Please help me choose a splurge for my daughters

TMJR

Mouseketeer
Joined
Jan 5, 2006
We will be there 12/25-1/1. Busiest week ever, I know. But my daughters would love to see the Christmas decorations and I am a teacher so it is my only shot!

My daughters will be 18 and 11. I want to surprise them with something special. I was looking at the dessert fireworks viewing at MK, but I was wondering if there is something else people highly recommend.

Thank you!
 
Dessert party is a good choice. Also, we were there last New Years with twin DDs-18 and we did a brunch on NY day at 1900 Park Fare and they loved it. We were just at WDW again in March and they kept asking if we could do 1900 Park Fare again. They also love Ohana dinner.
 
We splurged on the plaza dessert party for our spring break trip. I wanted my mother and kids to see the fireworks without dealing with those horrific crowds. Totally worth it. I wouldn't do it every trip, but it was a nice experience. So nice to see the fireworks and have plenty of room to move around.
 
My children were 13 and 17 on our recent spring break trip. We splurged on the fireworks garden dessert party at Magic Kingdom. It was definitely worth it and I would recommend it to anyone!

Another splurge that I would consider would be eating at California Grill, especially if you can time the reservation for the fireworks. Very special and your kiddos are old enough to appreciate (and remember) this experience. :)
 


I can’t say that I’ve been to Disney during that week, but knowing what it’s like on a not packed week, I think the dessert party is a great idea! That way you will definitely be able to see the fireworks and enjoy them without having to stake out a spot and I imagine that week you have to stake out your spot REALLY early.
 
I'm going to have a special day with my DD17 while the rest of the crew does US. She loves loves loves Frozen so we are doing the Frozen Dessert Party at Epcot. $80 for dessert (cocktails for me :rolleyes1), special seating for Illuminations and a ride on Frozen.
 
We loved the dessert party at Epcot. You can sit at a nice table and view the fireworks, and the food and beverages are really good. You get to sit at a reserved table and watch Illuminations, and then you get to ride Frozen after everyone else has gone home.

I do love HEA and certainly recommend it- I've done the dessert party three times so obviously I liked it- but I think the Frozen dessert party felt more special and more VIP.

My daughters also love having dinner at Cali Grill and watching the MK fireworks from there. It would actually be cheaper than the dessert party since your daughters must now pay the adult dessert party price, and you would get better food and service at Cali Grill. You would miss the projections, but the fireworks are still beautiful.
 
We will be there 12/25-1/1. Busiest week ever, I know. But my daughters would love to see the Christmas decorations and I am a teacher so it is my only shot!

My daughters will be 18 and 11. I want to surprise them with something special. I was looking at the dessert fireworks viewing at MK, but I was wondering if there is something else people highly recommend.

Thank you!
DEFINITELY do the Happily Ever After fireworks dessert party with Plaza viewing for 12/30. We go every year for NYE and having space to watch the fireworks and not be crammed in was wonderful.

Other than that, the trip should be special enough.
 
If your girls love animals/DAK/ have a fun sense of adventure I definitely recommend Wild Africa Trek! I also think the Grand Floridian Tea culd be awesome- I would LOVE to do that with my mom now!
 
I'll throw in another tea vote if that's your kind of splurge. Did it a few years ago with my mom and it was incredible (even she, who loathes tea with her entire being, found a tea she loved. And asked us to buy at home). There were a lot of options for tea services, we had a basic tea and scones/trifle which was scrumptious. Another thing we enjoy is spa time, usually we each get massages. Not as much together as say facials or mani pedis can be, but relaxing with each other is great. You could also do a fancy meal, my dad does that for my mom each trip (they're doing CG this summer with their two rest days before I fly down and I'm trying not to be jealous. At least they aren't doing MK without me, even if I'm 28 it still bothers me to not do that as a family hahaha).

Some other splurges I've heard of in passing are sleigh rides around FW to see decorations, not sure but when we went at Christmas 10 years ago they had a special tour regarding park decorating if that's of interest to them (I was a strange child and have always wanted to try a tour though....) if you REALLY want to splurge maybe a private fireworks cruise? We did that on my grandpas 70th bday trip, we all felt so fancy haha.

But honestly to me the best thing at the holiday in Disney to me was standing on Main Street with my parents holding my dads hand and watching it "snow" during the party and thinking it was the most magical Disney moment in all my trips. I was 18 that year, but standing on Main Street with my parents is the quintessential Disney experience for me. (And getting matching shirts with my mom each time, I think we have like 6 or 7 sets). But I think if you figure out what makes a Disney trip a Disney trip for them and build the surprise around that, it will be the most magical and memorable for them. Happy planning :)
 
We will be there 12/25-1/1. Busiest week ever, I know. But my daughters would love to see the Christmas decorations and I am a teacher so it is my only shot!

My daughters will be 18 and 11. I want to surprise them with something special. I was looking at the dessert fireworks viewing at MK, but I was wondering if there is something else people highly recommend.

Thank you!
Hoop Dee Doo Review is great, too. The fireworks dessert party will really help at the time of year.
 
Thank you so much everyone, these are great ideas! Some I had never considered, so I truly appreciate the input!
 
We will be there 12/25-1/1. Busiest week ever, I know. But my daughters would love to see the Christmas decorations and I am a teacher so it is my only shot!

My daughters will be 18 and 11. I want to surprise them with something special. I was looking at the dessert fireworks viewing at MK, but I was wondering if there is something else people highly recommend.

Thank you!
If you are going to be at the magic kingdom on New Year’s Eve I would suggest the desserts party ( the latter one) it is worth it and the fireworks are amazing.
 
These are all great suggestions to choose from. We have done many of theses sans spa and tea because they are just not up my DD 14 alley but I will chime in to second the Wild Africa Trek. I went two years ago with DD who was 12 at the time and it is still one of the most memorable WDW things we have done and we've done a lot. I too rate it at top of things I've done at WDW and it was even more wonderful that I experienced it with my DD. However I will say the price of the Trek if expensive and price changes and it will be at its higher price at peak time you are going so look at price before you even read the description of the experience.
 
Another smaller splurge depending on where you are staying is to ride minnie vans to the parks. Disney buses are misery st Christmas time.
 

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