Wednesday, July 19, 2006

Vacation Addiction

Here is how addicted to vacations I am:

I have just planned out our vacations through 2013.

Okay, that's a bit of an exaggeration. Actually, I've planned through 2009, and then I've planned just 2013. 2010-2012 are still wide-open.

It's not as bad as it seems. And I'm sure your are scratching your head even more so since you know that we are totally broke. Makes going on vacation a bit troublesome.

Well, we ARE broke, but only in the liquid asset sense. Part of the REASON we are broke is the Disney timeshare we purchased back in 2001. And although it was expensive, it is worth every penny.

So I have really only planned our Disney vacations through 2013-ish. There is still plenty of flexibility built in to allow for other little trips here and there. The reason I have to plan so far in advance (other than my own eager-beaver, anal-retentive, order-loving issues, I mean) is to figure out how we shall spend our points each year, and whether or not I need to bank or borrow in order to make our pixie dust dream vacations real.

For example, this year, we are using zero of our points. We have a weeny baby, and generally that is not a good time to head to the Magic Kingdom. Yes, it has been done... in fact WE did it with Athena when she was five months old. We only went to SeaWorld and Universal, however, as we have done Disney a kajillion times and saw no reason to drag a baby who couldn't even sit up yet around parks we know better than our own home.

So since we are using zero points this year, unless I want to forfeit the points all together (I don't THINK so), then I have to bank them. And there are time limits on when I can do that. I have to have x number of points banked by September and another x banked by December... basically, I don't HAVE to plan too far ahead, but it is helpful, and prevents me from looking at the calendar and saying, OH MY GOSH! We have to go to Animal Kingdom NEXT WEEK or we will lose our points! And losing points is equivalent to throwing about $2K down the drain. Uncool. VERY uncool.

Of course, we don't have terribly many points left this year, because in order to go on our cruise LAST year, we had to borrow points from THIS year.

*whew*

This is boring, I know. I have to keep it all in a spreadsheet. So I'm sure you don't want it described here for you. The point is, I now know generally when and for how long we will be at Disney for the next four years. Oh, and then again in 2013.

Yes, I know. I scare myself.

6 comments:

Jason said...

Well, don't forget your future trip with us to Singapore Disney or Malaysia Disney. Kids under 3 fly free!

Bern said...

Right now, our pockets are so dry, we cannot even see a plan. :P

Staci said...

Im impressed. I cant even plan out tonights dinner yet!

eaf said...

Amy: Babies travel very well, actually, although they do require additional stuff. If you don't mind looking like a pack mule (or making David look like one), it's no trouble at all! We've done it several times. So I think your theory about which way babies travel is correct.

Staci: That is why I have Dream Dinners. Hooray!

Jessica said...

Babies can travel! I had my daughter on a plane at 5 months old.

Brant said...

don't forget your trips to Columbus around 4th of July weekend for the next few years...