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Pre-Trip Guess who's going back?
- Thread starter bee
- Start date
Katiekitten
Well-Known Member
Congratulations on the new home!
Thank you! And congratulations! I'm so glad you are loving your home too!
Thank you! We reeeeeally lucked out and the timing could NOT have been better.
Thank you! We are so relieved that it finally worked out!
Congratulations on the new home!!! That is super exciting, and I am incredibly happy for you ladies!
I'm also excited for your WDW trip because we will be staying at the Swan in September, so any helpful hints are appreciated.
Yay for staying at the Swan! I hope you love it! I have many past TRs from Swan/Dolphin stays if you want to check them out, though I know a lot has changed since COVID hit.
Woooooooo!
Thank you!Congratulations Bee!!!
Thank you! Yes, we can't believe our mortgage is less than our rent was! We were expecting to have a much higher monthly payment.Soo excited for you! And how crazy you get a whole house with less of a monthly payment!
Thank you!
Thank you! We are loving it!Congratulations on the new house. Sounds like it is perfect for the two of you
Thank you!
Yay, so excited for your Swan trip! I hope you love it there!
Thank you!
RESORTS
When we started seriously thinking about going back to Disney, we wanted to stay somewhere we've never stayed before. That eliminates all of the moderate resorts and most of the value resorts, plus the Boardwalk. We also had a lot of Marriott points because we were planning to stay at the Swan in June 2020 on points which meant all those points were just sitting in my account. So we decided on a split stay at a deluxe or DVC resort, and the Swan. And we figured since the second part of the trip would be "free" (except for resort fees and taxes) we could justify spending more on the first part!
It has always been a dream of ours to stay on the monorail line but in the past either we couldn't afford it, OR we """could""" but we decided to put that money toward other things on our vacation. So when we found a Contemporary garden wing room at a steal, we immediately booked it! We initially booked a four night package with the offer for a 5-day ticket for the price of a 3-day ticket earlier this year, but switched to the 25% off offer later because it saved $48. Yes, only $48, but that's two Disney drinks!
When we went to book the Swan stay we realized that if you book a Marriott room on points and book four nights, you get the fifth one free! So obviously we had to book five nights!
When we started seriously thinking about going back to Disney, we wanted to stay somewhere we've never stayed before. That eliminates all of the moderate resorts and most of the value resorts, plus the Boardwalk. We also had a lot of Marriott points because we were planning to stay at the Swan in June 2020 on points which meant all those points were just sitting in my account. So we decided on a split stay at a deluxe or DVC resort, and the Swan. And we figured since the second part of the trip would be "free" (except for resort fees and taxes) we could justify spending more on the first part!
It has always been a dream of ours to stay on the monorail line but in the past either we couldn't afford it, OR we """could""" but we decided to put that money toward other things on our vacation. So when we found a Contemporary garden wing room at a steal, we immediately booked it! We initially booked a four night package with the offer for a 5-day ticket for the price of a 3-day ticket earlier this year, but switched to the 25% off offer later because it saved $48. Yes, only $48, but that's two Disney drinks!
When we went to book the Swan stay we realized that if you book a Marriott room on points and book four nights, you get the fifth one free! So obviously we had to book five nights!
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TICKETS
If you've read my past reports you know that M and I have always used APs when at WDW. For various reasons (price increase, wanting to travel to other places than WDW, not wanting to be tempted to squeeze in an extra trip just because we are AP holders) we are going with regular day tickets. Not to mention Disney isn't even selling APs now and who knows when they will start again??
But perhaps most importantly, our preferred style of vacationing has changed over the years. We've never been big rope droppers, but as we get older we are appreciating more and more the downtime and hanging out at the resort. If we had APs we would probably park hop every day and wear ourselves out. And after all, I am now a:
(And M isn't far behind me. Her birthday is this month.)
There's even a chance we will change our package to room-only and buy 4-day tickets from a third party site! Why? In two words: BOO BASH!
We both enjoy Halloween but have never been interested in MNNSHP. But with this new format as an After Hours event, we are VERY interested! We even have our costumes planned out already! So now I need Disney to hurry up and announce the dates so we can plan accordingly! Hopefully we'll be able to get tickets while we're staying at the Contemporary so we can just walk back afterward.
If you've read my past reports you know that M and I have always used APs when at WDW. For various reasons (price increase, wanting to travel to other places than WDW, not wanting to be tempted to squeeze in an extra trip just because we are AP holders) we are going with regular day tickets. Not to mention Disney isn't even selling APs now and who knows when they will start again??
But perhaps most importantly, our preferred style of vacationing has changed over the years. We've never been big rope droppers, but as we get older we are appreciating more and more the downtime and hanging out at the resort. If we had APs we would probably park hop every day and wear ourselves out. And after all, I am now a:
(And M isn't far behind me. Her birthday is this month.)
There's even a chance we will change our package to room-only and buy 4-day tickets from a third party site! Why? In two words: BOO BASH!
We both enjoy Halloween but have never been interested in MNNSHP. But with this new format as an After Hours event, we are VERY interested! We even have our costumes planned out already! So now I need Disney to hurry up and announce the dates so we can plan accordingly! Hopefully we'll be able to get tickets while we're staying at the Contemporary so we can just walk back afterward.
AIR TRAVEL
Newark airport has always been the closest airport to us here in North Jersey, and since we moved to a new city we are even closer than before. You may remember my various rants about Southwest ceasing their service to EWR a couple years ago, and shortly after that they ended direct flights from LGA to MCO. There were a few times we went all the way to Long Island to catch a direct flight (and had a ride from the train station to the airport thanks to @Darstarr!) because we are #overit when it comes to connecting flights. And the worst part is we had a TON of SWA points saved up that were basically useless!
But guess who DOES fly directly from EWR to MCO several times a day? JETBLUE! We have somehow never flown JetBlue but we were planning to in June 2020 for the first time. Obviously that didn't happen but they were still on our RADAR (pun...sort of intended). I got the JetBlue credit card to get free checked bags and we booked our departure flight!
However, we won't be flying right back home after WDW. We are flying to Chicago to visit some family, and after about a week there we'll fly back home. We booked our flight from Chicago to Newark next because we weren't sure exactly when we would finish Disney and fly to Chicago, but we knew when we needed to return home so M can be at work in time for the start of the new semester. After an extensive search, we realized we could fly American FIRST CLASS directly to Newark, for the same price as flying coach on another airline into LGA or JFK. HELLO, OBVIOUS CHOICE! We're lucky we booked all this when there was still a lot more COVID uncertainty, because I'm sure the prices have shot waaaaay up now that so many people are vaccinated. And who knows when we'll ever have the chance to fly First Class again?!
Now this left the middle flight from Orlando to Chicago. Remember all those Southwest points? Turns out there are plenty of direct flights from MCO to MDW and a few to ORD every day. So on 8/25 we'll fly to Chicago, pick up a rental car, drive to stay with family for the next several days, and then fly home to Jersey on 9/1.
Newark airport has always been the closest airport to us here in North Jersey, and since we moved to a new city we are even closer than before. You may remember my various rants about Southwest ceasing their service to EWR a couple years ago, and shortly after that they ended direct flights from LGA to MCO. There were a few times we went all the way to Long Island to catch a direct flight (and had a ride from the train station to the airport thanks to @Darstarr!) because we are #overit when it comes to connecting flights. And the worst part is we had a TON of SWA points saved up that were basically useless!
But guess who DOES fly directly from EWR to MCO several times a day? JETBLUE! We have somehow never flown JetBlue but we were planning to in June 2020 for the first time. Obviously that didn't happen but they were still on our RADAR (pun...sort of intended). I got the JetBlue credit card to get free checked bags and we booked our departure flight!
However, we won't be flying right back home after WDW. We are flying to Chicago to visit some family, and after about a week there we'll fly back home. We booked our flight from Chicago to Newark next because we weren't sure exactly when we would finish Disney and fly to Chicago, but we knew when we needed to return home so M can be at work in time for the start of the new semester. After an extensive search, we realized we could fly American FIRST CLASS directly to Newark, for the same price as flying coach on another airline into LGA or JFK. HELLO, OBVIOUS CHOICE! We're lucky we booked all this when there was still a lot more COVID uncertainty, because I'm sure the prices have shot waaaaay up now that so many people are vaccinated. And who knows when we'll ever have the chance to fly First Class again?!
Now this left the middle flight from Orlando to Chicago. Remember all those Southwest points? Turns out there are plenty of direct flights from MCO to MDW and a few to ORD every day. So on 8/25 we'll fly to Chicago, pick up a rental car, drive to stay with family for the next several days, and then fly home to Jersey on 9/1.
Zipadeelady
Well-Known Member
AIR TRAVEL
Newark airport has always been the closest airport to us here in North Jersey, and since we moved to a new city we are even closer than before. You may remember my various rants about Southwest ceasing their service to EWR a couple years ago, and shortly after that they ended direct flights from LGA to MCO. There were a few times we went all the way to Long Island to catch a direct flight (and had a ride from the train station to the airport thanks to @Darstarr!) because we are #overit when it comes to connecting flights. And the worst part is we had a TON of SWA points saved up that were basically useless!
But guess who DOES fly directly from EWR to MCO several times a day? JETBLUE! We have somehow never flown JetBlue but we were planning to in June 2020 for the first time. Obviously that didn't happen but they were still on our RADAR (pun...sort of intended). I got the JetBlue credit card to get free checked bags and we booked our departure flight!
However, we won't be flying right back home after WDW. We are flying to Chicago to visit some family, and after about a week there we'll fly back home. We booked our flight from Chicago to Newark next because we weren't sure exactly when we would finish Disney and fly to Chicago, but we knew when we needed to return home so M can be at work in time for the start of the new semester. After an extensive search, we realized we could fly American FIRST CLASS directly to Newark, for the same price as flying coach on another airline into LGA or JFK. HELLO, OBVIOUS CHOICE! We're lucky we booked all this when there was still a lot more COVID uncertainty, because I'm sure the prices have shot waaaaay up now that so many people are vaccinated. And who knows when we'll ever have the chance to fly First Class again?!
Now this left the middle flight from Orlando to Chicago. Remember all those Southwest points? Turns out there are plenty of direct flights from MCO to MDW and a few to ORD every day. So on 8/25 we'll fly to Chicago, pick up a rental car, drive to stay with family for the next several days, and then fly home to Jersey on 9/1.
Judi8281950
Member
Congrats on your new home!
We've been homeowners since we are 27 years old.....44 years! Our house sold for $46,000 back in '77. We never planned to stay in it forever, but after raising our kids and they all live fairly close with their families, we are staying put. Homes prices in NJ are crazy!!
We've been homeowners since we are 27 years old.....44 years! Our house sold for $46,000 back in '77. We never planned to stay in it forever, but after raising our kids and they all live fairly close with their families, we are staying put. Homes prices in NJ are crazy!!
RememberWhen
Well-Known Member
Congrats on the new house! That’s so exciting!! We’re also anxiously awaiting Boo Bash dates for our October trip. Halloween is so fun and night rides with costumes sounds promising. Keep us updated!
Thank you and congrats to you too!
Thank you! How wonderful that you've been able to stay in the same home!
Thank you! And I wish Disney would just release the dates already!
COSTUMES
As soon as we found about the Boo Bash, we knew we HAD to dress up in some kind of coordinating costume. Finding a costume idea was a little tricky, because we don't want a) to dress up as sisters, b) one of us the dress up as the guy from a straight Disney couple, c) to dress as a heroine and a villain, or d) to dress as two totally random characters. We briefly considered C-3PO and R2D2 (I'm Threepio because I'm the anxious one haha). But we ended up settling on:
We're calling ourselves "The Sleepy Forest Girls."
M is blonde and I have dark hair so...here we are! We are going to go with easy Disneybounding looks with pants instead of skirts/dresses for maximum comfort and park visiting-ability. We have ordered some items for each of our looks and I'll post more when they arrive and we settle on the final looks.
M also found these adorable sleep masks, which have been ordered:
We're hoping we can get some cute photos of ourselves "sleeping" with the masks on during the Bash.
As soon as we found about the Boo Bash, we knew we HAD to dress up in some kind of coordinating costume. Finding a costume idea was a little tricky, because we don't want a) to dress up as sisters, b) one of us the dress up as the guy from a straight Disney couple, c) to dress as a heroine and a villain, or d) to dress as two totally random characters. We briefly considered C-3PO and R2D2 (I'm Threepio because I'm the anxious one haha). But we ended up settling on:
We're calling ourselves "The Sleepy Forest Girls."
M is blonde and I have dark hair so...here we are! We are going to go with easy Disneybounding looks with pants instead of skirts/dresses for maximum comfort and park visiting-ability. We have ordered some items for each of our looks and I'll post more when they arrive and we settle on the final looks.
M also found these adorable sleep masks, which have been ordered:
We're hoping we can get some cute photos of ourselves "sleeping" with the masks on during the Bash.
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Figgy1
Well-Known Member
WARNING: lots of text! Not a lot of Disney talk!
As you may have guessed, our big dream for 2020 was to buy a house. With the uncertainty of EVERYTHING going on, I was afraid our plans would have to change and we'd be stuck renting another year or two. M, however, never lost faith. We did a ton of Zillow-stalking in March, April, May, and June. By this time I had a pretty stable income despite all the changes to our lives, so in July we started applying for mortgage preapprovals.
We were preapproved by three different banks but some of the amounts were low for our area. If you're self-employed you will understand what a GIANT HEADACHE it can be to prove your income. I also have steadily made more each year since I started filing taxes as self-employed (2013 ish) which is actually great but which on paper means I have a lower average annual income. I have student loans from my Master's degree but M doesn't have any from her Master's, and neither of us have debt from undergrad. We don't have a car (and therefore don't have a car loan), and we pay off our credit cards in full every month and don't carry a balance. We have pretty darn good credit, which took a long time to achieve because we racked up a lot of credit card debt during grad school and had to work very hard to pay it all off. We finally found a mortgage broker that would approve us for a reasonable amount for the areas we were considering, and in mid-July we started seeing houses.
We originally wanted to buy a condo, but because of high HOAs in most buildings around here, we were approved for a very low purchase price for condos compared to the approval for single family homes. We ended up focusing our search on a neighborhood we hadn't even considered before because it's mostly single family homes and that wasn't what we were looking for. We saw maybe ten houses before making an offer. Long story short, the first house didn't work out because of several issues found during the inspection. BUT we ended up finding another that we like even better, and after some bumps in the road, WE ARE FINALLY HOMEOWNERS!!!
View attachment 558701
I know we got EXTREMELY lucky with the timing of our home search. Most of the country is experiencing a CRAZY seller's market and homes are going for waaaaaaay over asking while the buyers waive inspection contingencies. However, NYC and some of the surrounding areas (not the super suburban areas) were actually the opposite last summer, though I think it's picked up a bit since then. We managed to pay under asking and get some seller credits for repairs. Our city is still very urban and densely populated, as you can probably tell by the two houses attached to either side and tiny yard.
Obviously our priorities have shifted since becoming homeowners. We got an amazing rate and our monthly payments are actually less than our rent was in our last apartment. But we did have to replace the furnace, replace the water heater, add central AC, have some asbestos tile removed in the basement, and have some outlets added. Our house was built in the 1890s so obviously it needed a little love! So we are still saving as much as possible so we're ready for inevitable repairs and maintenance.
That meant that when we had to choose to either keep our WDW Annual Passes or cancel them and get a refund for the remaining time, we chose...to cancel them and take the money.And that is the main reason we only have 5 day tickets. More on that later, though...
Figgy1
Well-Known Member
Not if I get there first
Costume update!
I ordered some yellow pants and blue tops to try and they came this week. After trying everything here is my look:
You can’t tell in the photo above, but I am wearing my apple earrings from the last time I was Snow White. That was six years ago for our first wedding anniversary. We were actually in the parks on Halloween!
M ordered some pants as well but, while they looked like a grey/tan color on the website, they look greenish in person, so she will be returning them and looking elsewhere. She is planning to DIY her shirt to resemble the top of Aurora’s forest dress.
Next search: shoes! We want supportive sneakers for running around MK but we want the colors to coordinate. Snow White’s shoes in the movie are kind of a tan/gold color but I might go for red, blue, or yellow just so it’s all bright and colorful. I think Aurora is barefoot for a lot of the movie so M will probably go for tan/beige shoes.
I ordered some yellow pants and blue tops to try and they came this week. After trying everything here is my look:
You can’t tell in the photo above, but I am wearing my apple earrings from the last time I was Snow White. That was six years ago for our first wedding anniversary. We were actually in the parks on Halloween!
M ordered some pants as well but, while they looked like a grey/tan color on the website, they look greenish in person, so she will be returning them and looking elsewhere. She is planning to DIY her shirt to resemble the top of Aurora’s forest dress.
Next search: shoes! We want supportive sneakers for running around MK but we want the colors to coordinate. Snow White’s shoes in the movie are kind of a tan/gold color but I might go for red, blue, or yellow just so it’s all bright and colorful. I think Aurora is barefoot for a lot of the movie so M will probably go for tan/beige shoes.
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PacNWTigger
Well-Known Member
Super cute!
Thank you!
Thank you, and thank you!