Your Disney Splurge!

[amg35]

We bought this last October, love it!

 

[amg35]

Oops sorry!! I read the title and thought you meant what we bought as a "splurge" item!


Our whole trip last October was a splurge, 9 nights at Beach Club! Totally worth it.

 

[BLLB]

We've had a few:

Wishes Dessert Party: We've done it several times (at Easter Break). Never had the problems others have mentioned, we just don't do it every trip.

Cabana at Typhoon Lagoon: This is AWESOME! We love it and have done it several times. I use my Disney Visa reward dollars.

Hoop Dee Doo: Did this with the extended family, really enjoyed it.

 

[Gracedis1]

Getting a royal room at Port Orleans Riverside. The details were just amazing and the kids loved the fireworks effects. Staying in a regular room is such a letdown now.

 

[roxymama]

Favorite splurge:
We rented a boat on our honeymoon (just the small kind at the Yacht/Beach Club little harbor) and just boated around for an hour. It was so relaxing to be in Disney and not being wall to wall people. Felt like a vacation from our vacation a little bit
And it wasn't really that crazy of a splurge (at least back then.)

Splurge that still went well, but had a flaw due to my not researching better on how much of a splurge it was:
On our trip with the whole family I booked my parents an ADR for "date night" at Le Cellier and gave them a $100 gift card for it (their anniversary was a couple months before we went so this was all given to them on their anniversary.) I should have looked at the menu better because that menu is way more expensive than the last time we went back in 2005 and I didn't notice until I was looking at my mom's pics. They never said anything to me and they said they had a great time, but deep down I felt like a dolt for not giving them more on the card! Doh!

Upcoming trip splurge:
We are doing the Wishes dessert party and also CRT breakfast !!! Both are firsts for us.

 

[roxymama]

Oh duh, I forgot to mention Victoria & Albert's. We splurged on that for our honeymoon too. I would recommend it to anyone. We live in Chicago and have been fortunate to have done a lot of world class dining and this place lives up to even the best Chicago high-end restaurants. Just make sure to be very very hungry, to be ok spending a long time dining, and if you drink ALL the wine pairings...give yourself time to sleep in the next day

 

[IceSkatingPrincess]

Splurges that we enjoyed:

- Club level (especially tower club at the Contemporary)
- Private wishes cruise
- Dessert Party (we have done 6)
- MNSSHP (a favorite!!)
- Keys to the Kingdom
- Undiscovered Future World

 

[Sytrace]

Our biggest splurges are the DCL cruises. We are going on our 6th one this September and I have not been disappointed yet.
Yes, the cost is higher but there are so many things included that we can justify it. The rooms we get are always Oceanview Verandahs and are nice in size.

(One time I took the kids and my Mom on a Carnival cruise and we had to get two rooms with a porthole view and barely could get around each other in the room. Also, had to buy a soft drink package for myself and the dining and excursions were hit or miss.)

On DCL, your excursion groups are gathered in the designated location on your ticket and you all depart as one group. Also, the rotation dining and getting to know your wait staff is so fun and interesting. The food is really good too and they are super accommodating if you want other options that might not be available that night. They will go to another location and get it for you. The stateroom hosts/hostess are really awesome too. It is nice to get to know them and learn about their experiences and where they come from.

It is all about the Disney experience and guest service that keeps us coming back over and over and paying more.
We have been to the Caymans, Cozumel, Costa Maya, Jamaica, Puerto Rico,St. Maarten, Bahamas and ,of course, Castaway Cay.

In Cozumel we go to Playa Mia on a beach excursion, in Costa Maya the Chacchoben ruins (amazing), Good Hope estate in Jamaica, Old and New San Juan tour, and Under two flags tour in St. Maarten. We went on the turtle farm excursion in the Caymans and Atlantis in the Bahamas, We are going to Green Grotto Caverns this September in Jamaica.
We usually get floats and snorkeling gear on Castaway and last time my son and I were delighted to try the Stingray experience. We also have rented bikes and toured the island. My kids like the airstrip in the middle and the observation tower. Really cool!

We also splurge on quick weekend "staycations" at Disney deluxe resorts and are making our way around the properties. So far, the Yacht Club at club level is our favorite...they have an incredible pool (I call it a mini waterpark)

 

[MrsHull]

Victoria & Albert, our first stay at Poly, and Illuminations Dessert Party were all well worth the cost. DCL was expensive but very much worth it too. The Wishes party not so much, but I am glad we did it once. We are hoping to do the Star Wars Weekends VIP/Ultimate Day tour next June. I am hoping it will be worth it.

So glad to hear this about the Illuminations Dessert party. That's in our plan for December and I've gone back and forth about it.

 

[bbjunkie]

For us, the Disney vacation itself is the splurge. But this time we went for longer, 9 days, which is a lot for us. We also bought the Water park and more and hopper tickets. We spent a couple of days at both Typhoon Lagoon and Blizzard Beach, and those times with my husband and daughter laughing in the wave pool were priceless. I know this isn't the kind of "splurge" experience this thread was started for, but it made our trip more magical.

 

[BuckeyeBama]

Seems like just about everything that we have done at WDW has been a splurge at some point. We have been going to WDW for decades, and early on it was a real stretch for us financially just to drive down and stay for a few days. Sit down meals were out of the question, as were on-site resorts. Over time our earnings have increased and with each new stage our "splurges" meant including one more thing that was impossible just the year before. We have experienced WDW in every way possible except as the super rich might, and no trip was better than the first.

So, for us, everything at WDW has been a splurge at one time or another.

 

[haj697]

We spent this past spring break on the Disney Magic. We have been on numerous DCL cruises, but this was the first time renting a cabana at Castaway Cay. We reserved one knowing that it was a splurge, but also with the intention of trying it once so it could be checked off our list of things we would like to do. But after having spent the day with one, I honestly don't know how we'll be able to take another cruise and not rent one. We had a fantastic time and stayed on the island pretty much the whole day, which we never do. It was definitely the highlight of our cruise.

 

[Bullseye]

Not really a splurge but we always do dinner at Cape May or Ohana. With six guests at $39 a head it's always a $300 meal all in. But, so worth it !!

 

[DisneyFive]

Favorite splurge:
We rented a boat on our honeymoon (just the small kind at the Yacht/Beach Club little harbor) and just boated around for an hour. It was so relaxing to be in Disney and not being wall to wall people. Felt like a vacation from our vacation a little bit
And it wasn't really that crazy of a splurge (at least back then.)

Splurge that still went well, but had a flaw due to my not researching better on how much of a splurge it was:
On our trip with the whole family I booked my parents an ADR for "date night" at Le Cellier and gave them a $100 gift card for it (their anniversary was a couple months before we went so this was all given to them on their anniversary.) I should have looked at the menu better because that menu is way more expensive than the last time we went back in 2005 and I didn't notice until I was looking at my mom's pics. They never said anything to me and they said they had a great time, but deep down I felt like a dolt for not giving them more on the card! Doh!

Upcoming trip splurge:
We are doing the Wishes dessert party and also CRT breakfast !!! Both are firsts for us.

I wouldn't feel bad. You still dropped $100 on their meal. Very kind of you.

Dan

 

[mrsjoannh13]

Going in November.... splurged on theme park view rooms at Contemporary for my parents and us. Also upgraded to Deluxe Dining Plan and booking lots of signature restaurants. My parents haven't been in about 40 years and when they did go they drove in a small VW van with a camping toilet in it and stayed at the campgrounds. This time we're gonna show 'em how to do Disney right!

 

[craigkerstiens]

We've got a couple, the most recent was the Chef's Tasting at Flying Fish. It was around $130 a person, but that included a pretty extensive wine pairing with it. It was a great date night, wonderful to talk with the Chef, and needless to say the food was amazing. I just did a full write-up on the food/wine at http://thedisneywineblog.com/2015/07/19/chefs-tasting-at-flying-fish/

The other was a collection of prints to go in our bedroom (http://www.disneystore.com/villain-maleficent-giclee-by-noah/mp/1326355/1000272/). We bought three from the same collection of Disney Villains when there was a family and friends sale, still thinking it cost a bit, but for over a year now we've loved them even gotten some special rear lighting for them to give them that extra Disney touch.

 

[LottiesMommy]

My favorite splurge was taking my daughter to the Perfectly Princess Tea at the Grand Floridian. I think it cost about $350 for the two of us, but it was absolutely magical.

The "princess stage" is already over for her and therefore us. She has moved on from princesses to a crazy obsession with Duffy the Disney Bear... which is completely fun, but I will always fondly remember my little girl all dressed up parading around the room at the Grand Floridian in her princess dress. It was very special and certainly a splurge!

 

[Pinkos]

Stating onsite this past May was our big splurge. We usually stay offsite so it was a much bigger price tag but opened my eyes to the magic and we will be insure again this may . This time I plan to splurge on both mickeys backyard BBQ & the Pirates and pals fireworks cruise. I was going to splurge on a nicer resort, but decided to stick with CBR and instead do a few special things to make the whole trip a little magical. One of these days I'll splurge to stay at AKL.

 

[Dr Gevil]

It's been said many times here, but I can't stress enough that everyone should try to dine at Victoria & Albert's at least one time.

Forget WDW, it will be one of the best dining experiences you'll ever have - anywhere.

 

[ArwenMarie]

My favorite splurge was taking my daughter to the Perfectly Princess Tea at the Grand Floridian. I think it cost about $350 for the two of us, but it was absolutely magical.

The "princess stage" is already over for her and therefore us. She has moved on from princesses to a crazy obsession with Duffy the Disney Bear... which is completely fun, but I will always fondly remember my little girl all dressed up parading around the room at the Grand Floridian in her princess dress. It was very special and certainly a splurge!

Forgot about that one! I agree, definitely worth the splurge once. We went right before my DD's princess stage ended (she wouldn't be caught in a princess dress now anywhere!). So happy I took the leap on that one.