Five Must Do Tasks when you arrive at your villa

You have just arrived at your vacation villa after a long journey. All you want to do is rest and relax. Before you do? Here are the five must do activities.

1. Inspect the Villa - I have previously written about the importance of a thorough inspection of the villa.

2. Mattress covers - This will cost around $10 per bed, and might be the best $10 you've ever spent.

3. Wash the linens - There is an excellent chance the bed sheets were washed before you arrived. Maybe. Or maybe not. To play it safe, I recommend stripping the beds and throwing them through the washer and dryer. Most Villas leave some sample detergent that you can use for this purpose. Alternatively, you can do what I do: I bring my own linens from home.

4. Move breakable decorations - The villas are usually decorated wonderfully. There may be plant units on coffee tables, vases, and other various items. Those decorations are in danger if you have children, and you'll have to pay for any damages. I recommend collecting decorations and putting them away someplace safe. I usually take pictures so I know how to put the items back in their original locations when I leave.

5. Wash The Dishes - You don't have to wash every dish in the cupboard. Just the ones you plan to use. There is no guaranty that anyone washed the dishes before you arrived, and, you don't know how long those dishes have been sitting in the cupboard. Simply load up the dishwasher and let it run. Most villas will leave some sample dish washer detergent that you can use for this purpose.

That's it! Do these five steps and then you are ready for some rest and relaxation!

Matress Protectors for Villas

So, you are renting a vacation villa. Congrats! Now, what will you need? Let me suggest that you invest in matress protectors. These are vinyl water proof cases that bed mattresses go into and then get zipped, sealing the matress.

When we arrive in Florida we stop by a Walmart and pick these up. We just buy the cheap ones - around $10 each.

These are a good idea because you don't know who has used these beds,  what they have done with them, nor how the matress was taken care of. God forbid there could be bugs in the matress! By sealing the matress in a protector, you will have nothing to worry about!

Next, bed mattresses are very expensive. I recently bought a new matress for my bedroom and it was so expensive that I had to pay for it in installments! 

When you are renting a villa, you are financially responsible for any damages to the villa. That includes damaged to the beds.

Spill a drink? Have a child have a bathroom accident? Or any of the thousand other possibilities and your security deposit could be looking at a very expensive fee for matress replacement.

$10 per bed is a small price to pay for peace of mind.

When you get ready to leave, you can take the matress protectors with you and use them next time. Instead, we leave the protectors. They are only $10, we are usually staying for a long time, and we consider that we are paying it forward.

So my advice? Use matress protectors.

Touring the Disney Resorts

I love touring the Disney Resorts. I came across the following Disney Resort Touring Itinerary posted by Kat_Cubs_Fan on tripadvisor:

Here's one route I take starting from Downtown Disney, but this one takes a long time:

1. Take a bus from DTD to Wilderness Lodge and tour that resort.

2. Take a boat from Wilderness Lodge over to Magic Kingdom OR

Take a boat from Wilderness Lodge over to the Contemporary resort and start your monorail resort tour from there instead of going to MK first.

3. Head for monorail station and take resort monorail around to the three monorail resorts: Contemporary, then Polynesian, then Grand Floridian and have look around all of them.

4. Head back to MK and catch a bus over to either the Boardwalk or the Yacht and Beach Club or even Hollywood Studios park.

5. Take the Friendship boats that run between Epcot and Hollywood Studios and tour the resorts around those two parks: Yacht and Beach Club, Boardwalk, and Swan/Dolphin.

6. Wind up back at Hollywood Studios via the Friendship boats and take a bus from there over to Animal Kingdom Lodge.

7. Finally, head back to DTD from AKL via bus.

8. If you still have time once back at DTD or are not too exhausted, take a boat from DTD over to the two Port Orleans resorts (French Quarter and Riverside) and see them as well, catching the boat back to DTD from their docks.

A similar route can be done beginning at Ft. Wilderness instead of DTD using the internal bus system there. Take a boat from Ft. Wilderness over to Wilderness Lodge and follow the same route from that point.

Just remember busses do not go to theme parks from DTD...only to resorts. Also, busses do not regularly go from resort to resort..only from resort to theme park/water park or resort to DTD.

Bug Free In The Villa

Florida is known for bugs: everything from giant spiders to roaches, Florida has it all. But just because you are visiting Florida, it doesn't mean you need to put up with them! In this post, I am going to give you some tips to be bug free.

Tip #1: Before selecting your villa, understand what is done for pest control. Make sure they use a professional for pest control that sprays at least monthly, and is available to return if you have any problems. During your stay, don't hesitate to call the management company about pest concerns.

Tip #2: Love the geckos. You are going to find these little lizards scampering everywhere. They are a natural protection against bugs. The more geckos, the more bugs the eat, and the fewer bugs you need to deal with.

Tip #3: Clean up after yourself. Do not leave food crumbs, spilled beverages, or anything that many attract a bug.

Tips #4: Dry out the shower. Bugs might be attracted to warm moist areas. You can prevent this by simply
drying out the sink and shower after every use.

Tip #5: Vacuum often. I know, you are on vacation. The last thing you want to do on vacation is house work, right? Every villa has a vacuum and we get in the routine to vacuum every day. I usually make it a chore for one of the kids. Vacuuming is important because not only will you capture any bugs that may be roaming around, you'll clean up anything that might attract a bug.

Tip #6: Bag your food. If you open something, seal it into a plastic bag. If you don't seal it? You are inviting critters to come eat your food.

Tip #7: Store items in the microwave. The microwave can be a great place to store fruit such as bananas, or other items that you don't want to put in a plastic bag and that you don't want to put in the refrigerator.

Tip #8: Keep the garbage cleaned up. We take the garbage out every day when we leave for the parks. We also wipe the floor around the kitchen garbage just in case a child missed the garbage can when they threw something away. Leaving the garbage is a fast way to attract bugs.

Follow these tips and you should have a comfortable bug-free villa stay.

Security Deposit for a Villa

I feel uncomfortable calling a Villa owner or management company and giving them my credit card number.

Who knows how they are handle my number? They might scribble the number down on a notepad and then leave it sitting on their desk. They might fill out a form and put it in a filing cabinet for anyone to later retrieve. They could have a theft that steals the credit cards. Or, the individual could be less than trustworthy and could use my credit card number to order a new 80 inch TV.

I often tell people "Buyer be ware". You don't really know what you are renting nor who you are dealing with. Be careful, do your homework, and protect yourself!

I like using my credit card to pay through Pay Pal. Using this method, the Villa representatives never see my credit card number. I also protect myself by using a credit card should I need to dispute the charge later on. I never send my credit card number through email because email is not encrypted - sending it through email is allowing anyone who wants to get my credit card number to do so. I also do not like writing my credit card number and faxing it - who knows how long my credit card number is going to sit on the fax machine for everyone to see? Finally, I don't like reading my credit card number to someone over the phone for reasons already mentioned.

One year, I was working with a management company that I had never worked with before and I was very concerned. They accepted my payment through PayPal, but the required my credit card number for a $300 security deposit. According to their policy, I needed to put the credit card number on a form and fax it to them. That violates my rules, however, the management company refused to negotiate on this issue.

I developed a creative way around the problem. I purchased a credit card gift card for $300 at Walmart. There is a small fee for a credit card gift card, but I considered the fee was worth the security. I provided the credit card gift card onto the form and faxed it. If my credit card number was going to be misused either immediately or years into the future, my exposure was only $300.  

After my stay and after a positive Villa inspection, I took my gift card to the store and spent it.

That was my creative solution to the credit card issue. Some might argue that if my credit card had been misused, FCBA limits exposure to $50, and I increased my exposure by using a $300 gift card. However, claiming loss is a lot of work, something I didn't want to deal with while on a vacation, and is something I have to watch for years. Also, most villa security deposits will place a $300 lock on your credit card, but will charge whatever they want to cover whatever damages they believe you caused. Through my method, the management company would need to contact me to discuss any damages beyond $300 rather than automatically charging me.  The $300 gift card was a great alternative and worked perfectly for me. It allowed me to comply with the Villa rules without risking credit card compromise. 

Inspecting The Villa

You have survived a long journey and finally arrived at your vacation villa! All you want to do is unload your luggage, relax, and begin your vacation. But wait! There are some essential tasks that must be done before bringing one bag of luggage into the villa. You have to perform an inspection!

Many Villa rental agreements state that you must report any problems to the management company within 24 hours, otherwise, you become responsible for those problems. For example, suppose a window is broken and you didn't report it. The assumption will become that you broke that window and now you have to pay for it!

There are many things to look at, the most common are: broken floor tiles, broken blinds, broken refrigerator shelves, broken patio furniture, and carpet stains. While those are the most common, you have to do a thorough inspection.

When I do an inspection, I create a video record of the villa. I walk through the villa with camera in hand and document anything broken, scratched, dented, and in poor shape. While I record, my wife walks behind me and makes a list of all the problems we find.

When done, we email the list to the owner and/or management company. We identify
the items that we are reporting simply for awareness, and we highlight anything that we want repaired immediately. In one villa, we arrived and the villa cleaning hadn't been completed. We called the management company and they apologized and sent someone over immediately. We went to dinner and when we returned, the Villa was in top shape. In another villa, the fire extinguisher was empty. We couldn't tell where it had been used, regardless, this is important information for the owner to know.

Once your vacation is done and it is time to leave? You should perform one more inspection. Again, I use a video camera and go through the villa to make a recording of how we are leaving the rental. I don't want any confusion about any damage that my family might have done.

Performing these inspections and doing proper documentation is the only way to protect yourself and your security deposit.

To see an example of our most recent villa inspection, click here: https://youtu.be/Yr-xzaRTdnw

Sixteen Questions To Ask Before Renting A Villa

I recommend contacting a villa in three stages.

• Stage One - Initial contact to check on availability, rates, prices, etc.
• Stage Two - Follow-up with more questions that will help make your decision.
• Stage Three - Once you are fairly certain which villa you are interested in, talk to the owner on the phone to get any remaining questions answered. A phone conversation will allow you to pick up concerns about the owner that could be difficult to see in an email or an advertisement.

There are many questions to ask before renting a villa. If you have a baby, does the villa have a high chair, play pen, and is the house baby proof? How is the kitchen stocked? What games are in the game room? And more. You should look carefully at every picture and ask questions about anything uncertain. Pay attention to the floors, especially if they are carpeted. And realize the pictures are probably several years old, so, anything you see is probably more warn than showed.

Most Villa owners will not give you the address until after a commitment has been made, but you should be able to get a general idea on the area so you can use google maps to look at the neighborhood. Once you get the address, look it up on Zillow to make sure the information recorded matches what you have been told. Look on Zillow for any concerns about taxes being paid, foreclosure, or ownership. Do other searches on the internet and ask whatever questions concern you.

The following are the top sixteen questions I like to ask before I rent a villa before I sign the agreement:

1. What is the price? Are there discounts for long stays, seasonal discounts, or any flexibility in the price?

2. What is included in that price? You might find a charge for pool heat, which is important in winter, but not in the summer.

3. What are the additional costs? There could be additional optional costs for things such as using the grill or for not doing proper cleaning before leaving.

4. How do I get the key to the villa? Sometimes you need to go to an office and pick up the key. Usually, the key is in a lock box at the front door and you'll get the lock box combination shortly before your stay.

5. Who do I contact in the event of a problem? You should expect to find minor problems when you arrive, and that those problems will be quickly taken care of.

6. What are the pest control practices? Is it done by a professional company? How often? What if pests are detected during my stay? In one place I stayed, the management company did the pest control by ineffectively distributing poison and traps around the villa.

7. What forms of payment are accepted? Make sure you pay through a credit card so you an have recourse if there are problems.

8. What are the cancellation policies?

9. What is the layout of the villa? Sometime it is difficult to tell how the villa is laid out by only looking at the pictures. If you have children, you will want to understand how the bedrooms are distributed. Kitchen layout is often important. And if you plan to use the dinning room table to eat at? Many villas have the dinning room as part of the living room.

10. Free Internet? Does this include wifi?

11. What are the temperature limitations of the air conditioning and heating? Most of the Villa air conditioners are undersized and will struggle to maintain 75 degrees during the summer. In the Florida humidity, you may find 75 degrees is barely tolerable. If the Villa limits what you an set the air conditioning to, and you exceed that, the air conditioner can freeze up or become damaged and you will be charged for the repair. Make sure you understand the Villa's rules.

12. Does the Villa have a security system? Depending on the location of the villa, vacation villas can be great targets for break-ins. A security system could deter a thief and keep your possessions safe while you are out.

13. What is the policy for others to gain entry to the villa while we are renting it? Who else has keys? Often, the key for the villa is in a lock box outside the front door. If someone needs to do maintenance (perhaps the exterminator needs to spray) the maintenance company will provide them the lock box combination so they
can gain access to the house. If you are inside the house with the front door's bolt locked, that shouldn't be a problem. However, if you are gone for the day, the management company or others may come into the house. Very often, vacation villas are listed for sale or long term rentals and real estate agents will bring people through the villa on a tour when you aren't there. You want to make sure you understand the policies so you can protect your valuables.

14. How often is the pool cleaned?

15. What are the check-in and check-out times?

16. When will my security deposit be returned? For one villa we rented, it took 8 months.


There are many other questions you should consider depending on your particular situation. But I find this list to be the most useful and what I usually use.

Where is the best location for a villa?

If you are searching for an off priority condo, pool house, or villa near Disney? You are probably using a site such as VRBO or Home Away. A quick search will show thousands of choices located all over the region in towns you have probably never heard of. How can you tell what a good location is? I am going to give you advice based on my experience.

What I have provided is a map of the west side of Kissimmee, just past Celebration. You'll notice I4 is to the east, and Rt. 27 is to the west. Rt. 192 connects I4 to Rt 27. I have circled the area below Rt. 192. This is the area, in my opinion, you should be looking.

This area was built to be a vacation rental area, so, you aren't going to find someone who converted an old house and is trying to rent it out. The neighborhoods are filled with vacation rentals. If you stay east of Rt 429, you can be from driveway to walking into Animal Kingdom in about 15 minutes (a little longer if you are west of Rt. 429).

This area used to be a giant orange grove. Then, one day, a farmer who is very rich now, started a vacation home business. He would allow people, mostly in the UK, to build a vacation home by picking items out of a catalog. They would pick from standard home configurations, decide how they wanted it laid out, the pool, what kind of furniture, etc. Once the house was built, the construction company would fly the owners to the US to see their vacation home. That is the way thousands of these homes were built during the real estate boom of the 2000's. And they sit, waiting for you to come rent it.

This area has thousands of properties in countless configurations and prices. For the most part, they are all privately owned, and the owners pay a management company to look after the property. The owners may only have one property or several. The management company will look after dozens, if not hundreds of properties. Since the owners are usually out of state, or, out of country, the management company handles everything from check in to check out, cleaning, repairs, and maintenance. Not all the properties are good and not all the houses are in good shape, so, buyer be ware. Do a really good job following up and checking on the owner. My recommendation isn't a recommendation on the owners or conditions of the property, it is a recommendation on the location.

Rt. 192, or just north on Rt 27,  is filled with every store and restaurant you can imagine. Target, Walmart, Publix, Walgreens, and CVS to name a few. And I can't think of a restaurant chain that isn't here.

There you have it. Happy house hunting!

34 Days at Disney

Is thirty-four days at Disney during the heat of the summer too much? Heck no! We have spent the summer in Disney in 2011, 2013, 2014, and now this year, 2015. It is hot, but it is the only time when my kids aren't in school and we can go for a long stay.

I like the long stay because I like to explore what life would be like to live at Disney. What happens when you have to get up every morning and go to work? Pay bills? Get the groceries? Deal with the garbage and the exterminators and the pool guy and the repair man? I have spent a lot of time in this blog exploring this concept as I prepare for my move to Disney in a few years.We have come to realize that living at Disney does not mean non-stop princess and castles.

I would move to Florida tomorrow. Luckily, the rest of my family is a little more rational than I am. My daughter is finishing up college. My oldest son has two more years of high school. My youngest son will be entering the middle school in the fall. My wife has a job that she loves, works with people she likes, and has several close friends in our town. And my elderly parents live in an attached in-law house that I built for them twelve years ago.

We can't move to Disney right now, but at least we can spend the summers there. We explore the neighborhoods and towns surrounding the Disney area, talk with real-estate agents, and gain an understanding of a Disney life as a local.

My work is flexible and allows me to work from home. During the summer, home is Disney. My wife works at a school and has summers off. While my daughter and parents don't travel with us, my sons do - and they are off for the summer too.

A 34 day stay at Disney is expensive, but probably not as expensive as you might think. Besides, we have learned some tricks on how to make a long stay affordable.  I half considered not going to Florida this year, and instead socking the vacation money into our retirement account. I quickly changed my mind because kids are only young for a very short period of time. I want them growing up and remembering these fantastic family vacations to Disney.

We head back to Disney in six short weeks. The list of work we need to do to get ready is impressive. It is a marathon, for sure. So, tune back often to read about the 2015 Trip Reports!

The Secret Back Way Into Disney

Many people stay at Villas in Kissimmee near the West Gate Resort and around Formosa Gardens. I am often asked about the "secret" back way to Disney. It really isn't much of a secret. And I am asked so many times, I have decided to just write a post about it.

This back way can shave 15 minutes off your trip into the park as you bypass the busy highway. It is considered secret, or, hidden because it involves taking a non-descript dirt road.

The trick is to reach the corner of Formosa Gardens Blvd and Funie Steed Road. To the North West is the old Splendid China theme park, now abandoned. To the east is a dirt road. You want to take the dirt road (trust me).

You'll pass by the West Gate resort and come to an intersection. If you turn right at the intersection, you'll turn into the West Gate Resort entrance. Instead, turn left and head toward Rt. 192.

When you get to Rt.192 - go straight across onto Sherberth road. As you drive up Sherberth, you'll see the casting buildings on the right and Disney employee apartments on the left. You'll go around a big curve and arrive at a new intersection.

Take a left at this intersection and you'll go to the Animal Kingdom Lodge. Instead, take a right onto Osceola Parkway and it'll take you to the parks. Animal Kingdom is just moments away. Hollywood Studios is just a little further beyond. And access to everything else is moments away.

UPDATE: Watch a 2.5 minute dashcam movie that shows how to go from Davenport to the Magic Kingdom using the secret back way: https://youtu.be/i1eadgd-kII

Now that you know the secret? Don't tell anyone you heard about it from me!  :-)

Planning The Drive Home

Leaving Florida is often difficult so we like to plan some adventures to look forward to during the drive home. The vacation doesn't end when we leave Florida. Instead, the second part of the vacation is just getting started!

We are fans of the Duck Dynasty shows (even though we haven't watched very many episodes since Season 3) so we decided to visit West Monroe Louisiana on our way home. What I didn't realize is that relatively speaking, West Monroe Lousiana is almost in Texas! That is a long ways out of our way. In fact, we are expecting it to take 14 hours to drive from Orlando!

We have our journey mapped out along with several hotel candidates. We have also planned out our day in West Montoe so that we can visit many of the businesses we have seen in the show.

When we leave West Montoe, we will be headed to Chaptet 3 of our vacation: Gettysburg. After arriving at our favorite Days Inn in Gettysburg, we'll enjoy dinner at Tomy's Pizza and then do a ghost tour. The next morning, I will get up early and walk Pickett's charge. Afterwards, we'll head home.

The journey home should be a lot of fun and one thing to look forward to.

Summer 2015 Villa Reserved!

This year's villa selection was more difficult than previous trips. The Villa we planned to use in Indian Creek was booked. Worse, all the Villas in Indian Creek that we would want were booked too!

We had to search the broader area. We looked throughout Kissimmee, Four Corners, and Davenport area. We went as far out at Sandy Ridge looking at Villas.

We looked at a hundred villas through online services, and carefully examined a thousand pictures. We scrutinized every detail, scoring the villas based on things important to us.

We then took the highest scoring villas and emailed the owners to confirm pricing and availability. That narrowed the field of choices.

We then called the remaining four villa owners to talk about their Villas: how is the pest control done, tell us about the management company, how are deposit arranged, and any other questions we had.

We printed off details about the two remaining villas, laid out the information on the dinning room table, and made a pro and con list.

Last summer I was thrilled to find a four bedroom pool house villa for five weeks for around $97 per night. This year we found a five bedroom pool house in Four Corners for five weeks for $108 per night.

I am disappointed about the price increase. However, the price increase is my fault because I waited too long before looking for a villa. This year's villa is larger than last year's, but is perhaps ten minutes further away from Disney.

It is very exciting to be able to cross this important task off our list!

Villa Game Rooms

Renting an off property villa can during your next Disney Vacation can be a great way to save money while giving everyone space.

Disclaimer: I do not own any rental property, nor do I wish to own any. I am just a customer and enthusiast who likes helping others.

Many (but not all) of the full house villas will come with a game room. A game room is when the owner uses the garage for some kind of game. The game might be a pool table, air hockey, foosball, ping pong, dart board, or any combination of these items. There might also be furniture, such as a couch.

We need to set some expectations about these game rooms. To begin with, this is a garage. Typically, this is where the Air Conditioner/heat is, hot water tank, and various items used to maintain the house (ladders, tools, paint cans, etc). Some owners will paint the garage and hang decorations. Regardless of how nice they make it? It is a garage!

Next, keep in mind that this is a garage (have I said that enough times?). Garages are not heated when cold
nor cooled when warm. It is not air conditioned and it will be very warn on hot days. You can get some relief by opening the garage door.

Finally, game rooms get a lot of abuse from sugared up kids and adults with too much beverage. It isn't surprising if the games are in some kind of minor disrepair.

Have I set your expectations? Do you think a game room will be fun now that you know this? Heck yes! Game rooms are a blast! My kids love the game room and no day was ever complete without some kind of family championship.

Indian Creek Review

We have rented one story 4 bedroom pool house villas in Indian Creek in 2013 and 2014 and we have loved it. Indian Creek is in the Formosa Gardens general area near West Gate, just miles from Animal Kingdom. It is not a gated community. The neighborhood is usually quiet as none of the villas are rented every day, and the renters usually spend all day at Disney. There are a handful of permanent residents, but not many. Nearly all the houses have lawns that are well maintained, usually by a landscaping company.

The neighborhood is split in half by a highway, and connected with a large bridge. Unless the villa backs to the highway, you'll never know the highway is there. In the summer, you'll awake many mornings to hot air balloons flying overhead. Depending on where your villa is located, you can see the Disney fireworks in the distance in the evening.

The location is excellent. From driveway to walking through the gates at Animal Kingdom is 15 minutes. The neighborhood is minutes away from Rt. 192, which has almost ever imaginable restaurant and store on it. You'll find The Market grocery store very close, but the store is too expensive. Drive west on 192 and you'll find a Target and Publix. A little further and there is a Walmart on Rt. 27. This area is very close to Celebration, the town built by Disney. In fact, the neighborhood is part of the Celebration school district.

There are two parks, one on each side of the bridge. Each has a playground and an open area. One park has basketball courts, tennis courts, and large open fields. There are two large retention ponds with walking paths. The neighborhood has a combination of palm trees and some kind of tree that drops acorns plus a few fruit trees. There is plenty of wild life: large birds, turtles, and geckos. This is Florida, so, there are plenty of bugs, nevertheless, I never had a problem with bugs while walking around the neighborhood.  You'll want to ask your Villa owner about their extermination practices - if the practices are good, you shouldn't have a problem with bugs inside either.

As with all Villas, buyer be ware. You really need to check the villa owner as every house can be different. This review is only concerned with the Indian Creek neighborhood.

I have several links where you can experience Indian Creek too. This is a link looking out the front window of the villa, or, at the pool. This is a great way to see what the neighborhood is like:
http://original.livestream.com/palmtreetv

The next link goes to a video for jogging around Indian Creek. Unfortunately, I shot most of the video during garbage day, so, there are garbage cans at the curb. That is usually not the case.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8yaynfRn204

Indian Creek gets a huge high rating from me. I hope to stay there again very soon!

The Disney Checklist

We have put together a checklist each year to prepare for our Florida trips:

We are behind schedule this year, but, this is our standard approach.

T Minus 13 weeks

 Buy trading pins online

T Minus 12 weeks

Disney Restaurant Reservations

T Minus 11 weeks

Plan the drive home 

 reservations for drive home

T Minus 10 weeks

Plan any day trips outside of Disney

T Minus 9 weeks    

Plan a day trip to go to a beach

T Minus 8 weeks

Plan what groceries we will be buying

Plan the morning checklist to get us up and out each day

 What rides do we want to ride: Magic Kingdom

T Minus 7 weeks

Get the park schedules (open, close, parades, etc)

What rides do we want to ride: Epcot

T Minus 6 weeks

Plan a day-by-day, park-by-park plan for the Itinerary 

What rides do we want to ride: Hollywood Studios

T Minus 5 weeks

Clothes shopping

Water shoes: clean up or buy new?

What rides do we want to ride: Animal Kingdom

T Minus 4 weeks

Backup and empty all of the cameras

Buy video games for the drive

 Get a TripTik from AAA

Our shoes OK? Or order new?

T Minus 3 weeks

Check our Disney card reward points

Print the packing list 

 Print the itinerary 

Decide what DVDs we will take with us

T Minus 2 weeks

Hair cuts for everyone

Refill all prescriptions

Van oil change and checkup

Check the weather for the trip

Buy snacks for the drive down

T Minus 1 week

 Pack, pack, and more packing!