Show Me the Money!!!

Remember how in my last post I mentioned that my parents couldn't afford to take me to Disney World??? Well, history repeats itself.  Only this time I refuse letting any more time go by and my daughter grow up without visiting "The happiest place o  earth". But lets be honest, all that happiness comes with a price. And its a pretty hefty price. And even though my husband and I both work full time, life happens and for one reason or another we haven't been able to save enough money. I bevame fed up that all the bills, insurance, mortgage and more kept getting in the way of us going to our happy place. So I set out to figure out a way to save. So one day as I was living  my Disney dream through other people on youtube,  I discovered something called the Disney Vacation Account (DVA). It's basically a site owned by Disney, designed to help you save money to put towards a Disney vacation.

In brief, this is how it wotks: you sign up, fill out the budget estimator and by when you wish to take your vacation, and the site tells you how often and how much money you need to set aside to save money for your vacation. And if you wish, you can start an automatic withdrawal and start saving.

So that is precisely what i did. Now before I go any further let me say that I decided to surprise my family with our first Disney World vacation. So my goal is to have enough money saved up for us to take our trip on September 2016. I know, I know, it's a bit far away, but since I am saving on my own,  I need quite a bit of time to save.

So the fact that I am planning  this trip as a surprise, makes it even more exciting, and to be honest,  nerve wrecking.

In brief here are my saving goals: Save $4,400 by July 2016 to pay off and take our trip on September 2016. I planned this month in hopes that the free dining plan is offered. And if so, I plan to reserve a moderate resort, that way we would be  getting the regular dining plan. If for some reason they do not offer free dining, I will be forced to downgrade to a value resort.  The reason being that I want to have everything paid for in advanced. And to be honest, I would not be able to afford a moderate resort, dining, airfare, and park entrance. So if all goes well, I am planning on an 8 day 7 night long trip at a moderate resort, 7 day park tickets, park hopper (now required to qualify for free dining), and memory maker. And lets not forget air fare.

But that is it for today! Til next time.... keep disney dreaming!

Introduction

Hello fellow Disney Dreamers!
If you are reading this I asume you are a Disney fan just like me.  Welcome to this Dinsey filled blog! Here you will come along with me on my journey as I plan my family's very first vacation. But this isn't just any vacation. I am planning our very first Disney World vacation!!! I will be sharing everything that involves planning a Disney World vacation, the budget, the reservation, the itenirary, the dining, EVERYTHING. I will share pictures, screenshots and even video.
And did you notice how I keep saying "I am planning" and not "we are planning"??? Well, that is because I am going to surprise my family with our Disney Dream Vacation! That's right, they have no idea I am doing this. So you can expect a huge reveal vlog to come in the end.

So let me tell you a bit about myself and my little family.
My name is Maritza. I am in my 30s. I was born in California, and my parents are from Mexico. In my lifetime, i have been to Disneyland only a handful amount of times. My dream has always been to go to Disney World, but my parents could never afford to take us. That is why I have  made it my personal mission to take myself and my family to Disney World. But who is "my family"?

My family consists of my husband, which we will refer to him as E, and my daughter which we will call her D. E is in his late 30s. He was born in Mexico, but spent most his youth in California. He has only been to Disneyland two times, but like me, has never been to Disney World. As a matter of fact, he has never taken a real vacation.
And my daughter D, is 10 and was also born in California. She was fortunate enough to go to Disneyland at least once. We took her in late 2011when we visited family in California. As you might of guessed, we no longer live in California. We now live dead center in the middle of nowhere, aka the midwest, no offense. But there really isn't much to do here. And we have never had a family vacation. Until now that is!
XSo I hope you join us in this new adventure!