When to stop adding on?!

[Mrspeaks]

As I am planning our short trip before our cruise I’ve realized it is hard for me to draw the line on what is enough. We are fortunate that we can afford to go in the first place and add on some additional experiences, but things add up as you add on. For example, our flights were cheaper if we came in on Wednesday, so that justified (in my mind) an extra night at AKL. We are going to MNSSHP with our young girls, so I “need” to add on the dessert party for easier and better viewing for the parades, right? Since we are only doing one Park day, shouldn’t I add on park hopper so we check out Toy Story Land? I know we will see the princesses on the cruise, but what about a meal at Cinderella’s castle? Lol. This is how my mind works. If I’m already spending so much on the cruise and this short park trip, sometimes I think what’s another $$, but it adds up!

 

[Robo]

We are going to MNSSHP with our young girls,
1. so I “need” to add on the dessert party for easier and better viewing for the parades, right?
2. Since we are only doing one Park day, shouldn’t I add on park hopper so we check out Toy Story Land?
3. I know we will see the princesses on the cruise, but what about a meal at Cinderella’s castle? Lol.
4. This is how my mind works. If I’m already spending so much on the cruise and this short park trip, sometimes I think what’s another $$, but it adds up!

I know that you are really sort of kidding, but...

1. Nope.
2. That could be a very disappointing venture due to likely overwhelming attendance.
3. Sounds OK, but not exactly "necessary."
4. Yup.

 

[PrincessWithABlaster]

As I am planning our short trip before our cruise I’ve realized it is hard for me to draw the line on what is enough. We are fortunate that we can afford to go in the first place and add on some additional experiences, but things add up as you add on. For example, our flights were cheaper if we came in on Wednesday, so that justified (in my mind) an extra night at AKL. We are going to MNSSHP with our young girls, so I “need” to add on the dessert party for easier and better viewing for the parades, right? Since we are only doing one Park day, shouldn’t I add on park hopper so we check out Toy Story Land? I know we will see the princesses on the cruise, but what about a meal at Cinderella’s castle? Lol. This is how my mind works. If I’m already spending so much on the cruise and this short park trip, sometimes I think what’s another $$, but it adds up!

Put your hands up, step away from the computer, nice and slowly.

You can borrow my DH, who rolls his eyes at nearly all add ons. Perhaps a Skype call can be arranged.

 

[Mrspeaks]

Oh and there wasn’t an EMM to add on, already checked. I was disappointed! I guess Disney saved me a little money on that one!

 

[glocon]

I for sure would not do both a hopper and a character meal. Just not enough time... setting yourself up for disappointment.

 

[cbl1]

Yea trying to do too much in one day. I would skip the dessert party and eating in the castle. And I definitely wouldn't park hop.

 

[cadien]

I’m deep into planning a short visit immediately after our cruise rather than before and am running into exactly that problem.

 

[goodeats]

I'm trying to limit our expenditures as DH will have a heart attack, but I also want to have an awesome amazing trip. I made my girls choose between Extra Morning Magic and eating lunch at CRT. They chose CRT so I have prepaid for that. As of now I have not booked any Dessert buffets with reserved fireworks seating. We have some awesome restaurants booked including one other character meal and two signature dinners so our food costs will be high. And as much as I was tempted the budget could not handle the AK nighttime thrill experience or whatever it's called. I was relieved there was no Disney After Hours offered while we're there!

I do have to say there are definitely more "premium" experiences now compared to a few years ago. Maybe I'm just more aware of them or maybe the MBA grads at Team Disney have been using their thinking caps a little more.

 

[slpeters]

I am probably less opposed to addons than most here. We are blessed with a financial situation where a WDW vacation is expensive, but not outrageously so, so a little bit more here and there to make sure we actually enjoy the time we've already spent so much to arrange is not a problem for me. I say if you have the money and you can make your park time more rewarding and less frustrating have at it. That said, I fear that the addons you are contemplating for the trip you have will make your trip more frustrating rather than less so. You're highlighting what there isn't time for rather than enjoying what there is. I certainly wouldn't do park hoppers for one day--and I am firmly in the park hopper camp. I don't think I would do the dessert party during a party and I'm firmly in the dessert party camp. And you already bought the princess addon--it's the cruise.

 

[bethbuchall]

My husband asked me just last night if I’d been keeping track of the expense of my add-ons. I think it was his way of saying, “Enough!” Maybe just one more...

 

[Upatnoon]

As I am planning our short trip before our cruise I’ve realized it is hard for me to draw the line on what is enough. We are fortunate that we can afford to go in the first place and add on some additional experiences, but things add up as you add on. For example, our flights were cheaper if we came in on Wednesday, so that justified (in my mind) an extra night at AKL. We are going to MNSSHP with our young girls, so I “need” to add on the dessert party for easier and better viewing for the parades, right? Since we are only doing one Park day, shouldn’t I add on park hopper so we check out Toy Story Land? I know we will see the princesses on the cruise, but what about a meal at Cinderella’s castle? Lol. This is how my mind works. If I’m already spending so much on the cruise and this short park trip, sometimes I think what’s another $$, but it adds up!

Your kids may have just as much fun hanging out at the resort pool the day before the cruise and not go to a park at all. Some of my kids' favorite activities at Disney involve resort activities that are free or low-cost.

Of course, Disney offers all kinds of activities at all kinds of price points designed to extract as much money from its guests as possible. Disney works hard to create "fear of missing out" in its customers.

There is nothing wrong with these add-on activities, but they are not needed to have a great vacation.

Too many activities dilutes their value and makes them less "special." The more you do, the more likely you are to be disappointed and overstimulated.

Just my 2 cents.

 

[anomamatt]

If you only have one day, I would pick either:

A) one park with one TS meal (or a dessert party instead of a TS meal) [in your case park would be MK w/ MNSSHP]

or

B) park hop and eat QS meals (and no parties)

I say this simply from a time perspective. You just won't have sufficient time to park hop if you are spending time with ADRs, etc. And the value of the hopper just won't be there...

 

[LiveToTravelNicely]

I would do expensive add-ons sparingly. As others stated, the kids are going to be excited just to be at WDW. One of the memories my nephew brings up all the time is the afternoon in the complimentary CRAFT ROOM at Bay Lake Tower. We did that activity on the washout rain day in January when it was 40 degrees. Point is, kids don't evaluate their memories on the cost of the event. That's not to say that you shouldn't do ANY special events. You're already going to MNSSHP. I say that is enough special events for that day. Are the kids even aware that they can eat in the castle? If not, they'll be just as excited to walk through the castle gates and then eat elsewhere. But maybe their friends at school talked about eating in the castle and that's all they talk about to you. In that case, I would eat in the castle. I think Disney does a really good job marketing the add-ons to make the trip memories special, but in reality when you get there, you totally don't remember that you didn't do an add-on. There's so much already to do in the base pricing.

 

[Hope Soda]

Skip the dessert party. Don't hop. Maybe eat at Cinderella's Royal Table; my boys always want to eat there, but sometimes I swear they just want the "free" swords. I like it, too, though, for the food and the experience, so we end up doing it on about half of our Disney vacations. I'm not the person to stop you from adding on stuff... I am pretty bad about it. My husband doesn't stop me; he just leaves the planning 100% to me. He never ends up complaining about the costs of add-ons other than food. He is not a huge fan of any signature restaurants because of the cost, and that he just doesn't view ANY food to ever be worth that much money.

 

[SaintsManiac]

I would skip the dessert party during MNSSHP. I've heard that it's overkill. I also would not waste time at a TS during a party, either.

 

[Mrspeaks]

I love and appreciate all your comments! I'm only partially serious about all the add ons.

I should have given a little more detail on my trip.
Arrive Wednesday evening to AKLV.
Thursday - park day. Thinking MK. I have a PPO breakfast at be our guest for a 9:00 opening. We would eat QS unless my girls (ok me) "can't live without" CRT. It's a party night, so we would leave before the party. This is where I thought we might hop to HS.
Friday - enjoy the resort pool, catch a nap, go to MNSSHP at 4:00. I've been to one party and our priorities are rides, candy and the parade/fireworks.
Saturday - enjoy pool until we leave for ship.

Disney has done a great job of advertising the add ons and I consider the Halloween party an add on. We had a great experience at EMM, so I've kind of bought in. It's a personal decision of when enough is enough, but I love to plan and obsess about these things.

 

[LSUmiss]

As I am planning our short trip before our cruise I’ve realized it is hard for me to draw the line on what is enough. We are fortunate that we can afford to go in the first place and add on some additional experiences, but things add up as you add on. For example, our flights were cheaper if we came in on Wednesday, so that justified (in my mind) an extra night at AKL. We are going to MNSSHP with our young girls, so I “need” to add on the dessert party for easier and better viewing for the parades, right? Since we are only doing one Park day, shouldn’t I add on park hopper so we check out Toy Story Land? I know we will see the princesses on the cruise, but what about a meal at Cinderella’s castle? Lol. This is how my mind works. If I’m already spending so much on the cruise and this short park trip, sometimes I think what’s another $$, but it adds up!

I do the same thing! And we can afford it & I don’t regret ever doing it. I feel it makes our trips more enjoyable. I just added a day to our trip in Nov b/c flights were cheaper! We go often & have been a lot in the past 11 years so I know what I find value in with the upgrades & add-ons. There are some that I don’t feel we would want so I don’t.

 

[Queen of the WDW Scene]

Hope you posted for some tough love.
STOP!
You don't need the dessert party or CRT.
Shouldn't going to MNSSHP be enough???
Getting a park hopper ticket vs a base ticket may be worth it if you'd like to do 2 parks but honestly those couple other things are not at all justified.

 

[LSUmiss]

I love and appreciate all your comments! I'm only partially serious about all the add ons.

I should have given a little more detail on my trip.
Arrive Wednesday evening to AKLV.
Thursday - park day. Thinking MK. I have a PPO breakfast at be our guest for a 9:00 opening. We would eat QS unless my girls (ok me) "can't live without" CRT. It's a party night, so we would leave before the party. This is where I thought we might hop to HS.
Friday - enjoy the resort pool, catch a nap, go to MNSSHP at 4:00. I've been to one party and our priorities are rides, candy and the parade/fireworks.
Saturday - enjoy pool until we leave for ship.

Disney has done a great job of advertising the add ons and I consider the Halloween party an add on. We had a great experience at EMM, so I've kind of bought in. It's a personal decision of when enough is enough, but I love to plan and obsess about these things.

Also sometimes I “save” other places & do add ons instead b/c on that particular trip add ons help mitigate crowds or whatever. We usually stay in monorail resorts mostly for transportation. But this trip we added a day & some other things but will stay at Pop to keep the costs down but plan to use Minnie van service a lot to adjust for less convenient transportation options during thanksgiving crowds.

 

[LiveToTravelNicely]

I love and appreciate all your comments! I'm only partially serious about all the add ons.

I should have given a little more detail on my trip.
Arrive Wednesday evening to AKLV.
Thursday - park day. Thinking MK. I have a PPO breakfast at be our guest for a 9:00 opening. We would eat QS unless my girls (ok me) "can't live without" CRT. It's a party night, so we would leave before the party. This is where I thought we might hop to HS.
Friday - enjoy the resort pool, catch a nap, go to MNSSHP at 4:00. I've been to one party and our priorities are rides, candy and the parade/fireworks.
Saturday - enjoy pool until we leave for ship.

Disney has done a great job of advertising the add ons and I consider the Halloween party an add on. We had a great experience at EMM, so I've kind of bought in. It's a personal decision of when enough is enough, but I love to plan and obsess about these things.

It is definitely all a balance of what your priorities are. Sounds like given your situation you should do the MNSSHP and lunch at CRT. CRT because it sounds like that's something YOU really want to do! My points, above, were to not add things just to be adding things. Save that money for activities, souvenirs, excursions on your cruise that you all really want to do. Hope you have a great trip, OP!