Update

$1450  now on the card!  It's amazing how quickly that's gone up!

I'm also trying to find out my US reservation number and having all sorts of problems.  The dining reservation line has been having trouble with a lot of people right now trying to make their ADR's.  They can't find UK reservation numbers, and say they can't get hold of the US number you need to ring. 

Some have been fine with just their dates and names so hoping it's just a glitch that will be sorted before I have to make mine in just over a month!

I still haven't received my, and my mum's, birth certificates so I can send them back to the passport office.  I'll have to get on to them and see what's going on.  I should have had them by now. 

Wow!

The rate has shot up this week!  $1.60 on Fairfx right now which is brilliant!

$1350 now on my card :D

Top up

$1300 on my card now.  Should have been about $1400 but I had to get food shopping with the card this week! 

Still going up though :D Depending on what bills are coming out this week I may get another $100 on saturday. :D 

.....

Another $100 on the card today. I was paid a day early because of the bank holiday next week!

I also have my new crocs! The flip flops aren't that comfortable really, the bit in between my toes, but the flats are heaven! I can wear them all day long!

$1200 on the card, $1800 to go minimum. $2800 target. :D

More...

Rate has shot up in the last few days. It's $1.5575 to the £1 right now so added another $50!

$1100 on the card now :D

Woo! Broken the 1000 mark!

I now have $1050 on my fairfx card! Over a third of the way to my minimum target, and just over a quarter to what I hope to have on there!

Money and crocs!

$900 now on my card!  Should have a grand on there on Thursday! Yay!

And Alyssa's crocs arrived this morning.  I'll take a pic later when she will agree to take them off!   I'll add Cameron's too.  

I have two more pairs coming, the non ugly kind.  One pair of flat crocs, whch look kind of like a regular high heeled shoe without the heel, and one pair of flip flop crocs.  

I can never normally wear flip flops because of the bit between your toes, but these should be comfortable. :D

I've had the kids passport forms back asking for my birth certificate and my mums to prove they are British citizens!  Which means two copies each, which will cost me about £35! 

Hopefully that will be enough and no more will be asked and we'll have them in a couple of weeks!  Then I can get on with doing mine!

Update...

$850 on my card now, plus the $20 on my second card which has now arrived!

I have also bought Alyssa some new crocs, as the ones I bought before were fake.  I'va also got some more stylish crocs for myself!  One pair of black flat crocs, one pair or flip flop crocs.  

We should be getting them in the post this week. :D

New savings ticker

More dollars on my card!

I now have $800 on my card!  I think I'll add another ticker with my spending money target! 

4 months and 25 days to go,  $2200 to go minimum, although I'm aiming for $4000 so we definitely won't need to worry about money at all when we're out there.  

Pics!

I have a new camera from a lovely friend from the DIS!  So I thought I'd add a few pics of some, yes some, of the stuff I've got for Florida so far!

Minnie purse, attatched to my lanyard :D

My Mickey Mouse lanyard with my first pin, again from my dis friend :)

My crocs!  Alyssa's haven't arrived yet and Cameron's have disappeared so I'll have to post pics of them when I have them both!

Alyssa's piglet bag for the parks.  It's so tiny, she loves it!

Alyssa's lanyard with 6 pins on it.  The LOVE one has lost the back though so that won't be coming. 

Autograph books!  One each. 

Cameron's bag for the parks.  Bit bigger than Alyssa's and this one is a back pack so he loves it. 

Cameron's lanyard.  Again the back of the LOVE one came off and he's lost it. 

My Disney Folder!  It's so full with everything we need, love it!

Kids eat free card.  Free meal for one child with each adult in certain places.  

Park tickets!  Universal Studios, Islands of Adventure, Seaworld, Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Animal Kingdom, Hollywoord studios, not to mention Disney Quest, Typhoon Lagoon, Blizzard beach, Downtown Disney, World of sports...

The voucher for the Clearwater trip.  Need to ring a couple of days before to confirm the booking. 

Park maps, including Downtown Disney and Disney Quest. 

More...

Another $50 dollars on my card.  I also bought another one!  Well, I say bought, it was an offer so I didn't have to pay for the card.  I loaded that one with $20 so should have that in  few days.  

I will leave that one and keep it in my folder and will hopefully never have to use it.  

The reason I've bought another one is in case I lose my current card over there.  I have no other cards and that is my only money, so I cannot afford to lose it for 3 days while I get a replacement.  

I will keep the new one in the room, and if I do end up losing the other one, I can ring up and transfer the funds to the new card.  

Aah, still two weeks.

I wasn't able to add on an extra week unfortunately, but we still have so much planned, and it will be amazing so it's no big deal really.  We can do 3 weeks next time! 

Fairfx...

I have $600 on my card :D

Getting there!

Got to show you hotel...

The Sofitel, the hotel at Gatwick airport we're staying in the night before our flight.  Looks stunning. 

Update

$550 now on my fairfx card and I've also got us all some crocs each!  Ugly things, but we'll need something super comfortable for walking around the parks so they were a must really!

More money on my fairfx card, and a change?

I have $500 on my fairfx card now.  

I'm also looking into adding an extra week on!  I rang the ta and she said, as I'm adding something, there will be no charge for changing the flight dates!

I have found a hotel on I-Drive, near Universal which is what I wanted, with free transfers to all parks for £130 for the whole week!  I'd only need a bit more spending money (although not that much, breakfast is included and the places to eat on I-drive are cheap!), so it's definitely a possibility. 

The ta cannot get hold of Thomas Cook though right now because of everything that's happening in Mexico, all airlines must be so busy right now. 

As soon as she gets through, I'll know when they have 3 week flights and can decide whether to add it or not. 

If so, I would change the dates of POP so it's in the last two weeks of the holiday rather than the first.  We'd arrive and go to our hotel on I-drive, visit Seaworld, Universal, Islands of Adventure etc without having to pay for taxis to get there.  Then we can explore I-drive and Kissimmee, again with hardly any travel costs.  We can eat at all the cheap resturants that we want to eat at while we're there. 

Then we'll move to POP and spend two weeks in Disney, and we won't need to spend money on taxis to get everywhere we want to that isn't on Disney property.  I think the savings on taxis would more than cover the extra weeks acommodation and spending money!

I just hope Thomas Cook have flights for three weeks, and at a good time.  We can't go any earlier than we already are, and I won't have Cameron missing the beginning of term.  

Fingers crossed! 

Got passports sorted!

I have now sent the kids passports off.   The photos may be an issue because they're a little too far down, but they give a little lee way for under 6's so hopefully nothing will be sent back.  

I paid for the check and send too, so if nothing else is needed they should be here in just over a week!

Then I can get mine sorted, finally!

Woohoo!

I got both kids photos signed and forms filled out, so I can get their passports today!

I also now have $400 on my fairfx card!  Just $2600 to go!  ;)

New Tickers!

They came!

The birth certificates have arrived.  I took Alyssa to get her photos done while Cameron was at school, so now I just need to get Cameron's picture done, then I can get them signed and sent off!

I hope Alyssa's picture will be ok, she's not looking straight at the camera! £4 they cost now! For a little tiny photo.  Mad.  

Things I have...

Today I have picked up some suitcases from someone on freecycle.  One is a large hard suitcase, one is a smaller, but still a decent sized soft suitcase, and the other is slighter smaller than the last, and same style. 

The kids both have a little backpack each for the park so they can carry little bits themselves. 

They have a lanyard each with 6 pins on already. 

I have a bumbag with space for a water bottle, but I am also part of a stroller swap which includes a bag and bottle holders, so may not bother with that.  I may as well pack it for the days we don't use the stroller.

The rest (clothes, maybe some shoes, bits and bobs) we will buy once we get there. 

I'm waiting on the kids birth certificates this week so I can get their passports!  I might get their photos done tomorrow too so they're all ready to be signed and sent off when the certificates arrive. 

.....

The dollar rate is rising again, just in time!

I've added a bit more to my card, and now have $110 on after buying the photopass stuff. 

The birth certificate applications have been handed in so should get the kids certificates in about a week.   I can get their pictures done sometime next week, get them signed, then get the passports sent off!

I'll have to go through the whole thing again with my birth certificate and picture, and will probably do that in a few weeks. 

After we have our passports, I'll have to apply through ESTA, which shouldn't be a problem.   This approval will then last two years. 

Couldn't help myself!

I went and pre-ordered the photopass CD and book. :D

http://www.disneyphotopass.com/previsitcdplan.aspx

http://www.stitchkingdom.com/disneysphotopass/

This will be great, we'll get loads of family pictures with me actually in it, some 'special' shots with frames and characters and signatures etc  As well as the amazing book to keep forever!

Finally!!!!!

I have just paid off my enture holiday!  Not a penny left to pay now!

I can't describe how I'm feeling.  I never actually thought I could do it, all along I thought something would come up and I wouldn't be able to afford it, but I've done it!

I have also added on the Sofitel hotel at Gatwick airport for the night before we leave.  It's a 4 star hotel with a 2 minute walk, undercover, to the airport. :D

http://www.sofitellondongatwick.com/

And it's gorgeous!

So, now this blog will be focused on spending money updates, and changes to my plan.  As well as booking my ADR's, receiving tickets and leaving for the airport! 

Next on the list is the passports now.  I have the money for them,  but I need to get full birth certificates, the short ones I have won't do.  The ex said he would get them from Leicester and bring them up today but I'm not holding my breathe.  If not, I will have to go to Leicester one day next week and get them.  Then I can get their photos signed and passports sent off!

Mine too of course. 

I now have $160 on my fairfx card.  If I want to do everything I have planned without having to be stressing about money and if we have enough, I need to save around $3000.

The cost of everything, including meals, shoppings, buying things from parks, tips, snacks, and any extras, will be around $2670. 

I could cut that back quite a lot if need be, but my aim is to get $3000 on my card so I know we will have more than enough. 

New Itinerary

Is very likely to change, as it all depends on when I can get my preferred ADR's for, but for now here is what we're planning. 

Travel Journal

Destination: Florida

Date: 09/10/2009-23/10.2009

Travelling companions: Mummy, Cameron and Alyssa

Goal of trip: To have the best time of our lives!

 Day 1, Friday 9th Oct

Breakfast at airport  

Flight at 10:20am

Lunch on plane

Arrive at 15:05

Check into POP 

Dinner at ’Ohana and Fireworks at the Poly (taxi)

 Day 2, Saturday 10th Oct

Breakfast at Donald’s safari breakfast at AK (bus)

On to Animal Kingdom for the day

Dinner at Boma at AKL

 Day 3, Sunday 11th Oct

Breakfast at POP

Seaworld

Dine with Shamu for lunch

Shamu at night

 Day 4, Monday 12th Oct

Breakfast at POP

Shopping at Downtown Disney (Bus)

Disney Quest

Lunch/Dinner at T-Rex

Chill by POP pools

 Day 5, Tuesday 13th Oct

Breakfast at POP

Bus to Epcot

Lunch at Coral Reef

Illuminations fireworks

 Day 6, Wednesday 14th Oct

Breakfast at POP

Get picked up and taken to Clearwater

Arrive at 11:30am

Board the Dolphin Encounter boat

See amazing views and dolphins racing you alongside the boat

Arrive back at the beach 75 minutes later

Have lunch (provided)

Spend the day relaxing, shopping, exploring Clearwater

Leave at 5:30pm. Getting back to Orlando at 6:30pm

Dinner at 1900 Park fare

Clearwater Dolphin Encounter

 Day 7, Thursday 15th Oct

Breakfast at POP

Bus to Typhoon Lagoon

Taxi/bus to I-Drive for some shopping

Dinner at Sizzlers/Ponderosa/Denny’s

 Day 8, Friday 16th Oct

Breakfast at POP

Bus to Magic Kingdom

Lunch at Liberty Tree Tavern

Wishes fireworks

 Day 9, Saturday 17th Oct

Breakfast at POP

Bus to Hollywood Studios

Lunch at Mama Melrose 

Fantasmic (preferred seating with MM dining)

 Day 10, Sunday 18th Oct

Breakfast at POP

Spend day at POP, possibly Downtown Disney

Lunch at Earl of Sandwich

Back to POP and chill at resort

Dinner at Teppan Edo (bus)

 Day 11, Monday 19th Oct

Breakfast at POP

Taxi to Universal Studios

Lunch at Mel’s Drive-in

Evening at POP

 Day 12, Tuesday 20th Oct

Taxi to Islands of Adventure

Breakfast with Spiderman

Dinner at Café Stoo-pendous

 Day 13, Wednesday 21st Oct

Taxi to I-Drive

Breakfast at Denny’s/

Visit Wonderworks, Ripley’s, Gatorland, 

Congo River golf 

Lunch at Bahama Breeze

Evening in Kissimmee

 Day 14, Thursday 22nd Oct

Breakfast at POP

Tying up loose ends, finish any rides/attractions we’ve missed

Dinner at Hoop de Doo at Fort Wilderness

Drop stroller off and enjoy the show

 Day 15, Friday 23rd Oct

Breakfast at POP

Back packs, leave at luggage at reception

Last day/favourite park/attraction

Lunch at the park

Leave park at 1pm

Get back to POP in time for airport transfer

Flight at 5:05pm

Dinner at airport/on plane

Ok, so not the last payment but...

...another £50 down today!  Just £50 left to pay!  I could pay it on Tuesday, but I will most likely pay £30 on Tuesday, then the rest on Thursday!

This is because I get paid on Thursday and wanted to get something for the lovely girls at the travel agents for helping me along this journey.   I got a lot knocked off this holiday so they're not making much from me at all, but they've still gone out of their way to help, sat patiently listening to me jabber on, and have always kept me informed of any changes, so they deserve a little something. 

I can't wait to walk in with my last payment!

Next payment...

...will be the last one!

£150 went to the travel agents yesterday, leaving £100 to pay off! I should be paying it off on Tuesday! It would be today but everywhere is shut until then!

This won't be then end of the blog of course, there's still a lot to do and plan!

Ticker again...

I'm 91.8% of the way there now and should completely paid off next Thursday!

Here's my ticker;

£250 left! :D

Oh my god!!!!

I've paid off my tickets today!!!!!

I got some backpay this morning so it went on that. I will recieve my tickets within 7 days.

I'm so excited I cant sit still! Something is actually paid off, and way ahead of schedule!

I didn't even get the time to mention yesterdays change. I have cancelled the Manatee swim as, after thinking about it, I realised it would not be suitable for my children. They wouldn't appreciate what Manatee's are all about, and I can't even guarantee Alyssa would even get in the water (very cold)!

So I have swapped that with a day trip to Clearwater, breakfast and lunch included, as well as any safety gear, and we will go on a 75 minute dolphin cruise!

I have seen lots of clips of this cruise, and the dolphins 'race' the boat we'll be on, showing off at the side of the boat. It looks absolutely amazing, especially since I'll be able to take pictures, rather than clinging on to Alyssa.

Add that to the pure white sands and warm sea, with plenty to do if we want to, I think it'll be a day to remember.

I've also paid another £40 to the travel agents, leaving £250 to pay off. Total!

Big payment today!

I made a big payment of £200 to the travel agents, and £30 to the tickets today!

Which leaves me at £290 left to pay towards the holiday and £140 for the tickets!

I want to be paid off by the end of April and I'm determined to do it!

Another payment...

Another £35 pad to the travel agents today. I can't believe how much I've paid off in just over a week. The little bit extra I'm getting is making a huge difference!

£2240 paid off so far with £660 left to pay in total!

New ticker...

A little glitch and payment...

Well, my flight was cancelled! My travel agent rang up earlier and told me. They offered to put me on the flight for the 2nd, but I can't do that because of Cameron, he would miss too much school.

So I asked her to see if they have a later flight, and after biting my nails for an hour and a half, she rang back and told me they've got me on the flight on Friday the 9th of October! Which is actually better than my previous flight, as Cameron doesn't miss too much school, and it's closer to Halloween. Almost the same flight times too which is good.

I've had to change all my tickers, ring ATD to change the date I'm leaving and I'll have to tell teh school of the change too!

While I was on the phone to ATD, I made another payment of £25, leaving me with £695 to pay, before the Manatee swim! I've decided I will add that on once the original tickets have been paid off, which is in £170 time.

£2205 paid!

...

Yep, you guessed it, another £35 made to the travel agents today! :D

One more down...

£35 to the travel agents today. £2145 paid, just £755 to go!

Just another payment update...

ANOTHER payment today.

£35 to the travel agents, making £2110 in total paid off so far! £790 in total left to pay.

I'm so close I can taste it! I may even be able to get back on track and pay up before June, but I'm not sure. I'm only £30 behind this month. Compared to last month (£142 behind!), that's brilliant.

I've just worked out, I can add on dates to pay onto my schedule. I have 20 payments of £35 and I'll be paid off by the 16th of May if I add on just 5 extra payment days.

The tickets (including the Manatee swim) will be paid off by the 17th of June if I paid £35 a week to them.

So that's my new target. To have my whole holiday paid off in 10-12 weeks time!

Woo!

I now have an online job, so am able to pay more towards the holiday from now on!

I'm still behind because of last month, but today I paid £80 to the travel agents and £25 for the tickets!

So far I have paid £2075! Broken the 2k barrier today. I have £630 left to pay for the holiday and £195 for the tickets, not incuding the Manatee swim, which makes £382. Total (before Manatee swim) is £825 left to pay!

If I include the swim, which I may do now seeing as I'm probably going to be able to afford it, I have £1012 left.

I should be paying some more off tomorrow, then a bit more on Friday, maybe some on Saturday too, depending on what bills come out this week!

One more down....

Another £35 to the travel agents, making the total paid £1970! I now how £930 in total left to pay!

Woo!

Woo! Broken the £1000 barrier!

Paid £35 to travel agents today so I now owe £965! Paid a total of £1935!

I have £745 left to pay the travel agents and £220 for the tickets(or £407 if you include the manatee swim, which I still don't know if I can afford yet, so not officially adding it)!

Going to try to pay a little extra than planned each time I pay and hopefully I'll still be paid off when I wanted to be.

It's getting so close now! Past the 7 month mark now too. :D

Woo!

Got to the £1000 mark! £1000 left to pay, £1900 paid so far!!

Almost two thirds of the way there now. It's getting closer, it'll be paid off soon!

Another payment

Still lagging behind! Seriously need to catch up this month. Another £35 to the travel agent leaving £780 left to pay them. Still £235 for the tickets, before the Manatee swim! Then there's the spending money and money for all the meals I have planned. :S

It will work out in the end though. My mum is giving me $50 for my birthday next week which will pay for one meal for us, so that's great!

Grand total of £1015 left to pay, before the manatee swim. 65% of the way there now!

Just thought I'd add this!

7 months 5 days!

It's getting so close now.

Kids passports

It has come from unfortunate circumstances (my ex mil has been made redundant) but because of this she's offered to pay to get the kids passports!

So that have saved me nearly £100 and I just need mine, then there's no more forseen obstacles ahead! I just need to pay the holiday off and hope there are no flight delays or cancellations or anything.

So I'm happy today!

Also I have a kind of online job. I say kind of because it's not regualar hours and it doesn't pay much, but it's something and every penny I earn will be going straight towards the holiday. :)

Forgot to say...

The reservation system has changed so I now have to ring 90 days in advance rather than 180, which is on the 7th of July. It gives me more time to save up and make sure I'll have enough spending money for all the ADR's we want.

There's also talk that the new online booking system will be up before then, so I'll have to see if that will be better, or whether I should still ring. I might do both!

Wow!

I've paid £1815 so far! That's shocking! I've come so far already, I can do this. :D

£25 to the tickets today (I'm actually on track with them), and £20 to the travel agents. It should have been £30 for the last few weeks but I've not managed that which is why I'm behind. If I want to get back on track I need to start paying more, as much as I can.

I now have £850 left for the holiday, £235 for the tickets, totalling just £1085!




Although.....I just couldn't resist adding something onto the tickets! I'm not including that in the total cost as I don't know whether I can afford it or not. If not I can cancel it. If I can then great, it'll be amazing.

I've not told the kids what we're doing just in case, but here's what I've added to my attraction tickets direct ticket order (much cheaper than the site I'm about to link to).

Swim with manatees!


I'll replace the second day at Seaworld for this. I did say I didn't know whether we were going to go again, and we should be able to see everything we want at Seaworld in one day, so we don't even lose a day, plus we get the food included with the swim/snorkelling so it'll save about $100 that day for our food alone. :D

Need to catch up!

I'm getting behind now. This month has been awful with money, my car has needed a lot to fix it and still needs some more, bills are madness...just a very bad month for money right now.

So I'm behind. Not the end of the world, after today I'm still about £50 under. I have paid £50 today meaning I have £1130 total left to pay. £260 for the tickets and £870 to the travel agents. I've paid £1220 so far towards the holiday and £550 for the tickets, making £1770! I can't believe I've managed even that.

Looking at the balances seperately makes it easier to see the end!

61% of the way there!

Payment, ticker and pics of a few restaurants.

£18 paid today to round off the numbers! £1720 paid so far in total. £260 left on tickets, £920 left on the holiday making £1180 left to pay in total!

Also, I've been having a look online for pictures of the places I want to eat, so I'll post them here.


Cafe stoo-pendous in Universal's Islands of Adventure.




Dine with Shamu!


Sci-fi theatre restaurant in Disney Hollywood Studios.




Cinderella's Royal Table in the Castle in Magic Kingdom.


Mel's Drive-in in Universal Studios.


POP Century food court.


Disney Quest in Downtown Disney.


Donald's Safari breakfast in Tusker house in Animal Kingdom.


T-Rex in Downtown Disney.




Teppan Edo in Japan in Epcot.


Coral Reef in Epcot.




Boma in Animal Kingdom Lodge.


There are more places to eat but I couldn't find any decent pictures of them tonight! I can't wait to take some myself!

Forgot to say...

Paid travel agents £20 today, making £920 left to pay them. Along with the £278 left to pay for the tickets, the amount paid so far is £1702, meaning the grand total left to pay is £1198!

It's going so quickly! I can't wait to make my last payments!

Got to get back on track...

According to my calcualtions, I'm £23 behind schedule. Last week was a very skint week with all the months bills coming out at once. So I've got to try to add on £23 to my payment plan this month to even it out and get back on track by the end of the month hopefully.

Still, the plan I worked out was made to allow weeks like this every month and still get paid up in plenty of time, so although I'm behind on MY payments, I'm actually well and truly ahead according to the due date.

I could go a whole month without paying a penny and still be ahead, although I won't have as much spending money then, so I' m going to stick with it as closely as I can.

I feel weird going into the travel agents to give them such a small amount, but if it'll get me back on track, I'll be happy to give them small change whenever I have some left over at the end of each day. It alls adds up, and that £23 should be paid off in no time!