Does Your Vacation Need to Be Extra Special?
When guests plan Disney vacations, their first questions are usually nuts and bolts basics like, “What tickets do I need?” or “Where should I stay?” Once the mechanics are covered, I’ve found the next tier of planning almost always includes a variation of the question, “How do I make my vacation more special?”
Typical versions include:
- It’s my child’s first time at Disney. What can I have waiting in the room to make it extra special?
- It’s my child’s birthday. What can I do to make her feel like a princess?
- My family will be celebrating Christmas at Disney World. What can I do to make it the holiday of a lifetime?
- I want my child to remember this trip always. How can I make it super fantastic?
- My spouse is on military leave and we’re going to Disney World. What can we do to make this an extra magical family moment?
You get the idea. You’re going on a trip to Walt Disney World, but that’s not enough. Your trip needs to be more special/unique/exciting than a standard run of the mill trip to Disney. What can you do?
I’m going to let you in on a secret … You don’t need to do anything extra. Your trip is special/unique/exciting all on its own. Here are some things to think about as you consider this topic:
Extras are expensive, sometimes shockingly so.
You may think that having your hotel room decorated in Mickey splendor sounds like just the thing to make your birthday boy’s day, but the primary birthday package available for in-room delivery costs $330.00, plus a $10 delivery fee. The contents of the package includes cake for six (with paper plates and plastic utensils), an ear hat, two balloons, a bag of jelly beans, a door banner, and a Mickey-embellished tote bag, oh, and 12 pieces of confetti. Do the math at your local supermarket and you’ll find that you could purchase all of these items for a grand total somewhere in the ballpark of $50. Let’s give Disney the benefit of the doubt and say the cost of the items should be $90. That means you’re paying a $250 premium for Disney to bring the party to your room. Sure it’s special, but would another night at your hotel be more special? Would paying for a your kid’s ballet lessons be more special?
Similarly pricey vacation add-ons include things like the $200 Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique (BBB) Castle makeover package, the $235 Disney Perfectly Princess Tea, or the $220 daily rental of a resort cabana. Even a relatively modest extra diversion, the $40 Family Magic Tour becomes a substantial expense when you’re a family of five shelling out $200 for a two-hour experience.
Extras may take time away from other things.
Remember that when you’re spending time on an extra activity like the BBB or a princess tea, that’s time that you’re not spending at your hotel pool or in the theme parks. You may think tea time sounds special, but your child might think going on the Buzz Lightyear ride twice in a row is the real bomb diggity.
And in addition to the time of the actual special event, you may also have to factor transportation time, often an hour or more on either end depending on the activity. If you’re only at Walt Disney World for three or four days, spending the better part of a day away from the parks may cause a real crunch in your touring schedule.
Having a glut of planned extras may also take away from the spontaneity of found moments that make a cherished vacation story.
Extras may be overwhelming.
Be aware that your child’s emotional wherewithal may be strained to its limits during vacation. Late bedtimes, the intense sensory stimulation of the theme parks, erratic meal times, and other factors often serve to make even the sunniest child turn into a messy puddle at Walt Disney World. The stress of having to be on their best behavior for portraits, or the stress of being hovered over by a giant mouse, or the stress of just being in an unfamiliar place may push your child to the edge of their ability to pay attention or act politely. How will you feel if you’ve splurged on an extra-special fancy meal and your child throws tantrum? Or falls asleep?
Birthday cakes are an extra that are almost always irrelevant or redundant. While there are no guarantees, if you tell the folks at Disney that you’re celebrating a birthday or anniversary, you will 99 times out of 100 be given a free cupcake or other dessert. We celebrated my twins’ 6th birthday with dinner at Chef Mickey’s in the Contemporary resort. The dinner includes a large dessert buffet, AND we got free birthday cupcakes from the restaurant, AND we had pre-ordered a celebration cake for a hefty upcharge (this was after a day full of intense celebration). I don’t think we ate a single bite of the cake. Even the thought of it was overwhelming.
Also consider how your intended recipient reacts to attention or fuss during situations like birthdays, weddings, or holidays. Do they revel in excess or do they shut down if overloaded?
Your child may not understand that your special effort is special.
Particularly if this is your child’s first trip to Walt Disney World, will he understand that having a cake sent to the room is something special? Maybe he’ll think that everyone gets presents in the room every time they visit. Will this set you up for disappointment or added expense during future visits?
Take a close look at whether you’ll care if your extra effort is not noticed or appreciated.
Your vacation does not need to be better, or even the same, as your neighbor’s.
You may feel like everyone in your town takes their kids to dinner at Cinderella’s Castle when they visit Walt Disney World. That may or may not be true, but it certainly is true that two adults and two kids having dinner at the Royal Table will cost about $250. Just because “everyone does it,” that doesn’t mean you have to do it.
I’ve answered many guest questions along the lines of “Won’t my child feel left out or disappointed if we don’t take them to a character meal?” You may have that question because all the other moms or dads on the playground mentioned the character meals they took their kids to, but chances are your child just heard about meeting Mickey, which you can do in 10 minutes with a FastPass, for free. Just because Suzy next door spent a pile of cash to dine with Cinderella, there’s no reason you have to do this too.
Your children may not remember what you think they will.
Time and time again, TouringPlans and Unofficial Guide reader surveys have found that most children’s favorite part of their Disney World vacation is swimming in the hotel pool. That’s what they remember as the most important part of their trip. You may want to do something special for yourself, but there’s a decent chance that if you decide to do something special for a young child, they won’t even remember it.
That trip I mentioned where we bought my six year old twins a cake a Chef Mickey’s … here’s what happened the rest of the day. I decided that it was going to be the BEST DAY EVER. We had not one, not two, but three full character meals in one day. Breakfast at Crystal Palace, lunch at Cinderella’s Royal Table, and dinner at Chef Mickey’s. On paper, that looks like a six year old’s idea of heaven. But instead it was a mom’s interpretation of what a six year old’s idea of heaven might be. In reality, we were exhausted and disgustingly stuffed. And, not surprisingly my daughters don’t remember this day. They do remember a different day on that trip where we hung out at the pool and they went down the water slide 9 times.
I should have known better.
There are many low-cost, low-commitment ways to make your vacation stand out.
Get the free “First Visit” or “Happy Birthday” button to get some love from cast members. Bring some extra dollar store glow sticks to the evening parade and make new friends. Watch the free movie poolside at your resort. Play silly word games while waiting in the attraction queues. Work on a task like getting photos with every character or trying a new snack at each park. With just a minimal amount of effort, you can reap rewards similar to, or better than, a big expensive special event.
A trip to Walt Disney World IS special.
Seriously. YOU’RE GOING TO DISNEY WORLD! On what planet is that not special?
Of course there may be situations where going the extra mile is actually special and will actually be appreciated. Booking honeymooners a dinner at a signature restaurant, or giving a family member a day at the spa after recovering from an illness, for example. But chances are adding extras to your trip is best undertaken by or for an adult who has been at the park multiple times already, because they have already done the basics and understand the difference between regular and special.
What have your experiences been? Have you ever splurged for a special vacation add-on? Was it worth it to you? Would you do it again? Let us know in the comments below.
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Thanks for this! I’ve been planning our first trip to Disney with our kids who will be 4, 6 and 8! I originally had a bunch of extras planned. But when I started to put together my touring plans, I realized that paying extra for character meals means that we would have to give up time doing the regular included attractions at the parks! I know my kids favourite will be the hotel pool. We are paying a premium to stay onsite and I think other than that, we will just enjoy the parks with the admission prices we paid. We used a similar theory for the one Disney cruise we took. Forget expensive excursions and enjoy the ship we already paid for worked out great for us that trip!
Love it! My boys still think swimming is the best part of the trip and the monorail and french fries are usually at the top of the list, too 🙂
Fantastic! I should bookmark this article when I’m planning future trips for the nieces and nephews. “Do I REALLY need to do that?”
I definitely agree with first timers not doing extras, but if you think it might be your one and only trip, that might be difficult. I take my daughter every year, so we add on a few extras each time. My daughter’s favorite extra is probably the Pirate Adventure Cruises because grown ups aren’t allowed. I have learned to slow down in the parks and plan a big chunk of time for the playground areas. Her favorites are Tom Sawyer Island, The Boneyard, the Dumbo area, and Honey I Shrunk the Kids (which she is VERY sad is now gone). She could play at all of these areas all day and be perfectly happy not riding any rides. These areas truly allow her imagination to soar in a place normal imagination has become reality. I think sometimes this is hard for kids at Disney with very active imaginations. For the most part there isn’t anything to IMAGINE at Disney. Maybe that’s why kids like the pools so much.
Terrific post! As my kids have grown from small to their current 9 and 12, I’ve seen my 12yo son have the the impulse to plus everything – can’t enjoy a cupcake, have to score extra frosting. Can’t enjoy a movie with a regular snack and drink, have to get nachos. (When did nachos at the movies become a thing, anyway?) Drives me nuts.
In Disney, I’m happy to say that most of the time the experience itself has been its own reward, but I do get frustrated by the continual having to stop at park shops to find that ONE SPECIAL THING EVEN THOUGH I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT IT IS rut he gets into.
I know, kids are kids and I get over it eventually.
But, after our last day in our last WDW trip, we sat in a nearby Pizzeria Uno waiting for my nephew to meet us for dinner. As we sat, sipping sodas, picking out personal pizzas, a woman stopped by and asked if my kids wanted balloons.
In a millisecond my brain imploded and without really thinking I muttered “No balloons thanks, we’ve got enough stuff going on here.”
My wife started cracking up, and then I started laughing too – sometimes more is not better.
We still use my response now when things start getting out of hand.
So many things can seem special/extra without too much cost or time! You could add a banner to the room or a stuffed animal in the bed (from home instead of in the parks- cheaper and often more unique!) I usually leave something on the bed in the morning and it is even a surprise for me after a full day at the park! Another fun surprise is new Disney jammies – they become memories from the trip without souvenir prices! And small things like dollar store glow toys or pull back cars are good line surprises.
New Disney pyjamas are a great surprise! I will keep that in mind for my next trip. Thank you for the idea.
I found myself cringing/laughing out loud at some of this – I totally agree! Disney is so much fun for kids (and adults) regardless of all of the extras so save your money and enjoy the ‘free’ (ha) offerings.
When I get asked about bringing kids to Disney I always tell them to just have a great time together as a family, have lots of patience, and take breaks. When they ask if they’ll remember the trip I tell them that YOU will remember and over the years if you remind them of a handful of special moments they’ll remember also.
My husband and I took our kids to Disney for the first time last summer. The only extras we did were dinner at the Beast’s Castle and I added on the photo pass. Both were great but my kids were 11 & 9 so dinner at a fancy place was really neat. I would definitely buy the photo pass again. It was nice to have so many family pictures.
It’s so true; sometimes I’m not sure what I remember from my childhood vacations, and what pictures have convinced me I remember. But the one thing I don’t have pictures of that is solid in my memory is swimming in the piano pool, getting a hair wrap, and the salt water at another resort. 🙂 Looking back as an adult who’s had to finance their own Disney trips, I’m just grateful I got to go!
As a Disney lover who travels from western Canada to visit, I have often felt that I really need to pack my days full to really make the most of the experience. I’ve learned to scale it back, for sure, though I do often like to add in character meals no matter what.
On one trip, I booked my family in for pirate makeovers, the Pirates and Pals cruise, multiple character meals, a meal plan, etc. We felt like we were constantly eating and rushing. Sure, we had fun, but it was expensive fun, and I’m sure we would have had just as much doing other, free or inexpensive activities.
Now, I make a point of spending more time at our hotel pool, limit table service to once a day (if that), schedule a couple of character meals (my kids typically request ‘Ohana and Chip’n’Dale’s Harvest Feat), make sure we ride our favourite rides, and take in as many fireworks as we can manage (but don’t push it if we’re tired). We try to enjoy what our hotel offers and always order a Kitchen Sink Sundae.
So, yes, we do add in a few “extras” because they’ve become tradition for us, and building those family memories is important to me.
If you’re Military. Don’t forget Shades of Green on property.
Also the swan/dolphin offer some of the best values for a ‘deluxe’ type hotel with heavy discounts for Nurses, Teachers, and Military.
This also extends to the support staff for educators.
http://www.swandolphin.com/offers/index.html
Well said, I have learned the hard way not to overbook special experiences. Now our vacations are much more relaxed and we all go home happier!
When I think back at all of my WDW trips as a child, I remember just being there, not the specifics. My favorite thing then (and still) was riding the monorail, and whizzing through the Contemporary. My dad asked me once why I never cite a ride at the Magic Kingdom as a favorite. The truth is is love it all, but riding the monorail snuggled between my parents and all of us HAPPY is the special experience.
These days, as an adult, we pick one special “add-on” – KTTK tour one time, MNSSHP another, HDDR still another. But now we appreciate the fullness of the experience.
Flash forward to taking my niece and nephew… my niece wanted to to BBB – she LOVED the princesses, so she HAD to do it. (I miss my princess-loving niece, now that she’s “too old for that!”) Does she remember it? Yup. The way her head hurt for two days. The choking on the hairspray. The painful princess shoes… we now realize all of that was really to create a memory for us of when she was little.
And I’m reminded of all those Christmases when we heaped the gifts on both of them, everything they wished for. And my nephew liking the boxes to build a fort, and my niece making a collage out of the wrapping paper, while the presents sat under the treat after being tossed aside!
Loved this article!
This is fantastic. I often help my friends plan their trips, and stress that they don’t need to do all the “extra” stuff to make it a magical vacation. When planning my own trip, I try to find one meal or experience that will be unique: This time it’s 1900 Park Fare (for my Cinderella-obsessed friend), and Sanaa. That’s it. Swimming and going on the attractions will make it amazing for the kids!
Thanks for the wonderful (as usual) post, Erin!~
This article is spot on! Especially for first timers, just being there is sufficiently special unless you are legitimately celebrating some major life event or milestone that would independently warrant kicking it up a notch. I would go so far as to say that most of the add-ons are more appropriate for veterans that are looking for a way to differentiate a trip from the others, or try something new to freshen up the experience.
Couldn’t agree more. On my granddaughter’s first trip we had lunch at CRT. But we did it because we’ve always wanted to see the inside of the castle. She doesn’t remember any of it and is always a little surprised when she sees the pictures.
Erin, you are so right with this article. This is a reminder I need sometimes. I too have gotten caught up in spending extra for what “everyone” seems to think is a must-do.
We went to Mickey’s No So Scary Halloween Party a few years ago. We’d had such a full day already that by the time we were leaving the hotel for the party, our three year old was crying, “I don’t want to go to the Magic Kingdom.” He wanted to go to bed. We missed the parade (I got the time confused) and left during fireworks because it scared the over-tired three year old. All they remember is getting candy at the Magic Kingdom. Live and learn.
Yep, my 4-year-old granddaughter, flown from California for her first-ever visit to WDW, says her favorite part of the week-long stay was (1) swimming and (2) sleeping. We think she meant the Pop Century with all its fun icons, but she may have been so exhausted that she really meant sleeping!
To prevent any arguments I always prepare an itinerary when we go to WDW and, when a lot younger, our daughters “helped” me to prepare it so they always went along with the final list. I had to book some events well in advance, however, I never booked anything on a birthday or anniversary. On such days we put on the itinerary “Chloe’s choice” or “Emma’s choice” and they would choose either on the night before or on the actual day what they wanted us to do. Now my daughters just let me get on with the itinerary (although I still need input about what they want to do on holiday)- but I still let them choose what they want to do on their actual birthdays. When my husband and I went on our own for our 25th anniversary my husband let me choose what to do when for the whole 3 weeks which was amazing. But you don’t need to do anything extra special as going to WDW is extra special in itself! We try and do something we have never done before each time we go and after visiting lots of time there are still things on my to do list!