Vacation Planning

Ok, so anyone that knows me knows that I like to plan A LOT in advance for any expensive vacations.  I'm totally fine with waiting until the last minute to do something under $1000, like going to visit family, but anything more, I want plenty of time to plan.  Our last vacation besides to Missouri was in July and I started planning in March, and that was the latest I've ever waited.  Last time we went to Florida I planned for nearly a year (I think I started planning in early May and we went in late March).

So I think my husband was pretty surprised when he came home from work the other day, and Elliott and I had been looking at Disney World and Universal rides and comparing them, trying to decide which was better.  We tentatively had a trip to Missouri planned for September, to see family.  After thinking about it, and looking around online, I decided that we should extend it and go to Florida as well.  We have a time share sampler thing that we bought last year that includes more than enough points for 10 nights in Celebration, FL, and they had openings for when we wanted to go.  I told my husband I wanted to do it, fully expecting to have to talk him into it (last time we went to Disney World, he said that would most likely be the only time we went), but instead he liked the idea.  He's been wanting a real vacation for a while because of some of the things going on at work.  And I think it would be great for our whole family as well.  We've had a pretty crazy year!

Carl checked his schedule at work, and it looks like he can take off the full 25 days we want, as long as he requests it soon.  But then the same day he checked it, we got the soccer sign up information, and it turns out that the season is starting late this year, so Elliott wouldn't be able to play if we go then.  So now we have checked out the stuff going on at Disney in November, and made sure that we would be able to get a suite at the resort and everything as well.  Carl hasn't been able to check at work yet to see if he could get that time off, but Elliott is really pushing for that time instead.

There are definite advantages to going in November, like how much cooler it will be.  Elliott and I are both wimps when it comes to really hot weather.  November in Orlando is typically similar to July in North Dakota (our hottest month of the year).  September will seem incredibly hot to us.  No matter which time we go, we can go to one of the special night time parties at Magic Kingdom.  I think I would like the Halloween one better, but Elliott is pushing for the Christmas one.  Waiting until November would also give me more time to plan and save.  So I have a feeling that if November works for Carl's work schedule that is when we will end up going.

I've already checked with my mom (she's who we stay with when we are in Missouri) and she said she doesn't foresee any kind of problems with either dates.  And she can watch Snoopie while we are in Florida as well (Darla will keep Trixie, and the cats will go to my father in law's house, or stay with the house sitter).  I'm getting anxious to know when we will go so I can go ahead and start making reservations and real plans!

Another Vacation?

We go on vacation every year, and have for a while now.  In my opinion it's important for our family.  I know not everyone agrees with me, but I think I personally need the time away from home to recharge, and spend more time enjoying my family.  Even when our vacations are just to my parents' house in Missouri, it helps us recharge and relax.   Plus of course, it's awesome to see family.  We live 1100 miles from "home" for both my husband and me, so we don't get to see our families nearly as often as we would like.  Elliott and I do manage to go home every year, and Carl is with us most of the time, but sometimes he's just not able to take the necessary time off from work.

This year, we were planning on just going home again.  We were  planning a trip to Kansas City for a few days.  Our parents live in the Springfield area, so Kansas City isn't that far away, but we had planned on spending 2 or 3 nights there anyway, so we could do more stuff.

However, my husband recently found out that he will almost certainly not be allowed to take any leave next summer (2014) if we are still here.  He will most likely either be sent to another base for a while, or will be left here, where they will be obviously short manned because so many will be elsewhere.  We were planning another Florida trip for next summer.  My son is really into Super Heroes and Lego blocks, so we were planning on doing Universal Orlando and LegoLand, while he still loves those things.  However, we have been talking over the idea of doing the Florida trip this year instead.  We normally have a pretty extravagant Christmas, and my whole family is on board with the idea of clearing out our Christmas savings account in late June for a July vacation to Florida.  We were also planning on buying a 3D TV within the next few weeks, and have decided instead, to put that money toward a Florida trip as well.  So if we can come up with another $500 by the end of March (about halfway between now and the trip), without cutting into debt repayment, or any of our other savings goals, it looks like the Florida trip might happen this summer!

A Discount Vacation to Disney!

My son never missed a chance to meet Goofy!

My husband deployed last May, and was gone for six months. Before he left, we decided that while he was gone, I was going to plan for, and save for a Florida vacation in March. We had been kicking the idea around for a while, but didn't have a set time or plan until that point. He put in for leave, and I started looking for great deals.