Shhhh! It's a Surprise! (21/365)

Wednesday January 25, 2012

Last year on the day after Hannah's birthday party, she and I went to Disney On Ice: Princess Wishes.  Hannah was thrilled.  Little did I know that with a thrilling 2 hour show also comes a HEFTY expense!

We didn't preorder our tickets, just went to the box office on the day of the show and asked for whatever tickets were left. Here's the breakdown:

Parking - $8
2 tickets - $90 (all they had left were floor seats)
Snowcone in a Tinkerbell keepsake cup - $12
Ariel Necklace - $20
Picture with Cinderella (no, not the real Cinderella, a cardboard figure) - $20
Popcorn &  Lemonade - $18

Do the math.

Not cheap.

Of course, I came somewhat prepared. After all, this was sort of a birthday present.  I just was NOT prepared for the total expense, and the fact that for some reason that day, I could not say no!

Nonetheless, we had a blast.  And if you know me at all, you can guess that I was a blubbering idiot while watching my daughter's face light up and listening to her squeals of delight.

For the rest of the year, Hannah has been asking when Disney On Ice is coming back.  I keep putting her off, hoping it will pass by and maybe we'll just have the memories from one expensive year (bad mom I know)... Not so much.

Yesterday I had a friend let me know that tickets for Disney On Ice were available for presale in our area.  So, I called my husband and let him know that we could buy tickets now for the show for only $12!  Of course, he said to go ahead and we verbally agreed that this would be THE birthday present this year.

I then called my girlfriend who has a daughter that's Hannah's age to see if they'd like to join us.  Of course, they did!  And I found out that they go every year.  I asked her how she manages to keep the cost down...

Pre-Buy your tickets
Allow ONE souvenir
Carpool
Eat before you go
State the rules ahead of time and learn to say NO!!

Simple!  Well, I hope so for me.  I just love to see my kids happy, and have a hard time saying no when it's a special occasion.  I don't normally have a hard time telling them no - we set pretty good boundaries over here.  But when it's a holiday or birthday... not so much.  We did end up pre-buying our tickets and opted for the mid-range price since the seats are a little better.

This year I hope to have many more happy memories - with a much softer kick in the pocketbook.

I haven't told Hannah yet about the show - we actually chose the Disney Live Princess Show over Disney On Ice since we are bringing our princesses.  I also decided this year to bring Ava.  Both of the girls' birthdays are in March, and the show is just before then.  I figured I would surprise them with the tickets, and a new dress for each of them.

Birthday... DONE.  Now, to plan the party!