It’s getting exciting. We are
so much closer to our trip now. I think we are at 92 days until we leave for WDW. I feel like once we round Christmas, it will be here before we know it.
Where to stay: I am, at times, frustrating to those who love me because I have a hard time committing. I always wonder if there is something better we should get instead of what I am currently looking at. Knowing this, I looked for about 3 weeks every day at a place to stay. I would panic that we would not find anything but I just could not commit. I searched Windsor Hills, Westside at Windsor (W at W), Storey Lake, Davenport and even WBC. I looked on VRBO and thought I found one in W at W. I looked up the reviews of the management company and it was 1 star so I took a hard pass. Then I switched from W at W to Storey Lake. Part of the issue in our party of 9 is that we have 3 girls ages 9-10 so we want them to share the room. They are all great sisters / cousins and don’t want to be the odd one on their own. Most of the homes only had 2 twin bed set ups for kids. Finally found a home on Air BNB in Windsor Hills with a full and twin bunk. Long story short, I finally booked a place. Whew… it was a relief! Let's just say my husband and SIL were also relieved I finally pulled the trigger lol.
Total Cost for 5 bedrooms / 5 bath home at Windsor Hills for 8 days / 7 nights: $1,556. Divide by 2 and my family’s cost is $788.
We decided not to do the pool heat as we will be at the parks 6 of those days and we plan on using the club house pool and slides.
ADR’s: So... I cancelled Tusker House. Since my kids were adamant they did not want to see Mickey, I didn’t want to waste the money. I figured we could always line up in the parks if they decided to see any of the Fab 5. I spoke with my husband and we made a few more changes. We are pretty locked in on these ADR’s:
Sunday, March 17 @ 8:20 or Thursday, March 21 @ 8:30 BOG – we have 2 reservations and will keep one as my SIL also has 2 for Crystal Palace as we are trying to get earlier similar times for either day. Her Monday CP ADR isn’t until 9:30 – hoping we can move that up so I can keep the 8:20. I have the TP ADR finder working on this
Monday, March 18 – Via Napoli at 6:45 (We are super excited to try the pizza)
I only have 2 booked. I know some families heavy on and love eating TS but my kids would rather ride rides. Plus my kids would have to eat at adult prices. It just didn’t work belly wise and financially to eat more TS restaurants.
We are planning on QS the other meals. I have Casey’s Corner, Columbia House, Contempo Café, Su’tuli and Back Lot Express pegged on our list. We will also be eating quite a few breakfasts and lunches in the house. I am actually looking forward to taking the monorail to Contempo Café. Our plan is to then monorail on over to the Poly for drinks at Trader Sam's or on the patio.
The Splurge: While this is not a “budget” trip, we also have a budget. When we moved our trip up to March, it cut vacation funding by about 10 weeks. At the same time, I want this to be a memorable and fun trip for my kiddos. So what did I splurge on? The HEA Dessert Party! I had a hard time with spending $345 for cupcakes and a spot to watch HEA fireworks. I tried to rationalize the cost but you just can’t. So splurge it is. In the end, my husband and I thought it would be fun for the kids and a great way to kick off our trip.
Splurge tip: I bought Disney gift cards through Target's Redcard so we saved 5% or $17 on our dessert party. I am planning on prepaying our food and snacks on a gift card as well.
Tally To Date for Trip (out of pocket so far):
WDW Tickets for 5 adults: $2,020
Lodging: $788
Air Fare: $57.50 (used points / taxes and fees)
Dessert Party: $328
Total: $3,139.50
