A Bit of Catching Up

Its been awhile since we lasted posted but things have been a bit hectic around here.  As summer is in full swing I thought a quick update on what summer will be like around the Buckingham household is in order.  Since we are not going on holidays until our Walt Disney World trip in October most of the summer will be spent with family and friends around Vancouver.  The girls are in a number of soccer of camps this summer, and late this summer I will be moving the company office to our suite in the house we bought last year.  Elaine’s taking a week off each month (she gets more weeks off then I do this year) and the rest of summer will be spent around home so don’t hesitate to call or drop by.  

=8-)

Disney's All Star Movies Resort

 

 

With 75 days to go the anticipation is slowly beginning to build again after the lull had set in from planning and booking the trip and then having to wait for it come about.  I thought I would post a taste of where we will be staying for the first 10 nights.  The Disney All Star Movies Resort is one of three All Star theme resorts, and the newest.  It’s built around Disney movies and is one the value resorts that has made this trip a real steal.  The rooms are not big but since most of the time we will be in the parks it will work.  There is a large cafeteria style restaurant area with a variety of foods styles and two very large pools to cool down in when the temperature rises.  In the end its all we need for the first part of the trip.

=8-)


Sarah's Track & Field: Part 2 - District Meet

Today Sarah was part of the district Track & Field meet, and although the meet was canceled half way through, she still had fun!  Sarah was schedule to run the 80m, 600m, High Jump, 4X100 (Anchor), Medley (200m Anchor). After placing 6th in the 600m (24 competitors), she finished 1st in her qualifying heat and 6th in the finals of the girls 80m.  While the afternoon events where rained out, her school still did well and looks to have a solid track team for next year.   Check back later this weekend in the video section for clips from the two track meets this past week.

=8-)

Sarah's Track and Field: Part 1 - Mini Meet

We have News! Today Sarah had her the first of two track and field meets. This afternoon’s was a mini-meet (no field events), in which she was schedule to run the 80m, 600m and Medley (200m Anchor).  Sarah started off the meet by finishing 2nd in the 80m, then after stopping on the track around the 325m point in the 600m (she developed a bad cramp in her side) and with the entire field (12 girls) having passed her she came back over the last 225m to finish 4th in her heat.  To top off the day, 15min after running the 600m she anchored the girls Tike Medley team to first place, beating her nearest competitor by more than 6 seconds.
Yeh Sarah!  

 =8-)

Great Sites for WDW Info

Just thought I would post a quick blog. Not much has been happening on the trip planning front as we now find ourselves that in-between, planing and the actual trip, period.  So until something dramatic happens, I thought I would post of list of the most helpful sites we found when planning our trip and just some fun WDW sites as well. 
=8-)
Walt Disney World http://disneyworld.disney.go.com/wdw/; where all the magic begins
MouseSavers.com - http://www.mousesavers.com; contains all the specials and deals you could want. a must for doing Disney on a reasonable budget.
All Ears Net  - http://allearsnet.com/; great site for resort and restaurant information (all the menus and prices are listed on line)
Intercot - http://www.intercot.com/; another great site for WDW/resort info.
A Complete guide to Walt Disney World - http://www.guide2wdw.com/; excellent pocket guide for WDW
Disney Information Station (or DIS for short) - http://www.wdwinfo.com/index.htm; great site for news, information and discussion boards.
WDW Magic - http://www.wdwmagic.com/; new, information and has loads of videos
Mouse Planet - www.mouseplanet.com; WDW news, rumors, park information from expert sources and reporters.
The Meandering Mouse - www.meanderingmouse.com; This is a must listen podcast especially with headphones. The audio is unmatched for disney location podcasts. Note: MUST wear HEADPHONES for the best effect. 
WDW Today - www.wdwtoday.com; This is a great podcast full of information about WDW. Short, to the point, filled humour, and great advice from experts, this is a must listen too before venturing in Walt Disney World.

WDW Part 3: Free Dining!


Here’s the deal, a couple of weeks ago we found out that Disney is giving away free Dining Plans during the late summer/early fall. First problem, is that our travel dates are a day and half after the special ends, but with WDW costing what it does, we weren't going to give up without a fight.  Second problem, convincing Disney Customer Service to let us add it to our trip. So after about 3 1/2 hours of phone calls clarifying what the special was, when it was good for, how we could and could not take advantage of the deal, we finally spoke to a very good CM (Disney calls its employees at WDW Cast Members, or CM for Short).  After a few minutes of explanation that the dinning would save us roughly $1500.00 (the days were going to spend our trip is Disney) and that there had to be some way to adding it to our trip, the CM went to work and re-arranged our trip to include the dinning for most of the stay (its no good to us if we go to Universal).   So now we don’t have to worry about dinning while is WDW. 


Now if I can just figure out how to get into Universal for next to nothing our plans will be complete.
 =8-)

WDW Part 2: Time to Book!


So what do you know its March, and Sarah keeps reminded me for the umpteenth time this past weekend that I PROMISED that we where all going to Disney World this year. So somewhere between the harassment by my daughter and Elaine’s need to have ALL her vacation time sent into work for approval before the middle of March, I realize that I had better gets this trip started. 


First thing, budget, being that we don’t have $8-10,000.00 to spend on a trip (remember this is what we initially found 14 days in Disney World would cost) we opted for the 7 day tour of Disney World. Off I go looking for flights, hotels, park tickets etc.  and I begin to find that the trip can be done for allot less, I mean allot less then what we first thought.   By the time we were done, we had dropped the cost of a 14 day excursion so low, that it allowed us to plan our first EVER 2 week vacation.  Our flights turned out to be much cheeper than we thought and by going the first week of October (which incidentally is the only time I can could leave for holidays this year) we got the best rates of the year in Disney World hotels, which meant no need for car rental as they have there own bus systems for Disney World Hotel guest!

So here’s the deal, as of today we have flights booked round trip from Seattle (we are actually going to visit Seattle for a day or two) for $270.00 each CND Total Cost. We decided that the room would not be occupied enough and so we decided to stay at a Disney value resort (remember the free transport all over Disney World for resort guest only).  Once the Disney Park Hopper tickets where added we actually came in under the cost of 7 days to Disneyland in California (verified by the travel agent who tried to book this for us initially).  Man does it pay to scourer the internet, wait for the deals and then pounce!  By the way the flights were booked through expedia.ca and believe it or not the rest was booked through WALT DISNEY WORLD VACATIONS.

So what are we doing later this....”We’re going to Disney World!”
=8-)

You Promised! WDW Part 1

Well here is how this whole trip came about.  Last November while I was on business trip to Orlando, I was able to spend an afternoon at Magic Kingdom and a couple nights wondering around Downtown Disney.  This just peaked my desire to want to take the girls to disney, which Elaine and I had been talking about doing for the last 4 years.  When I came home I brought a number brochures and park maps for the kids and hyped up the family about going to Disney World instead of Disneyland and hopefully going the following year.

After talking non stop about Disney World for a week my troubles began. Elaine was skeptical because here on the west coast, Disney World is often twice the cost of Disneyland in California. Our initial cost outlook for Disney world was between $5000.00 (7 days) - $10,000.00 (14 days).  However, in the midst of all the action, and with our eldest daughter even more skeptical than my wife about this trip happening, I spoke the words that in our house are used sparingly and only when there backed with action...”I promise!”.  As soon as I said it the look on Elaine’s face said it all...’now you’ve gone and done it’!  So, knowing that we really did want to go, but now knowing it was Disney WORLD or bust our quest began to make the trip happen and for a reasonable price.  Because as I said to the girls..”I promise!”
=8-)