What would you do: extra day + club level -or- private VIP tour?

[anomamatt]

We are making our first trip to WDW in late Feb / early Mar. My whole family (kids will be 2.5 and 4.5) is super excited and I want to make this the most special time possible. So I have decided to splurge. Neither scenario will break the bank, but both scenarios are outside our usual level of vacation splurges.

We are staying at the contemporary, main tower, park view. Right now we are staying 6 nights (7 days w/ park hopper). We are getting the deluxe dining plan. I have not been to WDW in 20+ years and I need to decide on two options. Which would you pick?

(1) We could stay upgrade to club level in the contemporary and stay one additional night. And do a few smaller splurges (princess tea party, dessert party, in room welcome package). And three early morning magic hours.

(2) Do a private VIP tour with a plaid for one day (7-8 hours).

The costs work out to about the same... I keep going back and forth. Which would you pick? For what it's worth, the extra night would be a Saturday night.

 

[SillyFamily]

What time of year are you going?
I ask this because during holidays a vip tour could save you loads of time.

 

[CinderellaDream]

I would do the VIP tour.

 

[nkereina]

I would do option 1. You'd get more out of it for the duration of your trip, as opposed to one special day. But do keep in mind that with deluxe dining plan, you'll have a lot of meals and may not want the snacks at the club level lounge. To me, one of the main reasons to do club level is to take advantage of the breakfast and snacks for convenience. With DxDP, you don't really need that luxury.

 

[Eastern]

With kids that young, I would ditch the deluxe dining plan, ditch the VIP tour, and stay CL the whole time. Have relaxing park days, convenient snacks/alcohol/breakfasts, and enjoy the pool.

 

[adisneyaunt]

Eastern... I'm with u after reading entire thread!

 

[Eastern]

Eastern... I'm with u after reading entire thread!

They are so little, they only care about the pool, cheese cubes, and ice cream. They will definitely not sit through 7 days of deluxe dining.

 

[anomamatt]

Thanks for all the posts and votes!

My kids are currently obsessed with princesses, so I have ADRs for a bunch of character meals (crystal palace, hollywood & vine, CRT, Mickey's). Between just lunches and dinners, I have "allocated" all of our credits. For that reason, I think the dining plan is worth it?

I do plan on this being relaxing and not too fast paced. Most days I am only planning ~4 hours in the parks, almost exclusively in the morning. And maybe 1-2 rides/events surrounding a dinner.

If we did the VIP tour, my thought is we could accomplish a lot (via unlimited FPs) without adding stress. Given their ages, I don't plan us on spending time in long lines (30+ min lines probably a no go), so we will have to time things well and maximize FPs. My biggest question about the VIP tour is whether it's "worth" it given their ages. I don't see us wanting to ride the mine train over and over. But dumbo for sure!

But yeah, does dining plan + club level make sense...? maybe not. I like the idea of breakfasts early in the hotel and we have no breakfast ADRs, but that is a lot to pay just for breakfasts... though my wife and I would enjoy the desserts and the kids could get their nightly milk that way, haha. And I will consume my share of adult beverages to unwind after the kids are in bed. =)

I'm not trying to burn the money, but it's starting to seem that way to me... maybe I stick to what I have booked, maybe an extra day, no CL... I'm a total WDW noob, so I truly appreciate the comments and suggestions! Thanks!

 

[anomamatt]

They are so little, they only care about the pool, cheese cubes, and ice cream. They will definitely not sit through 7 days of deluxe dining.

I just added some details above, but I only booked two non-buffet meals (California Grill at fireworks time and CRT). My kids will enjoy some of the rides, but are really, really excited about meeting princesses. Given that, does the dining plan -- and all the character meals make more sense?

Thank you!

 

[Eastern]

I just added some details above, but I only booked two non-buffet meals (California Grill at fireworks time and CRT). My kids will enjoy some of the rides, but are really, really excited about meeting princesses. Given that, does the dining plan -- and all the character meals make more sense?

Thank you!

I understand booking the dining plan for character meals, but the deluxe plan is a lot of credits that takes a lot of time to use up. If you really want to get the DxDP, I would not pay an extra $100-200 per night for CL, because you will not make use of it: you will be too busy using up your dining credits/snack credits.

Have you actually planned out all your meals and priced things out? It takes a lot of travel time getting from one place to another in Disney. Like an hour - hour 1/2. The travel time, and the ADR waiting times, and the meal times, all add up. Your kids are little and even if you plan your meals perfectly, on a couple days they will fall asleep or be crabby and you will want to go back to your hotel. Disney is tiring! You are walking 5-10 miles per day, and even you may want to go back to the hotel!

Plus you have a CL TPV room: the most expensive. You can save $50 a night just by switching to BLV and going to the lounge to see the fireworks. Or cancelling CL altogether and getting a regular TPV room.

You are spending a lot of money on your plan, and some of the perks will be redundant: you just don't have time to use them all. I'd probably get a BLV CL room, no VIP, no dining plan, and just book where I wanted to dine knowing that I could cancel within the time frame and not worry about wasting prepaid dining credits. But that's me, and you know your family best. I think that spending more money will not mean you will have a better time. CL at CR alone will be great for your family. With the money you save, buy your wife a diamond bracelet!

Remember, you get 3 FP+ per day and you can usually get even the most popular rides at MK scheduled if you book as soon as your window opens. Also if you go to the parks early, you can usually get on all your favorite rides once with little to no wait, even when it is crowded.

Also you don't even need to go to CG at fireworks time: you can go whenever you want and then keep your receipt to get back into the restaurant and view the fireworks from the walkway on the restaurant level. And you can see fireworks every night from your hotel room or from the club lounge.

If you are worried about breakfast, they also have a cafe in the hotel that doesn't need reservations. https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/dining/contemporary-resort/contempo-cafe/menus/ I would never pay for CL just for breakfast.

 

[Crystal824]

I would do the extra night. In my opinion, you can never have too many vacation days. I would get rid of the Deluxe dining plan with kids that age. I have a two year old and a six year old. I would never do Deluxe Dining with them especially if you are only doing two signature meals. Most character meals only require one credit. I would switch to regular dining plan. You get one table service and one quick service per day as well as a snack. One sit down meal a day is enough for me with my kids. In fact, we are going next month for 10 days. We have 5 sit down meals (one every other day). My kids generally behave in restaurants, but it does take a lot of time to get there and eat. My kids love the character meals, but they also like the attractions. I haven't stayed club level so I can't give advice on if that is worth it. I don't think you will consume enough food and drinks for the price difference, but if you will use the concierge and/or other services, it might be worth it to you.

As for a VIP tour, I wouldn't do it. I personally don't think it is worth it especially with little kids. If I were paying for a VIP, I would want to use all the hours as efficiently as possible. I know my kids are done after about 3-4 hours in the park so we have to take a break and go back to the hotel to swim or nap. I also think the best use of VIP is for the larger rides, which your kids may not be tall enough to ride.

 

[Karin1984]

I voted vip, but after reading the thread and the ages of your children, I would switch to club level and agree with the others. Go for the regular dining plan with character meals for 1 table service.
With taking breaks you will make more use of the club level. The extra day helps to spread things more.

 

[TwoMisfits]

Another vote for dropping DxDP, avoiding VIP tour...and booking club level with the extra day. One character meal per day plus the CS meal in your park of choice, your snacks in park, and your club level option for breakfast/dessert (or for any parent/child who has to miss a planned meal b/c of naps, meltdowns, illness, etc) will make for a MUCH better trip for you and your family at their age level...

 

[JustCallMeMommy]

I have stayed at Contemporary, Club Level, Theme Park View with DxDDP. We LOVED the high theme park view room, and we got a lot of use from the lounge. We stopped by each time we were coming or going to pick up water, and we enjoyed snacks and appetizers as well. That said, when it was combined with the DxDDP, we were stuffed all the time. I don't think we bought a snack the whole trip (we used snack credits on the last day to buy treats for DD's classmates at school). In your situation where you are doing a bunch of character meals, I would put pen to paper and figure out if the DxDDP would actually save you money.

FYI - I've done VIP tours at other park, and 7 hours on the move is a long time. It is a more packed day than your typical theme park day. Save this for when the kids are older.

 

[adisneyaunt]

Just wanted to mention that park hopping is something I'd also ditch.
With young children especially...its a waste of money.
Unless you are Not choosing restaurants Within the park/resort you will be at/near that day.
Hopping is fine when you want long days of running here and there and Everywhere. It's all time/energy and not fun for kids.
I would think that staying at a park for Several hours per day with 1 wonderful character meal a day and a few rides will be More than enough to have Happy Satisfied kiddos
And As important ..Happy Adults who won't feel Exhausted Each day from endless traveling, dragging kids/stuff around.
CL is a wonderful option.. Relaxing morning bkfst, grabbing a piece of fruit/water for the park and snacks/Cocktails in evenings...service/relaxation and a bit of quiet downtime is Great. I enjoy CL immensely.
Just my 2 cents.

 

[bumbershoot]

With kids that young, I would ditch the deluxe dining plan, ditch the VIP tour, and stay CL the whole time. Have relaxing park days, convenient snacks/alcohol/breakfasts, and enjoy the pool.

Absolutely.

My kids are currently obsessed with princesses, so I have ADRs for a bunch of character meals (crystal palace, hollywood & vine, CRT, Mickey's). Between just lunches and dinners, I have "allocated" all of our credits. For that reason, I think the dining plan is worth it?

Just go MEET the princesses. You're allocating food-time to meeting princesses. It's a rare child who can eat AND meet characters, at that age. You're going to end up with children who won't eat at these meals and you'll have to feed them later. And you will be spending time taking pictures of them, coaxing them to eat, getting more food for you and your spouse, etc...not a lot of relaxing.

I'd FP+ for princess meetings, eat without princesses, not do Deluxe (b/c it seems you're doing it just to get the princess meals), DO club level, and spend the extra day.

 

[2forMe]

I would just do an extra day...not club level and no VIP tour. Plus I would downgrade to regular dining plan...too much time and food with DXDP....

 

[anomamatt]

Wow, thank you all so much. My revised plan:

- Switch from deluxe dining to regular and cut out character meals. Replace with character meets and FP+ those. Great suggestion bumbershoot, thanks!
- Switch room from contemporary tower to bay lake view club level
- Add a day

And I will look into whether we "need" park hopper or not (depending on schedules and dining, etc).

Thanks everyone! I came in asking one question and got some really wonderful advice. I really appreciate it. As I was writing my post it seemed crazy, so I am glad to get the advice. I feel much better about all this!

-Matt

 

[DisneyWishes14]

I have done both CL and the VIP tour. If you are doing the DxDDP, I would suggest not doing CL. We've done CL many times in the past and, unless you plan on knoshing throughout the day and like a lot of sugary, carbs, it's just not worth it, particularly with DxDDP. I would suggest keeping your reservation as is (CR, park view, which is wonderful!) and simply getting a grocery delivery of things you'd like to eat in your room. You can even buy items in the CR store (including alcohol!). You will save money, have the food you actually want to eat and, when the kids go to sleep at night, you can hang out on your own balcony with a nice glass of wine, beer, etc.

As far as the VIP tour, I wouldn't do it with young kids. We did a VIP tour when my DS was 5 and my DS had had it after 5 hours of touring. He really just wanted to go back to the resort at that point and go down the slide. If you were going between Christmas and New Year's, I would have a different opinion or if you had older kids and you were trying to hit headliners in multiple parks, yes, absolutely. But if you think your kids will want to ride Dumbo over and over again, it's just not necessary. I would definitely not splurge on the VIP for this trip. If you want to "plus" your trip, consider things like Pirates and Pals (which leaves from CR), BBB, the Perfectly Princess Tea Party, etc. These experiences have hefty price tags, but nothing compared to a VIP tour.

So, IMHO, save your money. Ditch CL, ditch VIP and look back at your dining reservations again to see if you really need DxDDP (remember you get 3 TS credits per day with DxDDP, which you can use on QS, but that's quite a waste of money)

 

[IrishNYC]

With kids that young, I would ditch the deluxe dining plan, ditch the VIP tour, and stay CL the whole time. Have relaxing park days, convenient snacks/alcohol/breakfasts, and enjoy the pool.

Ditto this. Your kids are way too young to appreciate/need all those other perks.