Have you and your family been saving and planning for your Disney World vacation? Have you already checked on ticket and hotel prices? Are you wishing there was a way to save some money and still get the whole Disney experience? Well what if I told you I can give you some basic steps to follow that will help save you money on your Disney vacation! I spend a lot of time at the Disney parks and have learned some pretty easy tricks that help save a little bit of money. Even with a family of five we can spend a day at the parks and not spend a dime.
Let us start with tickets, if you are a resident of Florida or California you get discounted tickets, that is the start to saving you a little bit of money. However for those of you that are out of state this does not help you very much, but during certain times of the year you can find cheaper hotel costs during the slower seasons for Disney. When are the slower times for Disney? Normally between the months of February and to the start of May and then again from September and to the start of November. Keep in mind if the kids are out of school Disney is busy.
So if you are looking to book a family vacation keep an eye out for the cheaper hotel rates around those times. Also if you have friends or family that work for Disney see if they have any passes they can let you have. This is a great way to not have to pay for a ticket for that day and will save you a good amount of money. Also if you have close friends or family that work for Disney they can also get you discounted hotel costs, so make sure you check with them before you book your hotel.
While you are at the parks the best way to save money is not to cave to all of those amazing snack carts you see. I know it is so hard not to want to get a box of fresh popcorn or that great looking Mickey ice cream bar. The way around not wanting to spend money on that $3.50 box of popcorn is to bring your own snacks into the park. That’s right you are allowed to bring food into the parks. A great way of getting around buying that $3.00 bottle of water is to bring a refillable water bottle and fill it up at any of the water fountains that are located in different areas around the parks. You can even bring in a small cooler to keep your snacks and drinks cold.
If you are looking for a good lunch or dinner idea to save money from the high priced restaurants all you have to do is pack sandwiches for everyone in your party. This is the best way to save on meal costs. The cost of a family of five to eat lunch or dinner at one of the Disney parks starts around $100 not including tip and depends on the type of meal you are looking to have. Of course this amount goes up if you are trying to go to some of the higher end restaurants. Think about paying that lower $100 a meal and multiply it by three meals a day for your family, then multiply that by the number of days you are staying. You will quickly see that going to the grocery store upon arrival probably is not such a bad idea in order to save some money. Must of the hotel rooms have refrigerators to keep your lunch meats and cheese cold. So taking the time to pack snacks, sandwiches, and water can really save you some money while at the parks.
If you are at the Disney parks and you are looking for a way to save money on merchandise check online stores before you purchase the item you are looking at. You never know you may find the same item online for a little bit of a better deal then that of the one in the store at Disney. If your friends or family are Disney employees and they happen to come to the park with you for the day you can also ask them to help you out in getting a discount on the merchandise you are looking to buy. Employees get pretty good discounts that get better the longer they work for Disney, however they will have to purchase the item for you and you will have to pay them back. They are not allowed to use their discount and let you pay for the item(s).
Keep these small tips in mind while you are planning your Disney vacation and you will be surprised by how much you can save on the cost of your trip. Enjoy reading my tips? Leave me a tip to help pay for one of those Mickey ice cream bars the next time I go to Disney.
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When a Parent Is Behind Bars
It is hard enough being a parent to a child with both parents in the picture. But have you ever thought about what it would be like to try to raise a child when the other parent is behind bars? I’m here to tell you I thought being a single mom was hard enough. I had raised my son on my own for most of his life. My son’s biological father was one of those that would pop in and out from time to time. He would show up out of no place then just like that disappear again. Just this past year I finally tracked down my son’s father after almost a year of not hearing from him; our son just four years old at the time. Turns out he was incarcerated, and had been there for the better half of the year. A simple google search helped me find what prison he was located in and gave me an address. So, I wrote him a letter telling him that our son is doing fine, and asking him how he ended up in prison. I received a letter back from him about a week later informing me about how he purposely violated his probation because he wanted to get away from some people and was trying to turn his life around. He told me that he did not think the state attorney would go after him for five years in prison for a simple probation violation. He wanted to know everything about our son, everything that he had been missing, and was so happy that I had tracked him down. I wrote him back telling him that he really messed things up, that I hoped this experience would help him get his life back on a better track, and I told him the things he had missed with our son. Since the first letters we have had a sturdy line of communication. It has taken him to be locked up to actually start acting like the father he should of been from the beginning. At first when I found out where he was, I did not want to tell our son. It took a lot of communication, with my now husband, about if we should even tell my son or if he would be better off not knowing anything. So at four years old we sat my son down and told him where his biological father was. My son did not take this news very well, he had this belief that if he was bad he would end up in jail with his dad. It took a lot of explaining to get it into his young mind that things do not work like that. My son has had a hard time adjusting to the fact that he will not be able to see his real father till after he turns nine. Even though the prison does have a visitation program, my son is not allowed to visit him. The most my son can do is speak to his father on the phone maybe once a week for fifteen minutes. Most days my son doesn’t seem to be to bothered by the fact that his father isn’t around. He has developed such an amazing relationship with his stepfather that from an outside point of view you wouldn’t be able to tell that they aren’t blood. Sometimes though, there are those days that my son tells me he misses his dad and wishes he could see him. Those are the days that I really feel for my son, those are the days I wish a simple hug would take away his hurt. When I think about my son’s father being locked up, I feel bad for him because he is going to miss out on a lot of amazing things over the next five years, there are going to be things that he won’t be able to make up for missing out on. But I hope when he is released that he takes the time to get to know our son, and starts his life over in a better place.
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