Disney

So it's been cloudy and cold all week here. Ugh! But yesterday Jon sent me an e-mail with Living Social's Escape and it was to Orlando and Daytona.

Calgon, take me away.

The Living Social Escape is for $295 for 4 people, 3 night's in Orlando at the Kissimmee Country Inns & Suites. They offer a shuttle to and from Disney parks and free breakfast. Then, 2 nights in Daytona at Inn on the Beach. On. The. Beach. My kids would be sold. They also offer free breakfast.

So, naturally being curious, I looked into hotel prices. Of course, depending on what time of year you're looking at, the prices fluctuate. If you look for next month, they start as low as $30 a night including breakfast. That is a 1 star hotel. So 3 nights at $30 is $90 for Orlando. They do not offer shuttle to and from Disney, so if you're flying you'll need to rent a car.

Hotel prices in Daytona were a little more. $51 per night including breakfast. It was not oceanfront, though, as LS's hotel is. So then you have $102 for Daytona. That would make the total $220 for 5 nights after tax.

Here are the minus' that I can see. You'll need to rent a car, if you fly, to get from Orlando to Daytona. That may be fine if you do a day of Disney before you head to Daytona, though. Check out of the hotel, put your suitcases into the car and use the shuttle to and from. Another thing I would wonder about is how 'available' the dates are.

So bottom line, I would call the 1-800 number at the bottom of the deal with all questions you may have, and your dates in mind. I talked to my mom to refresh my memory on how much we paid for the hotel when we went 2 years ago. For 3 nights where we stayed, the LS deal is still cheaper. And you get breakfast! Remember to factor in all the costs though. The cost of the flight, the car, the theme park tickets, food and the hotel before buying the deal.

And now I'm off finish cleaning my house. The bathrooms need my undivided attention. Again.

Snow Days and Disneyland

Pshew, Monday! And a happy day it is indeed! Except for my daughter that has to return to school today.

With all the snow here in Oklahoma, we had school one day last week, haven't had any mail since Monday and have sucked the grocery stores clean. I am in awe of people. I went grocery shopping last Monday before the first wave of snow hit and people were shopping like they were going to be confined all winter. Sheesh! Plan people, plan.

It will probably be the same today, considering we are supposed to get another 5-10 inches tomorrow. We'll see!

I, personally, had a fabulous time! I made snow ice cream with apple crisp (which was A-mazing!), brownies and sugar cookies. My waistline is not thanking me. Plus lots of comfort foods! Chili, Ham & Beans, Fireside Nachos...YUM! Here is the link to the recipe for Snow Ice Cream from Paula Deen, 3 ingredients and pure delish. Here is the link to the recipe for the apple crisp, one of the best I've had!

Snow Ice Cream
8 cups fresh snow
1 can sweetened condensed milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Mix together and serve immediately!

Apple Crisp
4 cups sliced apples
1/2 cups light brown sugar (pack it tightly)
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup rolled oats
4 Tbsp cold butter (Half a stick)
1/2 cup chopped walnuts or pecans

Combine brown sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg in a bowl. Mix with the apples and set aside. In separate bowl mix flour, sugar and oats. Cut in the butter until crumbly. Pour apples into pan, pour crumble on top. Bake at 375 for 30-45 minutes, or until top is light brown.

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The complete opposite of cold is warm, and I was thinking about how nice it would be to visit somewhere warm. 3 years ago my parents took our entire family on a trip to Disneyland. It was their 30th Anniversary (which is the exact same day of Jon's 30th birthday!) and they wanted to celebrate! I, being the bargain hunter I am, wanted to try and save as much money as possible and ended up planning quite a bit of the trip. If you're planning a vacation to Disneyland, here are some things I learned:

**Disney Value Hotel vs. Non-Disney Hotel**
I was thinking I'd save us money by booking a hotel that has a shuttle multiple times a day to and from the parks. It was only about $20 cheaper, but with 2 rooms for 6 nights, that ends up being $240! Well, here's something you find out when you get there. You have to pay $15 a day per room for 'service charges'. There's no way out of it. There goes the big savings. The Disney shuttles came much more often, too. We'd see 2 or 3 shuttles come and go before we saw even 1 for our hotel.

**Dining Plan**
There's no doubt, it's hard to resist the temptation of buying food in the park. Disney offers dining plans when you purchase your tickets that can sometimes be bought at an extremely good rate. Unless you are very disciplined, buy the cheapest plan. We took our own food which worked out pretty great. BUT, there were a few meals that we ate in the park due to fatigue, or we were just plain hungry. What we spent in 2 or 3 meals could've bought a whole plan for half of us. If you have a stroller, it's not a big deal to take your food into the park. But if you don't, you keep the cooler in your car (if you drove) or in your hotel room. Sign up on Disney's website to get their monthly e-mails. In these e-mails you'll get information on the specials they are offering. When their meal plans are on sale, it's in this e-mail.

**Bibbity Bobbity Boutique**

Let me just say, I am frugal so this seemed like such a waste of money. But my mom wanted to do it for the girls, so I'm not going to protest! It is a fairy tale dream come true. From the moment the Fairy Godmother in Training takes your little princess to her makeover, until she leaves...it is an experience they won't forget. The bad? They are in hair, make up and dresses (optional) all day, and when it's hot that's not exactly ideal. The good? It's so amazing for a little girl. If you have $55 to completely blow, spend it on this. So. Fun. For little girls. You can bring your own princess attire so you don't spend an extra $100 on an outfit from the boutique.

**Airfare**
Make sure when you find a great price for a ticket (if you're flying) that the airport is close to you. We made the mistake of getting a great price on a ticket, but had to drive nearly 3 hours to get to the airport. Gas and parking extra cost $75. Unforseen expenses. Had we left from our home airport, we could've had a friend drop us off.

After re-hashing all of this, I want to go again!!!!! So if you're planning a trip to Disneyland, take some of these tips and have a great time!