MAGIC KINGDOM FALL AND CHRISTMAS HOLIDAYS

I really can’t decide which of these holidays I love the most at the parks.  Fall is my favorite time of the year and who doesn’t love the Christmas holiday season?

When we arrived in October the Fall/Halloween decorations were out in full force.  Then on November first  it was magically Christmas! The Christmas decorations grew and grew more every night, right up until we left.

The Magic Kingdom is the theme park most associated with Walt Disney World. Our touring of this main theme park was at our pace.  Which is the pace of a seasoned annual pass holder who has been to the park enough times they have lost track of how many times it has actually been.

Over the years we have experienced “rope drop”, the opening of the park each day.  Even doing the early morning and late evening “Extra Magic Hours” that are reserved for on-site guests and enjoyed them, but not enough these days to make it worth it to us to get up early, eat a hurried breakfast and fight the crowds to get on the transportation system. We do still on occasion stay during the late hours.

Instead we now prefer a leisurely breakfast at the camper, thus avoiding paying for a high dollar one in the park.  Then strolling to the appropriate transportation hub and riding near empty conveyances to the park of choice. 

We also prefer to leave the park before the main crowds do in the evenings.  While we love the fireworks show we generally only remain around for them one night, if that, each visit.  We have found great viewing areas outside the Magic Kingdom to see the actual fireworks, just not what is projected on the castle and of course you can’t hear the background music and story. 

Our planned trip for fall 2017 will include a night to see the new Happily Ever After fireworks show that is replacing Wishes in the spring of 2017. 

Once at the park the main bottleneck of people rushing to get into the park is gone.  By combining our policy of carrying no bags and entering at the annual pass gate it is almost a straight walk in for us rather than the long lines to get in had we gone earlier in the day. I recently read they have instituted an annual pass bag check as well, which will speed up things for folks who do take in bags of all sorts.

On the subject of bags.  When we were first visiting WDW as much younger people we all wore belt bags, carried camera bags or backpacks.  These you either rent a locker for or are constantly having to take them  off to store them in the required bins on rides then dig them out of the bins and put them back on.

Instead I carry my ticket, id and debit card in a well covered pocket with my cell phone in another one. Gary wears cargo pants into which he puts spare camera batteries, battery packs for the cell phones, keys etc.

Periodically we will be asked to empty our pockets and go through a metal detector (maybe it has something to do with Gary’s long hair and beard but it isn’t a problem because we carry so little. 

The freedom of no bags is great.  We feel it is worth paying for a meal or snack to split rather than putting up with the hassle.  It doesn’t work for everyone, but it works extremely well for us.

One request please, if you truly feel you MUST carry a backpack or a purse, watch where you swing that thing.  I cannot tell you how often I have received major hits from people paying no attention to who they conk with those things.  Same goes for scooters and strollers.  People we are in the USA, we drive on the right side of the road here.----rant over

By eating at the camper before we go we then have the luxury of eating a late lunch (which is generally cheaper than supper prices) or early supper, which allows us to once again avoid a crowded line.

More importantly, it also allows us to stop and truly see things along the way.  While we do still take photos and videos of parades such as the Festival of Fantasy Parade.

rides

We get to enjoy the ambiance and take photos of things many people often over look.  There have been volumes of books written about Hidden Mickey’s, the names on the main street windows and such, but it takes slowing down to look for these things as well as at the detail the behind the scenes artists have put into every inch of the parks.

We love this slower pace and have discovered so many “hidden treasures” as we tour the parks now it is almost like visiting the parks for the very first time.

interesting dressed non-cast members

Not to mention all the various little pop up shows that aren’t in any buildings, but are viewed from the street.

One such show is in Liberty Square near the Hall of Presidents.  There a few different versions of the show.  This is just one of the Muppets "Great Moments in History".  Click the hyperlink for the complete show.

One hidden Mickey that many people will most likely never see can only be seen from the air.  As my post “Kudos to Mickey Mouse”, which is yet another Disney World post mentions Disney does a lot toward conserving our environment.  This hidden Mickey is huge, very huge.  It is a solar panel farm that helps provide some of the energy for Walt Disney World and is located just outside the main gates leading to the Transportation Ticket Center parking.

We try to visit the Magic Kingdom on traditionally less busy days.  In the past Mondays and any day that the Magic Kingdom has “extra magic hours”  or a special party like “Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party,”  Or “Mickey’s VeryMagical Christmas Party” are the busy days.  So we check the online calendar for these events and try to go on days that such events are not happening.

We plan ahead of time on what rides we do want to ride in each park and if they are a popular ride, like Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin, we try to get fast passes for them before we ever leave the camper.  Sometimes even days ahead.  Although we will skip rides or add rides as the mood hits us, we are still go with the flow type travelers and have no qualms about cancelling a fast pass if we decide not to use one.

We also try to make reservations for any specialty meals like supper at “Be Our Guest” as far ahead of time as we know we will be going to that park that day. 

Both of these cut our wait time down considerably. 

The rest of the time we do stand-by lines if the line is less than 20 minutes.  We do not do long lines, there really is no need to.  If you pay attention you will find many lines in all the parks have peak times and then times where the stand by line is 10 minutes or less.

Want to ride Space Mountain without a fast pass?  Go during a parade or even better during the fireworks.  Lines virtually disappear then.  Also consider single rider lanes.  While riding with your buddy is fun, if you want on certain rides quickly go with the single rider line.

Over the years we have also learned to stay off the main thoroughfares of the parks and look for the path less traveled.  Often that path is only a few feet from the main one, but because it curves away from what the maps show as the main pathways many people do not take them.  Sometimes these paths are a little longer, but due to the lighter foot traffic you will actually get there faster, or find a bench to set down and rest, or a table to eat your meal at.

A prime example of such a path in the Magic Kingdom is the one going off Main Street toward Tomorrowland where you turn by the ice cream shop.  If you turn directly right at the ice cream shop you will be dealing with the people all trying to find a spot at the provided tables to eat their ice cream.  However if you go back one street down a dead end there are tables there as well that are often empty.

To get to Tomorrowland you can also take the main pathway across the bridge near the castle.  That is generally very congested.  However, between the ice cream shop and the bridge streets there is another path going near the gardens.  It is only a few steps away from the one at the ice cream shop and comes out at exactly the same place, near the restrooms at a restaurant that is only open during peak times.  This path is usually not busy at all.

In fact if you go up through the restaurant walkway and through the seating area you will come out at the Monsters, Inc. Laugh Floor and miss most of the traffic going to Tomorrowland.  

Every park has several less traveled areas that can save you a lot of time and steps.  So study your maps. 

Another time saving hint.  It is the nature of most people to go to their right when entering a park.  If you are getting there with the main crowd, go to your left.  You will find that the crowds are less and therefore the lines are shorter.

We of course have certain rides we really enjoy riding each time, although the herky jerky ones are quickly falling out of favor with us. While others we just don’t feel like our visit is complete unless we ride certain rides.

In the Magic Kingdom the must rides would be Pirates of the Caribbean, People Mover, Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin(how is it I always manage to get the one with the non-operative gun?), Haunted Mansion and a few others.

The People Mover (Transit Authority) and Carousel of Progress are our favorites on hot days when we are tired.  Both provide a long cool ride and in the Carousel of Progress it is dark and you can even catch a quick cat nap if you need one.

Then of course there are certain shows we like to see if time allows, as well as the Festival of Fantasy Parade.

For a video of the Festival of Fantasy parade you can view it here.

Unless you arrive late enough in the day that you are near the train station when the 3:00pm parade comes by, at approximately 3:30pm, I recommend that you try to be at the beginning of it near Frontier Land.  The crowds are generally smaller and your wait is much shorter to see the parade.

Not much had changed since our visit in 2014, so we tended to spend more time enjoying the fall decorations.

And then in November the Christmas decorations

Not to mention taking advantage of the new annual pass perk of free photos taken by the Disney photographers.

No matter how many times we go, there is always something new to see and enjoy.  Some of the rides and areas had undergone refurbishments since our last trip. We spent a lot of time pointing out the changes to each other.

Even more had been done by the time we were there in the spring and when we go back in the fall of 2017 Pandora the World of Avatar will be open in the Animal Kingdom.  So that will be a whole new area to explore.

Because I started my review blog, Outside a Dog after I had already read the "Kingdom Keepers: Disney after Dark", book 1 of the series written by Ridley Pearson I haven't yet created a blog post review on it.  You can, however get a brief description of it in the second book review.

HOW TO PLAN A FRUGAL TRIP TO WALT DISNEY WORLD

January 27, 2012

This time of year I often get a lot of inquiries about how in the world does my family afford to go to Walt Disney World so often when they know I work on a shoestring budget. Everyone is in vacation planning mode and the “world’ beckons. So I’ve decided it’s time for a blog post on the ins and outs of vacation planning, not just for the “world” but for any vacation.

The main thing is to remember it IS a vacation, don’t over plan your trip. Allow for down time in your schedule. Many a vacation has been ruined because someone in the family is determined they must “do it all.” And that makes for cranky folks old and young alike. Remember, you can always go back and do what you missed this trip next trip.

I am a big believer in pre-planning trips. I feel that half the fun in the trip is the planning, just not going overboard about it. That being said I will admit one of our most favorite trips to WDW was a spur of the moment trip we planned on the fly on one Monday and we left that Thursday.

Another non-WDW trip was a penny hike trip we took to Mt. Rushmore. On that trip we literally flipped a penny each night to see which way we would go and to decide what we would do each day. So there is a lot to be said for not planning as well. It’s just a lot riskier.

But this blog is about planning and doing the WDW trip on a shoestring.

First pick your dates, but be a little flexible on those dates. Often a lot can be saved on the accommodations and transportation by moving your dates one way or another just a few days.

I know on many airlines if you fly out on Tuesday-Thursday the airfare is cheaper than if you fly the other days of the week. WDW resort rooms and campsites are also generally cheaper Monday-Thursday than on the weekend. So if you can be flexible, then by all means be so.

Gasoline and diesel are generally cheaper during the winter months than summer months as well.

WDW also has “off season” discounts on their resort rooms, so if you home school, year round school, or for other reasons can travel during the non-summer and peak season months to WDW I highly recommend it.

Here are the historical peak season dates. Of course, as with all things it all depends on what is going on in the world as to how busy the parks will be on these dates. These dates were supplied by The Mouse For Less website (a great planning tool location for certain) /http://www.themouseforless.com/

• Heaviest:
Presidents' week in February

-Mid-March through Late April ("Spring Break"); Easter

-Memorial Day weekend

-June through mid-August

-Thanksgiving Day and weekend

-Christmas week through New Year's Day

• Moderate:
After Presidents' week in February through early March

-Late April through early June (except Memorial Day weekend)

-The first part of Thanksgiving week

• Lightest:
Mid-January until Presidents' week in February (expect attraction updates; pool closures; and refurbishments)

-The week following Labor Day until Thanksgiving week

-The week following Thanksgiving until the week before Christmas

The Walt Disney World travel guides by Steve Birnbaum usually also have peak season dates listed in them. This information seldom changes much, so you could look at a library copy of it for free to get that information.
The Birnbaum books are great for info about the parks and are updated often. Older versions are good for general info, but will often be outdated for the current rides, shops, restaurants and meal prices. So if you are going to use them for your ultimate planning book spring for the issue for the year you are going. However, since they are put together a year ahead of time know that some of the info even in those most current issues may be out of date.

The best price planning info is the free DVDs and info you can get from WDW yourself. If you use mypoints (more on this later in the how to pay for it post) then by all means order it through there and get the points for doing so.
You can also get a lot of the prices from the following websites:
http://disneyworld.disney.go.com/

http://allears.net/index.html

The first is the official Disney website and the second is an unofficial one. I really like both sites. The Disney one gives you all the basic planning costs but the All Ears site gives you so much more. Right down to individual meal prices, no estimates, the actual cost.

All Ears also gives many helpful hints and lists current available discounts. A major plus when you are planning your trip on a shoestring. Two other sites that are great for helping you plan out your vacation are The Mouse for Less, which I previously mentioned and The Magic For Less. www.themagicforless.com

If you like discussion groups then I highly recommend themouseforless@yahoogroups.com I have learned much of what I know on vacationing on a shoestring from the folks on that list. The rest of my knowledge comes from my natural tightwad instincts. Be sure to check out all the files and links at the yahoogroups site. There is a wealth of information there.

A word of warning about the mouse for less group. It is a VERY active group and so if you don’t want to get 100 or more emails in a day I suggest you either read it from the web or go on digest for that particular group. It is well worth wading through all the emails to glean a lot of information from that group though.

Once you get all your research info together and you’ve chosen your time frame then it’s time to pick your resort, your tickets and whether or not a water park is in your future.

Picking the resort is strictly a thing of personal preference. Some folks prefer to stay off site because often at first glance the price is cheaper. There are numerous great hotels and condos for rent in the area and if that is your preference than you are on your own for the planning of that part, or check with the Magic for Less travel agency, more about these wonderful folks in a bit.

You see we have only stayed off site once in over 30 trips to the world and swore we’d never do it again. But that is OUR personal preference I know a lot of people who never stay on site and prefer it that way.

While our room off site was cheaper what it cost us in other ways was so much more expensive. Staying onsite comes with numerous perks. Here’s a list of some for you to consider when making this decision:

1. Once you arrive, if you are not leaving the resort area then you never need your car again until you leave. They transport you everywhere for free, even to their shopping complex called Downtown Disney. If you decide to leave the resort they do have a car rental spot onsite, where they will bring the car to your hotel room for you and you can rent the car for just the days you need it. Oh and by the way, it’s generally a cheaper rate if you rent it at the resort than at the airport due to airport usage taxes and such. Say for going to Universal Studios/Islands of Adventure or Sea World one day. More on these two another time.

2. If you are flying in they pick you up for free at the airport with the Magical Express, collect your luggage for you and deliver it to your room. When you leave they pick your luggage up at your resort and check it in for you at the airport. This leaves you free to go directly to the parks or wherever once you have checked in and to visit the parks on your last day if your tickets are all inclusive. A big plus. It also means you do not need a rental car to get to the resort, pay turnpike fees (which are hefty) or pay for an airport shuttle. Nor do you have the delay and hassle at the airport. While you make a quick potty run after you get off the plane a Cast Member from WDW is collecting your luggage for you. How great is that? The transport is a large comfortable bus that shows Disney commercials and such on tvs to start your Disney experience immediately.

3. Extra Magic Hours are a wonderful plus for resort guests. This is an extra 1-3 hours a day at a different park every day either in the morning before the park opens or after the park closes at night. Only resort guests are allowed in the parks during Extra Magic Hours so the lines are much shorter then. It’s a great way to get to ride the most popular rides without using a Fastpass or waiting in a long line. It’s also a great time to collect a Fastpass for a special ride later in the day.

4. If you are staying OFF site you must pay for parking at the parks that can add up quick on a multi-day trip. However, once you pay for teach day that is all you pay. The current rates are: Automobile, taxi, limo or motorcycle $14, camper, trailer or RV $15 and Bus or tractor trailer $18. There are ways to get discounts like owning an annual pass—we’ll get into this more later or being a member of AAA.

5. If staying off site you must also consider the driving time and gas each day both to and from the parks and possible turnpike fees. If you have little ones, or a person who simply needs to rest occasionally it is far easier to go back to your hotel room/campsite by staying onsite than off site.

6. Amenities, the resorts at WDW have a LOT of them. From swimming pools, to tennis courts, hot tubs and a petting zoo at the campground. And you don’t even have to be staying at the campground to enjoy the petting zoo, just take the free ground transportation over and while you are there consider the walking trails, or rent a bicycle or water craft for a fun afternoon. At night time the campground has free Disney movies and campfire sing-a-long or you can take a special nighttime canoe trip. Don’t forget to watch the Electric Water Parade on the bay while visiting the campground after dark as well, or maybe pay for a carriage ride. At the Animal Kingdom Lodge they have free use of night vision binoculars for you to watch the animals on the savannah after dark. That is always fun to do.

7. Each resort has a place to grab a bite to eat and you can purchase a refillable beverage cup that is good for your entire stay at your resort and it more than pays for itself during any trip. To date there are no refillable cups at the parks, except I know that for awhile the AK did have one that was for the day of purchase only. There is generally pizza delivery available to your room as well.

8. Disney character wake-up calls. If you are staying in the resort, alas not the campground, then you can be awakened each morning with a wake-up call by a Disney character. It’s part of the magic and many an adult likes it as much as the younger set.

9. Entertainment, many of the resorts have free entertainment going on at various times. One night at the Port ‘o Orleans, back when it was Dixie Landings, we stumbled into a live show at one of the clubs. It was a very good show. This was our one spur of the moment trip to WDW and everything was just perfect that trip. Just the two of us and all the pieces fell together just right.

10. Resort guests get first pick at dining reservations.

There are more pluses, but you get the idea.

Next you need to decide on package, or non-package deal. Again this is a personal decision. We seldom go with the packages because we generally take our own food with us for at least part of the meals and we most often purchase an annual pass. So the non-package generally works out cheaper for us. However, that being said, Disney has been running some pretty sweet deals this last couple of years that include free meals. I recently priced out a trip for the two of us to take a long weekend down and found out that the package that included length of stay tickets and meals was only $50 more than without meals. I would have had to pay far more than that for a la carte meals for five days for two! if we had decided to make that trip, it would have been well worth that $50 for the quick service meal plan, or even to pay the additional for the upper meal plans difference. So check your prices closely, sometimes the packages are much cheaper, depending on what you choose to include.

Tickets are another consideration. Our big trip for each year is generally 14 days and we go into the parks for 10 of those days. The other 4 days we go shopping, visit the water parks, go to another park (generally US/IOA) or simply crash and burn for a day. Our shorter trips are generally 4-5 days and we hit the parks all of those days. You can purchase plain tickets that are good for one park per day, Park Hopper Tickets or never expiring tickets. Each ticket has it’s pros and cons. That is a decision you will have to decide.

If purchasing tickets for just that particular trip we choose the Park Hopper, because we won’t stay in an overly crowded park. We have learned if one park is really crowded then another one is probably nearly empty. Certain parks on certain days are crowded, (see the Birnbaum books to determine the days). Or we will want to go to a park for a certain show on a certain day and maybe not want to spend the entire day in that park. But that is our preference, again you have to decide.

Generally we plan on going more than once in a year so we will purchase an annual pass. When I list how to get discounts and such I’ll go into all the pros of having the annual pass. It is the most expensive of the tickets at first glance, generally about $50 more per person than a 10 day pass, but it is good for 366 days from the day of FIRST USE! First use, not January 1 to January 1, not the day you buy it, but when you first enter a park using it for the first time. It also comes with some major discounts for lodging, food, shopping, special events and special products that you can’t get otherwise.

Once you’ve made all the decisions and decided whether or not you are going to other attractions in the area then you will need to figure out your budget and how to pay for it all. Don’t forget to add in meals, snacks and souvenirs at the parks. Plus you need to remember the “other” expenses like pet sitters at home, (although WDW does have a kennel and in the campground they do have a pet area--check the rules about vaccinations prior to planning on taking your pet) transportation there, if you are traveling by car are you stopping along the way? Will you visit attractions, where will you sleep each night. There are ways to cut all these costs (well maybe not the pet sitter) and a later post will go into this in detail. As well as a post on where to get the money to pay for it all.

But first, now that I have scared you with all this “planning” part I’d like to suggest a way around a lot of this first step. While I’ve never used their service and have no connection what so ever to the folks there I have heard nothing but rave reviews about The Magic For Less Travel Agency. These are the folks that help with the yahoogroups I mentioned earlier and they work VERY hard to make certain you get the best possible vacation at the lowest possible price. Even after you have booked with them, they keep looking for better deals for you and make certain you get the BEST possible price. If you are from the Dave Ramsey list then you know Jeannette is with The Magic For Less and she’d be more than happy to help you with your vacation planning. She can be reached at:

JConaLarock@themagicforless.com or follow her on facebook at: http://www.facebook.com/themagicforless

I suggest you shoot her an email and allow her to run some comparisons for you.

In a later post I’ll go more into what has to be paid when, refund policies and much more.

Next post: So now you’ve planned it how are you going to pay for it?

Jan who can’t wait to go again in OK

THE PRINCESS PLAN BASICS

Changing all aspects of our lives from living like paupers to becoming royalty.
December 31, 2009


Occasionally I have mentioned that I am working on the Princess Plan. Some of you are very familiar with my Princess Plan, but others have never heard of it. Since it is the beginning of a new year everyone is making plans for what they want to accomplish in the New Year. Myself included. I’ve drug out the Princess Plan and dusted it off. I had started it this time last year and was doing so very well on it until we got the BIG HIT from Murphy in late February, I think it’s still a good plan. So here are the basics of it.

The premise of the Princess Plan came from my realizing that clutter in all avenues of our lives was making us live like paupers. Think about it. If your home is in a mess you can’t find things, so you purchase another item to replace the one you can’t find because it’s easier. You can’t find a bill, you clutter your finances with late fees. How often has clutter caused an item to be ruined?

No menu plan, you tend to eat out and clutter your finances more.

Financial clutter aka: debt causes you to have cluttered emotions, which will clutter your relationships with friends and family it’s all connected and as a result you live like a pauper in at least one area of your life. I’m tired of being a pauper, I want to be the princess my Papa always called me. So I developed this plan and as long as I stick to it I find that we are slowly working our way toward living like royalty in all aspects of our lives.

When I set it up I used the Royal theme to help title and give substances to each aspect. You can use different titles or whatever. This is my personal plan and how I set it up.

I tend to work in twelves when making lists so I started with twelve basic goals. As always in my life this is NOT a to do list, but a goal list. I am not a person who works well with demands, a list that is titled “TO DO” sounds like a demand to my brain, so I set goals. The world will not end if I don’t get a goal done, but I will be very proud if I do.

I am a list person, meaning I work better if I have a list to follow. Some people hate lists, so they would just forget setting up the outline as I have it. And just work in general, but for those of us who need a list Here’s how it goes.

Twelve works well for the Princess Plan because then I can work some on each of the 12 main goals a month.

So I took those original twelve goals and broke it down to a certain amount to do each month for 12 months. In my example I will take the goal I have to “totally clean and organize the whole house.” That is an overall goal and looking at it in that HUGE lump is pretty daunting. But when I break the house down to twelve areas to work on solid one area a month it becomes a little more manageable. So the CASTLE segment was born.

Once you have determined the 12 segments for your house then break those 12 segments into four parts per segment—one for each week of the month.

Those four parts get broken into seven goals, one for each day. With details on EXACTLY how I want to do that day’s jobs. It sounds hard but if you set it all down to paper in an outline format you’ll see it’s “just a little” each day. Like I said I’m a list person, so I include EVERYTHING in my overall master goal list, right down to how I will dispose of the clutter I find as I go DAILY. As each of the sections is completed then it’s just a matter of keeping it picked up daily after that segment is completed to get to my goal. Being the S.H.E. (Sidetracked Home Executive) that I am I know that I will tend to put up just a few things in other areas daily too so by the time I get to the last area it will be fairly simple to do.

Just as Dave Ramsey suggests starting with the smallest debt and snowballing up to the largest to keep giving yourself a reward of seeing accomplishment to encourage you to move on to the next one I suggest starting with the easiest area to fix first, say your cleanest or smallest room and then trying to take care of removing 5-10 items daily from the remaining areas of the original 12 so by the time you get to the room from HELL there will be so little left in it you will find it a snap (after all you will have removed permanently 240-480 minimum items from that room already).

Here’s the outline I mentioned I use.

THE ROYAL CASTLE: goal to totally clean and organize it by year’s end.

I. Kitchen by the week

A.-D Break the kitchen into four segments to do one segment a week

1-7 Break the week segments into 7 parts (One part for each day)

a. Break it down into EXACT steps of how you will do that day’s goals, remember to include taking 10 items PERMANENTLY out of each of the remaining areas.

II. Master bedroom by the week

III. Repeat with the other segments for the year in this category. So you will complete one area a month.

Now go down your original list and do a similar outline for each of the other eleven areas. So you will actually be doing 12 different small type segments a day. The 12 items might be finances, exercise, cleaning various buildings, preparing for Christmas/birthdays whatever the “clutter is in your life.

My annual list? It’s below. If we do #7 like we want then my outline will need to be adjusted accordingly because it’s a little hard to clean at home when you are three states away. #12 is going to be the hardest to do with our current state of employment, but remember this is a goal list. The world will not end if it doesn’t happen. It would simply be a wonderful reward to work toward, we all LOVE Walt Disney World and haven’t been in four years, we miss it deeply.

It will of course not happen if our finances do not improve, it is a reward goal. The apple hanging from the string so to speak. We all need a reward to work toward. It will get the exact same type of monthly, weekly, daily breakdown the other areas will get, but they will be appropriate for it. Money will only be put back for the trip AFTER we are actually doing great on our finances again. The only money in the beginning that will be put back will be the change from our pockets once a week. If we see we are not going to be able to make the December 2010 trip we all desire all the put back money will make a great snowball payment. (which is what will most likely happen).

Annual goals:

1. Totally clean and organized the house—THE ROYALS CASTLE

2. Sell off all excess items, vehicles, critters, etc. THE ROYAL TREASURERY

3. Garden year round successfully HER MAJESTY’S GARDEN

4. Preserve all excess foods, get to the point that we only grocery shop for the very basics we cannot produce ourselves.THE ROYAL PANTRY

5. Clean, organize, repair, and paint the garage THE OUTER KINGDOM BUILDINGS

6. Clean, organize, repair, and paint all out buildings, pens, and porches THE OUTER KINGDOM POULTRY

7. Mystery shop five days a week, traveling whenever we can. THE ROYAL TREASURERY

8. Take all excess weight off of all three of us THE ROYALS

9. Lay in two years worth of firewood HEAT FOR THE QUEEN/DRAGON’S BREATH

10. Reduce our debt by at least one half THE ROYAL TREASURERY PART II

11. Go to entirely scratch cooking THE PANTRY OF THE ROYALS

12. Go to Walt Disney World on a cash basis PARTY TIME!—THE ROYAL BALL!

So that’s the basics of the Princess Plan, will we accomplish it all? Not if Murphy has anything to say about it, but then Murphy can be defeated it just takes an “I can” attitude. I am realistic about this, finances being our biggest problem right now, but as I tell myself and the guys “this too shall pass”. After all we are so much better off than others we have blessings galore and most important, we have each other.

So, now I challenge you to make your own Princess/Prince plan. What are your goals, what will you achieve in 2010.

Jan whose family is so much closer after the BIG Murphy visit and who wishes you a Happy New Year in OK