These have been some different postings for me this week. I’ve written everyday, It’s been more of a travel blog. And the focus hasn’t been blatantly about discipleship as it relates to men.

However, framed through Disney, these past several posts have been about time. Time with your wife. Time with your children. And as a husband and a father, that’s our spiritual responsibility. It doesn’t matter where or how, you are to invest your lives in your wife and your children.

That’s what God did. He invested in His Church and His children. He gave Himself away so we could have that relationship with Him.

God gave to the point of death of His Son, Jesus… for you and for me. Jesus died so we could have a way to relate to God. Sin was our barrier. And not just the death of Christ, but His resurrection is the frame that God puts over us when we accept the gift of salvation. While we still sin, God sees Christ and the price He paid for that sin. And that’s how we can have a relationship with the Father… and have peace, forgiveness, hope and a plan for our lives that’s much bigger than us.

I hope you’ve enjoyed walking through our week at Disney World. If you have any questions about the parks or planning, feel free to email me. And if you have any questions about how to have relationship with Christ, please email me as well.

Here’s some final tips on getting the most out of your Disney vacation.

As far as “free dining” goes, here’s the full disclosure. There is a cost to free.

First, there are selected days you can take advantage of this deal. For us, that meant taking our kids out of school for a week. Was it worth it? You bet. As a first grader and a sixth grader, our girls are at a perfect age to do something like this. They are doing well at school and they both have good relationships with their teachers. Homework was done on the flights and at night. So advantage vacation.

Next, the dining plan you wanted was tied to a resort type. The least expensive resort type (value) yielded the least expensive meal plan (counter service only). The plan we chose (one counter service, one table service) meant a resort upgrade to a moderate.

So if you went the least expensive way possible (this is based on 6 days of dining), you’d get about $600 worth of free food (depending on what you order).

For the moderate resort (you gain table service meals), you will pay about $450 more for your resort fee. But I calculated we received about $1200 in free food. The price range of our table service meals (for our family of four… Disney treated Gracen as an adult for pricing because she is older than nine) was about $90-$140. Character experiences were more expensive.

So the true cost of our dining was twofold. First, we paid the extra $450 for the moderate resort to gain us the table service meals. Second, while you don’t tip at a counter service meal, you do at a table service experience… and 18-20% is recommended (we never had service that caused us to think less).

So with the $450 resort upgrade and about $120 in tips, our dining cost us $570 for four people to eat two meals and four snacks a day. That’s $10 meal per person per day. And a $3 snack a day. Pretty inexpensive for a resort upgrade.

Oh yeah, we also got four free refillable resort cups. That saved us about $70 and we used them every morning and evening.

Here’s something that you can do to lower your costs even more… go to Wal-Mart before you leave and purchase snacks. You can take them into the park and it beats paying $3.50 for the same thing.

This was our first experience in a moderate resort. After two stays in a value resort (All-Star Sports and Pop Century), we moved up to Port Orleans.

Port Orleans has two resorts: Riverside and French Quarter. We stayed in the French Quarter. Why? The resort was smaller than Riverside. This meant one bus stop for us (four for them). Less stops meant we got to the parks sooner.

The difference between value and moderate are space. A few more square feet (it really is nice), two sinks instead of one, a retractable curtain that separates the bathroom from the rest of the room, a refrigerator, a larger laundry room… these amenities, while seemingly small, really enriched our stay.

Value resorts are still nice. Pop Century was a step back in time for the adults and still visually catered to kids. All-Star resorts may be geared to the kids more than the adults.

The best part of the moderate resort: two sinks. As a guy with a wife and two daughters, that one extra sink made helped out with time management (and being at Disney is all about time management).

Park hopping or not? That’s a tough one. We’ve always purchased it, so we did it for this trip. However, we only park-hopped once. I guess we paid for the idea that we could move freely between the parks, but that idea cost us less than $10 per person per day ($220 total)… kinda expensive for an idea. We left $184 on the table for those days we didn’t park hop. (I will mention that the previous two trips were for seven days in the parks, not six. The longer you stay, the more likely you will park hop. We were at that breaking point on a six day trip. That second day at MK and at Epcot had moments where we could have hopped. Add a seventh day and the value of this option increases significantly.)

Transportation to the parks and in the parks is relatively efficient. Buses run continuously to and from resorts, the monorail goes between Magic Kingdom and Epcot (with a transfer at the Transportation Center), the ferry runs to and from the TC to MK, there’s a boat that will take you to and from Epcot and Hollywood Studios, a train will take you from Main Street to Splash Mountain in MK, a ferry will connect to to and from the World Showcase at Epcot, and we had a boat that connect Port Orleans to Downtown Disney. Depending on your resort, some of these will transport you to and from there.

Or you can take your own car (or rent one if you fly). Is there an advantage to a car over Disney transportation? You tell me.

And I’m still trying to figure out why the Peter Pan had one of the longest wait times of any ride at MK. You go up. You go down. You fly. You get off. Yet people waited in line for over 45 minutes for this experience. I just don’t get it.

I had previously mentioned the photo pass… we collected three card during our week and we had a total of 473 pictures taken of us (as well as of our kids with characters) by a Disney photographer. And you have a choice to have a CD mailed to you with all your pictures or you can download them… or for about $20 more, you can download them and have a backup CD mailed to you.

There’s probably lots more I could get into, but I’ve got work to do going through my pictures on our photo pass. If we’re friends on Facebook, I’ll have all my pictures available to view soon.

Two thoughts and tips I’ll leave you with: Count the costs and have a plan. It will help you at Disney, but it’s what Christ commanded as well.

Are you willing to spend your life for Christ? It’s much more expensive than a trip to Disney.

And will you be intentional day by day with your relationships, your time and resources, your devotion, your marriage, your children. These are not separate pockets of our lives. They are the canvas faith is to be painted.

Thanks for taking the trip with us.

This is the day that brings sadness to your heart while you’re at Disney… waking up to an eviction notice.

If you’ve been to a Disney resort and used the Magical Express, they hang this reminder on your door. Depending on your airline, you can check-in and print your boarding passes. You also are reminded when to have to turn your luggage and yourself in to go home.

But that’s negative. Let’s turn to the positive. Epcot. Again.

After a week of temperatures in the mid-70′s, we bundled up for a morning in the 50′s and an afternoon in the low-60′s. This year, we were prepared.

In 2010, we didn’t pack for the weather (assuming its Florida and therefore always warm… it was cold, even sleeting the day we left).

This trip, we packed for everything. Shorts, sweatshirts, bathing suits, jackets.

Our day began with a character breakfast at 8:05 a.m. Because Epcot opened at 9:00 a.m., we were able to get into the park early.

This last table service meal was a character buffet we had never experienced in past trips and it’s one I highly recommend (if you have daughters).

The past two years, we experienced Cinderella’s Castle. It’s an experience because you get a one-on-one photo op with Cindy and a free picture they develop for you. But… it costs two table service meals.

So this time we went to Akershus Royal Banquet Hall. With only one table service credit, we had a one-on-one photo op with Belle (including the photo) and several princesses visiting us at out table. In addition to Snow White, Ariel and Sleeping Beauty… Cinderella joined us. So that was a big win.

And so was the food. It was much better than the Castle. This one included a cold buffet of cereals, fruit, pastries, cheese, and salmon. And the hot buffet of eggs, bacon, sausage and hash brown casserole was refillable. Awesome last big meal.

As soon as breakfast was over, we hit the Test Track. Coming from the World Showcase instead of the main entrance, we walked on this ride. Twice. No wait. And no annoying pre-ride video. We also picked up fast passes we could use anytime after 9:45 a.m. and kept them in our pockets all day.

This was a great final day. We were never rushed. We saw lots of characters (some multiple times). And we spent most of the day in my favorite place… The World Showcase.

After enjoying some French pastries (and Layten’s chocolate chip cookie), I lingered in France while my family chased down characters. It was calm, quiet and relaxing. In fact, the only company I had was a squirrel and Sleeping Beauty.

There were several things we did for the very first time on this trip. One of those was Kim Possible. Gracen and Layten (and mom and dad) became secret agents, followed the clues and solved the mysteries. It was a fun way to explore some countries (China, Japan and the U.K.) in ways we might have overlooked.

Our last dinner (quick service) was at the Electric Umbrella (Disney’s equalivent of Wild River Country). Decent food, tons on screaming kids.

Speaking of food, we are Disney broke. No more table service meals. No more counter service meals. No more snacks. This day’s total was $225.

This brought our grand total of free food and snacks to $1175. So Disney roughly ate $1200 to induce us to their property. And I feel like I’ve eaten that much food, too.

Our final ride of 2012 was Test Track. And when the car pulled into the loading dock after our ride, it meant our trip was done.

And so we loaded up on the bus and returned to the resort to pack. So as you read this, we are in the way home.

It’s sad to leave, but we’re exhausted. We had a great week, made tons of memories and I can say that I’ll never forget my fortieth birthday party (we celebrated all week for my birthday coming up in May).

Here’s some pictures from the day. This was one of the most beautiful days I’ve ever seen. Just looking at the sky, you had to wonder if the clouds were drawn on a canvas.

I’ll return tomorrow with some final thoughts.

As we have done the past two trips to Disney, we spent a full day in each park the first four days. Unlike the past two trips, we only have two days left (instead of three).

And our last moments are spent in the two parks that we like the most: Magic Kingdom and Epcot.

As you read this, we are in Epcot. But yesterday was a slow walk through Magic Kingdom.

I treat each trip as if it might be our last. Each walk through the parks, each character encounter, each ride are special. And while we take our plans for the day with us, it’s the deviations that create the best memories.

One thing Disney does that makes your trip special is the photo pass. Depending on if you sign-up in advance or not, for $99 (in advance) or $149 (after your trip), you can purchase all the pictures that a Disney photographer takes of you and your family while at the parks.

These guys are everywhere. The castle, the ball, the hat, the tree, with characters… everywhere. They are very patient. And they will take your picture with your camera. This essentially eliminates the need to ask strangers to take a family picture.

Once they take your picture, they give you a card and load the images on it. Already have a card, but forgot it? They’ll give you another. Each has a code you enter online and you can consolidate them all to view, save, print and share.

Second days are always more relaxing. We spent most of the morning collecting fast passes while we got character autographs. We had 12 passes (8 for Space Mountain and 4 for Splash Mountain) by 11:00 a.m. And I walked around taking my own pictures of the park.

It’s difficult to walk out of Magic Kingdom for the last time. No matter how hard you try to slow time down and enjoy the moments, the moments pass. But the memories remain.

From this day, I’ll remember the 180 Layten did on Splash Mountain.

It had become her favorite ride. She had been on it three times already. She was a hand-raising fan of getting wet. Until her fifth ride.

Ride number two was a slow experience. Multiple log-jams made it claustrophobicly frustrating. I was looking for escape routes. And so was Layten.

Ride number five on Splash Mountain was no different. And in tears, Layten declared this was no longer her favorite ride.

Gracen and I created our own memory by riding Space Mountain six times. Add the other days and we rode it nine times. And that next to last ride… we got stuck at the top just before things got started. And for two long minutes, we were left to wonder if we would ride or if we would be rescued. Things resolved, we rode and rode again.

Some memories are posed for, some just happen. They happen because you don’t take this time with family for granted. The trick is living that way all the time.

We ate dinner this night with Pooh, Tigger, Eeyore and Piglet at Crystal Palace. Our last visit in 2006 ended with Layten terrified of Piglet. But in 2012, she was very pleased to see him (or her… this was a debate at our table).

We are at Epcot as you read this. They say there’s a boat behind France that will take you to Hollywood Studios. We might sneak over there to ride Rock-N-Roller Coaster once (or twice) more.

Oh yeah… I picked a heck of a time to watch the movie “Contagion”. I watched it as I did laundry Wednesday night and all I could think of Thursday was what I was touching, who touched it before me, what they came in contact with before that and that we’d be dead in a few days (and Contagion II would be based on our lives). Neediness to say, we germ-x’ed a lot.

Free food count: this day, we received $220 in free meals and snacks. That brings our grand total for the week (so far) to $950. Somehow we’ve saved some snacks and going into our last day we have 8 snacks, 4 counter service meals and 4 table service meals.

Here’s some pics from today…

One thing you have to do before you ever step into a Disney Park is this: have a plan.

Actually, it starts long before you arrive in Orlando. It begins with your reservation.

You can start booking your table-service meals 180 days in advance. And when you once had to be on the phone, booking with a Disney representative, you can now simply do online.

Before you book a meal, have an idea which park you want to be in that day. You don’t want to be in Epcot and have to eat up precious time transferring from one park to the other… especially when a table-service meal will take you from attractions for a good 90-minutes anyway.

Some bookings are harder to get than others, so start with those. Breakfast or dinner at Cinderella’s Castle. ‘Ohana’s. That Canadian steakhouse (can’t remember how to spell it).

And because it’s 180 days out, there’s time to adjust if your first dining choice doesn’t work out. Have a backup time or date.

Book breakfast before the parks open. You get to stroll through an empty park to get to the restaurant and you’re in position to get to things before others once you are done.

And as the day draws near to begin your vacation, you can always change your reservations online. That may change when Disney requires a credit card to hold your spot (to reduce the number of no-shows). But it’s still something to check out if you want an earlier, later or different dining experience. (Meals like ‘Ohana’s are at resorts and while they take time to get there, they are worth it.)

You also have to have a game plan for your day at the park. There’s so much to do and many, many distractions. The rides, the shows, the fast passes… you must plan ahead. But you must improvise some. Those are the memories you’ll always remember.

It was a wet day at Animal Kingdom. Part of planning ahead was knowing what to pack: ponchos. You can purchase them at the park, but consider that you’re getting a piece of plastic with ears on it for $8.50 each. That can get expensive, especially when you already have one at home or Wal-Mart sells then for less.

While we had a plan for this day, you have to be ready to improvise because something can always happen.

That’s true of life and that’s true of faith. God gives direction for your life, but He fine-tunes each day to keep you focused and attentive to Him. He knows our steps before we take them. We must be willing to adjust to Him. Otherwise life becomes about us and like at Hollywood Studios, Jesus is hidden.

Ok, back to Animal Kingdom. Layten had another first by riding Expedition Everest. It was her first big-time roller coaster. She smiled during the ride but refused to do it again. Gracen, however, rode it with me three other times.

Tusker House provided a great breakfast and character experience. We visited with Donald, Mickey, Minnie and Goofy.

And while it rained, we stayed dry at The Lion King show. It’s incredible. We’ve been each time we go to Animal Kingdom.

The day ended with a trip to Magic Kingdom (thanks to the park-hopper pass). A quick bus and monorail rides and we stepped back into magic.

Magic Kingdom was magically empty. I guess Milli Vanilli was right. Blame it on the rain.

But it did give me a chance to hang out with Layten. Splash Mountain, Small World, Tea Cups, Pooh, Buzz. Great memories.

While I got over an hour of alone time with Layten in a practically empty park, Jennifer got the same with Gracen.

And the night ended with Gracen (and me) and Space Mountain. Twice.

Actually, the night ended with two more rides: the washer and dryer. It was laundry night. It’s miserable to share a laundry room with people who don’t manage their time. But with a movie loaded on the iPad, I was done in about an hour.

Oh, here’s the money Disney gave us in food and snacks: $150. That brings the grand total up to $730. And we got a free popcorn and corn dog (not birthday free, just circumstantial free).

Here’s a few pictures from Animal (and Magic) Kingdom.