When to stop adding on?!

[DisneyWishes14]

At the very least, I would drop CRT. You will meet all the princesses on the cruise. I wouldnt spend the time or money on CRT when you’ve already paid for princess meet and greets through your cruise fare.

 

[maryj11]

This is me too! Now I'm considering doing the Wild Africa Trek. Of course we have to go in the morning before it is hot and the price is higher lol! It is 201.00 each person. If we do the Africa Trek we will need park hoppers
We already have 2 dessert parties booked! Ok need to do away with some things to cut the price down .

 

[cbl1]

Its not the money …. its the having too many plans for 1 day at the park … you loose time to actually enjoy the park. If you were doing like 3 days I would say … yes to castle … yes do dessert party (we are doing the epcot one to get on Frozen).

 

[YawningDodo]

I'll chime in with the folks saying that I'd dial back less because of money and more because of time. I've got general plans for a 2020 marathon weekend trip ahead of a cruise, and one of the things I'm planning to do is to deliberately prevent myself from squeezing too many things in -- I'll have two partial park days (plus one Disney After Hours night on another day if it happens to be offered the one night I'd be able to do it), and knowing that my park time is limited has me planning not to get a parkhopper even though I've always gotten parkhoppers on past trips. Without having paid for it I won't feel an obligation to use it, so I can just enjoy the two parks I'm visiting to the fullest and take my time at each of them.

Good on you for planning a down day apart from the party on party day, btw. That's going to make the evening so much more magical than it would be if you arrived hot and footsore from a full day at the park ahead of it.

I could see parkhopping on your first day, though, since you're going to have access to MK again on party night and there won't be pressure to ride everything there that first day. I'd say if you want to check out Toy Story Land, use your FP+ allotment for that day on afternoon/evening DHS rides and just rely on rope drop to see you through at MK that morning.

 

[JerseyJanice]

I can tell you right now that I am not a believer in any of these add-on events. I think that they are highway robbery, and we have loads of fun without doing any of them.

If I were going on a cruise right before or after one day in a park, I’d buy a regular ticket and be very content with doing a marathon day in MK or Epcot.

 

[kathy884]

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.

What you have listed here sounds absolutely delightful. Can I come? When you are staying at a resort as nice as the Animal Kingdom lodge (and spending the big dollars to stay there), having some resort time there makes so much sense. It sounds like you just have the one base ticket for the MK. You can always just go to guest services and upgrade that to a hopper if you want to go to Hollywood Studios that evening (easy to do that last minute). I'd keep it as is without the hopper and play it by ear. I like Animal Kingdom at night with the story tellers and night goggles to look at the animals. And maybe I'm just old, but relaxing at the resort after a busy day at the MK sounds heavenly to me.

 

[cadien]

This is me too! Now I'm considering doing the Wild Africa Trek. Of course we have to go in the morning before it is hot and the price is higher lol! It is 201.00 each person. If we do the Africa Trek we will need park hoppers
We already have 2 dessert parties booked! Ok need to do away with some things to cut the price down .

My kid is just a year too young for all of the safari type add-ons and I'm as much relieved as disappointed because of what it would do to our budget.

 

[kniquy]

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?

It is tough to say "No" when it comes to Disney. I find myself in the same boat and happen to stumble upon a CRT reservation, but wasn't planning on it so what did I do --I booked it because, well I found it. We want to see illuminations and of course ride frozen -- so why not book the dessert party. It is what WDW has set out to do -- suck as much money out of you as possible.

The necessity in doing things should be based on -- how frequently you visit, when will you be back, can you afford it and what do you want out of your days at the park.

It is very easy to get caught up and then find out that you are there and you have no time to relax, because you have planned and booked too much stuff to do.

We went with our kids and in laws in April stayed at 2 great resorts Poly and AKL, but planned too much in the parks that we didn't even really get to enjoy the resorts. Next time we will take a different tactic. We have a short Nov trip planned and will take a much more relaxed trip - plan our 3 FP and just see what ever we might come upon.

There will be so much to do and see on the cruise -- this is where your focus should be. Make your next WDW trip about the events, happenings and new lands opening.

 

[MomOTwins]

Haha, OP sounds like me. What was once a 2-day park trip before our 3-day cruise is now a 4-day park trip with a day in each park because the hotel we wanted wasn't available for just 2 days, so we did 3, then we realized that with our three-day itinerary we would have drop Epcot because kids preferred AK, MK and HS, but mommy's (i.e., my) absolute favorite park is Epcot, and our toddler is obsessed with Frozen, sooo...... yeah it's so easy to go down the rabbit hole. That said, if it were me, the only add-on I would do if I were you is CRT. CRT is magical because you are in a castle; so I think it is a fundamentally different experience than just a princess meet and greet in the cruise atrium. I note: if you want additional table service meals, and since CRT is so expensive, you might be better off financially getting the deluxe dining plan, which can be a very good value for a short stay depending on where you eat (though you will need to do the math yourself).

I would skip the dessert party. There are free desserts everywhere at MNSSHP. Also, not sure if you have done the parade before but you mentioned young kids, and my young kids begged to leave after about 1 minute of the parade. Be aware there is a headless horseman and zombies, which can be scary, and you may want to preview pictures of it online with your kids to see if they will be okay before spending a lot of money on reserved seating.

I normally like park hoppers, but I would also skip them here. Toy Story land is going to be insanely crowded for a long time, and when we booked for our August stay there were zero FPs for Toy Story Land at 60+1, which is what you will need to find for your trip since you are only staying two nights. Also, realistically, you are not going to have time to do three parks in one day, since you already have the halloween party to get to by 4pm, so you'd have to squeeze in two parks before then. Sounds hectic!

 

[Lesley Wake]

As PP mentioned, I would absolutely drop the dessert party for MNSSHP. We did it, and I think it was my biggest regret. First, it doesn't give you reserved parade viewing, just fireworks. And even with the fireworks, people were able to walk up right before the show and get a better view than we did after paying all that money. It would be better to make your own dessert party with the party-exclusive treats and waiting a bit in front of the castle.

For CRT, I think it's up to you. My sister and I did it, and while we aren't big into characters (more excited about eating in the castle), we had a lot of fun. And the food was surprisingly good.

I would say Park Hoppers are a fine option, especially with such a short trip. Just remember, you can only prebook FPs at one park per day, so if you make DHS the second park, you either would not have any FP options for the first park, or would have no FPs for Toy Story Land, which could involve longer waits.

 

[anomamatt]

First, it doesn't give you reserved parade viewing, just fireworks.

The Terrace view does include the parade viewing again this year (supposedly). In 2016 the parade viewing was included, it was not included for 2017, but per the website and many reports (including from MK guest relations) it does include the parade viewing again this year (by popular demand...). Now, this being WDW, who knows what will happen come the first party night...

 

[cbl1]

If I were going to do any of the extra's it would be CRT. But if you don't have it booked already that's a pretty hard reservation to get.

 

[Texans_loyal]

I wouldn't do a character meal, Park hopper and dessert party all in one day, You will be exhausted.

 

[skullsplitter]

The Princesses are easy to see on the cruise so I'd skip the CRT. Maybe put some of the add on money towards a cruise excursion instead?

 

[DisneyAuntie12]

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.

Lol, I am a Pinterest addict, I get it. Birthday party dessert tables, student craft activities, vacations, holidays... there's always just that one... more... thing... one more blog to look at, one more perfect idea, one more way for the project-planning not to end! Just a thought - if the planning is half the fun for you, you can always create your own 'extras' like crafting and filling inexpensive 'Tinkerbell stopped by' gift bags to leave in the room, or making a special family journal to write memories in at the end of each day.


I feel like the Disney extras are difficult to assess. When I went with my nephew a few years ago, I thought he wouldn't care much about the character meals, as he doesn't watch tv or know the characters, but would flip out over the Halloween party. In reality, he adored meeting the characters and fell completely asleep after 15 minutes at the Halloween party. (He had way more fun with some Halloween candy we surprised him with in the hotel room before heading over to the party.) Thought he would love the splash pad offered at the resort we stayed at, but he played in it once and then wanted to splash around the regular pool the rest of the time.


For the next visit I do want to try the Tony's Lunch package with reserved parade seating, and the Garden Plaza Party for HEA, since I've heard the 'camping out' time for those events is no joke. But I do that with the full knowledge that the kids in the group might be passed out in their strollers during both events! I think the adults will enjoy them either way though.

 

[whiporee]

Have you checked availability for CRT? it may be a moot point, because that's alway been a very hard get, and it sounds as though you're already within 180 days.

I don't care for it, to be honest. It's a large chunk of day and a large chunk of cost. And you'll get plenty of chance to meetont eh cruise -- might even avoid some awkward moments of "but Cinderella looked different ...."

Also, be prepared for your PPO BOG to be offset by an early opening. During the times when EMM isn't offered, 8 AM openings happen all the time.

If you're looking to spend some money, I'm a big huge giant fan of the cabanas at Castaway Cay, so if you can slip into one of them, i think that's a better cost than CRT. And I'm in favor of desert parties, but not so much during the holiday parties. Sort of overkill.

Sounds like a great trip. have fun!

 

[PlainJane]

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!

1. Depending on the savings on flights, it could have justified it, only you know.

2. I can see wanting to maximize your park experience because it is limited.

3. Don’t do it! DHS will for once be a full day park with those crowds. I would focus on MK, since there is only one park day (which a lot of people take at least two days to explore).

4. I would focus on doing things you cannot experience on the cruise.

Have a great time!

 

[hswillia07]

The last Disney Cruise we went on, we did the same thing - cruise and one park day. We chose to stick with MK just because of our kids ages and because we wouldn't have a ton of time. As others have said, I would skip CRT - the princess meet & greets on the ship are SO GREAT, I don't think you'll need it! Unless there is a certain princess that your kiddos truly love that you won't get to see on board. We were on the Fantasy and we met Tiana, Rapunzel, Cinderella, Tiana, Ariel, Jasmine, Aladdin, Genie, Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, Daisy, Donald, Pluto, Tink, Jake, Sophia...I think that's it. But we met them over and over again and they were awesome interactions

 

[scrapquitler]

Whoa. Slow down and take a deep breath. Make a list of the things that are the MOST important to you. If you keep adding on a lot extras during your one park day, when will you have time to just enjoy being in the park?

I can see adding the extra day, I can see doing MNSSHP. But beyond that, you're just taking time away from being in the park. I wouldn't pay $70 or whatever on top of the $60 party tickets for the desert party. If I've only got one day in the park, I don't want to be spending it sitting in a restaurant. But you have to make your own list of priorities. And stick to your budget.

 

[ChanduTail]

The Terrace view does include the parade viewing again this year (supposedly). In 2016 the parade viewing was included, it was not included for 2017, but per the website and many reports (including from MK guest relations) it does include the parade viewing again this year (by popular demand...). Now, this being WDW, who knows what will happen come the first party night...

I don't think it's included. It doesn't make sense that it would be included for MNSSHP but not MVMCP, and the start time is not in line with what it was in 2016. It's not something I want to bring up again but the OP should be aware that it's unfortunately not yet a guarantee