What I Wore Wednesday

It's been awhile since I linked up with The Pleated Poppy for "What I Wore Wednesday."  That's partly because I am lacking in the clothes department.  Extreme weightloss will do that to you.  You start a season and need all new clothes and then you have to slowly build.  Unless you're able to afford all new clothes every season in which case, I will take your old clothes.  ;)

I should clarify that these photos have been taken over the last month, but these are basically all of my fall outfits at the moment so …Welcome to my fall wardrobe!

This outfit is one of my favorites.  It's simple and I just am in love with this shirt!  I wore it with a different necklace for our family pictures.  And the best part is I've seen plenty of similar tops online at H&M or Francescas but this one was thrifted for $6! Score!

top - thrifted
necklace - thrifted
skinnies - American Eagle
boots - Basset Slouch (from Fancescas)

This outfit is a go to for when I want to be casual but still feel like I've dressed up a bit.  It's perfect for a play date or a trip to Target or going out to dinner as a family.  ;)

necklace - Groopdealz
top - Forever21(no longer available)
jeans - American Eagle
flats - (old) Pac Sun

I wore this outfit to a baby shower and it's a go to for Church.  This skirt is one that will always be a favorite because it was purchased when I was 223lbs as a "goal" skirt.  On Sunday I zipped it up and it had plenty of wiggle room and I did not have to suck in at all to zip! Glory, glory, hallelujah!

necklace - Groopdealz
top - thrifted
skirt - J Crew Factory (old)
flats - Pac Sun (old)

I wish I had a real photo of this outfit but I had mirror problems and no one to take my photo (even though I was at my Mom's house surrounded by people who could have…).  I was hesitant to do denim on denim but finally got brave with the dark jeans and lighter top when I found this old scary in my closet to make it pop! I wore it to the pumpkin patch with my boots and thought it was perfect!

scarf - Charolette Rousse (old)
top - Forever21(similar)
jeans - American Eagle

This is my ultimate casual outfit.  Same jeans (have you realized I only have one pair that fits me?) but rolled up with a pair of converse and an old concert t-shirt from one of my favorite bands.  This is my outfit I throw on when we are headed to the grocery store or the park or it's great for around the house.  I know it's a t-shirt and jeans, but something about the t-shirt being a band shirt and not a graphic t or a plain t makes me feel like it's more dressed up.  Band t-shirts and fitted athletic shirts give that vibe.  To me.  Maybe I'm crazy.

top - concert
jeans - American Eagle
shoes - grey Converse

 I have these pink skinny cords I bought last spring.  My jeans are size 10 but these are size 14.  They're skin tight on the legs though and belts just started fitting me so I've been able to put them back into my wardrobe.  They're kind of annoying because I never know how to style them.  This or with my chambray shirt is pretty much the only thing I do.

earrings - Etsy (gift, not sure of the shop)
top - thrifted
pants - Old Navy Rockstar Cords (similar?)
flats - Pac Sun (old)

This is the oldest photo in the bunch and I'm happy to report my stomach is looking much better these days even with having lost just 5-6lbs since this was snapped.  This is another casual outfit.

earrings - thrifted
sweater - Francescas (no longer available)
top - American Eagle (clearance rack)
jeans - American Eagle

And finally, my favorite dress up outfit!  My favorite $12 H&M dress with a sweater and slouchy boots.  I love it.  Also, I love that little guy doing the robot dance beside me.  He's a big robot fan and he's pretty darn cute.  :)

necklace - H&M
sweater - Forever21 (similar)
dress - H&M
boots - Basset Slouchy (Francescas)

More than anything I'm just happy that THIS Fall I look like I do and not like I did last Fall.  Hard work, baby, and dedication got me here.  I love that I feel confident, can shop anywhere and enjoy getting dressed!  That Ashley in the old picture HATED shopping because nothing fit.  Size 16? Size 18?  Size XL?  I never knew and things would not fit me like I wanted them to and I'd get so frustrated, feel defeated and then eat some cookies.  NOW I love shopping, know I am always going to fit into a 10/M and feel really confident!  Thankful to be here after 2 years of work!

Have a happy hump day!

Week 1 of Paleo - Results!

Well, I sat down to crank out a few blog posts for this week 2 hours ago and have ended up with no posts so far, but the beginnings of a new blog layout.  I'm pretty happy with everything so far.  I'm lacking a button, but that's no big deal.  What do y'all think? I felt like the old design didn't fit who I am as a Blogger anymore...

ANYWAY…

I wanted to swing in today to let you all know how I did during week 1 of Paleo!  Drumroll, please…

I lost… 4lbs!  I'm insanely happy with that number.  Do you want to know why?  It means I went from 164lbs to 160lbs which means I've officially lost 90lbs.  NINETY POUNDS!!!

I weighed Friday morning and was happy to see 160, but didn't think much about it except, "YAY, I'm almost into the 50s!"  It wasn't until that night it dawned on me "OH HEY GIRL, YOU'VE LOST 90lbs!!!"  Then I was just elated and smiling and sharing with every form of social media and so proud of myself!

Paleo was really hard at first.  I wrote about that last week.  It's just always hard to start ANYTHING and feel like you're closer to -0 than -goal, but that first taste of success is truly motivating!  I didn't lose any more over the next two days, but I'm so happy with that first loss.  I realized if I stay focused and my metabolism MAYBE lets me lose 2lbs a week, I could be down 100lbs by Christmas.  ONE HUNDRED.  That means I'd be 5 from goal going into 2014.  YAY.

I also just wanted to share again that Paleo for me has been about dieting and not about lifestyle.  I'm a big fan of the clean eating lifestyle or "all bad things in moderation."  Going forward after hitting goal weight I'd like to continue to eat 90% healthfully every day, but I also know I love a good sandwich or will go out for a burger and indulge in a bun now and then.  I just wanted to clarify all that because some people are 100% Paleo and even their whole family eats Paleo, but it's just not for me in the long term.  I miss beans and that 100% whole grain bread.  ;)

I've also modified my Paleo to allow for one cheat meal per week.  I had mine Sunday.  I still haven't recovered from it in my daily weighing, but expect to in the next day or so and then see more loss.  If it backfires on me I'll cut it out.  I did it because I've read so much about how a cheat meal (or day) can help boost metabolism when you're eating so much of the same thing.  Your body has to fire up to process a carb when it hasn't been used to doing that in a week.  I'm also doing it because my Paleo was originally a 26 day diet, but is now a 7 week diet because I believe and HOPE I can be down 100lbs by Christmas and if so, I'll keep going until I lose those last 5!

Hope you all had a lovely weekend!  Aside from all the dieting I enjoyed a fantastic Saturday of laziness and fun with my family, Church and a special lunch out with our boys Sunday, beginning my Christmas shopping, and relaxing!  I also ran my first 5k training with my little sister.  We're doing a 5k on Thanksgiving together and I was dying to see how we paced together!  It went well and we were pumped to finish!  Our together time was 32:21.  Sunday night I raced sunset and cranked out my own 5k and finished mile 1 in my fastest time and finished the whole thing in my fastest time!  Pretty awesome!

How We Helped Our Tot Overcome His Fear of Characters at Walt Disney World

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J is my oldest.  He had just turned 3 a month before we left for Disney World.  This last trip was his 4th and aside from chewing on Minnie Mouse's nose when he was 5 months old and loving it, he HATED characters at Disney World.

Our goal was never to be pushy, but to always try.  We have two kiddos so while J was fearful of characters, our younger son E really enjoyed them (our last trip in 2012 E was 10 months and J was 2). There's just that balance in parenting.  We'd approach characters with J and talk them up, but when he showed fear we held him and didn't push him to go stand with them anyway screaming like a baby in a Santa Claus picture.  We wanted to nurture the fear and work him through it in his own time.

Going into this trip we did our best prepare him again for meeting characters.  We showed him old pictures of our family with characters, pictures of kids hugging characters in promo material, and we just discussed it a lot.  Conversations sounded something like this…

Me: "Are you going to meet Mickey Mouse at Disney World?!"
J: "Uh huh, uh huh, uh huh! I meet him!"
Me: "I'm going to give him a big hug! Do you think you want to give him a hug?"

The answer for this was often no, but one day he said he wanted to hug Mickey too and then he'd always reply…

J: "Uh huh! When I see Mickey I give him a BIIIIIIG HUG!"

Then I'd go on to explain Mickey Mouse was extra special and extra big!  He had to grow to be able to meet J and give him that special hug but because he was big, he couldn't talk.  I think the SIZE of the characters and their SILENCE is what gets toddlers the most.  It's confusing.  Their tiny in the TV and their tiny in toy form.  So when you meet Mickey and he's almost as tall as Mommy or you meet Buzz and he's taller than Daddy it's overwhelming!  My speech was a total lie, but I felt like it was a way I could translate to him the size and silence so it would make sense and so most important: HE WOULD EXPECT IT.

So we got to Disney World and didn't rush straight for the characters.  We did some of their favorite rides from the previous year and then when we saw there was a 5 minute wait to meet Goofy and Donald, we headed that way.  Meeting Goofy was first.  I decided I would approach Goofy (who is HUGE) first and give him a big hug and signal to the kids to come get a great hug too.  It kind of worked.  I think the kids saw I was conformable with Goofy but they still wanted us to each hold them to meet him and then Donald (my baby who was now almost 2 had also become nervous about characters at this point).  We all smiled, they high-fived Donald and Goofy and we moved along.  And then we didn't really seek characters out for the rest of the day.

The next morning we had a breakfast scheduled at Chef Mickey's in the Contemporary Resort.  We knew this could either go horribly if they hated the characters or help break the ice.  For J, it broke the ice.  He didn't eat his food at all because he was so excited waiting for the next friend to come by.  E was KIND of okay with the character thing until Goofy stole his Buzz Lightyear toy.  It was all in fun, but I think it may have scared him away from the characters for good for the rest of the trip.  By the time Minnie and Mickey came around J was ready for BIG hugs.  I still held him because that made him feel most comfortable, but he was willing to extend himself for the hug.

We went on to meet Mickey and Buzz in Magic Kingdom later on.  J did a good job of hugging and high-fiving those guys while we held him.  E would only give high fives and then he hid in our chests.  And that's ok!  We put him on the hip further away from the characters for pics and that was ok!  We didn't push him.

Later that day, we were in line to meet Woody and Jessie.  They ended up taking a break right before our turn so we had 5 minutes of waiting before they came back out.  This actually ended up working PERFECTLY and was like the Disney magic in commercials because when they came out my kids could run right up to them and they went straight to our kids.  To this point it had been all holding J to meet characters, but not this time!  This time he RAN to Woody and gave him the world's LONGEST hug.  Literally.  Everyone in line was laughing and awww-ing and we were too because he just never wanted to let go.  I think seeing an all time favorite in real life broke the eyes and blew his mind wide open.  E did better here too.  He gave hugs by himself and then got back into my arms.  J took our family pic here on his own standing next to Jessie.  It was a big moment!

Going forward we encouraged him to approach all characters on his own for hugs.  We carried E up but also asked him if he wanted to meet whoever.  Usually he said yes, but sometimes he said no.  For example, when we were at Hollywood Studios and had the chance to meet both Buzz and Woody in "Andy's room" J was on cloud 9 but E wanted nothing to do with it.  So my husband took him and they strolled around HS while J and I stood in line.  I hoped this visit would be exclusively J without me involved or in the pics and that's just what happened!  When he turned the corner for his turn, he bolted to Buzz and Woody.  They engaged him right away and played with him and he had SO MUCH fun!!!  He was just beaming and still talks about it months later.  I was definitely teary eyed watching the whole thing.

The last characters we met were real people… the princesses and then Peter Pan and Wendy.  J gave "Tangled" the biggest hug and got to spend about 5 minutes with her.  She just hugged him the whole time and talked about Maximus and Flynn Rider.  She was FANTASTIC.  It was fun to see him interacting with real people acting like characters.  Peter Pan was also AMAZING.  He was showing J the map of Neverland and discussing Captain Hook with him.  J loved it!  Wendy asked to rock him to sleep and he obliged.  I didn't think he'd ever want to leave her lap.  E met Wendy and Peter too but wanted nothing to do with the princesses which really surprised me!  I thought they'd be less frightening but he was just not their fan!  He was pretty terrified of them so he stayed away.  Wendy was SO sweet with him and he did a little better with her.

So at the end of the day, my advice for approaching characters with scared kids is to try.

-- Just because they were scared last time doesn't mean they won't work past the fear this time.
-- Don't force them to the characters, but go with them and hold them and let them ease their way in.
-- Be as excited and as enthusiastic about it all as a Disney cast member.  If you feel confident, they will too.
-- Take them to their hero because meeting their favorite person ever might really break the ice!
-- Ask.  If they're nervous, ask if they want to try while you hold them.  Then as they ease up ask if they want to get down.  Stay low with them so they know you're there.  Work it up slowly and easily.  Eventually it'll happen and it'll be great!  I know in January or maybe when E is 3 I might have two boys who just take off and do it all by themselves!

26 Days: A Fresh Start

So here I am on the heels of my last post (where I talked about how much I was struggling to move forward in my weightless journey) to tell you: I've moved forward!

I decided to challenge myself and to re-detox my body after acclimating to junk as I came back into "real-life eating" after my HCG/Nutritionist diet.  Honestly the re-detox has been needed since Disney World.  Up until that vacation I needed and craved mostly whole foods and if I went more than 4-6 hours without consuming produce, I'd get an itch and craving for THAT.  That's what happens when you're healthy.  At Disney World I did GREAT the first day and had the best Greek salad at Magic Kingdom and munched on fruit in our hotel room… and then I stopped and indulged away and even though it took me weeks of clean eating to crave clean foods, it only took a few days for my body to decide it didn't miss them anymore.  Funny how that works, huh?

So I planned on doing a 28 day detox from November 1st through the day before Thanksgiving.  Then I got food poisoning!  That was awful and lasted 2 days and then another day of recovery after that.  So I officially started my detox on November 3rd and it will be a 26 day plan now.

I've been saying I'm doing Paleo.  Technically I am.  I'm eating natural meats (fish, chicken, quality beef, bacon and some other pork), a ton of veggies, 2-4 servings of fruit a day and some avocado and almonds.  I can have a Larabar (without peanuts) with Paleo and I can cook with good oils like olive oil.  This is all similar to my diet with the nutritionist except I couldn't have any oil, avocado, or nuts.  I'm also not really measuring meats and veggies but rather eating until I'm full.  By all definitions this is Paleo in a rigid form (no Paleo pancakes, etc), but I'm not doing Paleo as a forever change in my lifestyle.  I want to clarify that because there are purists who are very, very serious about doing Paleo forever and even having their families do Paleo.  While I think that's fine and great, my ultimate goal is to be a clean eater who has the occasional cheat meal or cheat day when I reach my goal weight.  Clean eating is most important to me.  I know, however, that weightloss success comes quicker and the body slims up faster and better when you cut out carbs and sugars.  So Paleo it is.

This post isn't just to talk about that… it's mostly to talk about how hard the last 2.5 days have been because I think that's what you can probably identify with if you're here reading.

Day 1 I was pretty pumped and determined because that's how day 1 is for everyone.

Day 2 is hard.  Day 2 you are bored and your jealous of your kids Halloween candy treat and you realize THIS IS THE BEGINNING.

…I've always said to everyone that starting is the hardest part because you start at 0.  When I started Weight Watchers at 250lbs with a goal of 155lbs, that felt SO FAR AWAY.  225 felt so far away.  Day 1 I was all about it, but day 2 I felt overwhelmed.  This, for me, is because when you are on day 1, 2, 3, whatever, you are closer to -0 than you are to minus goal.  And that's hard!  It's hard to move forward and take the next step when you're at the beginning.  It is 1000% mental.

All this hit me the evening of day 2 and the morning of …

Day 3 I felt finished.  Discouraged.  Cranky.  I glared at my husband while he drank a creamy cup of coffee goodness and I sipped at mine that was bitter and black (I bought a better bag of coffee today - horray!).  I was jealous of the biscuits my husband made for him in the kids even though I had the most incredible western omelet with avocado on my plate.  I felt discouraged and I was completely without any progress.  I felt bloated and tired and definitely like I was detoxing from sugar (this is usually a 1 full day process and you KNOW it when you go through it - it's like Jekyl and Hyde). I packed a lunch of green beans, almonds and an apple knowing I'd pick up a Larabar at the grocery store and that would be what I ate while the kids played on the McDonalds playground after our grocery shopping trip (TOTALLY realize how ironic it is that I ate that while they ate Happy Meals…).

BUT I walked away from lunch feeling a little better.  We got home, I got the kids down for a nap and I did T25.  I haven't done T25 since before Disney World.  It hurt so good.  Feeling extra motivated and knowing I hadn't run since Wednesday and OH HEY I have my first 5k in 24 days, I decided to hop on the treadmill and run through my quick work out playlist while pushing myself on time.  Working out cleared my head.  It got me remembering ALL of these things about day 1-3 and being -0 and how HARD it is to start.  It's HARD.  That's why most people don't make it to their goals.  That's why most people lose in January and have quit their diets by Valentine's day.  It's a human problem!

I have to remind myself this challenge is for 24 more days.  I am detoxing my body.  I am forcing myself into a time out for bad choices made in the last few months.  I'm kick starting my weightloss so I can reach my goal.  And my new goal isn't 155lbs, it's 145lbs.  I want to push myself and succeed.  I am happy and confident with my body right now, but I have worked too hard to quit and even though I'm proud, I can be prouder.  I can picture my stomach 20lbs lighter; still battered and misshapen from babies, but that's my mark as a Mom and I have no hate for that, but flatter.  No more muffin top.  MORE confident.  Full of pride in my SUCCESS and the fact that I didn't quit just because I was ok with where I was and content with how easy things were.

So that's where I am.  Day 3, -0.  It's hard mentally.  I'm cranky.  I miss coffee creamer.  I want a sandwich.  Or popcorn.  Or dadgum Halloween candy.  But this is short.  And the day it's over I'll run my first 5k which is something I NEVER WOULD HAVE DREAMT OF DOING last Thanksgiving when I was 220+ pounds.

STARTING STATS:

Weight: 164lbs (goal, 155)
Clothes: size 10 pants (with muffin top), size M top

DAILY PLAN:
Eat Paleo, work out at least 20 minutes (except 2 rest days a week)

WEEKLY GOAL:
Run at least 10 miles, do at least 3 T25 days

I'm in the process of making an Instragram account for this blog (and kind of considering rebranding my whole blog) and it will hopefully be up soon.  You can follow me @mynestinginstincts.

You can also follow me on My Fitness Pal @mynestinginstincts but since I'm TECHNICALLY not supposed to count calories on Paleo, I may not update much.

Weightloss Update: Where I Am

It's been awhile since I've been here talking about weight, dieting, my mentality in it all... It's been mostly Disney World this and Disney World that which is great, but I'm taking a break today to just talk about weightier things (hilarious, right?).

found on interest

Weightloss has been REALLY REALLY REALLY hard for me since I stopped HCG.  I regret (yes, REGRET) not tacking 4 more weeks onto my plan to lose the last 10lbs I needed to to reach my goal.  I wanted to finish with Weight Watchers.  I was ready to go at it on my own.  I couldn't pay another chunk of money to keep going.  The timing worked out to finish since I started the stabalizing plan the day after Josh's Grandpa passed away and we left for California and that was SIGNIFICANTLY easier to do than the HCG program would have been while traveling.  SO I shouldn't regret it.  The decision was right.  But losing these 10, no, now 15lbs in post has been so hard!!!

The first few weeks I pretty much maintained and gained a little.  I expected that because I immediately started eating more Weight Watchers and less clean.  Then I lost.  I started Weight Watchers at 170 and got down to 164 within a few months (just in time for our anniversary).  9lbs to go!  And then at 16 weeks into Weight Watchers when I finished my first book, I was 170.  So in the course of 16 weeks I basically lost and gained 6lbs thus becoming great at maintaining 170lbs.  That sucked.  And guess what?  After 16 weeks I could have afforded that last 4 weeks of HCG.  I was paying the same amount and not hitting lifetime as quickly as I thought I would.  SUPER disappointing. 

 So last week I was more intentional in my workouts.  I had done running and T25 until we bought a coffee table on our anniversary trip.  Since stopping T25 I upped my running game a ton, but my arms and stomach are flabbier because they're not being faithfully worked.  It felt good to work up a plan in my head to target these areas in addition to daily running.  I also stopped eating carbs 2 days in the week to balance out 2 days I didn't track points in the week.  It worked and I got back to 169lbs.

There's still SO many good and positive changes in my life because of what I did.  I have to remember that.  I'm a runner now.  I'm running a 5k in 30 days with my sister and I'm running a half in the OKC Memorial marathon.  I've learned I LOVE distance running and each week I look forward to a long Saturday run (I'm training for the half by adding a half mile each Saturday to my distance - I hit 7 this last week!).  I used to hate running and couldn't do it and didn't try.  Now I can run without stopping 1 hour and 17 minutes.  That blows my mind!

I've learned to make healthier eating decisions.  I've learned balance.  If I spend a day eating junk, I need to spend the next two days eating well.  I've learned how to maintain a weight for a long period of time.  These are all good, good, good things!  These are all things that indicate I've changed and even though I "held" 170lbs, I did HOLD 170lbs and then start going back down and I'm not on my way back to 250lbs.

And yet... I'm still 15lbs from my goal.  I'd like to lose 20 more pounds.  Then I will have lost 100lbs!  I've been spending a lot of time trying to figure out what my current mental hang ups are with all of this.  Why am I content to maintain and not lose?  Because I am really, really content.  Except for feeling devastated when I hit 170 (my panic weight), I've been fine with the little gains and losses the last several months.  I think there are a lot of reasons...

We're talking about if we should try for baby 3 this next year (my IUD "expires" next December) and at this point I know I could reach a goal and not have a long time to sit there before I get pregnant.  The same applies to goals.  If I reached mine I'd be a size 8/S and would need another new wardrobe again and I feel bad spending more money on clothes and then outgrowing them when pregnant... Just a lot of hypothetical mental talk.  I also feel if I can master maintaining this weight, I'll do better gaining less weight while pregnant.  My Mom pointed out though that if I gain 30lbs at 150, I'll end at 180, but if I gain 30lbs at 170 I'll end at 200.  Well I NEVER want to see 200 again even when pregnant!!!

I'm also telling myself I'm enjoying this phase.  And I am! I worked hard to get here!  I feel pretty confident in my body (aside from my stomach flab) and am just enjoying shopping and that 10s fit and Mediums fit... I feel good!  When you feel good about yourself and have peace in who you are and not in the number, it's hard to find motivation to keep going.

At this weight, I can maintain and pretty much still enjoy eating.  I can have big meals or slurge and recover and just enjoy eating without thinking too much.  I'm honestly not utilizing Weight Watchers AT ALL except to weigh in each week.  I'm rarely tracking and I'm not going to meetings.  That's the truth.  So I know at this weight I just have it figured out.  Losing requires being restrictive again and I'm just enjoying for once eating how I want to while still being "small."

And speaking of Weight Watchers... I've learned an important thing about my relationship with diets.  When I'm on HCG or when I'm with a Nutritionist or doing something extremely rigid with strong accountability and financial commitment, I am great at thriving.  My money is on the line.  My options are few.  I'm in this thing.  Because I've been on Weight Watchers so many times and failed or because I know I can eat technically whatever I want as long as I track and the focus is more on points tracking than healthy choices (in my mind), I just don't succeed as much. ...Or those are my excuses to not succeed as much.  I'd really like to try Advocare but don't have the money to shell out for that right now.

So where does that leave me?  I DO want to lose.  I want to achieve my goal.  I've come SO far so why the mental hang ups?  Why stop.  I've lost EIGHTY POUNDS!!!! EIGHTY!  But I'm only 20lbs away from losing ONE HUNDRED POUNDS.  And that was the goal.  So I'm doing my very best to mentally engage back into a losing mentality.  I'm trying to make good decisions.  I'm trying to balance out clean eating days number for number with bad eating days (3 for this week).  I'm debating doing clean eating the next 30 days so I can detox and shrink and lose before the 5k/Thanksgiving/the holidays.  And I'm working out.  There was a short season I had a hard time finding any motivation (after vacation), but now I'm back at it.  I've ran the last four days.  Today I only had 15 minutes but I laced up and did it because I knew it would help me mentally as I worked through the rest of my day.  I'm engaging.  I'm trying.  I WANT to do this.  I want to want to do this.

Are you here?  Have you lost weight, but you're stuck?  Are you mentally content with maintaining a great weight, but know you have more to lose to reach your ultimate goal.  My friend, we are selling ourselves short.  We might be great and feel great, but we could be better.  20lbs on me will make a huge difference.  It didn't from 250 to 230, but it will from 169 to 149.  I hope you can find new motivation too!  Especially now before the holidays since it's the American way to gain!  Thanks for listening!

Disney Vacation Club

So this post has been a long time coming.  I'm sorry for not being a better blogger of late -- especially since we are post Disney World and I have so much good stuff to share!  Life has been busy lately with sick kids and a lot of other things so blogging has definitely taken a back seat to all the other things!  But for today, I'm happy to carve out time and sit down and share with you guys about Disney Vacation Club.  I have so much to say!

at Wilderness Lodge January 2012

This is an EXTREMELY basic overview... Disney Vacation Club is a program Disney started in the 90s.  They built a resort on property (now called "Old Key West") that people could buy into in exchange for points.  How many points you bought would translate to how big of a room you could stay in or how often you could stay.  Buying points is a one time expense that gives you points for about 40-50 years from the time the resort you own at opens.  Each year your points renew and you pay dues on your points.  You use your points to book your hotel room only for your upcoming Disney vacation.  You get discounts on merchandise, some restaurants, and annual passes as a DVC member.  After building Old Key West, Disney built resorts at Hilton Head Island and Vero Beach and then focused on building more on their properties.  At Disney World there are two exclusively DVC resorts: Old Key West & Saratoga Springs (we own at Saratoga Springs).  There are also many deluxe level resorts that have DVC exclusive rooms built onto them including: Boardwalk, Beach Club, Animal Kindgom Lodge, Wilderness Lodge, Contemporary (Bay Lake Tower), Grand Floridian and coming soon Polynesian. There's also a DVC resort at Disneyland called "The Grand Californian" and a Disney resort in Hawaii called Alunai.

view from our room at Wilderness Lodge

Explaining Points

Every year DVC members get a packet with charts of all the DVC resorts.  The charts are broken down into seasons which simply put are: slow season to busiest season and everything in between.  There is also a breakdown on the chart of each level of rooms within a resort: studios, 1 bedrooms, 2 bedrooms, 3 bedrooms.  In the charts are the points needed per night to stay in one of those rooms (the points will be x price Sunday-Thursday night and then a little higher for Friday and Saturday nights).  Here's what that looks like:

image taken from here

So as you can see, if you stay at the Grand Floridian in a studio with a standard view in September, you would be using 125 points for that stay.  Grand Floridian is the most expensive of all the resorts right now.  You can stay a week in Old Key West at the same time for 64 points for the week.  

You get new points each year.  We get new points every October.  If we know we aren't going to use our points that year for some reason, we can bank our points to have for the next year or if we want to take an extra trip we can borrow points from an upcoming year.

This looks like this, for example:

Banking

It's 2011.  We just had a great trip with baby J but surprise! I'm pregnant with E.  We had 40 points left in our use year and won't get to go again, so we call DVC Customer Service and bank the 40 remaining and now we have 160 points for 2012.  Yay!

Borrowing

We used up all our points in 2012 and now it's February 2013.  We want to book our September trip, but we don't get new points until October 2013 deposited into our account.  We borrow 117 points for our trip out of the 2013 use year which means we have to wait until October 2013 to book anymore trips when we can now borrow from the 2014 use year.

the beach at Wilderness Lodge

More often than not we borrow ahead because when we received our points we were behind a use year (this is because we bought through resale, not Disney, which I'll explain later).  This is fine and only catches up with us if we're booking two trips for one year (which we are in 2014) because we have to wait until October to book a trip for January and there's not much left in the way of rooms available.  Because our points are our property until 2048 at the rate we are going, we will just run out in 2047 one year earlier and be cut short that one year.  Unless we have a year we don't go to Disney which may happen! You never know.

So, to recap, when you buy into Disney Vacation Club, you are buying points at a certain property to be used to book vacations at any of the DVC properties.

beach at Wilderness Lodge

"OWNING" property and "HOME" resorts explained

We own at Saratoga Springs.  But what does this mean?  Why does it matter.  Because we own at Saratoga it is called our "home resort."  You can book a vacation at your home resort 11 months in advance.  You can book a vacation at any other resort 7 months in advance.  You don't need a big booking window to book at Saratoga.  It usually has availability always.  But there are other resorts that book up fast.  Bay Lake Tower, for example, books fast.  They also have value rooms which are significantly less points but that space is limited.  We bought into DVC in 2010 and it wasn't until 2013 that we were able to get a studio at Bay Lake Towers when booking 7 months out because they fill up so fast.  I have two friends who own there, however, who are able to book right away 11 months out and never have problems getting a room.  

park at Wilderness Lodge

When you buy through Disney, you can only buy where their selling so your options of were to own are more limited.  When you buy through resale and can choose your home resort, you just need to keep the 11 vs 7 months booking window in mind.  If being at the same resort every time is important to you, buy there.  If you like to explore all the resorts, you have more options.

Dues

Also, because we own at Saratoga, that's where our dues go.  Dues are due each January and are different for every resort.  You pay per point on your dues and although point rates never increase (more later), dues do.  Dues go to the upkeep of resorts, etc.  Dues are more for newer resorts.  Our dues are around $4 per point each year but when we toured the DVC facility in 2009 to consider membership and they were selling Animal Kingdom Lodge property, dues were starting around $7 a point.  

Points Ending

I mentioned earlier our points are good through 2048.  Every resort is different in when your points end.  The idea is they'll last your whole life.  In 2048 Josh will be 68 and I'll be 60.  We will probably not be done with Disney World and although we don't know what options will be presented to members when their time runs out, there's rumors they will offer small extension packages which we may take or maybe when we're in our 40s we'll have more money to buy more points at a resort that's points last until 2060.  Either way, that's a great run.  We got the points when Josh was 30 so we have 30 years of only paying dues on our hotel stay at Disney World.

balcony at Animal Kindgom Lodge September 2012

balcony view

Explaining Point Value

This part is complicated and I want to do my best to explain it but I may not.  While dues increase with the economy, points do not.  Remember how I said at Old Key West you pay 64 points for a week stay but at Grand Floridian you pay 125?  OKW opened in 1995 but GF opened in 2013.  In 95 new members could buy a lot less points for their buy in rate.  I'm not sure the amount, but let's guess it was 85.  So say I'm in 1995 with my white KEDS and high jeans and I'm signing the contract on that DVC sale.  I know I can only afford 85 points and that they'll last me until 2040ish.  I also have a guarantee that with my 85 points, I'll always be able to stay at least a week on property because even though my dues will increase, points will stay pretty consistent.

park at AKL

Now fast forward to 2013.  I'm signing on to buy at Grand Floridian.  The minimum buy in is now 180 through Disney and I'm signing the contract for 180 points a year and I know I can always get a studio for about 125 or so for a week if I go in the off season.

Now fast forward to 2020 and some new resort is opening and the minimum buy in is 250 and a week is 200 points.  Again, I know I'm safe.  My 1995 self cannot afford this newest resort unless I bank and borrow or have bought more points, but I can still afford the older resorts.

I hope that makes sense!  I think it's important because you know your investment is safe.  You know 2020 won't roll around and you won't be able to afford anything without buying more points.

pool at AKL

Financial Benefits of Buying DVC

This can best be explained through example, I think so I'm going to use our trips since becoming DVC and give you the current room rates (if you were to go in January 2014 which is off season) for what we would have paid to stay here:

January 2011 - Saratoga Springs & Animal Kingdom Lodge, 6 nights $2207.28

January 2012 - Wilderness Lodge, 7 nights $2425.50

September 2012 - Animal Kingdom Lodge, 7 nights $2940

September 2013 - Bay Lake Tower (compared to Contemporary), 7 nights $3997

January 2014 - Old Key West, 6 nights $2207.28

TOTAL = $13,777.06

(or $137,770.60 over the course of 30 years if rates didn't increase!!!!!!)

That is how much we would have paid for all our resort stays only (no tickets, food, etc) since becoming DVC.  We paid less than half of that for our points so within 3 visits our investments had already paid for itself and let me remind you we have those points until 2048!

The reality is we would have NOT stayed at those resorts had we been DVC.  So what if all those trips we had stayed at the value resorts?  The CHEAPEST on property.  For the 33 nights stayed, we would have paid $3897.96.  Now that's less than what we paid for DVC, but within the 30 years we go on vacation at Disney World?  We would pay significantly more than that.  If rates didn't change, that value resort would add up to $38,979.60 over the course of 30 years and we definitely paid a LOT less than that for our points!

room time at AKL

Is it worth it for ME?

If you go to Walt Disney World every year, it's worth it.  If you go to Disney World every other year and stay at deluxe level resorts, it's worth it.  

My Dad always told me your past is the best indicator of your future.  Josh has been going to Disney World at least once a year since the early 2000s.  From 2008 to 2010 when we bought DVC we had been to WDW 4x.  We both loved Disney World and we knew even before we had a family that we wanted this to be our big family vacation every single year.  Sure, we may want to go to the Grand Canyon but THIS, this would be our family's thing.  So based on our history and our desires for our family's future, we bought into DVC.

Maybe someday something will happen and we'll stop going.  Maybe our kids will hate it or we'll get tired of it or medically we won't be able to go.  If that happens, we can always sell our points.  Actually, because of inflation and the great deal we got, right now we could sell our points for more money than we paid for them.  People love Disney.  People have always loved and will always love Disney and so any investment will hold it's value.

Talking about the cost

If you buy points through Disney right now, say for Animal Kingdom Lodge (they're still selling ownership there), you have a buy in of 180 points (I think) and the points are about $150 per point.  That's $27,000.  You will definitely recoup the cost several times over in time, but it's a huge investment up front.  In 2014, you could stay at AKL in a Savannah view studio room for 102 points for a week.  You could stay at a standard view room that is a one bedroom (kitchen, dining area, living room with roll out bed, 1 bedroom with king sized bed, washer/dryer, jet tub, stand alone shower) for 160 points.  So that's an idea of what that investment gets you.

If you buy Animal Kingdom through resale right now, you can buy 180 points at $79 a point for a total of $14,220.  That is a SIGNIFICANT savings.

Buying resale points

We bought points through resale.  We could have never afforded to buy through Disney even with the payment plans they offer.  We bought through www.dvc-resales.com and had the BEST experience with this company and all the agents we worked with.  Their reputable and have a good relationship with Disney.  They did all the work for us and worked well with us.  (And they're not paying me to say any of this, by the way!)

When we bought our resale points, Disney didn't have anything against it.  We were no different than someone who bought through Disney because we bought through resale and because we bought before any changes, we'll always be that way.

Since then, Disney has caught on to the savings through buying resale and they've changed the rules.  If you buy resale, those points are only valid at Disney properties (WDW, Hilton Head, Hawaii and Vero Beach).  Those points CANNOT be used for the other perks DVC membership offers like Adventures by Disney (international travel) or used at hotels around the nation partnered with Disney.

The other factors of points and where you can use them

On that note, let me talk about those things.  You can do "Adventures by Disney" as a DVC member which looks INCREDIBLE.  Basically you go with a small group of DVC members to another country.  Let's say it's Scotland.  You get there and Disney covers transportation and you have an incredible tour guide and unique experiences including staying the night in a castle.  It sounds amazing and if I ever traveled internationally I'd want to do it, but you know what?  Those trips cost at least 600 points per person.  PER PERSON.  I'll NEVER EVER have that many points and you probably won't either (unless you're just really, really rich and reading this!).  If you COULD afford this and you want to do it, don't buy resale.  Buy through Disney.  If you buy through resale, your points won't work for this.

As for using points at partner hotels...  Say you're going to NYC.  Disney has hotels there they're partnered with and you can use some points for a stay at those hotels.  I've looked at this one time and thought "WHY in the world would I exchange points for THAT?"  The rates are high.  Maybe I would some day if our family vacation was less Disney and more NYC, but honestly it doesn't seem like a good value to me.

beach outside Bay Lake Tower

Being a DVC Member

I'm going to wrap up this novel of a post now and just talk about membership for me.  I love being a DVC member.  I love that I get to stay at deluxe level resorts when I go to Disney World I couldn't afford otherwise.  I love being around other members because we all love Disney and the community is awesome.  I love the extra amenities I get while on property like free access to laundry (which wouldn't matter as much if we ever save up and stay in a one bedroom!), community hall (a DVC member area in each resort where you can rent movies for free, have activities and crafts for the kids, check out board games, hang out...), free wifi, discounts on annual passes, parks at the resorts, outdoor movies.... Just so much great stuff!  I love Disney and being a member of DVC was a dream for Josh and me.  It's exciting to be there now and we just really enjoy the amplified Disney experience.

kitchenette at Bay Lake Tower (there's one in every Studio!)

Downside of being a DVC Member

The ONLY negative has been not getting "promo" packages.  Before DVC we'd go to Disney under their promos (YOU SHOULD ALWAYS DO THIS!!!) so we'd have free dining or something neat.  We'd also have our whole trip wrapped up in an easy package.  Now we're responsible for saving money for food and buying our own dining plan (never discounted) if we want it.  We also have to take care of our own park tickets.  DVC Customer Service is EXTREMELY accommodating to help with these things, but we're independent and we do it ourselves.  ON THE PLUS SIDE though, we now buy annual passes basically at the same rate a Florida resident would pay so this year we bought annual passes for 3 people for about $1400 and we will use them for 3 trips.  So for this January trip we have annual passes, room taken care of and our only cost will be travel and food.  So while we may miss promos and the ease of packages, I can't tell you how nice it is to be able to just go in January and not have to spend much money at all because things are already taken care of!

If you're really considering DVC, I'd recommend you do the DVC tour on your next trip to WDW.  We did it and it takes about 2-3 hours but you get free ice cream at the end and sometimes they have other promos (a good friend did it and got a $50 gift card for their families time).  You don't have to commit, but you get to tour models of the rooms, you get any question you have answered, you learn more about dues and points and just get a great understanding of the whole thing.  You should DEFINITELY do it.  It's really fun and I promise the sales people aren't too pushy!  If you want, you can always ask for Jim McCoy.  He worked with us and was fantastic.  He is actually still our agent even though we bought through resale and gives us a call every time we check in to wish us a great vacation.  Can't say enough good things about him!

So I hope this post helped you and answered any questions you had about Disney Vacation Club!  I'm off to ice my fingers now.  ;)

This is all my own opinions and research, by the way, Disney did not pay me to share any of this.