93 days to go

Wow, just 93 days to go!

Sorry I've been a bit quiet of late, things have been crazy hectic and stressful but it all helps to keep the countdown flying by.n the

Our balance is due for paying on the 2nd so we need a trip to the bank to move the savings around and then it's just the park tickets and esta's to sort.

Tickets wise we've decided on the 14 day ultimate and 2 park bonus tickets to get us started and we'll see how the saving goes (with Christmas being in the way of saving) and add in Seaworld. We've considered Legoland too but when we look on their schedule it looks like not much will be open!

Then I'll have to start a list of all the restaurant offers and new places to try... must try one of those donut burgers from the Teak Neighbourhood Grill

Where would you recommend?

A very brief update

Wow, it's been a few weeks since I last posted, sorry about that but it's been all kinds of crazy here!

I've had my birthday and this added a couple more Jim Shore Disney Traditions to my collection, ever growing and I may need more space for them soon, rather than one place they may end up all around the house.
And, I've just had an English Language end of module exam, thought it went well but who knows...

So, we're down to 106 days today and our payment deadline is looming, obviously we are starving ourselves and have given up on life completely in order to pay this off - well not quite but we would if we hadn't already got it all organised.

That's about it for now, a very brief update.... but as always I'm always planning, and now have 2015 firmly in my sights

A 3 day extension

So I rang the travel agents to try and extend our 14 day trip to 16 as with almost 2 days of traveling it seems like a 12 day holiday. Problem being, that I hadn't realised that it would mean arriving in London on a Sunday and this would mean less connections available to bring us back up home. 8 hours in Gatwick, jetlagged and with 2 kids was a no no, but rather than just make do with the 14 nights we've ended up with 17! This will of course mean saying offsite for those 3 extra nights, but we found a really good price for the Holiday Inn Resort LBV, and means having to juggle our 14 day expiry park tickets but who cares, an extra 3 nights away from a dreary and frozen Britain and I'm sold.

So we now have 7 nights in Jambo House at the Animal Kingdom Villas, 7 nights on The Boardwalk and 3 nights at the Holiday Inn in LBV.

Updates you don't like?

This morning I have the Tiki Room song stuck in my head... 'all the birds sing words and the flowers croon, in the tiki tiki tiki tiki tiki room' and this got me thinking. The first time we visited WDW was in 2005, and at this time it was The Enchanted Tiki Room Under New Management. As a family we loved the Tiki Room attraction and Zazu and Iago but now Disney have returned it to it's original show and we've been left very disappointed by it. An attraction that was a must do on our list is now way less entertaining.

What update or change of attraction has left you, let's say underwhelmed?

If I was an imagineer...

Today the idea of a Monsters inc themed hotel came to mind. Now if I was an Imagineer they wouldn't be looking to me for drawings of anything, so don't laugh!

For some reason even though the image is saved as landscape it puts it in here in portrait!

Anyway, as you can see by my very talented picture, ha... this would be the lobby, this is as far as I got. As you can see the idea is very much multicoloured, all railings and decor are a mix of colour and varying textures. The check-in desk is Sully based with blue and purple fur, and the seating areas are monster based with textures and toenails/ claws which provide extensions to the seats themselves.
The elevators would be open for viewing and the actual lift would resemble the scream collection pods. Rooms would all have different door designs and be highly colourful. Fun, fun, fun

Have you had any ideas? if you were an Imagineer what would you propose?

Always thinking of the next trip

We've just had a birthday in our house and this left me with the empty cardboard wrapping paper tubes. This gave me a new idea for saving, yes we all by the penny jars and savings tins but I though why not use these. So I've taped up the end of the tube and have begun collecting £1 coins left from that day, I think I'll also go to the bank and change whatever I make from eBay sales, clothing weigh-in's like the 'enviro-clothes' places etc into £1's and pop them in here, eventually it'll add up and you can get a hell of a lot of coins in one of those tubes.... the cheap or even free savings jar and easily decorated with some leftover paper. Previously I had done this using the giant cordial bottles that Robinson's used to sell but with change. This will add up and unless I start and think now about how we'd afford another trip I fear it may never happen

Here's a few of the places I've managed to make money from:

• Envirophone - exchanging old phones for cash (also linked with quidco cashback)
• Music Magpie - exchanging cds, dvds, bluray and games (also linked with quidco)
• Clothesforcash.com - recommended on theDIBB, I've just ordered my bag to try them out
• Ebay and Gumtree - easy way to have a clear out, gumtree has free listing too
• Ramsdens/ Tesco Gold? Hatten Garden metals - old jewellery sales, but do check prices online first

Please, please if you know of anywhere to make cash easily add it as a note and I'll add it to the list

Thanks for reading and I look forward to your suggestions and success stories

Thought's on Hollywood Studios aka MGM

So, the latest DIBBcast (podcast found in itunes) asked a few questions that got me thinking... 1. which character are you most like? 2. If you could choose one attraction to get rid of which would it be, and what would you replace it with?

Which character am I most like? - that's simple right, head always in a book (currently Wuthering Heights) or singing, I love singing, so it'd have to be Belle. It's quite fitting really as Beauty and the Beast is my all time favourite Disney movie.

The other question that really got me thinking was getting rid of an attraction, and it's replacement. Now during the show most said they'd get replace the Indiana Jones Stunt Spectacular and I'm very tempted to agree. We've been visiting WDW since 2005 and having seen the show then I can say it hasn't changed one bit, having seen the show every single trip as it's something the kids always want to see I sadly begrudge having to sit through it, if there were back rests I have a nap. It's old, only funny the first time you see it, and the 'stunts' are pretty lame and performed during our last trip half-heartedly. I get that Indiana Jones has been a big seller and has a place in movie history but why not replace it with something more exciting, if they insist on keeping it then why on earth have they not changed it or updated it with parts of another of the collection. Nevertheless each and every time we visit the stadium is always packed, these must all be first timers and I'll be doing my best to avoid it next time we go!

But the other thing I find lame is the Lights, Motors, Action show which as a bit of a petrolhead is a pathetic car show, ruined even more by them telling you that the shell is on the car backwards and thus it has taken zero skill whatsoever to perform the 'stunts'!

For me, despite Rockin' Rollercoaster and Toy Story Mania, the Hollywood Studios or MGM as it will remain to me, is my least favourite of the parks, and one that we can completely finish in just a morning. The studios are definitely lacking the variety and number of attractions that the other parks have, with the rumoured opening of a Pirates of the Caribbean attraction, I'm praying some sort of Monsters Inc simulator/ coaster ride.. oh, and I'm convinced the appearance of a Carsland like Anahiem, I wait with bated breath for a reason to spend a full day in Disney's Hollywood Studios.

Check out www.theDIBB.co.uk for friendly advice on planning your trip to the mouse and find the DIBBcast on iTunes http://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/dibbcast-disney-podcast-british/id360783362