They had two children, we had five at the time.
We drove, they flew.
We stayed at a nice hotel a half mile from the main gate, so we could still walk. They stayed at a really nice hotel in the park.
We ate breakfast at the hotel, packed our lunch and snacks and then ate dinner in the park. They ate every meal in the park, including the expensive character meals where you dine with Disney Characters.
We let our kids pick one souvenir.
They were loaded down with souvenirs and all the trading pins and Disney wardrobe (which later became ours because they would give us all of their old stuff...still in brand new condition).
We kept running into them in the park.
I watched my kids reactions to them as they would tell about all the stuff they got and things they were doing. My kids didn't really seem phased. I asked them if they thought their friends were having more fun because they flew there and were staying in the park and were getting lots of stuff. And they said, "No, we're having a blast!"
So, there are two ways to do Disney...or whatever your vacation may be. We chose one way...they chose another. Is one better? Nope. We all had a great time.
They had a two parent income and could afford to do what they did.
We had a one parent income and could afford to do what we did.
I think that a lot of people have a misconception about going to Disney parks. They think that it is going to cost way more than it really does. With some careful planning and creativity, anyone can save up a little and go! It's so fun.
This time we got to stay with my brother Andy and his family who just moved down there so our trip was even cheaper! Yay!
However, just as a side note....after that trip we took a few years ago we asked our kids what their favorite part of the trip was. They said it was every night when we would be walking back to our hotel and we would stop at the 7-11 and get slurpies! So....kids are easy to please...they just want to do stuff as a family anyway... no matter where you go!
I just thought this picture was funny. Dumb pigeons!
Somehow we managed to get burnt on this cold and cloudy day!
The girls with Belle.
Princess Ariel chatting with the girls...seriously...how cute is she!
Princess Tiana...Jake refused to get his pictures with the princesses!
Mary Poppins and Bert wert hilarious!
Second try at the beach was much better. Nice farmer tan!
Andy and Jamie are so lucky to live five minutes from paradise!
By the way...the stickers we had on the little girls said their names and had our cell phone numbers on them in case they got lost in the park...they didn't, but we have lost kids twice before...so I wasn't taking any chances. Other parents in the park thought we were genius's!;)
p.s. If you buy your theme park tickets online before you go you save a lot of money opposed to buying them at the gate.
8 comments:
Your kids are too big =( And the name-tag thing was genius.
I am actually really intrigued as to how you kept this low cost. I've been looking into a family trip back to cali and disneyland always seems like an expense I just can't justify. Help!
Who is that big girl??
No way that is Chloe.
I am so impressed with your blog posting yay! I get to see what you are up to! We are Disney finatics- looks like you guys had fun. Our kids have only been to Disneyland once since we live on the East Coast.They just kept saying "we've been here before, we've been here before". We finally got them to understand that Magic Kingdom at Disneyworld is patterned after Disneyland. Thomas' sister and her husband live in La Jolla- 2 blocks from the most beautiful beaches I've ever seen- so jealous of them and of Andy! We are only 2.5 hours from a beach so I shouldn't feel so bad but it's cold here until late Spring- not like southern CA! Such cute kids! xxoo PS can't wait to someday get pix with the princesses- we of course always by-pass them!
What a fun trip! Thanks for sharing the cute pics - you know I think your kids are darling, but I have to say the shot of the pigeons was my favorite. Right up my alley.
So sad to say I haven't taken my kids to Disney yet. The sad thing is 2 a year when we make the trek down to SoCal to see my family we drive right past. I always think its going to cost a lot of money and that they are too young to enjoy it but really I just need to get your tips on how to do it cheep.
BTW I loved the pigeons. And Meg, looks so grown up!
wow, that looks like fun. I must take my kids before they are way too " old" to enjoy it.
wish we could have gotten together...maybe next time. looks like you had tons of fun!
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