Paid for the Hotel.

I wrote a check out the other day to pay for our accommodations when we go to Disney. My goal is to have everything possible already paid for by the time we go so that the expense of the trip is slowly bled out of us over a number of months, rather than hitting us like a big, gaping stab wound in October. I put the airline tix on a credit card, but have already paid off half of the amount, so the rest will get taken care of in the next billing cycle or two. We will buy our park tickets in advance (hoping to use my IL's AAA membership to get those discounted rates). I have earmarked part of our tax rebate for this. The rental car, of course, can't be paid for in advance, but that shouldn't be too big of an expense. the only reason we are able to pay for the accommodations in advance is because we are 'renting points' for our trip, which basically means we are getting to stay in very wonderful and expensive Disney timeshare accommodations at a fraction of the cost, because we are buying the time from the owner.

At first, I was looking for the cheapest accommodations possible (within reason, of course), but I did a little research and changed my mind about this. There are two schools of thought with regard to where you stay when you visit WDW. On the one hand, there are those people who feel that the hotel room is just a bed to sleep in for the short amount of time that you are not out at the parks. Think of it as sort of a cheap hotel Las Vegas style...just a place to rest your weary head and get out of the 'action.' Then, there are those who believe that the resort is very much a part of the experience of the trip, and should be as nice as you can afford. I've done it both ways, and see merits to both arguments, but for this one, when we will be traveling with small kids, and who knows if we'll ever make it back there again, I decided to go all out. I have big plans for us to be out and about for much of the trip, but truthfully, with two small children, it is nice to know that there will be a nice place for us to have down time when it becomes apparent that they need it.

Each part of the trip that gets paid off gets me that much more excited for the trip, so taking care of the accommodations is a biggie.