Saying YES to Disney!

For YEARS my kids have been begging for a Disneyworld vacation and for years I have been saying NO!

There were lots of reasons for my repeated "NO's".....
1. It was WAY too expensive
2. It was too far away
3. It was too crowded
4. It didn't sound in the least bit relaxing.....and vacations ARE supposed to be relaxing, aren't they?!!

Finally, early this year, I decided it was time to say YES to Disney! My kids were old enough to feasibly do the drive without too much complaining and it was time for my husband and I to give up the relaxing vacation and make some fun memories with the kids! Going into this, I knew it would be expensive, but I made it my goal to try and cut costs where ever possible. I decided that if the choice was between going or not going, I would find a way to cut costs so that we could afford to go!

The first thing I did was look at where we could come up with the money for our vacation. We typically do a weeklong beach vacation each year that costs us about $1500, so we gave that up and put the money into our Disney fund. We also gave up the $500 we spend on our season passes to our local amusement park, so with $2000 in our fund, I was feeling pretty rich and called Disney to price out a trip. The cost for a 5 day trip staying on Disney property came to $5000!!!

It was clear that staying on property was not an option for us, so I started frequenting http://www.disboards.com/ to learn about ways to cut costs and other places to stay. In the end, we were able to put together a 7 day Disney vacation (2 travel days, 9 nights in hotels/condos, and 7 days at Disneyworld) for $3000. We cut costs wherever we could, but we also had lots of fun and splurged on some extras. It was well worth it!

I would have to say that the trip was an exhausting one! If I were to do it again, I think I would go to the park every other day, taking a day off in between visits to relax at the condo, but even though we were tired it was SO MUCH FUN! Savannah was the perfect age to be so excited about all the princesses, and the boys were old enough to split off and go ride some rides while mom and Savannah waited in hourlong lines for princess autographs!

Suprisingly, the favorite park for most of my kids was Animal Kingdom. There was a really fun rollercoaster there, Expedition Everest, that everyone loved! And the safari was a highlight of the trip. I guess I have raised a bunch of nature lovers!

I was surprised at how much Magic Kingdom was identical to Disneyland, where I went when I was little. I guess I had always just thought that Disneyworld would be so much better, but really it is almost exactly the same. It was fun for me to share all my favorite rides with my children and tell them stories about going as a little girl.

All in all, it was the trip of a lifetime! I was so glad that I finally convinced myself to say YES to Disney! And, believe it or not, I am actually thinking I might like to go again!