| My oldest daughter (Lil' L) has been in love with Disney princesses since she was just over 2 years old. Shortly there after she found out about the magical place called Disney World in Florida and she has been unrelenting in her begging to go see the castle and meet the princesses. We explained to her that going to Disney is a BIG trip and that we needed time to save money and plan our trip - she bought into that and we bought some time. |
Around the time Lil' L turned three she decided that she wanted to save all the money she received (Christmas, birthdays, etc.) for our upcoming trip to Disney. I found the largest plastic jar I could and we decorated it with princess stickers and wrote Disney on it as a reminder of what she was saving towards. She has been a great saver and given the opportunity to spend some of her money or save it for Disney, it inevitably went into the jar. Around this time Lil' E was born which delayed any thought of a cross country trip (another break for us!)
Fast forward to 2013, Lil' L is now 5.5 years and Lil' E is 2.5 years and both are equally enamoured with princesses although Lil' E is far less "girly" than her sister. However, both love to don princess dresses, tiaras, wands and shoes and play make-believe. After two years of stalling, one day my husband announced that this was the year we would go to Disney World. What?!? The good news was the girls were out of earshot. I love my husband but I don't think he did much research before he made his grand announcement. I am all for visiting Disney World but I don't want to be paying for it for the next few years. So the research began, I checked flights, low season, accommodations, attraction pricing and no matter how I worked it, this trip is likely to cost between $4,000-$5,000 for a family of four. Once I shared this information with my hubby, he changed his tune a bit.
I am not sure how other people manage it but that seems like a pretty expensive vacation for two young children and their parents. I want nothing more than to bring my girls to Disney and see their little faces light up and the wonderment in their eyes as they see Cinderella's castle and experience everything Disney while they still believe, in fact it will probably bring me to tears. However, I have to be realistic and that means that I can't justify spending that kind of money on a family vacation for one week.
So I put it out there to you the experienced mamas that have made the trip - how did you manage to do Disney on a budget or did you just suck it up and consider it a once in a lifetime trip?
Evolution of my Lil' L princess : )
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| Princess at one year |
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| Age 2 from Mulan |
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| Age 3 - Cinderella |
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| Age 4 - Snow White |
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| Age 5 - back to Mulan |
