Saturday, October 16, 2010

Mini Vacation pt.1







I have 5 LEGO MANIACS in my home!

My husband was the first and he very quickly recruited 4 followers! I am sure that the youngest will be joining very soon!

So before my husband leaves for his 7 mo. deployment (sniff, sniff) we decided to take the kids to Legoland! It is such a fun place.

Legoland is only 2 hours away. Our tickets are for 2 days, so we decided to make a weekend of it. However, we didn't want to spend a fortune. Here is how we saved/plan to save money!

1)tickets- of course, this was the most expensive part. 6 tickets were not cheap. We were able to buy these through our local military base and got a great discount! However you can always find coupons and discounts through the Lego website.


2) the hotel. We are only staying for one night, but because of our family size, we have to get 2 rooms. When it comes to hotels, we are more Motel 6 kind of people than the Hilton. So I chose an inexpensive hotel with rewards points. We also get a continental breakfast and free wi-fi.

3)food! Feeding 7 people, at an amusement park is certainly not the cheapest thing on the planet but there are ways to make it a little easier on the wallet.

***the kids ate breakfast before we left. No stopping for a Mcbreakfast or doughnuts!

***packing snacks. While the only thing allowed in the park is water, you can/should have snacks in the car. Crackers, dried fruit, trail mix, granola bars etc. are all good because you don't have to worry about them sitting in the sun. It is important to have something to fall back on in those inbetween times.

***water!!If you don't have water in your stockpiles, stop at a store and get some. You can usually get a 24-36 pkg of water on sale for 3.99 or so. Water inside a park can be $1.50 a bottle. Make sure you have your own!

***We did eat one meal at the park. We were going to leave the park but we would have had to pay parking again. It is $12 a pop for parking so we would have to add that onto our lunch bill. Had we had free parking we would have opted to go out of the park.

***Breakfast the next morning was at the hotel. I always look for places with a continental breakfast! Most places have waffle irons, and that is a good filling breakfast.

***On the way home, we used coupons to eat at McD's. Right now if you buy their Trick or Treat booklets for a $1, there are coupons for free apple dippers, cheeseburgers etc. So using those and the snacks we had brought, it worked out well!

4) Souveniers: Oh they are so tempting! Especially to kids. Make a budget BEFORE you go. Make a game plan with your spouse.

***Also depending on where you go, you may be able to find something at home. Disney items can be found at Wal Mart, Target, the $ store etc.Do you have any ideas on how to save money on trips? I would love to hear them!

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