Month: January 2009

You can’t MAKE your family do what you want them to do.

Oh sure, I could throw a hissy fit, I could be a (bigger) beeyotch than I already am, I could dig my heels in and make life miserable for my guys until they did what I wanted them to do.

But in the end, I would feel too guilty and wouldn’t enjoy my “victory.”

So, I admit defeat.

Uncle.

I give up.

We are not, repeat NOT, going to Disney World.

After I posted about my research, after clicking endless pages at mousesavers.com, after compiling (complicated) information for our proposed Disney vacation and THEN spending a few hours crunching numbers every which way, including sideways and with my tongue in my cheek for luck, to make them look even marginally better than the last set of numbers only to come up with an amount large enough to buy GD a decent (used) car, it all boiled down to this …

the husband said no.

Since we’re not going and we’re not spending the money, I don’t see why I can’t tell you the dollar amount that our trip would have cost IF we had gone – are you ready? Are you sitting down?

Stupid question, of course you’re sitting down, you’re reading this, right?

$6,500.

As in SIX THOUSAND FIVE HUNDRED OH-MY-FREAKING-GOSH DOLLARS.

Okay granted, I ran our trip through Disney’s website. And that was probably the worse-case scenario, we probably could have gotten it cheaper through someone else …

but I’m betting it wouldn’t have been THAT much cheaper.

That dollar amount covered everything – the parks, the Park Hopper option, the dining plan (which is two snacks, lunch and a sit-down dinner), our flight, our hotel, and a rental car (because I think we would have preferred to drive to our destination as opposed to using the public transportation system simply because of the sheer volume of people using it at the same time slows everything down. The guidebook said that it might actually have saved us time if we had simply drove ourselves).

The husband actually paled when I told him the dollar amount. I believe his exact words were …

“Over my stone-cold-dead body.”

Okay, maybe not THOSE exact words, but pretty dang close.

*sigh* I’m not surprised. Disappointed, but not surprised. When the boys found out we weren’t going to Disney World, they actually sighed in relief.

WTF?!

At first, I was furious. Was I the only one who wanted to go to Disney World?

Well yes, actually, I was. None of my guys ever really wanted to go. They simply weren’t excited about chasing Mickey Mouse down so we could take that all-elusive picture. They weren’t looking forward to the attractions. They certainly weren’t excited about the rides. They simply did not want to go.

Period.

So why, I ask you, would I POSSIBLY spend $6,500 on a vacation that no one wanted to go on? WHY would I possibly want to blow that money on a mediocre vacation?

And when it comes right down to it, when I step back and am being totally honest with myself, spending that much money on one vacation sort of makes me throw up a little in my mouth.

That’s a lot of stinkin’ money, folks. We could use that money to buy new kitchen appliances. We could use that money to put in hardwood floors. We would use that money … heck, for THOUSANDS of other things besides a vacation that no one was excited to go on.

Now I know what you’re thinking – “But Karen, life is about making memories and having a good time with your family. Your boys are growing up and will soon have their own lives. They’ll be busy with jobs, college, girls, yadda yadda yadda …”

And you’d be right. WHICH is the reason I put on my best boo-boo face and talked the husband into a …

Wait for it ….

Are you waiting …?

Are you sitting down …?

Are you waiting for me to stop asking you stupid questions …?

A Caribbean Cruise!!

Pardon me while I scream! (This is off topic, but did you see “Get Smart?” Remember the part where he goes into that “sound proof” bubble to yell and scream his excitement over becoming an agent only the bubble is not sound proof and everyone hears him? Yeah, that would be me and the whole cruise thing).

I know what you’re thinking again – I’m a mind reader after all (not really, okay, maybe a little). “But Karen, won’t going on a cruise cost just as much as a Disney vacation?”

The short answer? NO!

The slightly longer answer? NO! It will actually cost us almost $1,500 $2,000 dollars LESS!

*SNAP*

Actually, the husband suggested it. And when he suggested it, the boys perked right up and acted excited! (Probably because there was the prospect of seeing hot girls in bikini’s but let’s not dwell on that image overly much, shall we? Ew).

So I knew, this was the better vacation destination for us. And it would be money well spent.

I spent the better part of last night and today crunching numbers. And if we can JUUUUST get American Airlines to cash in our frequent flyer miles (Oops, I meant Advantage points) so we could, in essence, get two free tickets, it’s a done deal.

In fact, when I had lunch with the husband today, he told me he already cleared the vacation time with his boss. Which shocked and excited me because normally getting him to put in for time off is like blasting a hole through concrete, so that right there tells me, the man is excited about going on a cruise!

We’re planning on taking a seven day cruise. And we’re looking either going to the Virgin Islands and/or Jamaica – it depends on what cruise ship we sail on.

I’m so excited to go on a cruise again (the husband and I went on a cruise for our tenth anniversary) that I’m shaking as I type this. I just hope it works out because nothing is “official” at this time but we’re seriously making plans.

And if I’m being honest with myself and with you, I’ll admit that going on a cruise does sound more fun, at least to me, than going to Disney World.

Wait …

Something just occurred to me …

A cruise means a lot of time spent in a bathing suit.

Someone kill me now.

I’m scrolling through the Disney.com website and crunching numbers and making note of the attractions I think we would be interested in.

The numbers: Wow. Granted, I ran through the program on the Disney site, which is most likely the most expensive of any other options open to us at this time, but at least it gives us the maximum amount we can expect to pay.

Which is still about $1,500 more than I was braced for. Wow. Though I would love to go, even more now that I’ve had a look at the attractions, I’m not sure if we can justify spending that much money. It just seems so … outrageous.

We went on the AAA website yesterday and requested a travel agent contact us. We went through AAA because we’re members and I read that they offer (small) discounts to their members. I plan on sort of pinning the agent to the wall when he/she calls (nicely, of course) and telling the agent, “look, we can get the whole enchilada through Disney for X number of dollars. Can you beat that?”

We’ll see what he/she says.

When we first threw out the idea of going to Disney World to the kids and they rolled their eyes, I confess, I was a little worried there wouldn’t be enough for teenagers to do, but after looking at the attractions, I don’t think that will be a problem. We’re not big roller coaster people (we all get motion sickness, except for the husband) so the rides weren’t really a consideration when I looked through the attractions. In fact, I was pleasantly surprised to find quite a few things in The Magic Kingdom that I think the boys would like to do. And I was equally surprised that there wasn’t as many things that appealed to us in the Animal Kingdom. In fact, I’m predicting that’s the park we spend the least amount of time in.

I think my favorite will be the Studios. I want to do everything that’s listed – it all sounds like so much fun and so up my alley. I’m sure we’ll be spending most of our time in either Epcot or the Studios.

IF we go. And that’s IF I can wrench the money from my husband’s fingers.

We’re planning on going in mid-June. Two reasons: It doesn’t sound like it’s QUITE as crowded as opposed to late June through August and that’s the only time the husband can justify taking off work. We are planning on staying six full days, not taking our travel days into consideration.

I’ve learned a thing or two about Disney vacations through this – I’ll have to share my tips and resources with you after (if?) we iron out the details. It’s quite overwhelming at first, but once you get the hang of things, it’s still overwhelming, though a more manageable overwhelming.

It’s now after two in the afternoon and I’m on my way to the grocery store to buy some hash browns for tonight’s breakfast (for dinner). After that I will be cleaning bathrooms and vacuuming the floors so the house looks nice for the husband when he gets home. This is his stressful time of year and he’s on edge and cranky. Having a clean house tends to calm him down a bit.

I’ve been so distracted with the Disney vacation that I’m a bit behind in my regular work, so, I will spend the rest of the afternoon tweaking some pages and making changes for the schools.

The boys start the 2nd semester tomorrow with fresh classes. GD does in fact have PE this quarter so hopefully, all of that walking will pay off. He’s also got Geometry, Chemistry and Shop. I have a feeling this semester is going to be a lot busier for him as opposed to last semester.

MK’s classes stay the same save for one – he’ll get rid of PE and have a health class instead. I’m REALLY glad PE is over for him, having PE in the spring is hell for him because of his allergies.