OMG! My husband just surprised me with a Sept trip!!!

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bucklepants

Active Member
I am new on the boards, but had to share my good fortune.
My husband totally surprised me today with a 5 day trip at Pop for the end of Sept this year. Our next trip was supposed to be August 2013. He kept it secret for almost a month. I was in tears after he presented it to me. This is going to be a 'see how cheap we can get by trip'. Any advice (sharing meals, etc)?
We are questioning keeping it from our daughter. She is 4 going on 5.
I'm thinking about posting a pre-trip report too. I've got so much to look at. I'm wondering if my daughter will need a stroller or not, and pondering the MNSSHP (if it would be worth the splurge this trip). Any thoughts?
OMG I'm so excited!!!!
 
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ddbowdoin

ddbowdoin

Well-Known Member
Britt said:
Very very possible!!! LOL Most of the QS menu's show things for about $10 or less, so we'll stick to those and just match up our meals with snacks and just split with kiddos (they're only 7, 6 and 2, so they aren't huge eaters).

We've got a $25 gift card we're saving for over there as well! LOL

*NERVOUS*
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good luck! you'll have to skip out on some of the goodies around the world.

if you have the room, splurge on a dole whip float
 
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Britt

Britt

Well-Known Member
ddbowdoin said:
good luck! you'll have to skip out on some of the goodies around the world.

if you have the room, splurge on a dole whip float
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**ooo, I meant very possible that it's to little amount for a family of 5, not that it's possible for us to eat on that...HAHA. Im REALLY hoping we can stick to that budget, but I fully acknowledge that I may have lowballed it! I've got $200 in reserve JUST in case. I just dont want to dip into it!

I think I might be the only weirdo who wouldn't like a Dole Whip...Im not a super big fan of Pineapple!
 
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DisneyDebNJ

Well-Known Member
Pooh Lover said:
Congrats on the surprise trip! You will LOVE WDW in September. The stroller would probably be a good idea, especially when your daughter gets tired but you still need to keep going. The MNSSHP would be a great addition to your trip. Make sure your daughter is fine with the characters because the evening is definitely character overload. Enjoy!
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Absolutely agree!!!!
 
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lilclerk

lilclerk

Well-Known Member
Britt said:
I think I might be the only weirdo who wouldn't like a Dole Whip...Im not a super big fan of Pineapple!
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I don't like pineapple either, don't feel bad ;)

To the OP, that's awesome! Some good counter service places to split meals are Cosmic Rays in the MK, Flame Tree in AK and Sunshine Seasons in Epcot. The food is pretty good (great at Sunshine Seasons!) and the portions are HUGE. I eat off of the kids menu a lot, too. I never finish a whole meal in the parks and that helps to save money.
 
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minnielaw

minnielaw

Well-Known Member
Congrats on the surprise trip! What a wonderful husband :)

I say yes on the stroller. My boys were 6 and 8 on our first trip and we rented a stroller the 2nd day...saved our trip!! The boys weren't as tired and we could move through the parks quicker.

Have fun!
 
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coltow

coltow

Well-Known Member
BRING THE STROLLER
My son is 5 1/2 and I just borrowed an umbrella stroller for him. I know he'll be ok the first few days but I also know that after a few days on his feet he'll be begging to be carried. At first I had thought about the wait and see kind of thing and knew I could always rent them but the rental prices are INSANE, so I've got this stroller I can use and am gonna take it. I'm hoping not to bring it to every park every day, but we'll see.

You really should do MNSSHP its tons of fun. Plus you can get into MK at 4pm so you can actually not buy park ticket for that day
 
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pixiesteno

pixiesteno

Well-Known Member
How exciting, a surprise trip! I would concur on the sharing of meals. DH & I do this all the time. The nice thing now is your room at Pop will have a mini-fridge in it at no extra charge. They have breakfast food, milk, juices, etc in the dining area that you can purchase to accompany anything you bring with you. Also there is a microwave in the food court area to re-heat any left-overs. You could get instant oatmeal packets and just use the hot water from the coffee machine to make it. If you have "serious" coffee drinkers in the family purchase some single coffee packets as they are a step above Nescafe. I am not sure that I concur with the stroller bit, it is good for children to get their exercise. You will need to take breaks, but that is also beneficial for parents too. You might want to take it but see how she does in the parks for a morning without it. One of the reasons that I suggest this is that I hear so many parents complain about their child not sleeping while at WDW, but they have the kid locked down in a stroller for 1/2 to 3/4 of a day and they aren't active while riding. It's along the same principle of traveling in a car, if you don't let you child burn off some energy during the day when you take breaks from the road, guess what, when you stop for the night they won't sleep for a while. Just my opinion.
 
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ShookieJones

ShookieJones

We need time for things to happen.
First of all --- Your husband is awesome -- if I wasn't a guy and If I wasn't already married.....;) ...but those are two pretty HUGE "ifs" so....

ANYWAY!!! - I think you could definitely split your meals here and there. Some of the QS are pretty substantial and could be shared without feeling shorted. Especially with a little one. Then you could do the MNSSHP and have an all around awesome time...I mean how could you not - You'll be in Disney and top of it you weren't expecting it!

ENJOY!
 
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flipadeeflop

flipadeeflop

Active Member
Your husband is AMAZING!!!

I'm in the same boat as you (probably not literally, since I'm actually doing the cruise in Nov). ok, lame, but ANYWAY.. one thing me and my boyfriend are doing to make sure we can do it on a budget is try to save BEFORE we go! One way we are doing this is with groceries. We tend to buy a lot of extras when we go grocery shopping and it adds up more than we think. We started setting a limit to what we can buy and take out the cash every week from the bank before we go to the store, then whatever is left over is ours to keep for spending money at the world and on the cruise!!
We also took advantage of the Disney Visa deal, not having to start paying until 6months after you charge the card and getting a $50 credit on the boat! Wooo!
I also agree with everyone on the bringing your own food thing. My boyfriend and I buy this vanilla soymilk from amazon.com called Soy on the Go. It's like juice boxes and doesn't need to be refrigerated, so once one is opened, it doesn't spoil the rest of the box. We are bringing a box of cereal for the 2 mornings we are staying at WDW and using the soymilk as cream for our coffee and milk for our cereal! Last year we also bought Luna bars and Cliff bars which really helps!
I have one of those brita water bottles too. Life saver! Just fill it with ice at your resort before you leave and you'll have nice cold water until you can find ice again in the parks!
You may also want to have an allotted amount you can spend each day in the parks and bring it in cash in envelopes instead of using your Key to the World!
 
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Lisalyn

Lisalyn

Well-Known Member
bucklepants said:
My husband said we didn't qualify for free dining, not sure why, I think because we got a room discount instead. I was thinking of getting an autograph book ahead of time, and packing as much snacks as we can (that won't get smooshed).

MNSSHP is sounding more and more like a MUST! DD I'm sure will go as a princess, but now some costumes for us. Hmmmm???? :)
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The room discount will probably benefit you much more because let's face it...a 4 year old couldn't eat that much food if she wanted too! LOL Again tons of Counter Service options and share! Packing granola and cereal bars as others have mentioned is a must AND i've actually used my 1 water bottle filling it up at the various water fountains to save on cash also. It adds up in the long run - trust me!

I also wanted to mention...go on ebay for the autograph books. They have TONS of options under $5 with free shipping!! And pins...if you want to get her started on pin collecting there are so many on ebay for a buck or two you'll go blind! Kind of cool to stick all the little trinkets you will be collecting between now and your trip into something Disney (they have the disney totes at the Disney store on sale alot for $1.99) and surprise her that way! Just make sure you have cameras ready to roll.

Congrats on your surprise trip!
 
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JillC LI

JillC LI

Well-Known Member
What an amazing surprise and what a wonderful hubby! Make sure to thank him properly ;) LOL

As for the stroller, decide based on your child. Our DD was 5 for her first trip, but we trained our kids to be great walkers from an early age (such as with several mile beach hikes in the summertime), so we never needed a stroller at WDW even though we were in the parks all day, everyday for 5 days straight. Her excitement kept her going non-stop; we also built in breaks throughout the day with lunch and attractions that allowed for sitting. Not all kids are like that though. Only you know. Have a great trip!
 
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Raven66

Raven66

Well-Known Member
Congrats! Your husband is pretty awesome. After I read your post I turned to my husband and told him he needed to surprise me. He just grunted at me. Anyway, we always bring breakfast items to eat while we are getting ready. Pop tarts and granola bars. I made my own trail mix and put them in little snack bags. If it's hot, just leave out the chocolate. And I also got iced tea mix and separated enough for 20 oz bottles into little baggies and used that with the water out of the water fountains. Worked great. And the burgers are big enough to share at Cosmic Rays. When it's hot in our family we just eat as much when walking around. The half of chicken they have could easily be shared between two people.

I hope you have a great time!!
 
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DawnBerg

DawnBerg

Active Member
Congrats on the surprise!!! That would be the best surprise EVER in my opinion!!! We always fill a medium sized suitcase with kitchen stuff. Like teas bags, snacks (single bags of chips, pop tarts, granola bars, etc.), oatmeal or single serve ceral boxes for breakfast and stuff like that. After we use all of the stuff we had packed in the suitcase what we are left with is a great space to put all the suvenirs we purchased!! Believe it or not you really cant fit too many boxes of snacks and breakfast stuff in a small suitcase but the benefit in the end is awesome! We are also traveling with a 4 year old and we are bringing a folding umbrella stroller. It doesn't take up a ton of space, saves us the cost of renting which is HUGE in the end and if he doesn't want to sit and wants to walk we just use it to hold our backpack and give our shoulders a rest!!
 
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J

JodiLee

New Member
Have you seen the handmade autograph books at www.thishandmadelife.etsy.com? Characters love them because they can fold them over, they are large, good for markers, etc. When we used these at Disney, we got several thumbs up from characters :) You can also post pics in them as well. Sturdy paper. Hope this helps!
 
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