Packed and ready to go!

I have developed a certain expertise for packing the van for a long Florida trip. Somehow I am able to get everything loaded with room to spare. The van has to hold my office, all the video games, food, clothes, and everything imaginable to support a family for seven and a half weeks.

Cable Bag

when you travel with kids, you travel with a lot of electroics. I come prepared by packing a cable back. The cable bad includes USB cables, mini-USB, AV cords, battery packs, iphone cords, USB chargers, and more!

June Party

We seem to have a party every June: anniversary, graduation, reubiob, or large birthday. Planning for these large parties is a lot of work and competes with getting ready for Florida.

The 2017 party is finished! It feels like a huge weight has been lifted off my shoulders. Now I can focus most my efforts towards getting ready for Disney!

Leaving in 16 hours

There are many things that must get done when going on a 7.5 week trip to Florda. Our large master project list is getting right down to the final tasks. The task list gets written and rewritten daily as we make decisions about what will and what will not get done before we leave. Fix the leaky shower? Yes! Weed the flower garden? Maybe.

There is a massive amount of work to do in only 16 hours. It doesnt seem possible we will be ready to leave in time. Most of the time has been spent gathering items, but not packing them yet. Most of our remaining time will be spent packing.

The house security system has been updated. The security cameras repositioned. The house sitters (who will be living there) have been trained and prepped. The pet sitters (who will visit daily) havebeen trained.

Keep following this blog to watch our 2017 adventures!

Disney Dinning Reservations for 2017

Our dinning reservations are done for 2017!

I struggle with these reservations every year because dinning at Disney is very expensive. Nevertheless, we have decided within our personal budgets that it is worth it and something we want to do. We have done most of these meals on every trip we have ever went on. We have pictures over the years showing kids hugging the Disney characters in all the various stages of growing up. We treasure those moments, and have decided to continue them into 2017.

Spirit of Aloha - This is very expensive and we rarely do it. However, our first trip was when my daughter was very young. And since she will be joining us for part of our Florida trip, we wanted to revisit those memories by taking her back again.

Chef Mickey - This is always a favorite and with a huge buffet, our picky eaters are sure to find something to eat. We get a late morning reservation so we get to enjoy breakfast and also some lunch items as they begin to transition to lunch.

'Ohana Breakfast - We love the 'Ohana breakfast - the sweet roles, juice, and breakfast spread. We don't like the long wait to get our table (why can't they get better at that?) but we love every other aspect.

'Ohana Dinner - Mom and Dad get a night out without the kids, right? This is our night. We fill ourselves on endless protein, and then walk along the lake and watch the fireworks. Sure, you can get better meals cheaper elsewhere, but we have so many great memories and look forward to a break from cheeseburgers and fries and where we get to be adults. I understand there have been changes made to the fireworks show - I hope that doesn't take away from our walk along the lake.

I have all the reservations made. I didn't get optimum dates nor times (getting a 6pm reservation is nearly impossible) but have made all the dates and times work well with our schedule.

Selecting the 2017 Disney Tickets

A huge Disney expense is the tickets, and they get more expensive every year!

Usually we get the annual pass, but last year we determined we could save a lot of money by just getting the 10 day pass. Our plan was to only go 12 times to Disney, and by simply dropping two days, we could save a ton of money.

We did something interesting during the 2014 and 2015 trip. We purchased an annual pass toward the middle of July 2014. We used the annual pass for all the rest of that summer, the winter 2014 trip, and had enough days left for the 2015 trip where we didn't need to renew the pass. We just used what we had remaining and it worked out great.

If we had purchased the annual pass in 2016, we could use the left over days in 2017 and be going to Disney as much as we could for free. But... we didn't buy the annual pass. We purchased a 10-day pass.

For 2017, we are challenged with whether to purchase a 10-day pass for our 2017 needs, or, purchase the annual pass to meet our 2017 needs and, possibly, our 2018 needs (if we are fortunate enough to be able to go next year). What is the better choice?

If we purchase the annual pass, we would have to limit our Disney trips to the last half of our trip so that we could have remaining days for the first half of our trip in 2018.

The annual pass comes with more benefits than just unlimited trips to Disney. There is free parking and discounts on food, mini-golf, and activities.

I created a spreadsheet to help figure all this out.

I take a look at the costs of the two kinds of tickets (annual versus 10-day), parking costs, souvineers, dinning, and events. I then include a certainty factor, which is: how certain are we that we will be going in 2018?

At 100% certainty of a 2018 trip, we could save $1200 by purchasing the annual pass. However, if the certainty drops to 50%, then the benefit drops to $388. Still, a savings and still telling us we should get the annual pass (if you don't understand calculating uncertainty into risk and cost/benefit analysis? Just skip this part).

It would appear we could save money with an annual pass. The challenge would be with loading Disney trips into the second half of our trip given everything else we are doing. Visiting Disney during the first half works better for us.... so.... we have some more thinking to do on this topic.

Protecting your feet

I have written about the Seven Tips to Avoid Sore Feet at Disney because you will likely walk ten miles per day.  You should consider whether or not you will need some new shoes for your Disney trip.

I see it every year: people go to Disney wearing flip flops, crocks, heals, or dress shoes. Those are terrible ideas! After walking for ten miles in unbearable heat, your feet will be screaming in pain!

(1) I have my 2017 Disney Sneakers. Sneakers are only designed to last about a year, so, if you have had your shoes longer than a year? It may be time to invest in a good pair of walking shoes.

(2) When you get the shoes, wear them around the house or on a treadmill and break them in. Make sure they are going to be comfortable for the entire trip.

(3) You may want to consider a good pair of insoles for your shoes. The insoles that comes with sneakers are barely adequate. I have been fitted for Superfeet. They are expensive, but it feels like I am walking on a cloud. I went to a runner's store to get fitted for the insoles. 

(4) I wear a pair of Dri-Power 360 socks. These athletic socks help keep feet dry.

(5) As always, keep toe nails trimmed well and maintained

(6) No matter what you do, it is likely you will get a blister. You'll want to deal with blisters as soon as you can. I usually take moleskin into the park with me.

I hope these 2017 suggestions, along with suggestions from previous years, you can have a fun trip without experience the 'pain of de-feet'.