Well, considering it costed us over $1200 just to get into the park, and the price of restaurants, and the extra crap we bought the girls, and our condo...it was expnsive trip. In Europe we use VRBO (our 2 bedroom with wraparound balcony in Hopferau Germany was $70 per night), a rental car (less than $500 for the entire duration of the trip), and even visiting Neuschanstein, the castle Disney used to model their castle, was less than $20 for all of us to tour since kids get in for free...Europe can be done without breaking the bank. We've traveled around Europe over a dozen times and have neve dropped the kind of money we spent on a short Disney trip. Like anywhere else, you can spend a lot in Europe but we travel off season and stay in smaller towns to save money.

We had fast passes (very necessary, even during the first week of March when we were there, IMO. Otherwise many of the more interesting rides would be out because none of us would stand in like for an hour for anything) for three rides each day. We were able to walk right on a few rides. We spent one day in the MK, one at Epcot (split the day by going back to condo for the afternoon), a free day (no parks) and a final day at MK in which we left at 3. IMHO, which I know doest match the majority, even without the fast passes and lunch reservation, I just found it hectic. I personally don't like standing in line, don't like the heat, and don't like crowds. Most theme parks are hectic. It's the nature of the beast and not just Disney. Just not my thing which I knew going in. I, however, assumed my girls would find it wonderful and magical. They did not. Many rides involve a moving car through dark tunnels/caves (Winnie the Pooh, Ariel, even the People Mover) and my ASD SPD daughter was completely freaked out. She ended up hanging on me all day because was scared and didn't want to ride any more of the rides, which meant I was taking pain meds for the rest of the trio because my back hurt. My other daughter was just kind of like "meh...can I have an $$$$ Mickey Mouse ___ (insert expensive food item or balloon)". She liked the rides but was never overly excited about any of it. We probably could have done things differently, schedule wise, but that wouldn't have changed my scared daughter or somewhat uninterested other daughter. It's fine. To each their own, as they say. Given the price and the underwhelming response I don't feel the need to give it a second shot. As I mentioned in another post, our 2.5 week trip to Switzerland, Germany and France a few months ago was almost the same price as our 5 day Disney trip (minus airfare, though we used FF miles) and much more our speed. Glad we gave Disney a try but its just not for us.

My girls have at least 7-8 night gowns/PJ sets per warm/cold weather season. We home school in our jammies so they are in them all morning. Because of this they don't typically re-wear the same ones prior to a washing. They like the cutesy princess and unicorn jammies.

I want to make a chore chart for my 7.5 year old girls. I admit I'm probably starting this late. I'm a type-A "I want it done right so I'll do it myself" kind of mom but making a serious effort to let go of some of that. I'm also guilty of underestimating what they can do, probably because I'm in denial that they are going into second grade ;) So, what kind of chores can I realistically add to the chart? I plan on adding making beds, putting clothes away (as needed), cleaning up their messes daily, reading daily, unloading the dishwasher (as needed) and feeding the cat. Anything else I should/could add? For those of you that have your children help in the kitchen, how do they reach the upper cabinets? Do you move things around so they can get to them easier? My girl are short for their ages (5th percentile) and can't really reach, even with a stepstool. Thanks!

We used a travel agent (a good friend who goes to Disney multiple times a year) and websites of spring break dates last year when picking our dates. We were not there during a typical spring break time. The hotel prices were lower and, again, they also offers the free meal plans. I imagine it was crowded "not crowded" by WDW standards. We were able to walk on a few things with little to no wait. But overall the park, at least to us, felt very busy. Having never been to Disney before, though, I don't really have any comparison.

We didn't spend 3 days in a row. We did MK the first day, Epcot the next, took a break from the parks for a day (our favorite day lol) and spent one more day at MK. The last day we only had to worry about fast passes and had no dining reservations and by 3pm my girls were just over it. Its just hectic IMO. People everywhere, lines, the heat (even in early March). My girls weren't overly impressed with the rides (as I said, the darker rides scared my SPD ASD child). They were more interested in the $$ balloons, treats and so forth.

Thank you so much! I feel a sense of relief! I purchased grammaropolis through homeschooled buyers co-op, which looks fun and was very inexpensive. Also purchased Sentence Family. We will use those loosely next year and I plan to reassess what we use for formal grammar when I'm ready to add it back in. Leaning towards MCT or LLATL but I have plenty of time to figure that out. In the interim we will just focus on our other LA subjects and I all continue to stress correct sentence structure and punctuation.

Tadpole, southern IL and NC. I have heard of pollywog too, but we always just call them tadpoles.

We went the first week in March last year. Supposedly off season, and the MK was at 50% capacity and there were 90 minute waits for the Peter Pan ride and to see Ariel. They offered free meal plans for park hotel guests (we didn't partake as we stayed in a condo off-site) during the time we were there which seems geared to increase visitors during "off season". I couldn't imagine being there during peak season. I'm not one for crowds though.

I will follow up and say that I'm glad we experienced it, even if it didn't go quite as planned. I can fully appreciate the environment they created and all of the little details everywhere. And we all loved the Mickey pancakes! :)

We just got back from Europe last month and, outside of the airfare, 2.5 weeks in Switzerland, France and Germany cost about the same as our 5 night Disney trip. When I think about that I have a difficult time imagining we'll ever go back. Too many places to see, too little time!

Apparently so! I know a family who goes every year, stays on the park, and pretty much never leaves. We went for 4 days, of which 3 were spent between the Magic Kingdom and Epcot. That was enough for us. I wish we would have checked out Legoland, which would probably be more their speed. I personally couldn't imagine doing Disney only or an entire week.

One thing I learned on that trip was that my girls definitely enjoy vacations that are more laid back without a packed itinerary. Getting them up and ready to get to Disney when they opened, having to be at x at a certain time for a lunch reservation or having to be at this section of the part for fast passes didn't work out well. We are much more of a laid back family, especially on vacation, and that part was annoying to all of us. I know you can do WDW without the schedules, but we were only there for 3 days and wanted to make the most of our trip.

My post was on Disney World resort itself, not a general Orlando vacation. We chose not to do anything else in Orlando, even though there is plenty to see/do, because the second half of our vacation was spent in St. Augustine.

AGREED! I thought my girls were at a good age, but in retrospect we probably could have waited a year or two. I couldn't imagine taking them any younger than we did. It's ridiculously expensive as is...if they are too young to get anything out of it then what's the point?!

Ours, in NC, is angel. The spelling is rather obvious to me (do people spell it "angle"?) so I'm kind of scratching my head at that one! I got a pretty good chuckle at Wisconsin's as well!

I seen Disney mentioned several times in the vacation thread so I'm curious. We took a vacation to WDW last year with our at-the-time 6.5 year old girls. They did not really like it. Yes, my princess-loving girls did not care for Disney. The each liked certain components, but my mild HF ASD daughter thought most rides were "dark and scary" and was overwhelmed by everything going on, and my other daughter said she likes Carowinds (our local amusement park, for which we always have season passes) better. Its so not my thing, but as we live within driving distance it almost feels obligatory. It was a very expensive trip, as I'm sure most of you know, so it was a bit sad that they didn't fall in love. Although, deep down, I'm also kinda glad because we don't have to return :p We seem to be in the minority though. Anyone else not care for Disney? ETA no offense to Disney or those who love it. I certainly get why most kids would have a great time. I was just surprised by the reaction of mine.

Huge hugs. I am so sorry. :(

We had a similar experience as fralala. The levels seemed very uneven and it lead to lots of frustration. We didn't stick with it for long.

Thank you all so much. Stopped the halls. DH is going to give the test this evening for me, with a bribe of going out for ice cream afterwards with good behavior. They are quietly watching movies. Going through my pants to see if I have at of the ingredients above. I have a bunch of tea bags so I'm going to go through them to see if any would work.

Yes. Every year. DH and I have always loved to travel and its something we hope to pass on to our girls. We plan and budget for it annually. We spent 2.5 weeks in Europe in April, their first trip abroad, and they loved it. Usually our trips are just a week, but we try to go some place new and different each time.

I have a hot mess of a GI system, and when my symptoms flare (I think its the SIBO) I start losing my voice. I usually just sound very hoarse for a few days, but today its gone. Literally gone. It takes real effort just to forcefully whisper. I've been popping my Hall's like candy but its just not working. Today I am supposed to administer the math portion of our (required) standardized test. I have no idea how I can do it unless I can find some voice! Not to mention dealing with my bickering twins all day! Any remedies? I can't take honey because I have a fructose intolerance and I am eating low FODMAP to control the SIBO symptoms.

I had hyperemesis gravidarum when pregnant. By the time my Dr finally ordered the Reglan pump I was vomiting 20+ times a day and losing weight..and my voice. He wasn't overly concerned at first, and would just recommend that I go to the urgent care for fluids very few days when it was obvious any oral meds weren't working. Definitely make sure you aren't dehydrated and the vomiting isn't outside the pregnancy rhelm of "normal".

Interesting that you mentioned that. I have a whole mess of a GI system and my GI Dr suspected celiac. Both blood test and upper endoscopy came back negative, although by the time the endoscopy was suggested I was already GF for several months. I had to start eating gluten since the endoscopy was scheduled for only 6 days later. I always question if I got a false negative but don't want to subject myself to further testing so I choose to eat GF because I feel better.

Thanks everyone! FWIW, both are fairly strong readers, okay spellers and reluctant writers. They did well with FLL 1 but moaned and groaned about it and, despute all the repetition, can't name a pronoun without gentle reminders. School in general has always been a struggle. They were never those "yay, school!" kids, even in preschool. I pulled them out of PS in January. Their attention span runs fairly short (one has HF ASD, the other undiagnosed mild ADHD). I can see where putting it off for a year or two would be beneficial, and give us more time to work on, say, writing (starting WWE in the fall) which I know is going to come with push back. But Im certainly open to a more "fun" approach. Im going to research Sentence Family and Well Ordered Language. Thank you again for the input!