~ Aug 2013~ Sew what... We've gotta find a way back! GF Gingerbread House set 5/20!!

[DMGeurts]

Originally Posted by mommy2mrb

looks like you had a wonderful Christmas! your big family party sounds fun! love the quilts the girls got!
nice V gave you a new doll! the Ipod case is really cute!

We did, thank you Lisa. I know, those quilts almost made me cry - they were just such a nice gift. The doll was my favorite gift this holiday - I just love how much thought she put into it and that she kept it a suprise for so long.

************************************************** ********

Yesterday was a boring one...

I did some trip planning in the morning. Gasp! No, seriously, I did.

I am still waffling back and forth between a late August trip and an October trip. The biggest factor standing in my way is school. If we go in August - we can go for a longer trip and take our time, and take in some things we have never done before, like the water parks. If we go in October, our trip will have to be much shorter, and it will be GO, GO, GO, the whole time. The prices and crowds are almost the same.

So, essentially, at this point in time, I have 2 full trips planned - with several options. I am just saving like crazy (now that Christmas is over). One thing is for sure... I don't know how I ended up with such an awesome deal on our last trip - but I don't think I will ever see a deal like that again.

I do, kind of, keep waffling back and forth between SoG and POFQ though... I have run the #s back and forth, up and down... And no matter which way I do it - even though the resort stay savings is HUGE (over $700), once you start to factor in the other things you have to pay OOP and the inconvenience of constantly having to calculate your food and $$, the savings is almost lost.

For instance, the dining plan is cheaper for us than if we were to pay for all of our food OOP. According to my figures, if we were to pay for all of our meals OOP for the duration of our trip, it would cost $1576. The dining plan would cost us $1668. Yes, I realize that is almost $100 MORE, however, what we would be eating on DDP, vs what we could do on our own is considerably different. OOP is many less sit down meals... And let's face it - we love our sit down meals. We could never do DxDDP, but DDP is perfect. I did not include any of my discounts in these figures - just to keep it even. But - it was kind of a pain to keep track of all those GCs last year... I can't imagine how hard it would be to keep track of all of our GCs for meals too???

I am seriously considering taking all of my GCs to TDS and purchasing a much bigger GC (maybe 3 or 4) with them all - that way, I won't have to carry around hundreds of GCs (not literally, but almost - LOL).

Then there's the park tickets... Yes, we could save a chunk of change if we did military tickets... but... Then we wouldn't be on a package, and potentially, if Disney had any offers at this time, we couldn't get them. If we go during August, we would qualify for the military special they have going on now... I believe it's 30% room only discount.

So, rather than ramble all day long (like I tend to do)... I've taken the last 2 hours to work out all of our options, and just threw it into a .jpg, because it will be so much easier to understand.



As you can see... The prices and options vary greatly, and this is one reason I have not booked our trip yet.

The fact that the girls really do not want to go if we stay at SoG... I could book that right this minute... but I have to agree with them totally. SoG did NOT feel like a vacation to us - it was too much hassle and running around. POFQ did feel like a vacation, and it was very relaxing. Even though SoG could potentially save us a great deal of $$ - it's not the same, and I don't feel it is worth the savings.

Another reason I have not booked, is the potential for Disney to release FD that encompasses either of our possible trips... That FD is a huge savings, and I would hate to lose out or lose $ by not being able to switch to save. The problem is that I could book, but booking a room only reservation, vs. a MYW package are 2 totally different bookings, and nearly impossible to change one to the other or vice versa.

Then I look at the two totally different trip date options. The first option in Aug has the girls missing absolutely NO school, and we would be there for 10 nights (AWESOME)... The October dates have the girls missing 2.5 days of school and we would only stay for 7 nights... It's also quite a bit cheaper if no discounts are offered.

So, do you all see how stuck I am?

Don't forget - I have to add approx $1000 in airfare on top of these prices, unless we get REALLY lucky, the least it would be is about $800 after taxes and fees.

I know I have asked a trillion times before, but I am so stuck... I am just tempted to keep saving and saving until the time is right, and just book when the right discount is offered - even if it ends up not being any of these dates.

D~

[Terkina]

Have you asked the girls what they think? I'm sure you will find out which alternative to pick in the end

[BridgetR3]

If it were me I would choose August for the longer time at DW but then again it will be HOT!!!! October is definitely cooler and you have the fall decorations to enjoy along with F&W.

Have you thought of renting points? It may work out cheaper for you.

So much to consider!!

[blessedmom4]

Originally Posted by DMGeurts

Thank you Judy! I love that Donald graphic! I hope you had a Merry Christmas.

I had to find just the right one for you!

Originally Posted by babynala

Don't free like you need to justify your Christmas spending. I never judge people on how they spend their money. Everyone makes sacrifices so they can do what is important / needed for their family. I know you are grateful that you are able to provide these things for your children.

I agree with Liz, you don't have to justify anything to anybody. I for one, do my best not to judge people...as I have told you many times I do what is best for MY family...in all situations and that is all you should do. If our medical bills weren't so big, we might be living in a 2 million dollar mansion. Probably not, that just isn't me, but the point is, you do what YOU want, no explanations, no apologies. If you are happy with your choices, that truly IS all that matters. Period.

Since you asked, my thoughts on the matter....I would pick August. October was insanely busy in 2011 and the end of September 2012 was almost as bad. I was told this past August this had been the trend for the past few years for those "in the know". We have been in August and it was miserably hot at times; however, because of David and Lisa's medical issues we had to take it easy and we managed to have a great, if sweaty time. Later August was less busy too.

And I LOVED the girls quilts, that would have been my favorite present! The pics of everyone having fun were fun to look at, Thanks for sharing.

[NiniMorris]

Of course, I vote for August. (because that is when we are making onen of our trips this year.) But I totally vote for early August...like the first week! (since that is when I will be there!)

Having stayed at SOG and POFQ... I would agree. SOG doesn't 'feel' like a vacation at Disney. It 'feels' like visiting an army base. The people staying there are different. Hard to explain how I mean...but they are. Military is a family. Even if they don't know you you are part of their family.

We are staying at POFQ for both of our next trips. I wanted to stay at AKL in a Savannah room, but that isn't happening this time around!

The convenience of POFQ is hard to beat. Being a small resort, you can walk walk anywhere in 2 minutes flat! LOL. We did enjoy our stay at CSR this last month, but it was so large and no one wanted to walk with me!

For us, the dining plan actually saves us money. Even though we are 4 Disney Adults now, for lunch we only get 3 CS meals. The kids and I split two meals. No one is ever hungry, and it gives us extra for breakfast at least one morning.

Nini

[lovethattink]

Too bad your possible dates don't go beyond Aug 30th. We are planning on heading to CSR for the Mustangs at Mickyard convention. Rooms were $99/night!

[cogero]

August is hot. I couldn't do a 10 day vacation. I would ask the girls. I am pulling the kids out for October because I can't fathom bringing a 2 month old to Disney but am okay with a 4 month old and this is a one time thing I am thinking for us right now.

[NiniMorris]

Originally Posted by cogero

August is hot. I couldn't do a 10 day vacation. I would ask the girls. I am pulling the kids out for October because I can't fathom bringing a 2 month old to Disney but am okay with a 4 month old and this is a one time thing I am thinking for us right now.

Chiara...

I could not help but laugh!

On our December trip my newest grand child will be 6 months old. My daughter has said "NO WAY"...my son in law has said "We'll see!"

August is hot here in GA too! We are going only for 4 days in August and then topping it off with a beach trip!


Nini

[momto3gr8boys]

Hi...I'm following along before I start my own PTR. We were trying to make a similar decision. My kids had two days off in early May, and we thought about maybe doing a six day trip then (I'd let them miss two days) vs. a ten day in August. We debated time vs. slightly better weather, etc. but then Sandy took the matter out of our hands. We are on Long Island and the kids missed 9 days because of the storm, so we no longer have those days off. I was secretly hoping for a longer, cheaper vacation (May isn't value season) because I wanted to do a split stay, so yay for me lol. As for you though...oh that's a tough one. I would say August to get the three extra days, but October will be a little cooler, the F&W festival will be on (which I STILL need to get to) and MNSSHP will be going on as well. Given those two events, I think I would opt for POFQ in Oct. But that's just my .02!

[disneychic2]

The free dining would most likely cover the last two weeks of August, so that may be your best bet. It will be super hot, but if you plan accordingly, you will survive. We usually go sometime in September and it's still hot as blazes. But the crowd levels can't be beat. You can get so much done due to low crowds that you can take a swim/nap break every afternoon and go back to the parks all refreshed.

I get why it's so hard to decide. Been there, done that! I think you're taking the right approach in that you're checking every possibility so when a discount comes along, you'll know what to do. There's always the possibility you'll get a pin attached to your name too, so check with Disney every once in a while to see. I got a pin for free dining once and one for 40% room rate that I wouldn't have known about if I hadn't asked. I will be living vicariously through you and all those who have trips planned since we won't be going again until 2014. We've gone every year for quite a while now, so it will be so odd not to go.

Ok, so I'm going over right now to post my Rapunzel dress since I didn't do it yesterday. I hope you have a great week and gets lots done if that's what you need to do.

[nannye]

we went august 2011, last week of august and that compared to our July 6-12 in 2012 was insanely different crowd wise. It was hot in August but there was only 1 point when I felt Sick from being too hot and there is so many places to take a break and cool off. You guys can go so much slower with the extra time. I'd vote for that. But then again. You know my potential trip date for 2013! LOL. still no word on it

[sewmess]

Quick comment &then off to bed....

Wonderful to hear your Christmases were all great! Isn't it fabulous when a family member loves and knows you enough to get you exactlt the right thing?

I, personally would go in Oct. August is a bear down here & as I get older, I don't do humidity well.

Happy belated holidays and prayers that the new year is blessed for everyone.

[Iamthequeen]

So, here's my 2 cents...

DH and I went the first week of September last year (2011). We had a blast - yes it was hot, but I like hot weather. There are plenty of places to cool off or sit and relax, or you can go back to the hotel pool for the hottest part of the day. We love staying at POFQ and will be staying there again this September. I haven't picked the exact days yet, but most likely it will be in the beginning of Sept because that's when my birthday is.

It is very difficult to make up school work once the kids are in high school (as you found out this year). I'd rather go in August and have a longer trip and not worry about making up school work. I only ever took my kids out of high school once (for a trip to Disney in February, 2001) and would not recommend it. We had to get permission ahead of time and the kids had assignments to do, but it was still a hassle.

I'm hoping to get FD in September, but if not, maybe a room discount of some kind.

Tess

[cajunfan]

I also vote for August. I have been at both times. August is hot, but when we went in October, we had two "warm" days and all the other days were hot and humid like August. I did love MNSSHP, but I did not see that factored into your cost, so I am assuming you would not be going to that (cost would be about an extra $150). You have a better chance of getting free dining in August...you have Food & Wine Fest in October, and I can't see them doing it for your dates then. We also LOVE Typhoon Lagoon (love the theming and the wave pool!) One thing to think about...when we have went in August and it is so hot, we tend to eat a lot less...just because it is so hot. (But that is us!) If you go in August just get to the parks at rope drop do everything you want and go back to the hotel around 1pm and rest or go to the pool and go back to the parks after 5 when crowds will be thinner and it is cooler.

Have fun!

Lynn

[cogero]

Originally Posted by sewmess

Quick comment &then off to bed....

Wonderful to hear your Christmases were all great! Isn't it fabulous when a family member loves and knows you enough to get you exactlt the right thing?

I, personally would go in Oct. August is a bear down here & as I get older, I don't do humidity well.

Happy belated holidays and prayers that the new year is blessed for everyone.

I think this is me. Since I turned 40 I have more of a problem with humidity even here in NY. We live on the coast so it is always humid.