Monthly Archives: January 2012

What You Missed in Chat Last Night… January 30th, 2012

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First off, where have you been? Just kidding, I know everyone has a life and is busy. So I wanted to make sure you all knew what happened in Chat last night so you didn’t feel left out. I’m going to bullet point the main things so you are in the “in” on what’s going on.

  • Chat will always be on Monday nights, 8 p.m. Eastern. I WILL be opening a Chat night for my U.K. readers soon.
  • Every Monday night I will be asking a Trivia question and the first person who answers correctly will win! Last night Monica won a Mr. and Mrs. Potato Head Ornament from the DTD Christmas Store.
  • We are interested in providing T-Shirts and Bumper Stickers in the near future. We are exploring the best value for you and the logo as well.  One version will say “I am a Relocated Tourist” and the other will say “Future Relocated Tourist.”  Please stay tuned as we will let you know when they are available to purchase.
  • All Relocators to FL who are blog readers will receive a special gift from us that you only get for moving to Florida.
  • We have opened a “Birthday Club.” It is a club where you send me your address and your birthday, and everyone who joins will get the next months list of Birthdays so they have time to make/ buy the card and enough time to mail out to the birthday guy or gal. It is something kind to do for our fellow Disney brother and sister, and I feel that it would mean a lot to people to feel the love OUTSIDE the computer screen.
  • Travel Agents, this announcement is for you! If you are a friend of the blog, we want you! That’s right, we want to advertise you and your Travel business. What I want is a couple of paragraphs talking about your love of Disney, why you wanted to be a Travel Agent, your picture, and then all the necessary info that you would want potential clients to see. We have many ask us about a travel agent, so they will now see a list of those who we have gotten to know from the Community. All we ask in return is that you share our blog with those you talk Disney with- share a link on your fb page, your own blog, or business page. We can help each other out for the greater good.
  • For the Birthday Club, Travel Agents, or anything else you need to contact me about, please PM me on Facebook under Amy Falk Petermann, OR, email me at amy@therelocatedtourist.com

We all had a great time and I was thrilled to see many more familiar names. I hope you can all join us for next Monday night, we would love to have you stop by. God bless your day!

Disney Jelly Bracelets… Merch Mondays

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We all know WDW can suck your wallet dry, so we have to revel in the small niceities in the Parks that don’t cost alot. I found these Jelly bracelets around WDW Property for under $3.00 a piece, even cheaper if you are AP holder. Great for a small souvenir, stocking stuffer for Christmas, or party favor for your child’s next birthday party. In a bunch of different colors, these are great for a boy or girl. I bought the “Believe” one because tha is the one word our family held onto while we moved forward with the dream of moving here to Florida.  If I could I would buy all of my friends one, I would, because everyone need to remembed to BELIEVE. Enjoy!

The Reality of the Florida Resident and the Annual Pass Relationship

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When we were planning our relocation last year, one of the items on our budget list for Florida living was the Walt Disney World Annual Pass. Not only that one, but also a possible Sea World and Universal one as well. Having lived here now 7 months, I wanted to pass on how much we have “really” used any of the annual passes we have and why you may want to think about how much you will really be using your own. Enjoy!

Of course one of the biggest reasons we moved here was to enjoy Walt Disney World anytime we wanted, so that annual pass was a no brainer. But, we found there were several to choose from. Certain passes have black-out dates, some are for just the four parks, then you have the premium pass which covers all 4 Parks, the Water Parks and Disney Quest. With the regular AP you get 10% off the Disney merchandise, and with the Premium you get 20% off.  So let’s start with which one our family chose first, which is the Premium Annual Pass.  For FL Residents, which started in 2009, you can make a small down payment then make a monthly payment making it affordable for families to enjoy it all year round.

Do we make the most of the Premium Pass? For now, we have.  I, myself, have CLEARLY used it to its potential.  For the monthly payment I make for the 4 of us is only a little more than the cost of one day at WDW.  Why do they make it so cheap for FL Residents? Well, I’m betting that they think you will only have the weekends to really enjoy them, and that’s if you live close enough to go that much. So here is why I wanted to blog about this, MAKE SURE you are going to get the most out of the pass you choose. If you live more than 45 minutes away, how are you getting the most out of it when you go maybe once or twice a month? Just keep the distance in mind when choosing your Annual Passes.  It’s nice to have the freedom to go whenever I want and not really have to think about it, and I love getting the 20% off when I have to buy something in the Parks. But, I will tell you this, we have the Water Parks included and we went a total of ONCE since we have gotten here. Why? Well, we aren’t huge water park people, but we thought we would try it out. I hope to do more with them this summer, I think we were just incredibly busy last year and it never really occurred to us we COULD go.  Because we live very close to WDW,  and that I do buy enough items to want a discount, the Premium Annual Pass has worked for us so far.

Now, on to Sea World. We have Annual Passes there, and we have been there a total of 3 times since June. Incredibly sad since I figured we would go there every other week- but there is something to be said again about distance. WDW is so close that its like driving to the Mall for me, whereas Sea World is 20 minutes down dangerous I4, so I am not always so inclined and happy to drive over there with the kids or by myself. I saw myself feeding dolphins on my own and walking the Park, but I feel way more comfortable at Disney World. The down payment for us was small, and we make monthly payments on it as well, but they are VERY small, so I guess that’s why we thought it was worth the shot. We have already talked about not renewing them for next year unless something changes.

Universal Studios is even farther from us yet, about a 30 minute drive.  With again the traffic on I4 and the crazy busyness around Universal, I haven’t gotten comfortable with that area at all yet.  Not to mention, I am not a fan of Universal at all. We were blessed with tickets both times I have gone, which was a great way to do it because I knew we would never use Annual Passes for this Park.  If they could make one for JUST the Wizarding World of Harry Potter, we would be in. But, since that day isn’t coming, we will pay for a one day occasionally now and then and enjoy it that way.  Like Disney, when Universal puts out a FL Resident deal for a 3 day pass, that’s when we will probably enjoy it again. 

The reality of living here and having all of these Theme Parks nearby is that most can only enjoy them on the weekends or every couple of months. Life still goes on with school, jobs, and day to day things we all do whether with live near a park or not. Before you break the bank on signing up for a mutltitude of Annual Passes, think about how much time you are REALLY going to spend there and if the money is worth it. Time IS money and you want to make sure that the investment is something you are prepared for. If nothing else, try it for your first year of residency, like we are, feel it out, then you will know moving forward what you truly wound up using. I hope this helps those of you relocating here soon and what passes will be worth your time. See you in our LIVE Chat tonight!