A boy and his mouse

@Jedilogray @atomic @LoveBug53
Thanks, friends. Good to “see” y’all again.

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I’m new to liners - we’re planning our first trip. Just read all 330 posts on the 2014 thread. It was outstanding.

Thanks for such an honest and funny write up. We’re fellow Memphians. :slightly_smiling_face:

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So… an update, over a year later.

The trip that I mention in this post was supposed to happen in late May of 2018. It was booked, including ADRs and Fastpasses… BUT not paid for.

We had talked about it as a family for months. Planned and discussed details. Watched Tim Tracker and Disney Food Blog. Picked Flower and Garden snacks to try. Booked, I said, But. Not. Paid. For.

Last Spring I was still learning the ropes in a new job in a completely different career and I thought our financial situation was different than it actually was. I thought the money was going to be there. I thought. And I was wrong.

We had to cancel the trip. The money just wasn’t there, and we couldn’t afford to go into more debt for this trip.

Tears. Disappointment. Sadness. Shame.

I felt embarrassed that as a dad I built my kids up and didn’t deliver on what I promised.

Fast forward 10 months. Things are different at work. Better. A good bit better.

I start to - somewhat secretly - plan a new trip for late May of this year, right when the kids get out of school and right around Harry’s 4th birthday.

I found a decent deal on a Ft. Wilderness Cabin via the Sun & Fun offer. With the help of Reservation Finder, I was able to snag the handful of ADRs the kids really wanted (Biergarten, Sci Fi, Ohana, BoG). Our FastPass day rolls around and I get everything we needed.

Except this time, I didn’t tell anyone. Not even, DW, Ashley.

Sure, we never stopped watching trip planning videos or talking about a potential trip in the future, but I wanted to make sure this was a for sure thing before I told anyone.

Our trip payment is due in full in a few days.

And I figured out last week that the money is there. It’s enough to pay for the trip in full before we go.

And that’s what Ashley needed, ultimately, to get on board: to know that it made sense financially.

Yesterday was my birthday, and for my birthday I wanted to give the kids a present. Last week, via My Disney Shop (a great resource, by the way) I purchased Magic Bands that I knew they would like.

Millennial Pink for DD13. Lavender for DD10 (thought she would’ve loved the teal). Emojis for DD7. And Toy Story for DS3, almost 4… Harry.

Last night, after a fun family dinner out, we came back to the house and had one more present to open, but this was a present the kids were to open.

And, if you’d like, you can watch the rest unfold in this short video.

DD13 (Cora) had it figured out, as you can tell, 'cause she’s smart and she knows me well… but it was still such a joy to be able to give them this.

Last year, I hated having to cancel our trip… but somehow that made this all that much sweeter.

Harry is still going to have his first trip to “Di’ney Woll” and he’s still going to get to meet Mickey and it’s still going to be amazing. And this time he’ll be tall enough to ride just about every attraction there. And, more importantly, this time we can go with peace of mind that the timing and finances are right.

I wanted to share this with all of you, because this community knows the reality of the struggle - more than anybody else - of planning and saving and pulling it all together in order to give those that we love the most the gift of magic.

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Thank you for sharing! That brought a tear to my eye. So many wonderful things happening in that video! Congratulations!

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Love it! So glad you get to go this time. I can’t wait for a new story to replace the Anna/Elsa one!

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Awesome video! Such a special moment.

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Happy belated birthday.

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Pixie dust in my eyes as I lay here trying not to be awake already, excited for my own trip that starts in just hours, but so over the moon for you and your sweet family. Your hard work, perseverance, and a deep commitment to your family are all so inspiring and touching. I had to cancel a trip once several years back and it sucked. Our main bathroom had a major plumbing emergency and needed a full overhaul as a result. I still think of that bathroom project as “Disney Summer 2015” sometimes. Adulting, making smart and responsible financial decisions, is so not magical. But it was so nice to enjoy it fully when it did come around - and this will be for you too. It clearly already is. :heart:

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Thank you for sharing! Harry is getting so big! Happy belated birthday!

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I’m relatively new around here, but I agree with this so much. Thank you for sharing your story here. Something similar happened to us last year - we had an October 2018 trip planned in detail and paid for, but had to cancel for health reasons. Now, I’m booking ADRs for our Halloween 2019 trip! We’re undecided on when we will tell the boys - maybe the day we leave!

Cheers, and good luck!

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thank you for sharing - i feel so happy for you! Im very new here - and have gathered so much info in the month since ive joined - everyone seems so helpful and nice. We are going on our first trip end of sept - we started saving feb of last year - booked last Nov and now 157 days out…was an amazing feeling to be able to book and pay it off right away then continue to save for any extras we want to do :slight_smile:

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Beautiful video @JonMcIntosh! I am so very happy for you! I absolutely can not wait to follow along!! As @Wahoohokie mentioned, I also immediately thought of the Anna/Elsa doll story! :rofl: So funny!!

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Thanks everyone for the kind words and birthday wishes… And thanks for celebrating along with our family!

Thanks @OBNurseNH and @TheProphetPaul for sharing about your own cancelled trips… never fun to have to do at all. (Also, @OBNurseNH, have a great trip! Following along to hear more about your adventures!)

@LoveBug53 and @Wahoohokie… I’m sure at some point one of my crazy kids will have some sort of meltdown that will be good fodder for laughs here on the forum!

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You know, I was wondering about that trip – I’m so sorry you had to cancel, and I’m so delighted that you’ve gotten the opportunity to rebook it! I hope we get to follow along :slight_smile:

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Woohoo!

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Dude. Well. Done.

(and happy birthday!)

EDIT: RIP headphone users. :rofl:

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Bahaha oh no… your poor eardrums!!

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the scramble for the volume control was never more frantic! hahah

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Oh I don’t know, your one daughter immediately pouncing on your attempt at containing your emotion was pretty good.

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Gosh, @Randall1028, so sorry… I live with those screams, so I think I’m probably hard of hearing by now!

Ha! Yes… classic moment. Clearly, this means more to me than it does to them.

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