21stamps Oct 24, 2016

No, I do not do all, or even close to all, of the up charge events. This trip is a little different because it's during the Christmas season. Last year I had no desire to do a dessert party, but this time we are- only bc I wanted it for star wars, so had planned on doing one at HS anyway. The park is only open from 9-7, and I have no desire to stake out a spot for the jingle bam thing an hour beforehand, so that one still made sense even though it won't be cool Star Wars desserts. After finally deciding on a date for MVMCP I tried to book the dessert party. So far it's sold out..I keep calling checking on cancellations hoping to get it. To me that one is also "worth it" mainly bc it includes a "special parade viewing area". The normal Wishes Dessert Party wouldn't be "worth it" imo. If HS extra morning magic would have been offered during the week I would have jumped on it, but not willing to go on a Saturday for it. MK EMM I'm still debating on. I haven't been able to get a FP for mine train, so that would be a good opportunity. It also includes a breakfast, so it's not too crazily priced. My main issue though is my son has never seen the Welcome Show. MK is our first park and I was looking forward to him experiencing that show..I don't know which is more important... We have 1 MK day, 1 MVMCP, and 1 night that we will head over for EMH..so I think we may have a shot at mine train... Like I said, haven't decided yet. So really all we have right now is MVMCP, Jingle Bam Dessert Party, Pirate Adventure Cruise, Fantasia Gardens, Sea Raycer and Whaler rentals, and Character meals. I was planning on parasailing as well, if I take out of the budget then Club Villian would take it's place for a little more. I like experiences, and I like my child to have experiences, he's only going to be little once. At his age a "theme park view room" is also 'worth it' to me..in a few years it may not be. I choose a resort bc of what they have to offer, including "extras", and I don't look at room and tickets as an all inclusive vacation. That said, something like club level has no value to me- unless it was for a 1-2 night stay pre cruise, not for an entire week or more. We don't take frequent trips to Disney. We do 2 vacations per year and a few small weekend road trips. I have a general travel budget that I set annually, there's years where I go over, and some where I go under, but I don't have a strict budget set in stone- it all depends on what comes up or when I find a "deal" etc. Also, I took out our DCL Fantasy portion of this trip due to work.. I'm now about back to that same cost as that was (some of it thanks to the cancellation fee), but I'm definitely not over the original amount that would have been spent on 13 nights vs the 9 nights park only that we are doing now. Disney is expensive, but it depends on what is worth it to me at this moment. Our June '17 Alaska cruise/Olympic peninsula road trip will be more than this one..an opportunity came up, it's a bucket list trip, and not something that I see us ever repeating..so we're going "all out" (my kid has been begging to go, and it's the week of my 40th bday so I thought 'let's cross it off now' Dog sledding on a glacier would be a decent way to start the next decade of my life). But I'm not going on DCL bc I can't justify the price or the itinerary. I am completely confident in my choice of NCL and know that we will have a wonderful time while spending less than we would have with DCL. Next thanksgiving we'll be on DCL, but then summer '18 we will most likely be on MSC- bc I can not justify, and also can't afford, DCL prices in the category I want on an Iceland itinerary. I'm secretly hoping that we can push back Iceland for another few years since we are going to Alaska. My kid is weird and requests cold places, I'm all about sun and sand lol. We'll see how things go..and if I can talk him into a relaxing low key beach vacay instead. Nothing is in stone yet. Bottom line, there's some things I see value in, and some that I don't. I choose accordingly. Edited to add- this is tmi but oh well.. I do work very hard..I also work a lot..and I am the sole parent to my child. So yeah, if I can comfortably afford a vacation I will try to have it be as fun filled as possible. It's complete uninterrupted quality time for us, it's the only time when we aren't running around from school, to my work, to a camp, to a sport..etc etc etc..and we are with each other morning til night. Disney isn't our life though. We have just as wonderful of a time in SoFla, OBX, camping in Kentucky, or anywhere else that we visit. Each one is its own unique experience..and they all vary in cost.