in Marietta, we will either get something inexpensive for dinner or eat from the food we bring with us.

Hopefully, a good night's sleep and a free breakfast in the morning before we hit the road again.

Now, Hubs is the type of person that likes to get an early start. Knowing him, he will want to be on the road by 8am and will try to make it there in UNDER 6 hours. So, chances are we will get to Marietta just after lunch time! LOL!

Regardless, I'm feeling good that we have a halfway point decided on and that there are reasonably priced rooms available.

The list of things to bring keeps growing.. I realized that we should bring laundry soap with us to use at the condo. I'm also wondering if things like dish soap or dishwasher soap are provided. What about paper towels, toilet paper, and other cleaning supplies? Anyone know??

I think we are going to bring along a lot of food with us too! Totally need to rework that budget and get a grocery list planned! Are groceries more expensive in Orlando then other places? I know that might be a dumb question.. but I don't know if it would be worth it to pack a lot to bring with us or pack some stuff and buy more when we are there..

 

[momofboyz3]

I totally understand! My life gets very stressed as well. Single parent of 3 boys & zero child support. I also work over 40 hrs a week and spend close to 3 hrs a day commuting. I GET STRESSED! So I plan a vacation... In fact November 2012 I decided to go online and plan a WDW vaca, never thinking I would ever go. I did research & went thru dining & daily parks... I mean it took about 6 hours in the middle of the night. We have never been before so I had to do alot of research. Anyways, it was priced at about $5,000. I decided why not???? Maybe someday. Well tax time came and I usually pay off bills or buy something for my bills. Well instead I took the boys to WDW and followed that plan to the T.
Like cooking, I think our best work is done when we are stressed out...
I feel bad over your car issues! But, at least it will get fixed. I would bring alot of the snack stuff with you (I'm just guessing its cheaper, where u are) but I don't know????
Just relax and everything will be magical!!

 

[mrsabbott]

I know what you mean about tax money going towards bills!! Last year, the money went to keeping the shop open (we used to own our own business but we closed it over the summer) and this year will go towards bills. :/

But you know what? Good for YOU for making memories with your sons! The days are long but the years are short. Before we know it, our kids will be grown and sometimes you just have to make memories while you can!

Anyhoo..
Since Bessie isn't here, we're homebound. No church for us this morning, so we're just having a lazy morning in our PJ's. Girls are downstairs playing with toys, Buds is sleeping in, Hubs is watching Motocross, and I'm vacation planning!!

We're supposed to get some extreme cold weather here and possibly some snow. Keep thinking about how awesome it would be to be in Orlando right now..

It also occurred to me that I need to find someone to watch our pets for us. I'm not worried about the cats so much. I can put out an extra litterbox and extra food and water and they will be fine. But our dog is another issue. Normally, I'd ask my neighbors to check on her, but they are going on a cruise over spring break. Hmmm...

 

[mrsabbott]

So, I've done a tiny bit of tidying up today and a little bit of laundry.. but most of my day has been planning and researching FOOD!!

We are definitely going out to eat one night at the T-Rex café! The kids and I (even Hubs was caught watching over our shoulders) spent some time viewing youtube videos of it online and are so excited! I'm even more excited knowing that the meal will be paid for with gift cards!

We are still planning to go to Medieval Times another night as a surprise for the girls.. although that MIGHT end up getting cut out. Depends on the financial situation, but as of now it is still in the works!

The condo has a full kitchen, so I am planning on making use of it although I do NOT plan on cooking elaborate meals every day. I have a tentative meal plan made that consists of easy stuff. Tacos one night. Veggie fried rice another. Frozen pizzas. Loaded baked potatoes and steamed veggies. Spaghetti. I'm trying to find out if the condo has a grill.. we will probably grill out a couple of times if they do.

I will bring some stuff with us.. We get some things cheap through a food co-op. So we will bring some fresh fruits and veggies with us. Lots of snacks, some sandwich fixings, bread, cereal, etc.. Juice boxes, bottled waters, Gatorade.. that will all come with. We have a cooler and several large reusable grocery bags.

We will make a trip to the store to buy some milk, eggs, and frozen pizzas. And any other little things we might need that we forgot at home.

Now, I plan to bring snacks into the parks. Hubs and I will have our camelbacks, I'm sure. We might try to do a counter service meal on park days.. again, budget depending. Drinks are always an issue though... especially on hot, crowded days. Years ago when we went to Disney, we brought disposable plastic cups with lids for each child. We'd buy a large lemonade and divide it up.

I did find this article about reusable souvenir cups at Universal.. I was most excited to see that the Butterbeer mugs counted towards the reusable cups.. as I was planning to buy one anyway! Yay! I figure we can refill it for a discount a few times and divide it up. Going to bring some inexpensive cups with us for the kids (Walmart has 99c plastic character cups) and if we lose them then oh well. If not, great!

So, to save money I'm going to try to find good deals here and stock up between now and then. We will use our normal grocery budget for some things and try to cut back where possible but still let it be fun and relaxing!

 

[Lynne G]

Well, after icy streets and walkways yesterday, to a low of 12 tomorrow, with icy conditions again predicted, I am so ready for my USO vacation in August.

I find the grocery stores not much more priced than mine at home. The Walmart and Targets usually have food too. Check the ones near where you are staying. I also have the Publix saver card. It was free, and although we have no Publix anywhere close to us, I use it when I vacation in Orlando. I usually go to the one on Vineland.

Since you have a car, you can bring alot of the food, so what perishable or other needed should not cost you a bundle. Also, there is a Sam's Club on Orange Blossom. I would not go to the Walmart south of USO, it was not nice. I use the one just west of it, I think on Turkey Lake. Google Maps is your friend. I love scouting the area out using the maps to get a better idea of where I am and the stores are. Love the realtime pictures you get with it too.

Happy continue planning! Oh, and sorry to hear about the car. We did that one year, and it was not fun. I hope I never have to sink that amount of money in a car again.

 

[mrsabbott]

Well, after icy streets and walkways yesterday, to a low of 12 tomorrow, with icy conditions again predicted, I am so ready for my USO vacation in August.

I find the grocery stores not much more priced than mine at home. The Walmart and Targets usually have food too. Check the ones near where you are staying. I also have the Publix saver card. It was free, and although we have no Publix anywhere close to us, I use it when I vacation in Orlando. I usually go to the one on Vineland.

Since you have a car, you can bring alot of the food, so what perishable or other needed should not cost you a bundle. Also, there is a Sam's Club on Orange Blossom. I would not go to the Walmart south of USO, it was not nice. I use the one just west of it, I think on Turkey Lake. Google Maps is your friend. I love scouting the area out using the maps to get a better idea of where I am and the stores are. Love the realtime pictures you get with it too.

Happy continue planning! Oh, and sorry to hear about the car. We did that one year, and it was not fun. I hope I never have to sink that amount of money in a car again.

Thanks for the grocery tips! I believe there is a Walmart really close to the resort we are staying in..

We did not get the snow and ice here, but we have the extreme cold temps! It is -1 out right now! Brrrr!!!

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

One thing I need is a bathing suit. This is much harder then it looks. 4 c-sections and a big weight loss has left my tummy a little.. Meh. I need slimming, stylish, modest, with good support and coverage.. Most store bathing suits don't give me this so I have to order online.. Found a tankini type suit but were talking $200!! Yikes!

Well, I have plenty of time to shop around..

I don't know if you've ever had one or not, but I fell in LOVE with the Catalina "suddenly slim" swimsuits from Walmart. So comfy, GREAT fit (even for my...ugh..."mature" body ) and so cheap! I think I paid $25 for mine this past August.

Worth checking out. Since we're in Canada and the Canadian side of the Walmart empire doesn't stock that brand of ladies swimwear, I ordered it right before our trip and had it shipped for free to the resort.

Here's a link to one style:

http://www.walmart.com/ip/Catalina-...gMethod=Recommendation:wm:RecentlyViewedItems

Mine was a little different (it was more a swimdress, with a little skirt) but the fit should be similar to the one in the link.

 

[mrsabbott]

I don't know if you've ever had one or not, but I fell in LOVE with the Catalina "suddenly slim" swimsuits from Walmart. So comfy, GREAT fit (even for my...ugh..."mature" body ) and so cheap! I think I paid $25 for mine this past August.

Worth checking out. Since we're in Canada and the Canadian side of the Walmart empire doesn't stock that brand of ladies swimwear, I ordered it right before our trip and had it shipped for free to the resort.

Here's a link to one style:

http://www.walmart.com/ip/Catalina-...gMethod=Recommendation:wm:RecentlyViewedItems

Mine was a little different (it was more a swimdress, with a little skirt) but the fit should be similar to the one in the link.

That is a really cute suit!! I've never seen anything like it in our local Walmart, but it might be worth ordering online to try it! It wouldn't be difficult to take back if it didn't fit right! Cool! Thanks!

 

[marylandteachergirl]

Hi Mrsabbott. We are a medically affected military retired family as well. Currently in Maryland. I have been reading your pre trip plans. Hang in there! We did an extreme budget to WDW a few years ago. You can do it!

In addition to Walmart's Ss Catalina suits, Target also sells suits under the name Assets, which is made by Spanx. Probably not in our stores right now bc of winter, but they are available online. Many on clearance on target.com right now. I have lost about 60 pounds and have about 30 to go, so the "suck you in" fabric is great.

I will be going to Uni only and maybe Seaworld in May (depends on discounts for retired military or maybe weekday specials) with just our oldest son - overdue HS graduation trip. I, too, have planned more trips than I may ever go on, so I get it.


Just wanted to encourage you. It's very do-able on a budget. And the memories you create will be priceless.

 

[mrsabbott]

Thank you "Maryland" for the encouragement! I will also look into that brand of swimsuit! I do love Target!

I urge you to look into Wounded Warrior Family Support, which is how we are able to have our vacation this year! Amazing organization! Also, the Armed Forces Vacation Club has a Veteran's web page with weekly discounted rated for lodging all over the world. Lots of Orlando options! I've also found that nearly all theme park military discounts are offered to retired veterans as well!

So in my browsing, I was reading about "Child Swap" which will be a lifesaver because I was wondering what we were going to do with Buds..

Let me know if I have got this right. The whole family gets in line together and we let a cast member know we want to do the child swap. When we get closer, one parent waits with the child in a special room while the other rides. Then they switch and the other parent gets to ride without waiting in line again? Do all the thrill rides have this option?

I think this is brilliant! I remember in Disney Hubs and I took turns but we had to each wait in line..

I also realized that I will have to measure all the kids right before we go. Boo Bear, my youngest DD, wanted to ride a ride at the fair and she was an inch or two too short. Poor thing was so sad because we waited in line and she found out she couldn't ride when it was our turn. I can get some advanced warning.. Pretty sure she will be tall enough for most of them though.

On a completely random note, I may be changing jobs in the near future.. More money and I can work from home.

 

[marylandteachergirl]

Hi again Mrsabbott,
I have looked at Armed Forces VC a few times but it always seems confusing and few things seem to be a fit for us.

We are not eligible for WWP, but I support them whenever I can. I have been very impressed by the things I see Under Armour doing for the service members at Walter Reed Med Ctr through WWP.

I am glad you and your family have this great chance. I sure hope you will do a trip report! Can't wait to read your future updates.