Day 6 Without A Dishwasher

It’s day 6 without a dishwasher at our house.  Last Monday, the dishwasher made funny sounds and stopped working--coincidentally, just after the husband had inquired about getting a new silverware basket for it on Sunday.  I called the repairman on Tuesday; he came to check it out on Wednesday.  Results:  control panel broken and could be fixed for half the price of a new dishwasher.  We decided on replacing our 14 year old dishwasher with a new one.  Caveat:  In order to get the color that would match our current appliances, the dishwasher would have to be ordered and then we wait for delivery and install.  Estimated time of getting a new dishwasher is Friday—5 days away. 

If I had been okay with a color that did not match the rest of the appliances in the kitchen, we would have had a new dishwasher last Thursday.  When I told our repairman that I wanted the matching color, he originally told me that the color wasn’t made anymore and that it was out of style.  I told him to wait two years and it would be back in style.  Alas, after doing some searching, the color was found!

One might say that a dishwasher is a “nice to have” not a “need to have.”  While I agree in premise, I disagree in reality.  The childhood home I spent most of my time living in had a dishwasher.  In college, I lived at home for two years—with dishwasher, in the dorms for 2 years—no need for a dishwasher, and rented a room in a house for 1 semester where there was a dishwasher.  My first apartment after college had a dishwasher.  I lived there for nine years.  When I moved to another city I chose my next apartment by looking at a blue print as it wasn’t built yet.  The floor plan was faxed to me and included a dishwasher.  When I contacted the builders they said that hadn’t planned to include a dishwasher.  By the time we got off the phone, a dishwasher was going to be installed in my unit and all units thereafter.  I lived there for 3 years until we bought our current home in 2001.  When we bought it, there was no dishwasher.  Before we moved in, a dishwasher had been installed in the kitchen.  I can live without many other appliances—blenders, toaster ovens, curling irons, but a dishwasher is on my “must have” list.  And as for the husband, his childhood and adult homes did not include a dishwasher until we bought our home and had one installed.  He has since come to agree with me. . . at least I hope!

So, here we are half-way through our “no dishwasher” situation. 

At one point I was wishing there were dishwasher mats similar to laundry mats.  Bring in your dirty dishes, run them through the dishwasher and leave with clean dishes.  The people I shared this with did not see any usefulness or practicality in my idea. 

We, and when I say we, I mean the husband, has done some dishwashing.  Pots, pans, spatulas.  All other dirty dishes are being put in boxes and stored in the garage for washing later.  (We have done this before when our dishwasher went out over Christmas and we were hosting and cooking.)

The husband’s first worry was silverware, especially forks.  I referred to the Ziploc baggies of extra silverware in the basement.  Since we didn’t marry until we were in our mid-thirties, we had both collected a few silverware sets in our time.  Now that we are using some of the previously banned to the basement pieces because there wasn’t room in the silverware drawer, I cautioned the husband that I am falling back in like with some of them.  He groaned and asked, “The yellow ones?”  Yep!  We have yellow silverware, and yellow/white checked silverware—so pretty!

The paper plates and Styrofoam bowls that were stored in the cupboard for emergency use are also being used along with some Styrofoam and paper cups. 

One might also think that we would go out to eat more often as that, too, would save on dish use.  Yeah, but that would also cost more money.  I reached into my purse and pulled out two $5 McDonald’s Arch gift cards that I had earned for free on MyCokeRewards and the husband did bring home McDonald’s for he and the boy one evening.  He even had some gift card credits left over!  And, I did bring home a bucket of chicken from the grocery store the other night as I was doing the grocery shopping anyway, there was great deal on the chicken and I had coupons to lower the price and give us free potato salad.

We’ll make it through the next few days just fine.  I am excited for our new dishwasher to be installed and have plenty of dishwasher soap stockpiled for many loads.  Oh, to be grateful for new appliances!

 

There's No Dining Plan at Disneyland!

There’s no dining plan at Disneyland—well sort of.  When we made our first trip to Walt Disney World in 2006, one of the things that drew us was the Disney Dining Plan.  I have this thing about having meals paid for ahead of time and not worrying about budgeting for meals so the Disney Dining Plan fit the bill.  Twelve trips later, we’ve added the basic dining plan to our Disney vacation each time.  We even tried to not have/use the dining plan once and ended up adding it to our vacation less than a month before we left. 

So, with Disneyland having no dining plan that is similar to Walt Disney World’s options of Quick Service, Basic, or Deluxe, what are we going to do?  We are going to take advantage of the pre-pay option for character dining at Disneyland.

When making Disneyland reservations either on-line, by phone, or through a travel agent guests can select to “add character dining.”  This option allows guest to pre-purchase vouchers for enjoying character dining at Disneyland.  This option is available for guests staying on-site or at good neighbor resort hotels. 

Character dining is divided in to a regular category “Character Dining” and “Premium Character Dining.”  The differences are the restaurants available to the different level of  voucher and the cost.

There are five different character dining experiences at Disneyland—three in each of the on-site resort hotels and two in the parks—one each at Disneyland and California Adventure. 

When we first made our Disneyland reservation, I added two sets of vouchers in each of the categories.  As of yesterday, that changed, and we added another voucher for the regular “Character Dining” so that we can dine at all five of the character dining locations!  Oh, the things I do. . .

Is this going to save me money in the long run?  YES!  The vouchers include gratuity and tax for the meal.  And, with Disneyland having a hefty resort fee as a part of taxes, pre-paying saves us money.  While the Plaza Inn—Breakfast with Minnie & Friends in Disneyland is slated as the most economical character meal, the cost of the meals averaged out among the restaurants will again yield savings.  Most importantly, I will have peace of mind that these meals are already paid for!

As for gaining that same piece of mind with our other meals and saving money?  Well, each time we purchase a Disney gift card at Target we save 5% using our Red Card.  The husband already designated those to pay for meals. 

Disneyland Planning: "Extra Magic Hours" vs. "Magic Morning"

Talk about a steep learning curve. . .  Last night I put pencil to paper, actually cursor to excel spread sheet, to map out which park on which days and what restaurants on what days for our summer 2015 Disneyland vacation.  I’m experiencing a few bumps, but we’ll get there!

Park hours and calendars for Walt Disney World are released about 6 ½ months out.  While the park hours typically expand to accommodate fluctuations in guest population, assignment of “extra magic hours” typically does not change once the park calendars are released.  At Disneyland, the park calendar is available for two months (or less!).  Being that yesterday was February 1, I could see the months of February and March.  The good news is that “extra magic hours” which are only for the mornings, are always on the same days for the two parks—Disneyland’s extra magic hours are Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays, while Disney’s California Adventure are Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays, and Sundays.  I can work with that information for planning purposes regardless of what time the park opens/closes.

But then, I bumped into “Magic Morning” and it was listed only for Disneyland, not California Adventure, and it was on the same days as “extra magic hours”.  At this point I was confused.  The tickets we purchased had “Magic Morning” listed as a benefit but what was the difference between “Magic Morning” and “extra magic hours” which were also in the morning?

I consulted the PassPorter message forums.  After posing my question in the Disneyland/Southern California portion of the boards, I got a speedy and coherent reply.  Thanks, PassPorter!

Magic Mornings are for guests with a 3+ day ticket, are only for Disneyland, and can only be used once per ticket.  This is for guests who are staying at “good neighbor” hotels, or off property.  And, yes, they are the same mornings as the “extra magic hours.”

Extra Magic Hours are for guest staying on-site at one of the three Disneyland resort hotels:  Grand Californian, Disneyland Hotel, or Paradise Pier.  The “extra magic hours” include both parks, on different mornings, of course, and offer an unlimited access to “extra magic hours” as compared to the one-time benefit for Magic Mornings.

Got it!  Since we are staying on-site, first at the Disneyland Hotel and next at Paradise Pier, we can take advantage of “extra magic hours” on all the days of our stay at the designated park. 

Still learning!  But it does make sense why some guests are confused or may not take advantage of all that is offered.