The last time we went to Disney we fell in LOVE with the place we stayed (Regal Palms). When we checked out to head home I saw a flyer about the condos on the property being for sale. I grabbed it just to look…and then the entire drive home Zach and I talked about it and he was hardcore about us looking into it further. The prices were awesome and the places are large enough where we’d be able to fit our family no problem, even when we get to our max child goal 😉 4 bedrooms would for sure work!
Over the next several weeks we prayed about it. Zach did a lot of looking into things. We found out tax advantages we’d have by owning a second home. We talked to our home leander. We looked over our finances. We contacted current owners with questions. We talked to real estate agents. We looked into rental costs as well as potential income.
Once we gathered all the info we decided we needed to make a trip down there to have a final decision on it. We were pre-approved for the loan and made an appointment with a real estate agent to see the property! It was all very CRAZY but it was something we both saw value in and felt was worth looking into. Our pros and cons lists were both plenty long and we knew we couldn’t for sure decide one way or another without seeing them. We stayed in the one unit for our trip, but we weren’t looking through the eyes of a buyer haha.
We decided to go down the weekend of my birthday! We made it a one night trip and left first thing that morning. Really just driving in the car together was super fun!!! We listened to music (I was prepping for the Justin Timberlake concert and listened to a lot of his new stuff…which, to be honest, I don’t love?) and talked and broke down our pros and cons lists about 1,000 times haha.
Once we got there we stopped at Subway for lunch. YUM!
We met the real estate agent and saw 5 of the town homes. We did find what would be “the one” if we decided to move forward. While there we found out a little more info on some monthly costs that had not been previously revealed to us which was frustrating. When we left neither of us had that excitement or that “good vibe” about doing it. We looked into it further and just decided it isn’t the best choice for our family right now.
Our main reason we decided not to do it was stress. Since starting Dave Ramsey we have been LOVING the stress-free lives we’re living when it comes to finances. While we could make money with the town home…we would also have a monthly payment that we’d have to make. Sure, we can afford the payment but we don’t need that added financial obligation and we don’t need the stress of trying to make sure it was rented each month enough to pay our costs!!! I think we could break even with it, but we def would have to work to make that happen.
For now we are just going to be a renter for the property rather than an owner! We both felt content with that decision and have no regrets about it! I even have booked our stay there for our upcoming February Disney trip!!!
After we were done we checked into our hotel room and got ready for dinner!
That night Zach made a special birthday date for me! It was a surprise and he set up all the reservations and everything! I had no idea where we would be going!!! When I realized we were on Disney property I assumed it was a character meal. I don’t know why I assumed that? I guess b/c that’s the only type of meal we’ve ever eaten at Disney? I was shocked when we pulled up to the Grand Floridian Resort!!!
Sweet husband went to park the car since I can’t walk haha
I have never been to the Grand Floridian before! It was GORGEOUS inside!!!
I’m sure it’s not super obvious to you…but when I see these pics the first thing I notice is MY BRA! Hahaha I guess all these yoga pant wearing days are starting to ruin my ability to dress in normal clothes 😉 I must have accidentally tucked the slip part of the dress into my bra 😉
Zach had made us dinner reservations at Citricos. I’ve never heard of it but Zach said it was HIGHLY recommended by the Disney Dining people…and it did not disappoint!!!
The whole restaurant was so beautiful and it had amazing views too!
Disney doesn’t play games and I LOVE IT!!! When we sat down I had my own personalized menu that I got to keep with my name on it and everything 🙂 I love that even grownups get treated with the Disney Magic 😉
They also brought us out little appetizers that were on the house! (And delicious!)
Crunk for bread 😉
We both got steaks! They were SO AMAZING!!!! It was all so sweet of Zach to plan, however, that ONE meal took up almost our entire eating out budget for the entire month haha!
I noticed kids in the restaurant had cute Mickey Mouse straws so I asked if I could have two to take home for the kids 🙂
They sang to me and presented me with an ADORABLE little ice cream cone!!! Complete with Mickey Mouse whipped cream and sprinkles and even a piece of chocolate that said “Happy Birthday” on it. I was in heaven!
After dinner we walked a bit around the resort to check it out before heading back to the room to watch the FSU/Miami game!
Zach FREAKED OUT at first bc our hotel room didn’t get the channel the game was on. It was a panic. Like he called the front desk multiple times. Even called the hotel’s cable provider and even had a guy come up to the room to look at it. Somehow, disney magic?, it started working!!! He got to watch the game with no issues 🙂 And yes, even packed his Noles gear! Gotta represent!!!
The next morning we ate at Panera (could we PLLLLLLEASSSSEEE get a Panaera here? Please?!?) and then went to Ikea. We had bought a TON of stuff for the playroom back in August and the deadline for returns was Nov 11th. Zach had planned to take back the returns while working in Atlanta, but since we were already going to Orlando that weekend we decided to go together! We had a list of things we needed to still get and we ended up even finding a bonus surprise: Britt’s big girl bed!!! Zach had planned on building it for her but we saw pretty much exactly the same thing he had planned on building for cheaper than the materials would have cost him so we went for it!!!
It was a short trip but a wonderful one! I was VERY proud of how we handled the town home decision. We really took our time about it and looked at every angle and prayed about it for a long time before making a decision. We didn’t argue or anything! We both agreed it wasn’t the best thing for our family and we both feel, still, very content about that decision. Maybe at 29 we are officially mature adults? 😉
I really appreciated the AMAZING date night we had and all the effort Zach put into making it such a special birthday for me! I’m so blessed and we had such a wonderful little weekend together!!!
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Put pictures up of Britt's room when you put her bed in!