Disney Diamond Days Sweepstakes

If you keep tabs on Disneyland's blog you already know about this but for those of us who haven't will want to now.

You've got to do this!! Definitely a must for our upcoming trip! Everyone loves giveaways right?!

First let me clear the air now, daily entries are for anyone who will actually be at Disneyland from now through February 5, 2016. You must be present to win the daily drawings. You need not be in the park but you must be on Disney grounds to claim daily prizes. So add this to your list of things to do next time you visit.

All you have to do is text the "Word of the   day" to 227853 (CASTLE) between 7am and 10:59 am pacific time. 

The word can be found outside Disney's resorts or at the entrance of Disneyland. At 11:00 you will receive a notice if you've won. You have 60 minutes to go claim your prize or it will be forfeited. 

There are also weekly drawings and a final drawing- your text entries qualify you for both of those. You need not be present for those drawings. 

You may also enter weekly drawings online here: www.DisneyDiamondDays.com

There are some amazing prizes to be had! I think Diamond says it all, however, the after hours Disneyland tour sounds like a blast! 

I bet you can guess who will be entering as much as possible!! 

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Using VRBO for your Disney Vacation

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Have you heard of VRBO? 

"Powered by HomeAway, The world leader in vacation rentals"

VRBO is a site that allows individuals list their properties as vacation rentals. 

You can find vacation rentals all over the world through VRBO.  These rentals range from small condos to large homes and sometimes even whole apartment complexes. 

Rather than get into all the nitty gritty of VRBO itself, 

I want to share what I have learned through researching for our Disneyland vacation.

VRBO for Disneyland

Pros:

*Hundreds of locations- some even right across from Disneyland

*Something to accommodate and party size

*Family friendly. Many of the rentals have strollers, high chairs, beach toys and more

(no need to pack bulky strollers in the car!)

*Options: swimming pool, bbq's, theater rooms, decked out in Disney decor- you can find it

*Lower than Hotel Prices: Price per person is usually(not always) lower than a hotel

*Full sized kitchens and fridges- save on $$- prepare meals to take to the park

*Washers and dryers at most rentals

*Living space- it really is more like home

*Split the cost with multiple families

*Free Parking: Some provide parking passes for Disneyland if they aren't close enough to walk, might as well ask about it.

CONS:

*Cleaning Fees

 I've seen them from $70-200 depending on the rental. This is decided individually- you may be able to work with the renters on the cleaning fee but usually it's pretty set in stone. 

*Damage Deposits

Usually $300-400 to protect the owners against any damage done. Most of them say fully refundable. Definitely ask each owner specifically about that. Some are partially refundable while some are fully refundable. Be sure to ask the likelihood of getting all of that back. I was told several times that it is refunded 10-14 days following our stay.

*Damage Insurance

NON-refundable fee usually $70-80 This is actual insurance so it is not refundable. I didn't see more than a handful that required this but it IS there. You can click the 'Rates' tab on any VRBO rental or the 'detailed price' link below the 'quote' button will also show any extra fees.

*Pool/Spa heating fees

Not all have them but if you have a place with a pool or spa, make sure to double check or ask the owner about it. I've seen them be $10-20 a day! That adds up.

*Additional Persons Fee

This one is ridiculous IMO. And it comes up more often than the Damage insurance so triple check on this one. A rental may say it sleeps 12 then say additional $5-10 pppn (per person per night) 

above six. That adds up really quick if you are planning to max out at 12 people. 

*Verify that the property is vacant.

VRBO is a site that allows individuals list their properties as vacation rentals. Let me clarify, these are usually people who own several properties with the intent to rent them out, however, I did run across a couple 'rentals' which were part of a persons home, meaning you would be staying in the same home as the owners. Possibly their basement, casita, or even a 4th floor "apartment" on their home. While some may be ok with staying with total strangers, I think the majority isn't... which does have a bonus to it, the prices are usually less for these kind of rentals. Not enough incentive for me to stay there but maybe for someone else.

Additional Tips:

*Prices vary by location, size, and number of persons staying

*Discounted rates will pop up if you are planning last minute or off season trips. 

*Weekly Discounted Rates:If you plan to stay for an entire week, many will usually give you a good discount.

*Distance Saves. If you don't mind being a little farther from the park, go just outside of the Anaheim area and avoid the new 15% TAX RATE that applies to all Anaheim rentals. This went into effect over the summer of 2015.

*Multiple families going? Find a large home and split the costs. Usually ends up costing less than a hotel room and you have more amenities.

*NEVER EVER pay through a wire transfer, Money Gram, or Western Union, even Paypal. 

I trust Paypal but in this case, it may be used as a way to avoid VRBO requirements and safe guards.The best option is to pay through VRBO to ensure your transaction is verifiable. I did read that you can pay in cash in person but every renter I talked with requires payment before your trip, just like if you booked a flight or hotel, it's only guaranteed once its paid for.

*One last tip, check the reviews but don't solely rely on them. I've read that negative reviews are not posted. Kind of ruins the idea of even having reviews available. But take note to the percentage of renters who actually left a review. If 200 people stayed there and only a handful left a review, I'd make sure to talk with the owner in depth before agreeing to rent from them.

****************************************************************************

There is a lot to take in when searching for a vacation rental on VRBO but overall, I think it can be worth it. 

As I was researching for our stay, we ended up finding other sources inadvertently through VRBO properties and planned to work with them seperately. Here are some sites we found.

Photo Cred: Anaheim Vacation House

1) AnaheimVacationHouse 

This is who we are working with. They have been very accommodating and friendly. All the homes listed are very nice luxury homes. We are excited to work with them for our stay. 

I'll let you know what we think about it after our stay. 

Photo Cred: My Castle House 

(Castle #14)

2) MyCastleHouse

These are decked out in Disney decor and have a special theme to each home. However, I didn't like that prices are only available by phone requests. This site is similar to VRBO in the fact that each of the homes are owned by different people so your contact info changes from house to house. They do have great reviews as far as I can tell. 

What options have you looked into for your 

Disneyland vacations?

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Final Epic Mickey Countdown and a Disney Freebie

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Build Your Disney Side Decal

I love this freebie! We did one a while back but it's disappeared. You can create your own little vinyl decal family. I love the idea of making a cute picture frame with the decal and a picture from our Disney trip.

And if you didn't catch that...  we are totally COUNTING DOWN THE DAYS UNTIL OUR DISNEY TRIP!

My husband and I were questioning if Disney really is the right way to celebrate our victory over debt because well, it is quite expensive to get there.

But after reviewing all the Disney on a Dime posts, I started to think that maybe we really could do it and stick to a budget and let's be honest, my husband is super excited. We are all super excited!

It was something he grew up doing with his family(I did not). I did, however, grow up on a budget. 

So we are going to Disneyland! 
We decided to even let the secret out to our littles so that there is no turning back.
(We had a little swim party to celebrate- hence the swim apparel)

These are snap shots from my phone- please excuse the blur... also caused by extremely excited children who wouldn't sit still long enough for a photo. LOL!

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Disney on a Dime Tips: Top 3

My hubs and I have been gathering information, tweaking the vacation budget, and weighing out the pro's and con's of my recent post To Disney or To NOT.

Of course I felt like I needed a refresher on all the "Disney on a Dime" posts floating around. There are A LOT of them. So I figured I would share a list of links with great Disneyland info and MY FAVORITE TIPS. I actually found a couple new to me tips!

Just check out my Disney Pinterest Board for all the great links on Saving in Disney.

Here are the tips I loved:

(if we head to Disney, I will for sure be doing them)

1: Use your Target Red Card to buy Disney spending cards. Save 5% right away!

Amazing! What's so great about this is that you can use the Disney cards anywhere in the park on food or souvenirs and you instantly saved 5%! I also think it would be a great idea to give each child a small amount on their own card-then when it's gone- it's GONE. Also- this is a great opportunity to teach your kids about finance. 

**Along with this tip, one blogger suggested keeping those $5 target reward cards you get from time to time and then turning those into your Disney cash cards before your trip. Although you get these free, you won't be getting 5% off the Disney cards so you could use them for snacks to take into the park and then buy the Disney cards separate too. Either way, it is a great idea!

2: Rent DVC points! (Disney Vacation Club) One blogger tells of how she saved $3200 on hotels by doing this!! She paid $800 for 6 nights to stay on Boardwalk(normally $4000)! I'll let ya know first, it will cost MORE than just an offsite hotel but if you want the experience of staying IN Disney and can't hack a several thousand dollar bill just on a room, this is a great option. Read her post HERE. There is a lot to consider with this option and I'm still researching it out. If you are going to Disneyland, there is only the option of staying at  The Villas at Disney's Grand Californian Hotel & Spa. We figured for 5 nights in November it would cost about $1450 to sleep our family of 6.

Or you could go the Get Away Today route, we have used them before and they were fantastic- they take care of the tickets and all. I've also heard for larger groups that renting a condo from Vacation Rentals By Owner(VRBO) is an awesome deal- like a home away from home!

3: Pack your own food and drinks into the Park. 

Ok, this one is a no brainer and pretty common but you can pack snacks and a small cooler into the park. You can put it in your stroller or pay about $12 a day for a locker and head to the park area for lunch and dinners. BUT the idea I LOVED from one blogger was to pack refillable water bottles- for water yes- but also pack those individual drink mixes with you as well. They are compact and when you are thirsty for something other than water, you can quickly make a gatorade, lemonade, or punch drink instead of spending the $4-6 for a drink in the park. I read you can ask for a cold drink of water at any food service for free too. And keep your eye out for the drinking fountains throughout the park.

BONUS TIP: Buy lanyards and pins on Ebay before your trip. 

You can get them MUCH CHEAPER this way and the kids can trade with the characters and workers in Disney. I haven't done this one yet but I think the kids would love it and it would make for a great souvenir. Here is also a blog post about pin trading which is the source for the image above.

Hope you enjoyed these tips and will search my Disney Pins for more! 

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To Disney or To NOT... feeling torn

Sooo... ya know 46 MONTHS later... and now seeing savings adding up.... My husband and I are feeling torn on whether we should actually spend a small fortune on a family Disney trip. 

Don't get me wrong. WE LOVE DISNEY. We love the rides, the yummy treats, seeing the characters, seeing our kids(and our own) excitement and the escape from reality. Disney really brings it all. We just DON'T love the price tag. 

I think that through those 46 months of pinching our pennies, something happened to us. WE CHANGED. We really do budget differently and we value what we have to work with SO much more now. We still have lots to learn but the feeling of dropping $2000-$3000 on a trip to Disney just isn't settling well with us. I have a whole Pinterest board dedicated to Disney with many of the posts on how to do it on the cheap... but even on the cheap, you'll still be forking over a fair amount of moola. Aaanndd.let'sbehonest. If you are going to Disney you don't want to worry about finances while you are there. They've made it so magical and inviting and EXPENSIVE... that experiencing Disney the right way -in my opinion- is not having to worry about the $$ spent on yummy park treats and a couple souvenirs as well as not having to tote around a cooler for your meals... have I made my point yet? Of course, if you are willing to pinch your pennies for Disney, you may be able to go more than once too... could be worth it.

In short, Disney = spending a small fortune 

(or stressing over every expense while you are there)

There are sooo many other WAY less expensive options that could be just as memorable and enjoyable. The real kicker is that my husband works for an airline company and gets great flying benefits. My kids LOVE Hawaii... which would cost a third the amount of a Disney trip. We've never been to Legoland and my kids have asked many times to go there.Way less than Disney. We could even buy passports for our kids and go somewhere foreign. Less than Disney. We could almost do all three for the same amount as ONE Disney trip. 

In short again, Not going to Disney = New adventure elsewhere, more adventures elsewhere, AND more than likely saving money.

When ya lay it out like that, it's hard to choose Disney. Not that we won't ever go back but maybe right now is not the time for it? After all, we have kids ages 8, 6, 4, and 2. There would be a lot of missed rides and kids who may not remember it anyway and I'd most likely end up pushing the stroller around for hours with sleeping kids. Maybe it's all about timing here. Maybe when they are all old enough to ride it all! This year got a lot busier for my husband too. He's almost finished with his dreadful but fulfilling CPA exams(Hoping this time around we-yes we- are finished with the CPA exams chapter of life). He's a lot busier at work too which had influenced our travel dates anyway. We haven't decided to ditch Disney (for a couple more years) just yet. There are some other family factors I haven't mentioned but will you hate it if our Epic Mickey gets dusty.... really dusty? 

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HUGE Epic Mickey Debt Count Down!! Month 20!

Oh goodness... 

We are only 4 months away from the mark we set to PAY OFF all our debts(besides the mortgage). This month sure did give it a good push! We decided to stall looking for a new home and put our savings for the down payment into our Debt Snowball! 

Mickey is finally changing his looks a bit! 

FINALLY DONE WITH HIS EARS! WOW! 

As for our original goal of being out of Debt in 4 months, I'm sure hoping we can do it but it's going to take selling our condo to get there! We originally were going to rent out the condo but have decided {I think} that selling it is the best option for us in this time of our lives. We'll probably never get the chance to get such a good deal on a potential investment property again but we'll get the chance to be debt free and possibly have a 20% down on a new home! 

Praying and hoping it works out that way! 

As Dave says, pay off debts first, then save and invest!

And as I have always been taught by my parents and through my faith, have faith and trust in the Lord. While we have our agency, when we involve the Lord in our lives and every decision, we can be directed to where and what we are supposed to really be doing in this life and the next! I know that as we do our best the Lord helps make up in the areas we lack. 

Thank Heavens for that!

Back Story:

**As a family we decided to change our lives by paying off debt. We needed motivation to keep us going. This Epic Mickey represents how much debt we owe. Each filled in square represents a dollar amount paid off. Once the entire Mickey is filled in, we will be debt free besides our home. Then we'll party in style with Disney to celebrate! We have included a monthly plan to have the savings set aside to pay for the trip too so we won't be back tracking just to celebrate. Take the journey with us as we share tips and tricks to save money, generate more money, free ourselves from the chains of debt and create a better future for our family and yours!

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Be sure to enter the Mother's Day $200 Shopping Spree Giveaway

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Disney's Aladdin music box! Great Tuachan souvenir!

Did you get to see Tuachan's Aladdin yet? Did you and your kids love it as much as we did?

Keep the memories going and snag 2 of Aladdin's Genie music boxes for only $15.98 shipped! 

This would be great for Christmas too! Could even fit in a stocking!

Also, check out the entire site because no matter how much you order, it's only $1.99 shipping altogether!

Here are some more details on this deal!

Product Description

Get 2 Music Boxes For 1 Great Low Price!

Aladdin's most wonderful moment is yours to savor again and again with the Disney Treasures Colleciton by Schmid Aladdin Music Box.  Handcrafted and hand-painted, the music box makes a fine gift or addition to your home.

• Get 2 Gift boxed Aladdin Musical Figurines
• Hand Painted
• Handcrafted
• Plays "A Friend Like Me"
• Rotates on its wind-up hidden base
• On/Off Stopper allows you to turn it off before it's done unwinding or allow it to wait until the perfect moment
• Approx: 7.25" tall x 6.5" wide
• Ceramic figurine with metal winding base

Packaging: Each one gift boxed with upc

*Remember this is a Graveyardmall deal so expect delayed shipping, 4 weeks is not uncommon. Just think of it as free layaway! 

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Be Sure to enter my $500+ Value Giveaway too! 

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Large 20 page Picture book for $8.99

Hi everyone! So, I didn't disclose ahead of time WHEN we would be going to Disneyland but we are back now! To sum it up quickly, we had fun! We did have some major break downs from our two children and have learned it is difficult with toddlers so we won't be back until they are a bit older but we had fun!


Anyhow, I just ran across this great deal. Picaboo.com has a promo going for a FREE hard covered photo book, you just pay shipping of $8.99.  This is a 20 page large book too! It is for new customers only, boy am I glad that I haven't signed up until now. Our Disneyland Vacation will now be documented as a story book! Yeah!

Promo Code: FALLBK expires October 25th, 2010 at midnight. Tweet Pin It

Disneyland Savings Tips CONDENSED

So I am sure my last post about how to go to Disneyland on a tight budget was overwhelming so here is the quick facts of where and how I found the best deals.

Get Away Today:

*This website was simply the best way to save, trust me, I looked all over the internet! Taxes are included in their price and you get free Disney gifts(a backpack for the kids and a lanyard and pin for adult tickets which you can switch for the backpack if needed) for each ticket along with $300 in coupons.

*Use code BLOG10 and/or CASTLE at checkout online or by phone(not sure if they will allow both) Each code will save you $10

*Also if doing it by phone, use electronic check and you can save another $10

*We also booked a nicer hotel about 2 miles out that has free shuttle service and all you can eat hot breakfast which actually saves us money overall for our trip.

Mouse Savers:

This is where I found great printable coupons for Downtown Disney restaurants such as RainForest Cafe, Planet Hollywood, and House of Blues 

Restaurant.com:

This is where I scored a House of Blues $50 gift card for $8! Normally they are $20 for a $50 but with a 60% off code, I saved a ton. I believe they send out one code at the beginning of each month that lasts about 2 days so you have to watch close.

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