Weekend part 1, the bad and the ugly

Because I believe in ending on a high note, I will start off with the downside to my weekend.

Friday morning started off like any other day, get up and get ready for work. Eve had spent the night with my mom, so my mom brought her over about 7am. As she was getting ready for school she said that her head itched, OH NO!! 

A little back story: She has been complaining since the first day of school about a boy that sits next to her and itches his head constantly. She wanted me to wash her head in lice shampoo but I knew that it wouldn't prevent it. It ended with her being mad at me and telling me every couple of days that the boy itches his head all the time.

Back to currently: I check Eve's head and found 3 bugs. I didn't know what to do. We have been very fortunate in that we hadn't had lice at our house before so I didn't know what steps to take. I text my friend and she told me what to do. I let Eve stay home from school at my moms and had my mom put cooking oil and a baggie on her head. When I got home I shampooed her in the lice shampoo and then started picking with the nit comb. I hunched over her head with that comb for an HOUR AND 25 MINUTES!! She has a lot of hair and it is pretty long, lucky for me she has thin hair so that helped. We only found 5 more bugs and we hoped we got all of the eggs.

On Saturday morning we shampooed again and used the comb. We didn't find any bugs and we used a super bright light to look for eggs. We think we got everything. While doing all of this I was washing everything she came in contact with in hot water, soaking brushes and combs in 130 degree water, and spraying furniture, car seats, and backpacks with the spray.

That crap was exhausting!! Please keep your fingers crossed that there are no babies that hatch!! I had nightmares on Friday night that we all got lice, there were bugs everywhere. It was way worse in my head because I knew, in my dream, that if I got lice it would be THE absolute nightmare. I have a lot of super thick hair that's past my shoulder blades. How many hours would it take to nit comb my hair? I hope I never find out!!

Since I wouldn't let Eve have friends over and she couldn't go to friends houses, we stayed home on Saturday evening. She wanted to play with sidewalk chalk, so she and I went outside. Not one to miss out on the fun, Xander joined us. They got bored with the sidewalk chalk and decided to play with a big stick that Eve says is her walking stick. They ended up breaking it into smaller pieces (because Eve says she could use them as stakes to kill vampires). Xander thought it would be fun to try to rub two of them together, put some grass on it like on Survivor, and start a fire. Since I knew that nothing could go wrong, I left them to their own devices and went inside.

Tardis 

Happy Fall

Star

A few minutes later Xander came running in and went to the bathroom. I assumed he had to pee. Eve came in and said "did you see the cut on Xander's finger?" Evidently he thought it would be a good to cut at wood with his pocketknife. 

Now, before you judge me know that he is 13 years old and we have went over knife safety several times, he is never allowed to carry his knife on him. Kids are going to act crazy and do crazy things. If they didn't we wouldn't have the fabulous show that is Ridculousness!!

Anyway, I went to the bathroom and he had a nice cut on top of his right index finger. It was about 1/2 inch long and pretty deep. His dad thought we could get the glue stuff at CVS and close it that way, while I was saying "stitches." We went with his idea first. After several tries, the cut wouldn't close. I ended up taking him to the local ER. First they had to clean the glue stuff off and then said that he needed 2 stitches.

He was freaking out!! He didn't like the idea of stitches. We had talked on the way to the hospital about stitches and that they would give him a numbing shot first and that is what hurt. After the skin was numb, he wouldn't feel the stitches.

In comes the nurse and PA with the shot. Of course, it was super painful. Then she started the stitches. The first one hurt really bad. By the time she got to the second one, it didn't hurt anymore. We think she started the stitches too soon after giving the numbing shot.

Now he is all bandaged up and it looks like he is saying "number 1."  We have been calling him Smitty Werberjagermanjensen after this episode of Spongebob:

Luckily, his stitches come out on October 8th and we leave for vacation on October 22nd!!

What a long stressful weekend, tune in tomorrow for the good side of the weekend!!

22 Days until Disney!!

Now I will post a pic of Xanders finger AFTER the stitches, if this is going to gross you out please stop reading now. There is nothing posted after this pic.

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He was number 1!!

OMG the bathroom is done!

I have been yakking for months about redoing our kid's bathroom. I worked hard on it over the summer but the stupid mirror frame was giving us fits. We finally got it on and painted, although it is not as good as we wanted. I will show you some before photos and after's as well as tell you how I screwed up and how you can avoid it!!

Up first is the before photos. Our old theme was a beach theme with beachy accessories and a pretty aqua blue paint that reminded me of the water in the Bahama's.

Now for the after's. We didn't have a very big budget so we had to work around the vanity/sink and tile we already had. The tiles on the wall are black and white with black grout, the floor tiles are white with black grout. Because of these color constraints I went with gray, white, black, and a touch of yellow. I decided to paint the walls and ceiling gray, which looks so good!! My hubby wasn't sure about the gray ceiling but he loves it. It looks so uniform and clean. 

Candle holders behind toilet were a gift a few years ago. They are from Celebrating Home and it appears they no longer sell them. The candles are battery operated and are from Walmart ($5 each). Bird cage was free from my mom and the yellow boa was about $3 at Hobby Lobby.

The chandelier I told about it's transformation here. It cost me spray paint, spray primer, and light bulbs.

My budget didn't originally allow me to get a new light for over the sink because they are $70+ at Lowe's. I found this beauty on the clearance rack at Walmart for $30. It was shiny silver originally and we just spray primed and painted it with the paint we bought for the chandelier. Super cheap and looks fab!

The shower curtain I am in love with. First for price, $6.99 at IKEA and second because of how quirky it is. I got the clear rings at IKEA also for a couple bucks. The yellow ribbon was $2 for a spool at Walmart, I just tied little bows and it looks so cute.

This shelf was in my other bathroom and I didn't want it in there anymore so I spray painted it with the above paint and hung it here. The vases were my husband's great-grandmothers, flowers from Hobby Lobby. I told here about my doorknob towel holders. The pretty towels were from TJ Maxx.

This side of the mirror holds my children's silhouettes from the Magic Kingdom in 2008. Since it has been 5 years, I told my kids they will be getting new ones done this October, which explains the empty frame. I bought the frames at the Dollar Tree.

Lastly, the mirror and sink area. The candle holder I had and didn't really have a place for it. The candle is from TJ Maxx. BTW, it is very hard to find a yellow candle!! The cute little claw foot tub soap dish is from the Dollar Spot at Target, it was on clearance for $.50. We got very lucky and was able to get a new faucet. The old one was shiny silver and was a little drippy. We didn't really have the money in the budget for a new one because we didn't want silver. My father in law called and said he had bought one that he wasn't going to use and he got it a couple years ago so it was unreturnable. While at his house he found that he bought the tub/shower set to match and didn't want it either, BONUS. The hubs will probably install that when we are in Florida. The faucet is almost black and fits in nicely. 

Mirror trim was some extra an uncle had that he wasn't going to use. I had already bought the glossy black paint for around the doors. Our mistakes happened in the install process. We ended up using shims under the mirror to hold it in place and used liquid nails. We tried just liquid nails (as EVERYONE on the internet said would work) and it didn't work. The next mistake was in the painting process. I waited until after it was installed to paint it because I wanted to be able to fill in any holes and gaps at the corners. You can see the blank wood in the mirror reflection, which I should have thought of. I don't think the glossy black works either, I think a satin or semi-gloss would have looked better.  

Even with my mirror errors, I couldn't be happier with my new bathroom. I feel like it is more "adult" and I am no longer embarrassed when company wants to use the potty. 

What do you think?

Weekend Update!

We had a very busy weekend. We didn't go anywhere or do anything but I don't feel like I had time to sit down. 

On Friday, Eve had a friend spend the night. They are good girls, so luckily they are quiet and stay in her room.  They did enjoy playing in the kitchen for awhile with the Easy Bake Oven.

Saturday, I had to get up early for the little girls mom to pick her up. I spent the rest of the day doing housework to make up fro being sick. I am very lucky that everyone at home helps out so I didn't have a whole lot to do alone. The hubs and I relaxed and watched TV on Saturday night. We are definitely past the "party animal" stages!!

Sunday was spent doing laundry. I feel like I did 358 loads of clothes!! This is the one thing that I don't like much help with. I don't like the thought that a nice shirt might shrink or end up with washed in stains. 

I redid a china cabinet recently (I will post before/after pics later this week) and spent some time getting my grandmothers bone china out of storage. I had 2 storage tubs of dishes that have been packed up since she passed away in 1994. It is a beautiful pattern with delicate pink flowers on it. The cups are even better, they are pink flowered on the outside and light blue flowered on the inside! When my grandmother passed away, I got to choose which pattern of china (she had 3 patterns) I wanted and this is what I chose. It is so beautiful and delicate.

I got it all situated on the cabinet and I love how it looks. 

Early Sunday evening I went to town to the grocery store and look what I saw in my mirror on the way home....CREEPY!!!

I had to spend the evening hours getting some lessons done for school. It takes forever to do some of this stuff and then to help slow me down, I ran out of colored printer ink! Oh well, the rest was printed in black.

I topped my weekend off with some Half Baked Ben and Jerry's!!

Got this awesome mail today (Monday). It is my invite to participate in the test for MagicBands! Seeing that my bands have already shipped, I am guessing this letter is a little late but I'm not complaining!!

Front

Back

Hopefully my MagicBands will arrive this week :)

29 Days until my Disney Vacation!!!

Dear Friday Letters....

Dear Friday,

I love when you show up but I hate wishing for you to come, it means my kids are getting older.

Dear Bronchitis,
I have had about enough of you. Twelve days is plenty. Why couldn't you make my voice sultry when I was sick like Phoebe on Friends, instead I sound like Patty and Selma.

Patty and Selma

Dear iOS7,

You actually have a nice look about ya, my school iPad looks and operates pretty good. I am impressed. Just not impressed enough to leave Android for Apple!!

Dear Readers,

Please tell me why someone would necessitate a french fry holder for their car.

Dear Random Substitute Teacher,

Thanks for asking if I have lost weight. I wish the answer to that question was yes, but it helps a girl feel better none the less.

Dear Hubs,

Considering this is your favorite drink, please wear this for halloween.

Dear Teachers,

No, I do not want to go on the field trip with you. I will go only if I have to! Also, do not insult me by asking me what I do when I am not in your class. Last time I checked, you wanted me to do my own lesson plans. This requires me to actually do the lessons, and get ALL of the materials prepared in the 10 minute prep time you give me.

Dear Disney,

Thank you for the awesome mail yesterday. I love getting my packet with my luggage tags in it, it means that the magic is closer (32 days closer!!).

The plague

Good News: I think the plague (bronchitis) is finally leaving me, after 10 very long days. I have energy today and I'm not coughing as much.

Bad News: I laugh and cough and talk like I am a 70-year-old woman who has smoked non-filters for 50+ years. I have it in my mind that taking 1,000,000 hits off of my inhaler a day will help this. Only time will tell.

More Bad News: I bought my return plane tickets home from Florida today. Man, they are expensive!!

Who do you think you are?

We all have that one co-worker that seems to think they are in charge. They think they run the show and can tell you what to do. If you don't, then it's probably you!

I had one that decided to go up against me. She wanted to boss me around and look important but surprise, she wasn't. One day we had the ultimate showdown. I don't know why she was expecting me to back down because I never had in the past, but it didn't make her any less persistent. She was telling me what to do and kept getting louder and louder with each demand. She was getting frustrated with me because everything she told me to do I answered with "we'll, Dr. _________ said for me to do it this way" In a nice, calm tone. I never raised my voice. I never argued with her. She was the one called to Dr. _______ office after another doctor overheard her yelling. She ended up looking the fool. Some people are too dumb for their own good!!!

Well, I now work with another one. This one is a new aide at school that hasn't worked in a school system for 10 years and when she last taught it was kindergarten, not second grade. She has already changed her after school responsibilities to suit herself, even after we told her several times the correct way to do it. She has decided that it just wasn't working out. She was even going to alter what students did until we stopped that one by telling her that parents would be furious if their child got home late.

Last week she decided that the cafeteria just wasn't working for her. She changed what we were doing with out talking to us other 2 aides (one with 6 years at the schools and the other with about 30 years). We have always made the second graders take their lunch trays up then go to their lunch table and out their head down. We like teaching them the responsibility of keeping quiet to earn recess. Most of the time they barely sit down and we let them line up but it is still a good thing for them to learn. She thinks that we should let them take their try up then line up, where they scream, jump up and down, and talk. She says that they are going outside and it shouldn't matter. Remember the old saying "give them an inch and they take a mile?" We'll take that times 180 7 year olds and you can imagine the chaos. She is quite frustrated that we won't budge.

A little tid bit that I forgot to mention is that she has been homeschooling her kids for the past 10 years. They are very well behaved but don't seem to understand that schools have rules. Her 3rd grader was missing part of her recess because she didn't get her class work done. It was only 4 problems. She got her work done and mommy checked her answers. Well she then thought her child should be able to go out and play even though we have told her time and time again that the teacher in charge has to check them and will let her go play. Her response was that it was ridiculous and it needed to change. She complained to several people and everyone stood their ground. She was not happy. The daughters teacher even pointed out that the girl had plenty of time to do her work in class and she should have had it done then.

I'm pretty sure I know why this lady was hired. Her hubby is a prominent pastor and is friends with several higher ups at nearby religious college. We are stuck with her. My school system is all about nice, religious teachers and even though no one is perfect in God's eyes, they seem to think that those types are pretty close. 

Don't judge me by my beliefs and I won't judge you by yours. This post was about one person, not a group or type as a whole. 

Do you work with someone who has management delusions?

I got exciting news this weekend...

Let me first start off with the bad news, I have bronchitis. I am miserable and spent the weekend not wanting to do much. Luckily I was able to see my doctor on Friday so I was able to start medicine before the weekend. I seem to be getting a little better but not quickly enough to make me happy.

Now for the exciting news. I logged on to the Disney website yesterday and when I went to the my Disney Experience tab, guess what was there..... my magic bands!! I am beyond excited. I feel like a 12 year old girl who gets to see Justin Beiber in concert. I had been worried that we wouldn't get to do the test for them. When I checked last week, my resort (Caribbean Beach Resort) wasn't included in the test and we had all come to terms with the fact that we wouldn't get to play with the new toys. So, it was a great surprise to see a choice that said customize magic bands. 

We went ahead and customized our bands by choosing our colors and what names we wanted on them. Xander and I almost changed my moms band from "Beth" to "Mammie" just to see if she would wonder how the cast members know that we call her Mammie but decided against it. I changed mine from "Malinda" (my given name) to "Mendy." The colors we picked were: red for Xander, orange for Eve, pink for Mammie, but I am not sure what color to get for myself. I have changed it a few times and I have until Sunday to make my final decision because they will be mailed then. 

After customizing our bands we worked on the Fastpass+ part of the process. Basically you choose 3 rides/shows/experience and the computer will give you Fastpass times. They give you 3-4 choices and you pick which would work best for you. We were having trouble because we are only going to be at Animal Kingdom for half of a day and the choices weren't reflecting that. We chose one and I figured we would have a cast member help us once we arrived but then I found an option to help us under the Fastpass+ tab. One of the options was to change your Fastpasses. I thought I would try it and I was able to change the times of all of them to reflect when we would be there. 

Once you get everything on the computer, if you log into the app you can see all of your reservations and ride times. Here is a screen shot of my times at Animal Kingdom before I changed them.

Screen shot of the app before I changed my times.

I basically spent most of my Sunday playing with this stuff. I don't know why I am so excited to wear something on my wrist but I think it's the excitement with something new. Also we are not going back next year so I didn't want to miss out on it. 

I guess these things get you on Magical Express, let you in your room, let you in the parks, use for Fastpasses, and you can link it with your credit card (with a PIN number). 

Once I figured out we were chosen I Googled the colors so I could see them and I ran into a blog that made me laugh. The blogger was dead serious so I held back from commenting (that and I just didn't want to be super rude). First she said that her family was the "very first family" chosen to wear the Magic Bands, which was not the case, the testing had been going on for about a month at the time of their vacation so they were not the first ones. She also said that with the bands you get to the "front of every line." Now, I realize that she said it was their first time going to Disney World but you don't get in the front of every line, you get 3 Fastpasses with your band. And Fastpasses don't take you to the front of the line, it's pretty close but I have still waited 30-45 minutes before in the Fastpass line (Toy Story Mania). 

I will update more with this experience as it happens. My bands will be mailed on Sunday so I will update with some pics after they arrive next week. 

Book Review

I haven't done a book review in a long time. I guess I haven't read any books good enough to review.

I have decided to review the new J.K. Rowling book that she wrote under the psedenym of Robert Galbraith. I felt that I should give her another chance since I didn't much care for her last one (here).

This book is:

I must say that I really like this book. There were lots of twists and turns. This was far better than her last one. She provided great characters, a engaging plot, and excellent writing. I was disappointed about half way through the book because I thought I had figured out the killer. To my surprise, I was way off which I am actually thankful for. My one and only complaint with this book is that the first 100 pages are slow. I was excited for this book, so I worked through it. This book is worth your time and money.

SPOILERS:  The basics of this is that a woman has committed suicide, or did she? She is dead and her brother has decided to hire a private investigator because he thinks she was murdered. Enter Strike, he was fantastic. I really like this character. I love how smart and sneaky he was. There are so many twists and turns that this book kept me guessing the entire time. Was it the boyfriend, the uncle, the BFF, the psycho friend, or someone else? And how many people are going to die while Strike tracks down the killer?

I give this book 4 Stars for excellent story and writing!!

I hope you enjoy this book as much as I did. 

Ugh, it's Monday

Had a nice relaxing weekend.

Xander has decided not to play travel soccer this year and, although, I am going to miss watching him play, I am super excited to have weekends free. I have planned tons of things (most of which I'm sure my people won't do with me) for us on the weekends. One of those things being festivals. This past weekend was the Covered Bridge Festival in a town about 20 minutes away. Other things I want to do are some war reenactments, pumpkin patch, hiking. The possibilities are endless!!

The covered bridge festival was fun. Not much happening, it's basically a flea market next to an old covered bridge. My daughter didn't even know what a covered bridge was. Shame on me, Indiana is full of them, she should know what they are. So, off we went, complaining boys and all!!  Eve said that she didn't want to drive over the bridge, so we didn't do that, we walked around the flea market and went home. We did enjoy a frosted malt, yummy. The kids enjoyed themselves and I was happy that I got everyone out of the house. 

This was the only pic I took, because I am an awesome blogger!!

Other than that, we didn't do much. Saturday was my 45 day landmark for Disney, so I paid my balance in full then. Now I am keeping my fingers crossed that the Caribbean Beach Resort is added to the MagicBands test so we can get them. I REALLY, REALLY want them!!

Saturday night the hubs and I partied it up all night long by watching Too Cute on Animal Planet and eating Chicken Viola. We are party animals!

I repainted my toe nails. Which was a turquoise blue with turquoise glitter. I think they turned out cute!!

Reece Cup was even relaxed this weekend. We call her Jabba the Cup because of her obvious girth similarities to Jabba the Hutt!

To sign out I am going to show you the beast that I assassinated in my living room while typing this blog. It was one of those things where you see something move out of the corner of your eye. It strutted across the living room like it owned the place, to prove that I was the owner, I used my son's shoe and murdered it. It was bigger than this dime when it was shriveled up and dead so you can imagine its size when it was alive!!

Funny things my students say:

While releasing a 2nd grade classroom to go home, I announced "walkers and anyone who rode their bicycle can leave." One boy screams out "bicycle?" Me: "Yes bicycle, which is another word for bike because the stem bi means 2, like 2 wheels." He then informs me that bicycles have 4 wheels. Precious little angels!

What I want from fall TV

I love watching TV. I'm sure that I shouldn't but it has been something I have enjoyed my entire life. I still enjoy reruns of my favorites (Friends, The Big Bang Theory) and watch them daily. Netflix is awesome because I can watch some on there (Angel and Roswell).

Picture here

Some of the returning shows that I am excited for their return is Sons of Anarchy, The Good Wife, Dancing with the Stars (squeal for Bill Nye), Castle, The Vampire Diaries, Supernatural, Hart of Dixie, Survivor, and The Big Bang Theory.

Picture here

Can we just take a moment to soak up the fact that Jax Teller will be Christian Gray *swoon*!!

Picture here

Every year I say that i am not going to start new shows but i usually do. I am usually on the lookout for new, ORIGINAL shows. I don't want new shows where people compete for a prize (whether it be a beautiful bride or cash money), I don't want a show where people have to do challenges,  and I don't want shows that are scripted "reality" shows.

I have found 2 shows that qualify. They are The Originals and Reign. I realize that The Originals is a spinoff of The Vampire Diaries but I am super excited to see Klaus have his own show. I am anxiously awaiting the return of regular season shows.

Picture here

I hope my returning shows don't go craptastic on me (think Grey's Anatomy and Private Practice) and I hope these new shows live up to my expectations.

What shows are you excited for?

Do you see this>>>>>>>>>>
My signature is missing again!!
Thanks iPad!

Should you get the Disney Dining Plan

On my next trip to Disney World, it is a no brainer to take the Disney Dining Plan because it is offered for "free."  I know there are people that would love to point out that it actually isn't "free." I realize that I have to tip at the table service restaurants and I also realize that only 2 meals are included.

Even with these 2 minor things, I still consider my dining free. Whether the dining is free or not, I am going to give you a few good facts about the dining plan to help you decide if you should purchase it on your next vacation.

First off, you must be staying at a Disney resort to get a dining plan. You can't stay at a condo in Kissimmee and buy the dining plan, not how it works folks.

With all dining plan choices the following are included:

Luggage tag

Marina discounts (15% off)

2 Tickets for Miniature golf

2 Tickets to DisneyQuest

Planet Hollywood meal voucher and souvenir

100 Arcade points (please beware that most games are about 25-50 points per play)

Children Activity Center discount (15% off)

Spa discount (15% off)

Guided Fishing discount (15% off)

10% off Sammy Duvall water sports

10% off Splitsville

RESORT refillable mug (Resort is in caps because you cannot refill in the parks)

There are a few dining plan choices, I will touch on 2 of them (the most affordable). One of these is Quick Service Dining. Quick Service Dining consists of all of the above mentioned along with 2 quick-service meals (think go to the counter and get your own food) and a snack. Quick service meals include entree, dessert, and drink. Snacks consist of a lot of choices, 20oz drink, popcorn, bottle of water, etc. Fun things we have purchased with a snack credit have been slushies at Goofy's Candy Company in DTD, fun cupcakes, and Goofy's sour candy stix (think sour Pixi-stix).

This logo will be on the snacks that qualify under the plan (photo from here)

Goofy's slushies (photo from here)

Sour Candy Stix (photo from here)

The other dining plan that I will talk about is the Disney Dining plan. It includes all of the above but the meal choices are different. With this dining plan you get one quick service meal, one table service meal (think a waiter takes you order), and one snack. 

When ordering at a table service restaurant you get an entree, dessert, and a drink. This is a lot of food. You will not go hungry. The choices of restaurants are endless. There are restaurants that serve African food, Japanese, American food, pizza, Mexican, etc. Warning: some restaurants take 2 dining credits per person! These can be found here. 

This is where the tip comes into play. You need to tip at the table service restaurants. Most of the receipts have suggested amounts on it to help you calculate what you should leave. We are offsetting the extra expense of tips this year by saving all of my change at home, cashing it in at the bank and then ordering gift cards at Disneygiftcard.com. I have been ordering them in $25 increments.  I figure that if my tip is higher than that, we can always add some cash with it. We have 5 table service meals reserved and so I will get 5 $25 gift cards. 

Cape May Cafe character breakfast

The next couple of tips include how to get 3 meals out of a 2 meal plan. These are suggestions on how to get breakfast other ways and you can use your meal credits for lunch and dinner (the two most expensive meals). One way that we have done in the past is to use a snack credit for a muffin or piece of fruit at your resort and you can eat that for breakfast. This is a good way to discourage your kids to not get candy or treats with their snack credits. Another suggestion is to save your desserts from the meals from the day before and eat that as breakfast. I have heard that some restaurants will box up cake for you to take with you. I can tell you, from experience, that I usually have those chocolate cakes from the quick service meals stacked up in my room and I have eaten them for breakfast the next day. 

The final way to have your third meal is to order breakfast foods from Garden Grocer. This years order for me includes Pop Tarts, bananas, and granola bars. These are to help make up for breakfast. 

Chef Mickey character dinner

Garden Grocer is an excellent grocery delivery service. Place your order online and it will be delivered to your resort. They have a minimum of a $40 order and you will pay tax, delivery, and tip on top of that. One of the things I recommend getting from them is a case of bottled water. We also buy snacks that I can put in baggies to make snack bags for the parks, like pretzels and Cheez-it's. 

Another suggestion is to MAKE RESERVATIONS 180 DAYS IN ADVANCE for table service restaurants.  A lot of the popular restaurants are booked 180 days in advance. I attempted to get a reservation this year at 'Ohana on the first day reservations opened up (7am)  and the only time slot available was 8pm. I hate eating that late but it worked in my favor because Wishes starts at 9 and the fireworks can be seen from the restaurant, BONUS!

Garden Grill character dinner

All in all, everything considered, the dining plan is worth the money. I saved my receipts one year and we did save 20-30%. Although, we wouldn't have eaten at half the restaurants we did nor would my son have been allowed to eat the $30 steak if we didn't have the dining plan. I have a friend who is adamantly against the dining plan because not having that third meal does not make her happy. She eats a lot of food.

Some people consider it convenient to have your meals paid for before you leave, this saves the out of pocket while you are there. This is a great way to look at it.

Have you tried the Disney Dining Plan? Did it work for you?