janelle and phil vecchio

Put on your Disney World Vacation Pants – Family Edition, Part 1 of 6

| My Vacation Pants
Packing for our trip to Walt Disney World – 2015

My Vacation Pants will teach you how to take the most budget efficient trip to Walt Disney World with your family. Continue reading to find out how you too can plan the vacation of a lifetime without breaking the bank. This is part 1 in a series of 6.  This first post will give you the tips you need to book a Walt Disney World vacation.

Trip Overview
Imagine this:  My hubbs and I secretly booked a Disney World vacation for our kiddos.  We didn’t tell them anything.  They knew all about this fantastic place because we told them all about it.
(Being a past Disneyland Resort cast member, I had gone a few times before.  In my younger adulthood the only way I could afford to go was to take people on my Main Gate Pass, which worked for both the California Resorts and the Florida Resorts.  I will cover taking a cast member trip in another post.)
Back to the story: our flight to Florida left super early one morning.  The kids were asleep as we loaded them into the car.  We woke them up at the airport parking lot and told them the news.  They were so excited!  We felt like the BEST PARENTS EVER! It was hard to keep the trip a secret from them, but the reaction was so worth it.  It’s been one year since the day we took off on this fantastic trip, and I am ready to blog the pants off of this thing.  I can’t wait to give you all the tips I learned on my 7th time visiting this wonderful place.  This is part 1 of a series of 6 posts about Disney World.  This first post will prepare you on how to plan for a trip for Walt Disney World.  

Check out the video below to see our kids reactions to the BIG news.



Trip Itinerary

Overall this was an 8 night, 9 day trip.  I know you may be thinking, “Do I really want to spend 9 days at a theme park?”  Yes, yes you do.  If you want to immerse yourself in the full Disney World experience, you have to realize that you could stay a whole year here and NOT see all it has to offer.  The longer you stay, the more you will get to see and do.  Also, this ain’t a trip for the faint of heart.  You will NOT be relaxing much on this vacation if you want to get your money’s worth, so maybe plan a little down time after your trip to recover.  This was the longest Disney World trip we had ever taken, and it still went by in the flash of an eye.  

Day 1: Flew from Los Angeles, CA to Orlando, FL.  We took the complimentary airport shuttle, (Disney’s Magical Express) which is free if you stay in a Disney Property Hotel, straight to the resort. Plus we went into Disney Studios and the Magic Kingdom once we arrived.
Day 2:  Animal Kingdom
Day 3:  Disney Studios
Day 4:  EPCOT
Day 5:  Typhoon Lagoon Water Park and Downtown Disney (now called Disney Springs)
Day 6:  Magic Kingdom
Day 7: Changed hotels: We went from All-Star Music Resort to the Contemporary Resort and went to EPCOT
Day 8: Disney Studios and Magic Kingdom
Day 9: Magic Kingdom and then we flew back from Orlando, FL to Los Angeles, CA


MVP (My Vacations Pants) Trip Tip: Frontier Airlines, Spirit Airlines, Virgin America, and Jet Blue are some budget airlines that fly from major airports to Orlando for dirt cheap.  Check out those airlines.  Sometimes it is worth driving a couple hours to an airport if you are going to save hundreds of dollars on airfare.  

Trip Budget

My mother in-law was actually graduating from an online university during the time we took this trip.  Lo and behold, her school decided to hold the graduation at Walt Disney World Resort Hotel.  A cool part about Disney World is that many athletic competitions and conferences take place there.  This may be a time to combine work and pleasure to get a discount.  Discounts on tickets and hotel rooms extend to friends and family, so make sure you take advantage of this opportunity if it ever comes up.  We certainly did.  

  • Roundtrip Airfare to Orlando, FL from Los Angeles, CA- $456 a person- Eek!  You can definitely get the price of this down by using Google Flights.  Our problem was that we all had a very specific range of time we could go to Disney World, so we had to fly back on a very expensive day.  In the past I have flown to Orlando for under $200 a person.  You just have to have flexible dates.  The cool part of this was my mother and father in-law paid for our whole family to come out and see her graduate, so we didn’t have this cost out of our own pockets when we went, which was another reason we really wanted to go when we did.  
  • Airport Transfers – FREE  Mickey’s Magical Express is a free shuttle service from the Orlando Airport to the Walt Disney World Resort if you stay at any of the on resort properties, so take advantage of that.  
  • Tickets to the Parks – We bought 8 day park hoppers at the convention discount.  The ticket also included an extra ticket to Typhoon Lagoon, so that’s 9 days of fun for only $377 a person.  That works out to only $41 a day.  That’s some 1990s prices.  So find a conference at Disney World and get those discount tickets.  You know there has to be some kind of conference you want to go to.  
  • Hotels – We paid $81 a night for the All-Star Music Resort which is a Disney Value Resort.  You don’t spend much time in your room, so you might as well go cheap.  The resort was also offering discounted rooms at the Contemporary Resort for $169 a night for people who attended the graduation, so we changed hotel rooms at the end of our trip to take advantage of a deluxe resort deal for a HUGE discount (they are usually $400 a night). Our grand total for lodging was $824 for 8 nights of on property lodging.
MVP Trip Tip: I upgraded my Disneyland Premium Annual Pass to a Premier Pass.  The Premier Pass gives you admission to both the California and Florida resort properties (including the water parks).  It also included free parking.  If you plan on going for as long as we did or if you are taking two trips in a year, this is a fantastic deal.  You also get some discounts on merchandise and some restaurants in the park.  Just upgrade one person in your party and get discounts for the whole group. 
    Trip Grand Total – $4156 for a 9 day/8 night Walt Disney World Vacation!!!  This total is based on a family of four.  Two adults and two children (age 6 and 4 at time of our travels).  


    MVP Trip Tip:  We packed a suitcase of food for our trip.  There is no grocery store on site, and the food at the park and the hotels are expensive.  To cut down our food costs we pre-bought a bunch of snacks that would have cost us a fortune at the resort.  Don’t worry, we still got our eat on!!!  I will explain that more in a later post.  

    Trip Lodging

    • All-Star Music Resort – located on the WDW property.  This hotel is considered a value resort.  But come on, do you think Disney does anything half way?  This hotel is great! It is basically Disney’s rendition of a Best Western or Holiday Inn Express, complete with Mickey shaped toiletries and day and night Disney programming.  What makes it special:  The fact that you are just a short shuttle from all the parks is so convenient and fun.  We loved the pools and the outside decor.  
      Towel animals every night.

      Exterior jazz section of the All-Star Music

      The front of the hotel by the shuttle stops.

    • Contemporary Resort – located on the WDW property in walking distance to the Magic Kingdom Park.  This place is considered a deluxe resort.  Weirdly, after all is said and done, we preferred the value resort to the deluxe resort.  Don’t get me wrong, the murals and architecture were fantastic, but the shuttle system to the parks here was so disorganized and slow, and it was much more convenient and efficient at the All-Star resort.  At the budget resorts, there is a shuttle for each park and the shuttles come consistently, at the Contemporary resort, there was just one pick up location and no queue, so everyone just cut in front of everyone else.  The shuttles were far and few between.  The monorail was broken down every time we tried to use it and it almost made my mom in-law miss her graduation, so that was stressful.  Also, the monorail didn’t even run as late as the park was open, so we had to walk back late at night from the Magic Kingdom with two sleeping kiddos.  What makes it special:  It’s the closest park to the Magic Kingdom, so that was fun.  The monorail runs right through the hotel lobby.  That was cool when it was working.  They had a very fancy pool with pool activities and a water slide.  It definitely was a nice room as well.  Think of a Hilton or Sheraton, Disney style.  
      Bigger towel animals at the contemporary.

      The beds were more comfy. 

      It had a nice little sitting area. 

    Our view from the Monorail.  


    The Mary Blair murals were top notch. 


    So I may have been insanely excited that the monorail was finally working to take us back to our hotel.


    MVP Trip Tip:  Think about how much time you are actually going to be staying in a hotel room.  Do you really need somewhere fancy, or do you just need somewhere to rest your head?  I would opt for the value resorts if you want to save some moola.  


    BEFORE YOU GO – TIPS AND TRICKS

    If you want to get the most out of your Walt Disney World trip, you don’t want to wait until you get there to make decisions.  You need to plan, plan, plan to get the most bang for your buck.  This particular trip was relatively last minute.  We had less them a month to plan, and it did cost us some experiences.  Overall, we came out pretty good, but make sure you use the tips outlined below to really make things go smoother.  

    • My Magic + – As soon as you buy your tickets, sign up for a Walt Disney World account and start planning your experiences.  You can book your fastpasses and plan your dining reservations up to 30 days in advance if you are just going to the parks, or 60 days in advance if you are also staying at a Disneyland Resort hotel.  
    • Fastpass + – Once you make a Disney World account, go ahead and enter your ticket reservation code under the My Disney Experience tab and start booking those fastpasses.  These are FREE, so make sure you take advantage of them.  You can pre-book three fastpasses per person, per day at a park.  Choose the date and the park you are going to for that date, and it will list three tiers of rides.  One tier includes the big attractions (Space Mountain), the second tier is the medium attractions (Pirates of the Carribean), and the third tier is the attractions that usually have a very small wait time (Philharmagic Show).  Pick one in each of the categories and the hour window you want to go.  My tip would be to book the fastpasses earlier in the day because once you have used them all, you can download the Walt Disney World app and book more fastpasses for the same day, but you have to have used or let your first three reservations expire before you can do this.  These fastpass reservations will then be connected to your park ticket or Magic Band, and you will be on your way. Again, the Fastpass + is included with your theme park tickets or annual passes and is no extra cost to you, so make sure you take advantage.
    • Disney Dining – I will go into detail about where you need to eat later in this blog, but I beg you to make your dining reservations as soon as you possibly can.  The table service restaurants are so popular, and they fill up fast.  I did the math, and buying a dining plan is NOT worth it.  Do your own planning and you will save money and have the flexibility of eating where you want and when you want.  We did 1-2 table service restaurants a day.  The food is amazing and worth it, and the counter service restaurants cost almost as much as the counter service restaurants anyway.  
    • Magic Bands – It is worth ordering the Magic Bands rather then standard ticket cards.  The Magic Bands are waterproof electronic bracelets that work as your park ticket, hotel room key, fastpass reservation, and payment (if you choose to connect a credit card).  No more trying to dig around and find those park tickets or room keys, they are on your arm. This option is free with your park ticket purchase. 

      It was fun having the annual passholder Magic Band.

      Team Magic Band ready to get our WDW on!

    • Make sure you pack: 
      • Comfortable walking shoes – break them in before you come
      •  Mole skin – to cover blisters
      • Ziploc bags to put phones and electronic devices in on water rides, or when it rains
      • Ponchos – it rains a lot in Florida, and out of absolutely nowhere. (You know those old movies where it’s all sunny, and then suddenly there is a total down pour?  Well, that’s what it’s like in Florida.)
      •  A double stroller if you have young children – my kids were old enough to be out of a stroller when we went, but you walk A LOT for multiple days in a row, and I was sooooooooooooooo thankful my hubby made us bring the double
      • Dry snacks – there is no grocery store on resort property, and the snacks at the hotel are outrageously priced, so we bought a suitcase full of chips, granola bars, fruit snacks etc. and we were so thankful we did
      •  A portable charger – I recommend the lipstick sized one that Anker makes, it fully charged my phone from 0% each day, so I could keep snapping those pics, checking wait times, and making new fastpass reservations on the Walt Disney World App. Also, the resort has free wifi, so make sure you connect to that when you get to the resort property.
    • Mickey’s Magical Express – This is the name of the hotel shuttle that you take to the Walt Disney Resort property.  It is free to resort property hotel guests, but if fills up fast, so make sure you make your reservations a couple weeks in advance.  If you do, you get to take the shuttle fastpass line like we did.  We just waved our magic bands and presto, we were on the shuttle.  See how easy it was to use in the video below.  

    • Download the Walt Disney World App – It’s a great way to check wait times, show times, maps of the parks, and of course to make/change/modify  your fastpass + reservations.  Download it from home before you go, so you don’t have to use your cell phone data to do it.  The parks do have FREE wifi, but it does get spotty to use, and has a hard time downloading apps.  

    So that about does it for Part 1 of my Walt Disney World, Family Edition blog posts.  Check back later for more posts about this uh-mazing trip!!! 


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    Trip Links
    Walt Disney World Webpage – https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/
    Also click on headings in the post above.  I linked the important information you need above. 


      Put on your Cheap Cruise Deals Vacation Pants

      | My Vacation Pants


      On a 7 night/8 day Alaskan Cruise we booked through Vacations To Go for only $399 a person. -2009

      I want to tell you about an amazing website we have used in the past to find fantastic cruise deals.  In fact, for every cruise I find, I start here to make sure they don’t have a cheaper deal.  The website is called vacationstogo.com, and it is fantastic!!!  Let me walk you through how to find the cheapest cruise deals to anywhere you want to go.


      I have several websites I look at when I am booking my next vacation.  Google Flights (check out my recent post on that), Trip Advisor, and Travel Zoo to name a few, but if cruising to an exotic or magnificent destination is on your mind, then you need to check out  Vacations to Go!  They are able to offer great deals on cruises by buying in bulk and selling at a discount, or by booking last minute deals.  The website is pretty basic and has been around for awhile.  In fact, you can’t even book online, you have to call to book the cruises, which is old school, and I like to book old school every once in awhile.  The agents are so nice, and once you find one you like you can call their direct extension and book through them again. Follow my steps below to navigate your way through the website and cruise booking.

      Step 1: Go to vacationstogo.com and sign up by giving your e-mail address.  Don’t worry.  They just send you a few e-mails every week advertising their weekly deals.  I actually enjoy getting them to see what deals I could possibly get.  Then click on the upper left hand corner button labeled 90 day ticker.  This will bring you to a list of last minute deals that are 90 days, or less, away.


      Step 2:  Go ahead and scroll down the list and see if anything stands out to you.  They are divided by cruise regions.  The ports and destinations will vary.  Compare the two prices.  The first price listed is the brochure price, the 2nd price listed is the discounted rate offered on Vacations To Go.  The prices are per person, based on double occupancy, so sometimes if you have four people in a room, you can get it even cheaper per person.  Look below for some deals I found.  


      Another cool feature of the site is that once you are on the page above you can sort the cruises listed by price, sailing date, number of nights, discounted amount, and more.  Just click on the headings at the top of the page. 

      Here it is sorted by price.  $199 for a cruise through the Caribbean. Nice!


      Here is the list sorted by number of nights.

      Then there is the super duper advanced search.  This is how you find the cheapest cruise for the time of the year you want to go.  Go ahead and scroll to the bottom of the 90 day ticker.  There is a simple search if you want to look for cruises that aren’t confined to being only 90 days away, but I like the more advanced search.  Click on custom search.  

      I usually put in a window of time that I can cruise and put in a price limit.  You can also put in regions and other specifications, but sometimes I just want to find the cheapest cruise for the time of year I can go.  

      Here is the list that came up with my parameters.  I do love that there is $179 cruise leaving from the area I live.  Hmmmm, maybe I need to go on a little cruise.  



      Step 3:  Once you find some interesting cruises click on the info link on the left-hand side of the page to get the itinerary and extra details.  Sometimes there are even some extra deals that were not listed on the first page.  Notice the red print on the cruise listed below.  
      You can get a 7 night/8 day cruise through the Caribbean and South America for $350 a person.  $332 if you are a teacher.  They have a profile page that you can fill out, so you can get further discounts.  Notice you also get a free beverage package. What?!  That’s a fantastic deal.  Many cruise lines only include tea and water for free, so if you want sodas and other beverages, you  have to purchase a costly beverage package per person.  So, including the beverage package in the cruise purchase is a great deal!  Also, remember all your food, entertainment, and lodging is covered in the price of the cruise.  

      Not sure about the cruise line?  Click on the name of the boat at the top of page (in blue). It gives you sorts of important information about the boat.  Check out the ship rating and see what kinds of facilities the boat has. 
      See below.


      Step 4:  So after you have found the cruise you want to go on, go ahead and call the phone number.  Give them the fast deal# listed at the top of the cruise itinerary.
      Talk to a nice vacation planner about the cruise.  They will talk to you about the cruise, get your passenger information, and price the cruise with taxes and fees.  If you have more than two people there may even be a discount, because usually 3rd and 4th passengers are cheaper then the first two passengers (and sometimes even free!).  You can book right away with the vacation planner, or you can hold the cruise for a day to think about it. I usually will then contact the cruise line directly to see if they can offer a better deal.  Sometimes they do, in which case I’ll book with them directly.  But sometimes the Vacations to Go price is better, and I book through them. 

      Well, that’s about it!  That’s all you need to do to book the cruise of a lifetime. So put on those cheap cruise deal vacation pants and set sail on your next adventure.  

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      Put on your Hotwire Hotel Deal Vacation Pants

      | My Vacation Pants
      Hotel Rosedale in Bakersfield, CA.  Found for only $45 bucks a night on Hotwire. 

      This time My Vacation Pants teaches you how to find super cheap “secret” hotels using Hotwire.com.  Read on to find out how easy it is to find a deal on a hotel anywhere you want to travel to. 


      It’s time to start teaching you all how to find some great hotel deals on the internet.  One website I have used many, many times is called Hotwire.  The premise of Hotwire is that you select your criteria, dates, location, star level, and they give you a list of several “secret” hotels.  You select the one that looks most appealing, and only after you enter your credit card information and pay for it do they reveal the name of the hotel.  Scary, I know.  I was a little hesitant to try this website at first as well.  I thought, surely, they are tricking me.  They say I am only paying $49 a night for a three star, but it will turn out to be a dump for sure.  Well after years of using Hotwire to book my hotels, I am happy to say that I have found countless deals at otherwise unaffordable hotels.  The site works.  However, you do have to know your way around the website, so I’ll walk you through how to book a killer hotel deal.  


      Step 1:  Go to www.hotwire.com and click on the hotel tab. 


      MVP (My Vacation Pants) Travel Tip:  The website offers hotels, rental cars, and flights, but I have always found the best deals using the hotel function.  I have also rented cars through hotwire a couple times too, but I seem to find better deals when I book my flights, hotels, and rental cars separately, and not together.  

      Go ahead and fill in your information.  Put in a destination, dates, number of rooms, and number of people.  When my kids were babies, I would just put two people in, but now that they are older I count them.  They guarantee a sleeping space for each person you list.  So if you want two beds, you are going to to need to put at least three people in to the search engine.  I have made the mistake of just putting in two people and we get to the hotel to find out they only have rooms with one queen bed.  You can sometimes find cheaper deals for only two people, but it is worth paying a little extra to make sure you have a spot for everyone.  Now ,click the big red button.  

      Step 2:  Now let me show you how to select the perfect hotel.  I stay in Anaheim, CA a lot because we got to Disneyland a lot, so that is the search criteria I put in for this example.  I also selected four people.  This is what came up.  


      The list on the left hand side will list Hotwire’s Top Picks first.  Sometimes it is a great deal, but you can do better.  Go ahead and make sure the tab on the top says you are on the hot rate hotels page, then right below it click “sort by” and then click “price: low to high”.  This will now list your hotels in order from absolute cheapest to most expensive.  

      Also, if you are not familiar with the area you are booking a hotel in, there is a map of regions on the right.  You can click the highlighted green area, and only the hotels in that area will show up on the left. You can select more then one region, so keep selecting until you have all the areas you would choose.  I usually leave it open because sometimes it is worth driving 30 minutes or so for a great deal.  Sometimes you have to be close because you don’t have a car, so choose accordingly.  


      So after changing my filter and making my list in order from cheapest to most expensive, I scrolled past all the one and two star hotels until I hit the first three star or higher hotel.  Wow!  I just found a three star hotel near Disneyland (Buena Park is the city next to Anaheim), for only 50 bucks a night.  But before you book it, there are some more things to look for before selecting a secret hotel.  First, make sure it is listed as the star level you prefer.  I find that the Hotwire hotels we have booked are well rated, and do seem to match the star level listing.  We have been burned picking star levels lower then three, but if we stay in the three stars above we are usually happy.  Now you can be dangerous and book a two and half star and get some amazing deals, but make sure you look at the percentage recommended.  If it is lower than 85 percent, don’t do it.  Or be daring and do it, sometimes you can find a hidden little gem by taking a risk.  It’s up to you.

      Okay back to my find, notice that this is an all-suites hotel (that is super exciting because that means every room will have a kitchenette, a couch, and bed, so that is fun).  Also notice, it has free internet, and free parking listed in its amenities section.  If it is not listed as free they may charge for parking and internet.  Now the only thing that could spice this deal up a little more is being closer to Disneyland and having free breakfast.  Let’s continue to scroll.  


      Here is one on the list that is $69 a night, but it is much closer to Disneyland.  It has free internet and free parking, but still lacks free breakfast.  It does have a high rating, but not enough to tempt me.


      I scrolled a little more and found two that have free internet, free parking, and free breakfast, but I wouldn’t book this because they are way more expensive than my $50 find, and it’s only 30 percent recommended.  I wouldn’t risk it with ratings that low.  


      This could be an option if I needed free breakfast and wanted to be closer.  I can feed my family breakfast for less than $32 dollars a night though, so I would probably pass. 


      This is the cheapest three and half star option.  I understand some people (A.K.A. my mother in-law) don’t like booking lower then a certain star level.  I get it.  Live it up, but please get a good deal.  


      Here are some affordable 4 star options.


      And for those of you that have to have a 5 star stay, you can book these for normally $500 – $800 night rooms for much cheaper.  Even rich people want a good deal, right? 

      So all in all, I would stick with my initial find of $50 a night for an all suite hotel, with free parking and free breakfast, and with good reviews.  





      Step 3:  Book your hotel.  Go ahead and click on the hotel in the list.  The above screen will pop up.  It gives you an idea of what possible hotel brands you might get.  If you are still comfortable with the names listed, go ahead and click book now.  Now look at the picture below,  it also gives you a list of hotel features, and a chance to upgrade to a room you would like.  It’s usually cheapest to let the hotel choose your room for you.  Remember, they will give you enough sleeping places for the number you listed in your room search, so if you put four people, you‘re not going to get a room with just a queen bed.  I know it seems stressful to choose the unknown, but I‘m telling you, it works.  


      One final thing you can check before you book your secret hotel is the Trip Advisor ratings that are listed on the site.  Trip Advisor is one of my favorite travel sites because it gathers reviews and gives pretty accurate ratings for a hotel (I’ll do a Trip Advisor post in the future).  Sometimes I cross check the site to see if I can figure out what hotel it might be. If I go to Trip Advisor and look up the three star Buena Park All Suite Hotels that have three and half circles, then compare the amenities available, I can often figure out the secret.  This is for those of you that just can’t stand the unknown.  As I said before, I know it is hard to book blind, but with this little trick you may not have to.  You are definitely lowering the risk factor with a little detective work.  If you’re still comfortable, go ahead and click “book now.”

        
      At this time, Hotwire will ask you to sign in to your account, or sign up for an account.  This is what the final page before booking looks like.  Make sure you check that the rate is correct.  Also, this is the first time they will show you how much your room will be with taxes and fees.  $10 dollars is not bad at all.  If the hotel charges a resort fee, it will tell you that you pay that directly to the hotel once you get there.  Another plus about this hotel is that even though it is in a resort area, it does not charge a resort fee.  Awesome!


      Click “book now”.  Your credit card will be charged and your hotel will be booked.

      Now, the name of your hotel will be revealed.  Voila, this is what I got.  Looks nice to me!  You can now check out the listing on Trip Advisor for the hotel you booked to make sure you got a deal.  Which, from the looks of it, I did!!! 

      Still not convinced? Take a look at the list of past hotel purchases we have made on Hotwire:

      • Holiday Inn Resort, Galveston, TX, three stars, $77 a night, January 2016
        Super nice pool right across from the ocean.


        The pier is nearby too.  Phil is pointing out his excitement.



        Look at the view from our balcony. #handsome



        We definitely got a pool view.


        Combined with an ocean view.  Nice. 


        This is the view from the corridor.  We were getting on that Disney Cruise Ship in the distance. 
      • Staybridge Suites – Austin Airport, Austin, TX, three stars, $84 a night, January 2016
        The kids eating breakfast from their couch bed.


        Gotta love a breakfast bar with Texas shaped malted waffles. 
      • Hotel Rosedale, Bakersfield, CA, three stars, $45 a night, December 2015
        Great Breakfast.  Malted waffles make me happy. 

        The hotel corridors were unique.

        Yep, that’s a teeter totter at a hotel.  


        The pool area.  Nice hot tub. 


        The patio area with a pool view.
      • Hyatt Place, Phoenix, AZ, three stars, $65 a night, December 2015
        Phil had a brothers night.  A perfect place for a bro getaway. 
      • ALO Hotel by Ayres, Garden Grove, CA, 3 and 1/2 stars, $80 a night, October 2015
      • Crowne Plaza, San Diego, CA, 3 and 1/2 stars, $89 a night, July 2015


        My daughter enjoying a book in the comfy bed. 
      • Best Western Plus – Flathead Lake, Kallispell, MT – 2 and a 1/2 stars, $99 a night, June 2015
        This place was great.  They had cheese blintzes at breakfast and a great view. 
      • Wyndham – Anaheim Garden Grove, CA, 3 and 1/2 stars, $79 a night, April 2015
        Once I found out that I had gotten this place on Hotwire, I called and asked if they would upgrade us to the bunk bed rooms, and lo and behold, they did!
      • Best Western Casa Grande, Arroyo Grande, CA, 2 stars, $85 a night, March 2015
        Cute little breakfast nook area.


        The lobby was super amazing looking.


        The grand stair case in the lobby. 
      • Desert Palms Hotel and Suites, Anaheim, CA, 3 stars, $66 a night, January 2015
      • Aquarius Casino Resort, Laughlin, NV, 3 and a 1/2 stars, $35 a night, November 2014
      • Holiday Inn Express, San Diego, CA, 3 stars, $65 a night, October 2014
        Any hotel that  has a  bed that can fit a family of 4 for a selfie is a friend of ours.
      • Ayres Suites, Corona, CA, 3 and a 1/2 stars, $55 a night, August 2014
      • Embassy Suites, Brea, CA, 3 and a half stars, $69 a night, July 2014
        We love Embassy Suites.  They all have an amazing jungle atrium lobbies with fantastic breakfasts and they are an all suite hotels.  Plus this time, they upgraded us for free.  Nice touch.  
      • Holiday Inn Express, Show Low, CA, 3 stars, $70 a night, March 2014
        We enjoyed the inside bridge between the buildings.


        Totem Pole
        It also had a small little playground.  Great for young kiddos. 



      • Prescott Hotel and Conference Center, Prescott, AZ, 3 and 1/2 stars, $69 a night, March 2014
        Hanging poolside.


        Sweet indoor pool that we got all to ourselves.


        Enjoying the hotel furniture.


        This was the view from the back terrace of the hotel.  Prescott is beautiful.  It sits on a hilltop, so you can see everything.


        Look a this kid.  He’s so cool, and so is the nice bed.
      • Luxor Resort, Las Vegas, NV, 4 stars, $34 a night, July 2013
        The lobby.

        In front of the hotel.


        Poolside.
        What a steal!  My mom got us an upgrade for $34 bucks a night.  Cheapest I’ve ever paid for a 4 star hotel.
      • Colton Inn, Monterey, CA, 2 and a 1/2 stars, $102 a night, June 2013
      • Holiday Inn, Santa Maria, CA, 3 stars, $64 a night, June 2013
        My bro in law made some killer breakfast burritos here. 


        Huge rooms. 
      • Ramada, Hagerstown, MD, 3 stars, $56 a night, March 2013
      • Doubletree Hotel, Wilmington, DE, 3 and a 1/2 stars, $66 a night, March 2013
      • Best Western Plus – Chincoteague Island, VA, 2 and a 1/2 stars, $54 a night, March 2013
        The kiddos insist on making little beds out of hotel furniture. 


        Chincoteague Island is known for their wild ponies that roam the island.  We found some Un-wild ponies across the street from the hotel. 
      • The Padre Hotel – Bakersfield, CA, 3 and a 1/2 stars, $56 a night, December 2012
        This was such a cool hotel.  It was an old hotel all glammed up for a new age.
      • Best Western Seven Seas, San Diego, CA, 3 stars, $45 a night, December 2012
        Sometimes, if you are real sweet, they will upgrade you to a suite with a hot tub.  That’s always fun.  
      • Knott’s Berry Farm Resort Hotel, Buena Park, CA, 3 and a 1/2 stars, $55 a night, November 2012
      • Sheraton Hotel, Cerritos, CA, 3 and a 1/2 stars, $66 a night, April 2012

      Well, there you have it.  What are you waiting for?  Go book a hotel and then come back and tell me about the amazing deal(s) you found! 

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      Put on your Treehouse Hotel Vacation Pants

      | My Vacation Pants
      Out ‘n About Treesort located in Talkilma, Oregon. -2011

      The Vacation Pants family goes on a unique trip to Medford Oregon.  Included in this budget friendly trip are stays in a treehouse resort, beach hikes, Star Wars filming locations and, good food.


      Trip Overview
      This is probably the trip that I get asked about the most.  Interestingly enough we took this trip in March of 2011, right after I had our second child, Luke.  He was only five months old at the time.  It was our first BIG trip as a new family of four.  I was working part-time and we had very little money.  We got some money back from our tax refund (a great way to take a trip) and we wanted to use the money to go somewhere far, but cheap.  Using Google Flights, we found the cheapest possible place to fly during our time off. (This is how we plan a lot of our trips.  More on that later). In this case, a flight to the town of Medford, Oregon popped up for $138 round trip, including all taxes and fees.  We knew nothing about the area, but we were intrigued.  With airfare that cheap, we could take a week long trip for less than our tax refund. So we looked to see what there is to do in and around Medford, Oregon.  That is when we found the Out ‘n About Treesort in Talkilma.  The treesort is located about an hour outside of Medford.  We were amazed that we could stay in a real treehouse, so that sold the trip for us.  We ended up renting a car and doing a little road trip around Southern Oregon and Northern California that I will go in to great detail about.

      Trip Itinerary

      Overall this was a 6 day, 5 night trip.  The cheapest days to fly are usually Tuesdays and Wednesdays.  So often this determines the length of our trip.

      Day 1: Flew from Los Angeles, CA to Medford, OR.  We stayed at a local motel in Grants Pass.
      Day 2:  Traveled to Talikma, Oregon to stay at the Out ‘n About Treesort.
      Day 3: Traveled to Crescent City, CA to stay at the Curly Redwood Lodge
      Day 4/5: Crescent City, CA
      Day 6: Traveled back to Medford, OR to depart from the airport to return home.

      Google Map It – Click a link for a map to the round trip road trip we took from the Medford, OR airport.

      Trip Budget

      Remember we go places that are cheap at the time of our vacation.  Prices will vary, but this is what we paid at the time in March of 2011.

      • Airfare – $138 per person, round trip, from Los Angles, CA to Medford, OR.  We booked the airfare through Allegiant Airlines.
      • Rental Car – $203 dollars for whole trip.  It was an Avis Rental Car that we booked on priceline.com.  It was the lowest published price at the time.  We booked an economy car with unlimited mileage.  They did not have free additional drivers at Avis, so I joined their rewards program for free, and one of the perks is a free additional driver, so both my husband and I were able to drive the car.
      MVP (My Vacations Pants) Trip Tip: Find out what works best for you and your family BEFORE leaving on your trip. It is easy to get stressed when traveling, especially with small children.  My husband, Phil and I have roles on our vacation that we very much stick to.  For example, I do all the clothes packing for out trips, but Phil brings in all the luggage when we get to a hotel.  Phil does most of the driving on road trips, I navigate on google maps, and use my Trip Advisor app to find good places to eat. Also, if we are all cozy in a hotel room, I run out and get us some food in the rental car.  That’s why I sign up for additional driver.  This is what works for us, what works for you?
      • Gas – You can estimate how much gas you are going to use on a trip by using https://www.fueleconomy.gov/.  All you do is put in your itinerary in the map section.  Put what kind of car you will be driving and the website will give you a pretty amazing estimate of how much money you will be spending on the gas.  For the entire trip, driving an economy car, it will be about $14.70.  I am going to round up to $25.00 for the cost of side trips, and then you have to fill up the tank before you return it to the rental car place, so I calculate for this amazing road trip it will cost about $50 for the entire trip.  
      MVP Trip Tip: Don’t prepay for your gas at the rental car place.  It is usually way more expensive than gas you can get right outside of the airport.  
      • Hotel – $307 for a five night trip.  The most expensive lodging is obviously the Treesort.  Also note, that since we went in March (summer months are their more expensive months) the Treesort was way more affordable.  
      • Activities – 
        • Jedidiah Smith State Park – $8
        • Ocean World – $12.95 a person, but kids under 3 get in free, so our kids were free at the time.  Children ages 3-11 are $7.95 a person.  
        • Bowling – We spent about $25 for shoe rentals for three, and two games of bowling.  Go midday during a weekday for the best deals.  
      Trip Grand Total – $1041 – This total is based on 2 adults, one child, and one infant in your travel party.


      MVP Trip Tip:  I don’t include food in our trip budgets because you have to eat every day anyway.  Food should already be in your budget at home.  You may spend more on eating out on vacation, but you can also go to a local grocery store and brown bag it.  We do a combination of both on our trips and we wind up spending close to what we spend at home for a week.

      Trip Lodging

      • Buona Sera Inn, located in Grants Pass, Oregon.  This was cute little motel with uniquely decorated rooms.  We thought it was perfect for a one night stay.  What makes it special: It has beautiful murals painted around the hotel and cute rooms that are all decorated in their own unique theme.  I can’t remember what we paid for it, but you can book a room through their website for $52 a night right now.  Don’t forget about these independently run inns and motels.  Many of them are hidden, affordable gems. 
      • Out ‘n About Treesort, located in Talkima, Oregon.  We stayed in the Treezebo.  This was truly a unique and memorable experience.  You had to take a series of rope bridges and staircases to your room 45 feet above the ground.  You can then use a pulley system to lift your luggage to your room.  The room has a sink and a toilet, but showers are down on the ground in a shower house.  There are some treehouse rooms that do have a private shower, but they cost a lot more.  What makes it special:  You are staying in an actual treehouse for goodness sakes!  It is like a Swiss Family Tree House dream come true.  They also have several activities at the treesort like a swimming hole, ropes course, giant swings, fire pit, etc.  Fun for the whole family.  We only stayed one night because the place books up far in advance, so we got a last minute room there.  We paid $125 for the one night.
         
         
      • Curly Redwood Lodge located in Crescent City, California.  Their website links do not work, so you have to call to book a room.  At the time we called and they gave us a large room with two queen beds for $65 a night. Here is a tip: if you cannot book online because they don’t have those capabilities, you can often get some killer deals.  What makes it special:  It is right across the street from the harbor. All of the wood in the hotel was made from one huge curly redwood tree that produced over 57,000 feet of lumber.  It’s a marvel to be seen.  

         





      Trip Activities

      • The treehouse resort has built in activities that are included in your stay.  We explored the grounds and found a ropes course, a swimming hole (it is closed in the winter, or at least too cold to go in), trails to hike around, rope bridges and swings, a net play area, a campfire etc. 

         

         

      • Tsunami Lanes – We went bowling.  Bumper bowling is especially fun on a rainy evening.  
      • Beachfront Park – Amazing park with fort like structures and super amazing swings for young children.  THIS PARK WAS FREE!!!

         

      • Ocean World – It was very small aquarium in Crescent City, but fun for our young children.  They have a touch tank and a seal show.  

         

         

         

         

         

      • Crescent Beach – We walked on the beach and had a blast.  It was a beautiful walk.  

       

       

       

       
      • Jedidiah Smith Redwood State Park – We went here and it was like driving through the Ewok planet in Return of the Jedi.  Why?  Because this area is where those scenes in the movie were shot!  Gorgeous foliage and beautiful, huge, and ancient redwood trees.  It cost $8 for our whole vehicle to drive through the park.  



      Trip Eats

      • Chart Room Marina and Restaurant – This was our splurge for the trip.  The restaurant is situated right on the water and it was right across the street from the hotel.  The food was good, but pricey, but we know you’re paying for waterfront dining as well.  Kid Friendly:  YES. They brought Audrey a jar of crayons and some coloring pages.  
      • Wild River and Brewing Company – We knew this was a local hangout as soon as we walked in.  The pizza was good and I didn’t get any weird stares from breastfeeding my son in public.  They also had a fun little hike right in the parking lot, so that was cool too.  


      Overall this was a fantastic trip that you will not regret taking with your young family.  I mean, come on, don’t you want to be one of the few people that has stayed in a treehouse hotel?  People asked us all throughout the trip why we would fly to Medford, Oregon on vacation,  but you can see from these pictures that it was a world class trip in an unexpected location.  It is a testament to the fact that there is adventure everywhere, you just have to look for it.
      This was also an important trip for our little family because I wanted my kiddos to be trained at a young age on traveling and adventuring.  Now my kids are 7 and 5 years old and they have been to many cool places.  They love hotels and they love traveling.  I think it all comes back to this trip that I took my 2 year old and my 5 month old on.  It was a fantastic introduction.  

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      Trip Links
      http://www.tripadvisor.com/members/Vecchio7
      https://www.allegiantair.com/
      http://treehouses.com/joomla/index.php/treesort
      https://www.google.com/flights/

      Put on MY VACATION PANTS and take a trip to everywhere

      | My Vacation Pants

      Let me take a moment to introduce myself.  My name is Janelle Vecchio, and I am a wife, mom, and a teacher.  After those three things I’m an avid traveler, but not in the typical sense of the word.  My husband and I like to plan travel to new and exciting destinations with our daughter and son, but we do it for very cheap, and you would actually never know it.  



      We post our pictures on social media and we always get tons of, “Can you be my travel agent?”  or “How do you find these amazing places?”  A friend’s mom who follows our journeys on social media was talking to her son and asked him, “How do Phil and Janelle take such amazing vacations all the time?  Are they rich?”  The funny part is we are “rich” in many ways, but not really financially.  We are a single income family.  I’m a teacher.  Our family of 4 has lived off my income only since 2008 when our first child was born.  My husband is an amazing stay at home Dad.  We chose this life together because we didn’t want our children to go to Day Care.  We wanted our children to be raised by us.  Teachers technically only work 182 days a year, so I get a lot of time off to adventure.  One of my favorite things to do when I am off work is to leave home and go somewhere.  It doesn’t have to be far.  I guarantee there are adventures in your own backyard that you haven’t discovered yet.  Vacation is what you make of it.  It is adventure.  It is fun.  It is spending time with the people you love the most near or far.  

      If you came to my house, which we do own, you would notice that not much has changed since we purchased it in 2010.  We do not need a fancy remodeled house. We do not buy new furniture.  I do not buy jewelry.  I don’t wear make-up.  I don’t buy expensive clothes.  I don’t drink Starbucks unless someone buys me a gift card.  We choose to spend our extra income (the little we have) on traveling.  I am not saying that it is for everyone.  We take about three to four BIG trips a year, and countless mini-vacations.  We are extremists, but even if you chose to cut back in one area to travel, you can afford to take a trip as well.  

      In this day and age, it is hard to make a living as a travel agent.  I book most of my trips on the internet, along with my husband helping on his computer.  I thought this blog would be a better way to get my information out to the masses for FREE.  I can’t wait for you to put on your vacation pants and travel with me.  I plan on writing about many vacations we have taken in the past, and giving you a behind the scenes look of how I booked it, what we did, how we played, and where we ate.  Here are some pics of our trips we took in 2015, so you can get a quick idea of where this family goes.  Hope you guys are ready to join in on the fun! 

      Sea World, San Diego- 2015


      Coronado Island- 2015

      San Diego Botanical Garden- 2015

      Phil had a panel at Comic Con San Diego, 2015.

      We have a reciprocal pass to Botanical Gardens around the United States and Canada.

      Pirate Ship Cruise, Big Bear Lake- 2015

      Big Bear History Museum- 2015

      We have Disneyland Resort passes, so we go a lot. 

      A vacation in itself, eating chicken and waffles at the Roscoe’s in Anaheim, CA, 2015.

      Big Thunder Mountain, Disneyland- 2015

      Mickey’s Halloween Party- 2015

      Duffy Boat Rental, Newport Beach, CA- 2015

      Sometimes we like to dress in a nautical theme for our ocean trips. 

      Legoland California, Carlsbad- 2015

      Skipping Rocks, Parker, AZ- 2015.

      Hiking in Grapevine Canyon, NV- 2015

      We were craving churros one night so we went to Disneyland after work and school.

      Banyan Grove, South Coast Botanical Garden- 2015.

      We went to Disney World this year.  We are huge Disney fans and we know how to do Disney vacations as cheap as humanly possible.  

      All-Star Music Resort, Lake Buena Vista, Florida- 2015

      Late Night at the Magic Kingdom.  They let hotel guests stay late one night a week.  

      Cinderella’s Castle, Magic Kingdom 2015.

      Dolphin and whale watching cruise, Newport, CA- 2015

      Aquarium of the Pacific, Long Beach, CA- 2015

      Pirate’s Dinner Adventure, Buena Park, CA- 2015

      Spring Break Road Trip- 2015

      Solvang, CA- 2015

      Giant Bird House in Arroyo Grande, CA- 2015

      Pismo Beach Boardwalk Hike- 2015

      Sunset at Pismo Beach, CA- 2015

      Believe it or not, this is an urban hike in the middle of downtown Arroyo Grande, CA.

      Pismo Beach, CA- 2015

      World Famous Splash Cafe clam chowder bowls, Pismo Beach, CA- 2015.

      Stayed at the Madonna Inn in San Luis Obispo, CA.

      The Sky Room, Madonna Inn- 2015

      Late night swimming at the infinity pool at the Madonna Inn- 2015 

      Bubble Gum Alley, San Luis Obispo- 2015

      Morro Bay, CA- 2015

      Tide Pools just outside of Morro Bay- 2015 

      Montana De Oro State Park, CA- 2015


      Elfin Forest Preserve- 2015 


      Whale Watching off the coast of Newport Beach- 2015.  We also saw a humpback whale.  

      Los Angeles Arboretum, Arcadia, CA- 2015


      Late night trip to Disneyland.  One of the cast members swept the leaves into a Mickey.  Disney magic at its finest.

      Forever Wild Exotic Animal Sanctuary, Phelan, CA- 2015 

      Cabrillo Marine Aquarium, San Pedro, CA- 2015

      Hidden waterfall hiking trail I found searching for hikes on google maps, Kalispell, MT- 2015

      Sanpoint, ID- 2015

      Cedar Walk at Glacier National Park, MT- 2015

      Continental Divide, Glacier National Park, MT- 2015

      Found a mountain goat hiking in Glacier National Park- 2015

      My son, Luke, on top of the world in Glacier National Park, MT- 2015

      We were a short drive to a Canadian province we had never been to before on a recent trip to Montana.  Here we are eating at a Dairy Queen, the only thing open at the border town when we got there, eating poutine.  

      Rafting on Flathead Lake, Montana- 2015

      Hiking at a campsite in Idywild, CA- 2015

      Sleeping Beauty’s Castle, Anaheim, CA- 2015

      Overlooking Kalispell, MT on a short hike.  

      We like to clean up trash on our local trails in Yucaipa, CA.

      Spokane, WA- 2015 
      The wonderment of the Elfin Forest Preserve in Morro Bay, CA, 2015.


      These are just the major trips we took this year, not counting day trips and local adventures.  I hope now you to take me seriously when I say my family loves to travel.  This is just traveling that we have done this year.  We are passionate about it and we love it.  Over the course of this blog I will post in detail about these trips.  Please comment about what you want to see more of in upcoming posts.  Until the next adventure…