Disney World Splurges

I stumbled upon a great group of bloggers on Instagram who hatched an interesting plan. Each month, the group picks a topic and everyone writes a blog post with their own take on a Disney subject. The great part is that everyone links to the next blogger’s post at the end of theirs. It’s a great way to spread the word about Disney bloggers. If I’m not park hopping at the moment, blog hopping seems like a fine idea. Welcome to the Disney Friends Blog Hop: Disney World Splurges!

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Updated: 2/28/2020

Let’s face it. Just going to Disney World is a “splurge” for most of us. Disney World is not cheap. There are certainly ways to cut costs with research and shrewd planning. Just do a quick Google search and you will find countless tips on how to afford a trip to Disney World. However, if you do want a VIP experience, there are just as many ways to spend more money. The trick is deciding which splurges are worth it for your group.

Disney World offers everything from special tours to parties to Club Level resort stays.

You can take a fireworks cruise or get your kids all gussied up as pirates or princesses. There is also the exclusive Club 33 which is shrouded in mystery and membership fees that I can’t even begin to imagine.

While we haven’t tried all of the extras, we have tried a handful. Below is a list of Disney World splurges that are worth it. Each has passed the “rigorous” Dustless Pixie testing process. Someone has to do the heavy lifting, right?

Memory Maker

We LOVE PhotoPass. The Cast Member photographers that you see taking pictures in front of the Castle? That’s PhotoPass. All over the parks, these fine folks are available to take your picture in front of iconic landmarks and just about anywhere there is a beautiful backdrop. Some locations offer a “Magic Shot” that adds a Disney character into the picture and several attractions capture photos or videos. 

While the picture taking is free, the downloading of the pictures is NOT.  Disney World currently charges around $20 plus tax to download digital files (two 4 x 6 or one 8 x 10) . If you want to download a handful of files, it can get pricey VERY quickly. 

Memory Maker is the PhotoPass package that you can purchase.

It allows you to download an UNLIMITED number of PhotoPass pictures as well as in-ride pictures and videos. This is one of the most cost effective “splurges” at Disney World. While I am all for spending money on experiences, this offers something tangible: photographs. For $199 (OR $169 if purchased AT LEAST 3 days before you arrive) the photos of everyone in your travelling party will be added to the account. ONLY ONE package needs to be purchased for your entire group, so the cost can be split!

Great for Guests Who:

• Plan to stop for as many PhotoPass pictures as possible
• Want the convenience of having great pictures taken without worrying about having to always take them yourself

For a more in depth look, check out our article:  Is Memory Maker Worth It? 

Find current Memory Maker pricing here and more information on PhotoPass here.

Fireworks Dessert Party

All 4 of the parks offer some kind of dessert party either for fireworks or an evening show. While I wouldn’t necessarily recommend this splurge in all of those cases, I am totally behind the Fireworks Dessert Party at Magic Kingdom for Happily Ever After. 

If you have never seen the evening fireworks/castle projections at Magic Kingdom, this VIP splurge should be added to your bucket list. It is the BEST way to see all of the castle projections which are really the show stopper. The fireworks are great as well, but those can also be seen elsewhere in less crowded parts of the park. To see the projections, you have to be pretty close to the castle and that’s where the crowds are. The dessert parties allow you to get the perfect view without all of the hassle of staking out a spot hours ahead of time. 

There are 3 different types of Happily Ever After dessert parties.

We chose the Plaza Garden Viewing option with desserts before the fireworks. There is an option to have the desserts after the fireworks as well. For both of those options, guests sit on the artificial grass in the gated Plaza Garden area. There is also a third and slightly more expensive option available with actual seating at Tomorrowland Terrace.

The desserts are nice, but don’t book this for that reason. Securing a great, relatively stress-free spot to see Happily Ever After is what you are paying for here. It’s not something that I think we will do again, but it was absolutely worth the money to see the full show once. 

Great For Guest Who:

• Have not seen Happily Ever After yet
• Would rather pay to avoid the crowds and/or having to grab a perfect spot hours before the show. 

The prices change often, so check here for current pricing and the most up to date details. 

Minnie Vans

Disney World’s Minnie Vans are in no way cost effective when free bus service is already offered. Uber and Lyft are around ⅓ of the cost of taking a Minnie Van. Using this transportation option is absolutely a splurge, but we use this service several times each trip to Disney World. I’m kind of embarrassed to admit to that, given the price point. It is just about as VIP as we get when we’re on vacation.  We LOVE them.

Minnie Vans are all air conditioned, spotlessly clean, and driven by a Cast Member who knows where they are going and the best route to get there. 

This may not be true for everyone, but we have DEFINITELY had mixed results with other rideshare experiences while at Disney World. For us, it’s totally worth it to splurge on this service and all of it’s cute little polka-dotted glory.

While not EVERY driver we had was super chatty, most were talkative. Each of them was a walking encyclopedia of Disney World knowledge. We found out about all kinds of things from the Disney College Program (not too soon to think ahead for my son!) to the crazy ride evacuation training for Flight of Passage Cast Members. We LOVED getting the Disney scoop!

Great For Guests Who:

• Need to travel from their resort to another resort for a dining reservation
• Want to avoid long wait times and crowded buses after Magic Kingdom fireworks. (Wait at the designated Minnie Van pick up area near the buses and watch the Electric Magic Parade go by.)
• Would like to chat up Disney Cast Members for some insider scoop!
• Have children who need car seats (Minnie Vans provide car seats)

For more information on Disney World’s Minnie Van service, click here. 

Park Hopper Tickets

This is another splurge that we always get for our trips. Folks will warn that Park Hopper Tickets aren’t the best thing to spend extra money on, particularly for first time visitors. There is truth to that but, with careful research and planning, Park Hopper Tickets can definitely work to your advantage. We have purchased them from the beginning and haven’t looked back.

Park Hopper Tickets allow you to enter ANY of the four parks each day of your trip.

This doesn’t mean that you have to try to go to ALL four parks in one day. It just means that you can. Behold! The power of a Park Hopper!

For us, the best use of Park Hoppers is to split our days. We like to make rope drop or early Extra Magic Hours to enjoy a less crowded park situation. After lunch, we generally head over to one of the resorts to snoop around or back to OUR resort to swim and relax. Having Park Hopper tickets allows us to make Advance Dining Reservations for dinner either at a different park or at a resort so that we can spend the evening doing something different. They are great for circling back to do something that was temporarily closed or had an INSANE standby line.

This is actually a deal-breaker splurge for me. For now, I think that Park Hopper Tickets will ALWAYS be our go to. The convenience of splitting up the day has become such an integral part of my park planning that I can’t imagine not getting them. 

That being said, Park Hopper tickets may not be worth the splurge for guests with younger kids or mobility issues. It can also get very pricey for larger parties. Park Hopper is added to EVERY day on your ticket for EVERYONE in your party. While it pays to get them for longer stays, the upcharge may not be worth it for shorter visits.

Great For Guests Who:

• Want planning flexibility and convenience
• Would like to hit the attractions at one park but then chill out for dinner at a different park
• Easily suffer from FOMO (Fear of Missing Out)

For a more in depth look, check out our article:  Are Park Hopper Tickets Worth It?

Staying at a Disney World Deluxe, Moderate or Value resort 

This is definitely a splurge driven by convenience. Staying “on property” offers guests access to Magical Express, FastPass+ booking 60 days in advance, Extra Magic Hours, “free” Magic Bands and the ability to purchase the Disney Dining Plan. 

Extra Magic Hours and the 60 day FastPass+ booking window benefits are also extend to nearby Disney Springs hotels, Shades of Green, Swan and Dolphin, Orlando Hilton Bonnet Creek, Four Seasons Resort Orlando and Waldorf Astoria Orlando. However, Magical Express, “free” magic bands, and the Disney Dining Plan are NOT. Only guests staying at one of Disney World’s Deluxe, Moderate and Value resorts get those perks.

The convenience of having Magical Express handle our luggage and deliver it to the resort is absolutely worth it to us. If you are flying on an airline that allows for resort airline check in, luggage can be checked in and sent ahead to the airport for your return trip home as well!

While hotels outside of the Disney bubble can be much less expensive, you need to take all of the “perks” into consideration.

Since we do take advantage of ALL of our Extra Magic Hours, get the Disney Dining Plan, and would most likely go into cardiac arrest if we had to drive in that traffic, it works in our favor. Generally, our room is for sleeping, showering and changing our clothes. While we enjoy swimming and hanging out a bit at our resort, we are definitely more about getting to the parks in the morning. We have stayed at Deluxe and Value resorts and really enjoyed both.

Great For Guests Who:

• Are first time visitors
• Will take advantage of the extra magic hours (particularly the morning ones)
• Don’t want to rent a car or pay for extra for transportation to and from the airport
• Are interested in purchasing the Disney Dining Plan
• Want to stay inside the “Disney Bubble.”

Need more information on the resorts to help make your decision? Check out our How Disney World Resorts Work, Transportation by Resort, Dining by Resort.

Looking to stay at a Disney World Value resort? Check out our in depth review of Pop Century .

Disney Dining Plan 

Disney World offers a Dining Plan package for resort guests. While it is generally unlikely that you will save money on the Disney Dining Plan, it is possible to just about break even. On our last trip, my group (two adults and one teenaged boy) were able to utilize the Disney Dining Plan (1 Quick Service, 1 Table Service, 2 Snacks) and come out about even. When I tallied the receipts, we only paid $7.49 more than if we had paid out of pocket without the plan. For us, that $7.49 was more than worth the convenience of getting the Dining Plan.

Considering the Dining Plan includes a refillable resort mug that retails for MORE than $7.49 for just one day of use, we actually came out ahead. We use our mugs every day and if we had to pay for all of those sodas, ice teas and coffee we would have definitely gone over what we paid for the Dining Plan.

There are four different types of Dining Plans: Disney Quick Service, Disney Dining, Disney Dining Plus, Disney Deluxe Dining.

This gives guests a little bit more flexibility. Disney Quick Service Dining Plan (2 Quick Service & 2 snacks per day) might work best for families with smaller kids that have trouble with longer meals at sit down restaurants. Foodies might enjoy having the ability to eat at more than one table service restaurant a day with the new Dining Plan Plus (2 Table OR Quick Service & 2 snacks per day) or Deluxe Dining Plan (3 Table OR Quick Service & 2 snacks per day).

Food at the parks, resorts and Disney Springs is part of the whole experience for us. We research and plan and add dining locations to our Disney bucket list, but don’t want to tie up too much park time with multiple sit down restaurants each day. The perfect option for us is the Disney Dining Plan (1 Quick Service, 1 Table Service, 2 snacks per day).

We often go during Festival times at Epcot and can really get more bang for our buck using snack credits for what amounts to a meal at some of the food booths. I also have a caramel popcorn and rice krispie treat issue that dispenses with those snack credits as well.

One thing to keep in mind: EVERYONE on the resort reservation has to participate in the Dining Plan.

Disney World considers kids 10 years old and up Adults. If your tween aged kids aren’t big eaters, the Dining Plan is probably not the best idea. EVERYONE in your group that is over 3 years of age will have to participate and pay accordingly. If the majority of your group likes to eat, it is certainly something worth considering.

*UPDATE: The new Disney Dining Plan Plus (2 Table OR Quick Service & 2 snacks per day) sounds intriguing. Guests interested in doing Character breakfasts and then sit down dinners in the evening could really utilize this to its fullest potential, I think. Getting more bang for the buck here would really mean using both meal credits a day at Table Service restaurants. We are rope droppers and generally do Grab ‘n Go breakfasts so I’m not sure that we would benefit from this. As much as we like to eat, a lunch AND dinner table service meal each day would be WAY more food than we could handle. Although, the flexibility of having all of those Table Service credits is tempting…

Check out the menus for the dining locations that interest you and do a little math to see if the Dining Plan is worth the cost for your group. (AllEars.net has all of the Disney World menus online and updates them regularly.) Many of the dining locations at Disney Springs accept dining plan credits as well.

Great For Guests Who:

• Think dining is just another Disney World attraction
• Want to go to some of the more expensive restaurants
• Are ALL big eaters and/or foodies
• Want the convenience of paying ahead so that they can just relax and enjoy while they are on vacation
• Plan on having an adult beverage with their meals (1 drink per meal included)

Looking for more information and pricing? Check out the official Disney Dining Plan page.

Also check out our How Disney World Dining Works, Dining by Park, Dining by Resort, 6 Ways to Use the Disney Dining Plan at the Resorts, Top 10 Disney World Dining Tips.

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Disney World is a fantastic place to visit without any extra bells and whistles.

Truly. There are so many things to see and do that don’t cost you a dime beyond the price of your park ticket. If you are looking to take it to the next level, these are our recommendations of Disney World splurges that are worth it.

Check out Confessions of a Pixie Traveler’s take on the topic!

Here is a list of all of the Disney Friends Blog Hoppers!

• www.stressfreemickey.com
• www.confessionsofapixietraveler.com
• www.laufamilytravels.com
• www.coddiwomplerlisa.wordpress.com
• www.thedisneydinks.com
• www.enjoyingthedays.com
• foreeverdreamingofdisney.home.blog
• www.hdgoursliceofhappiness.com
• www.minnieonmain.com