FINAL UPDATE HERE!!!
Friday, Nov. 30 ~ Time to head out.
We awoke to a very foggy morning!
See~
We had a long drive ahead of us and knew we should get started really early but we didnt. I think we were on the road by at 9:00. Kind of late for a 10 hour drive!
The drive home was very uneventful. I slept a lot because I had increased the dose of one of the medications I was taking for my ankle and sleepiness is a side effect. Luckily Tom was fine doing most of the driving. It was a long day but a safe day. I think we finally pulled into our driveway somewhere between 10 and 11:00 pm. We hauled some stuff inside and left the rest for the morning. It wasnt long before we all fell, exhausted, into our own beds.
Reflecting on our trip~
I thought I might list what we spent on what. The main reason people consider staying off site is to save money. It is the only reason for us!
Accomodations:
Lake Buena Vista Resort and Spa Village ~
3 bedroom / 2 bath condo with full kitchen and W/D for 7 nights @ $159/nt.
Grand total (w/taxes plus an adj. they gave us for the wireless not working):
$1202.13
WDW tickets~[/B]
3~ 5 day no hopper passes for ages 10+ : $658.17
2~ 5 day no hopper passes for ages 3-9 : $359.98
Grand total: $1021.15
MVMCP tickets~
3~ ages 10+ : $130.86
2~ ages 3-9: $72.32
Grand total: $203.18
Sea World tickets~
One day passes for 5 with a huge discount ~
$125.00 total
Food~
CS @ Disney: $162.92
TS @ Disney (Sci-fi, Rainforest Café and Garden Grill):$374.67
Snacks @ Disney: $67.61
CS elsewhere: $26.68
TS elsewhere: $128.28
Grand Total $760.16
I dont have totals for gas, food on travel days or grocery items. I also didnt include souvies because that is so relative to each family. Each of our kids had some money of their own that they spent most of and we also bought them things. I figure everyone has their own way of handling this aspect of the trip.
We spent roughly $3500 dollars on this trip for 5 people plus the addition of my mom for one day.
What I for sure know we saved money on:
Drinks: We took small water bottles into the parks with us with kool-aid packets. I am sure we saved a small fortune by not purchasing drinks for the most part.
SW tix: This was just a fluke deal that I got
my advice is to keep your eye on the SW threads on the Uni board as that is where I found it.
Driving: Airline tix for the 5 of us would have been around $1000.
The mileage between our home and Disney is roughly 623 miles. I dont know what the gas prices were at the time but we came no where near spending a grand on gas! My advice if you are considering driving to save money is to do the math. How many miles is it? Do you have to stop half way? Compare that with the cost of airline tix. Maybe you live somewhere that you can get a good price to get to MCO. (Not the case from here!
)
The condo: If we were to choose similar accommodations on site, lets say SSR, it wouldve cost roughly $5,000. That is a $3800 difference.
I priced every other option imaginable on site too~ 2 value rooms, family suite at All Star Music, POR, and all of the deluxe hotels. I couldve gotten close with the 2 values or POR to the $159/nt at LBV but in the end we chose the extra space and bigger beds.
And the last thing I saved money on: redneck pictures of souvies! 
In the end
would we do it this way again? Absolutely IF it were for the same time or another non-peak time. We wouldnt do it if it were peak time because you just cant guarantee the parks wont fill up to capacity and I wouldnt want to spend precious time commuting!
All in all, it worked for this family this time.
AND NOW FOR MY BIG ANNOUNCEMENT!!!
We have decided that our next Disney vacation will be very different!
DRUM ROLL PLEASE!
We have booked a land/sea trip for Nov. 12-19, 2009. We will spend 3 nights at the Poly and then 4 nights aboard the Wonder!
I know
a long time to wait! There are a couple of reasons for that. 1. We are buying a new home this year. And 2. This will allow us to celebrate Abbys 13th birthday on our trip!
Why book now? Well, the sooner you book the less you pay. Plus this will allow us to completely pay the trip off before we go!
We are using Dreams Unlimited and so far I am very happy with their service. The price was the same that
DCL gave us but DU is offering a $200 shipboard credit if you book before the end of Feb. for 2009 cruises. They ask for a deposit of $200 per person. This is where we hesitated. Ugh
$1000 to put down for something so far away? Well, Kimmy, suggested we book it for just Tom and myself and add the kids later! Brilliant!!!! So I asked my agent at DU and she said we could do that. That lowered our deposit to a much more manageable $400. She did note to not wait too long to add the kids because the kids clubs and total ship capacity could fill up.
I want to thank you all so much for reading and taking this journey with me. All of your advice during the PTR really helped me make this trip extra special. Sticking with me while I relived it meant a lot to me and made it all the more fun! So whether you have been here since the beginning or have found me somewhere along the way
I appreciate every word of encouragement and understanding and each and every compliment you have given me.
A big special thanks to UNCLE JOHN! I mean really, it wouldnt have been the same without you!
I am glad to hear that you liked the resort-we have been looking for other options.As much as I love staying onsite it is expensive for my family.
Thank you so much for reading.
But glad to see you booked a cruise for 2009! 
