I'm still trying to figure out how to organize this blog- yes my last post was nearly 9 months ago, but I'm back! I'm going to try to post once a month. We'll see how it goes!
I've still got some general travel tips in mind, so we'll start there. If flying (my family's preferred method of travel), I recommend Southwest. My comfort zone from Indy to Orlando is around $120 per person each way. Children under 2 fly free, which has been very nice to be able to utilize multiple times. My family is very tall, and so we tend to either grab the bulkhead seats if still available (no tray table but tons of legroom), or at the very least my husband will grab an aisle and I'll sit next to him. If we know the flight isn't full, I've been known to take the window seat and hope nobody sits in between us- and it's worked (disclaimer: not always!). Before kids, we would almost always take the exit row, but you must be at least 18 to sit in that row. We have never paid the extra $25 per person for priority seating, but rather, I get online and the second the clock switches to exactly 24 hours before my flight on my iPhone, I check us in to our flight, and I'm typically pretty happy with our assignment (example: if my flight leaves at 2:00pm on Friday, I check us in at exactly 2:00pm on Thursday- you are given a letter A-C, and a number 1-60, and that is your boarding order.. So A1 is first to board, and C60 is last. A's are the best, but we've gotten low B's and still had plenty of seating choices available). Bags fly free on Southwest as well, and we always carry-on our 2 allowed bags each, and then check the rest.
A great money-saver is to buy kids clothing at home to bring on the trip. H&M, JCPenney, Kohl's, Babies R Us- just to name a few- all sell cute kids Disney clothes, at a fraction of the cost. I don't have girls, but I've heard that buying Princess dresses beforehand and taking them along is the way to go. I know Disneystore.com sells cute dresses, and I've also seen dresses at all the above mentioned places except H&M. Unless your girl is a tomboy like I was, she is going to see all of the other little girls dressed up and want a dress of her own. Now I don't know how the quality compares to those bought in the parks, but personally, if I ever have a girl , I'll definitely be buying my dresses ahead of time elsewhere. I can't justify the Disney prices. To make giving her the dress extra fun, you could leave the dress, along with a note from the Princess, in the morning for her to find when she wakes up for her first full day in Disney.
Along those same lines, let me just say that EVERYTHING is going to cost more in Disney. My family has, on several occasions, brought our own alcohol to enjoy at night in the room or out by the pool. We have brought 4-packs of the mini plastic wine bottles (1 bottle in the gift shop at the resort costs the same as a 4-pack at home), and also mini plastic bottles of rum/ vodka to mix with soda.
Disney gift cards- these beauties are the way to go! Jeff and I love receiving them for birthdays and holidays. In the past, we'd charge everything to the room over the course of a week. At the end of the trip, you're left with a hefty bill AND the fact that vacation is over. Nowadays we use gift cards for tips, alcoholic beverages, and souvenirs... and not getting a bill at the end of the trip makes for a happier check-out day!
I am hoping I've covered everything that was in my deleted post. I thank you for reading, and hope everyone has a lovely week. Thanks for reading!
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