Since we got back from Disney World in December, I've been excited to go back! Chris and I have been talking about when that would be when I got an email from Disney about the free dining plan. We already knew that for our next trip, we would definitely stay onsite.
Suddenly, it felt like all the pieces fell together and before I knew it, we were booking a trip. When Disney offers the free dining plan, you book a package that contains the dining, room and tickets. We will book our flights, car and stroller separately.
I mentioned yesterday that we've been saving for this trip, but we also found some creative ways to make it more budget friendly. For example, we both opened up Chase Disney Visa cards and received $200 Disney gift cards (each, so $400) that we can apply to our package. We are big believers in paying off our cards each month, so this wasn't a big deal to us to open one. The Disney Visa also gives you great perks (you can read up on those at their site if you're interested) at both the parks and the stores.
I also cashed in my Disney Movie Rewards codes for Disney gift cards. It wasn't much, but it's that much less we will have to pay for out of pocket!
We should have enough miles to fly for free too, and we have other points that we can apply towards our room. Outside of that I've been keeping a DW Fund envelope to save away extra cash in for the trip.
We're very excited to be staying at the Animal Kingdom Lodge this time. We'll be able to see the safari animals right from our room which we think the boys will love! Speaking of the boys, if you see them, don't tell them! They have no idea we're going yet!
I've booked our dining reservations and we will be eating at some new places that I am really, really excited about. We also think we're going to spend three days at Magic Kingdom, one at Hollywood Studios and one at Animal Kingdom and skip Epcot this time. Once the boys are older and enjoy eating new and different things, we'll probably go back to Epcot, but for now I'm the only one that likes it.
So, for those that wondered what vacation we are saving for, now you know! =)