Magic Your Way, Part 2

In my last article, we looked at Walt Disney World’s new
Magic Your Way tickets (link). But those were
just the beginning. Along with the new ticket program comes the Magic
Your Way packages. The question on everyone’s mind is, just how good are
these packages? Are they right for you? They are a good value?

In this session, I look at the three top packages and compare them to
an a la carte approach. By the end of this session, we will be in a better
position to determine whether a Magic Your Way package is right for you.

Before we get started, it’s probably a good idea to toss in a caveat
that says that prices on these packages can vary depending on what you
elect for ticket options and resort class (Deluxe, Moderate, or Value).
Therefore, what we discuss here are ballpark figures—a travel agent
or the Disney Travel Company can best give you specific costs for your
package.

Introduction to the Packages

On January 2 Walt Disney World began offering the following three new
packages:

Disney’s Magic Your Way Package – includes accommodations
at an on-site Disney resort hotel, Magic Your Way base tickets, and a
Walt Disney Travel Company luggage tag (woo hoo).

Disney’s Magic Your Way Package Plus Dining – includes accommodations
at an on-site Disney resort hotel, Magic Your Way base tickets, and a
dining plan that offers two meals and a snack per person, per package
night at more than 100 restaurants throughout Walt Disney World, and lest
we forget, a Disney Travel Company luggage tag (bestill my heart).

The Disney Dining Plan includes:

• 1 table-service meal of appetizer, entree and non-alcoholic beverage
  and gratuity/service charge


• 1 counter-service meal of entree and non-alcoholic beverage


• 1 snack, such as novelty ice cream, box of popcorn, or medium soft
  drink at select counter-service and snack-cart locations

Disney’s Magic Your Way Premium Package – offers accommodations
at an on-site Disney resort hotel, Magic Your Way premium tickets (which
includes the Park Hopper and Magic Plus Pack option), as well as:

• Breakfast, lunch and dinner plan per person, per night at over 100
  participating Walt Disney World table-service and counter-service restaurants,
  Disney dinner shows, character dining, and signature dining experience
  restaurants (includes applicable gratuities/service charges, excludes
  alcoholic beverages; certain other limitations apply)


• Unlimited selection of recreation, including golf, guided fishing
  excursions, water sports, tennis, and more (restrictions apply and advance
  reservations may be required)


• Admission to the Cirque du Soleil show, La Nouba (one admission
  per person)


• Admission to Disney children’s activity centers at a select Disney
  resort (ages 4-12). Certain restrictions apply.


• Unlimited admission to Magic Kingdom tours, including Disney’s Family
  Magic Tour, Disney’s “The Magic Behind Our Steam Trains,”
  Disney’s Keys to the Kingdom, Mickey’s Magical Milestones, Epcot Tours-Gardens
  of the World, The “UnDISCOVERed” Future World, Hidden Treasures
  of World Showcase; Disney’s Animal Kingdom Tours-Backstage Safari, Wild
  By Design (restrictions apply to selected tours, subject to availability
  and schedule)


• Admission to all Grand Gathering experiences. Must have 8 or more
  in the party. Advance reservations required and subject to availability
  


• Official Walt Disney Travel Company luggage tag (I know… you
  were worried)

Before we go any further, here are some noteworthy items that you may
not have known about these Magic Your Way packages:

• All guests in the same party on a package must select the same ticket
  and options. You can’t have Mom and Dad with some options and Junior
  and Sis on others.
  
• All children in your party ages 3-9 must order from the kid’s menu,
  if available.
  
• Guests staying in the same room have to all be on the same package.
  
• The length of the ticket does not have to correspond with the
  number of nights you are staying at a Walt Disney Resort hotel unless
  you are doing the Disney’s Magic Your Way Premium Package: The length
  of Magic Your Way passes must equal the number of nights of the resort
  stay plus one day.
  
• There is no longer a minimum length of stay for a package. Previously
  you had to stay a minimum of three nights.
  
• The Magic Your Way packages do not include the Swan and Dolphin hotels.
  
• These packages designate three distinct guest groups: adults (18 and
  over), juniors (10-17), and children (3-9).
  

If you are seriously considering one of these packages, take note of
all these requirements and also understand that meals and extra are not
refundable.

More simply, if you don’t use it you lose it.

The Jones Family

Let’s look at the Jones family. We have the parents, June and Ward, and
then there’s 15-year-old Len who is—that’s right—a junior in
WDW’s eyes, and of course, there’s 8-year-old Lilo. June and Ward want
to go on a 6 night/7 day vacation and they have started looking at the
packages. They plan to go in April.

The Magic Your Way Package will cost them:

• $1,500 at a Value resort


• $1,800 at a Moderate resort


• $2,500 at a Deluxe resort

Since the tickets are Magic Your Way base tickets and they know they
are going to park hop, they should add another $149.12 (four Park Hopper
options at $37.28 apiece) to these prices.

Let’s look a bit closer at the Deluxe resort price tag, now pegged at
$2649.12 with the Park Hopper option. Tickets and room for that amount
at the Grand Floridian? Sign me up. Oh wait, there’s some fine print.
That $2,500 price tag is only for Animal Kingdom Lodge and Wilderness
Lodge.

Oh well, they’ve always wanted to stay at the Wilderness Lodge.

The total cost of their 6-day park hopper passes is $942.55, which leaves
$1706.57 to cover the room, or about $290.47 per night.

If you go to Walt Disney World’s Web site at www.waltdisneyworld.com
and look up a standard room at the Wilderness Lodge for 6 nights, the
quote that comes back is for $1,599, tax included.

Hmmm, that’s $107 less than the package. Where does the difference come
from?

Oh I know… it’s the luggage tags. They must go for about $26.75
apiece.

Of course, I’m joking. However, unless my abacus is on the fritz, it
seems to me that a 6-night stay (calculated here using rack rates) at
the Wilderness Lodge, along with four 6-day Park hopper passes (3 adults
and 1 child) comes to $2,541.55. Take away the Park Hopper option, and
the price tag is $2,392.43.

The Magic Your Way package comes to $2,500 without the Park Hopper option
and $2,649.12 with the Park Hopper option:

These are based on regular season prices, so we are comparing apples
to apples.

However, what about Annual Passholder deals?

If this vacation was being planned for 6 days for a peak season month
for the Wilderness Lodge, the Jones would have the option of using the
Annual Passholder specials for that month.

Of course this would mean that Ward would have to purchase an Annual
Pass at a cost of $428.60. Add that to the $696.53 cost of the 6-day Park
Hopper passes and admission cost now totals $1125.13.

The current Annual Passholder special this month for the Wilderness Lodge
is $156 for a standard view. My estimate with taxes makes that $176.28
per night, with a 6-night stay costing $1057.68, making the total for
tickets and room at $2182.81. Let’s revise that table:

On the surface, it looks like I’m pushing everyone to purchase an Annual
Pass. I’m not. I’m just pointing out that if you really break down the
cost of these packages then you may find that they may not make good use
of your vacation dollar.

About This Dining Plan

The Disney dining plan that comes with the Disney’s Magic Your Way Package
Plus Dining and Magic Your Way Premium Package could work for some but
may not work for all. Ask yourself these questions:

How much do I eat when I’m in Walt Disney World? This question
can help you decide if you would get your money’s worth out of the Premium
Package. Some guests prefer to have one or two sit-down meals a day. Remember,
if you don’t use it you will lose it. Do you want to pay for something
you may not use?

It would make sense not to waste any of your plan meals on breakfast.
Why? Well you’d probably get your money’s worth out of the plan if you
paid for your breakfast out of your pocket and used that sit-down meal
for dinner. Dinner is probably a higher cost than breakfast.

How much time do I want to spend eating? How valuable is your
time in Orlando? Many people have told me they start off with a light
breakfast, have a late lunch, and then finish off the day with a light
snack here and there. This helps them make the most of their day. A light
breakfast gives them energy to start the day, and if they get a little
hungry before lunch, they grab a snack at a counter. A late lunch fuels
them for late afternoon and evening, while late snacks can fill any hunger
they feel at night.

Will I use a car? OK, what does this have to do with the dining
plan? The flexibility of a car offers you better use of your transportation
time. There are 100 restaurants in this plan. Limiting yourself to WDW
transportation also means limiting yourself to only a handful of restaurants
because of time.

These are just a few things you should be thinking about when considering
the Dining plan. If food is the focus of your WDW vacation then this Dining
Plan is for you.

The plan offers some flexibility. Guests can “exchange” meals.
For instance, if you go to one of Disney’s “Signature” restaurants,
like Narcoossee’s at the Grand Floridian, Artist Point at the Wilderness
Lodge, or the Coral Reef Restaurant at Epcot, you can exchange two table
service meals for one signature meal. You can also exchange two table
service meals for a dinner show like Disney’s Spirit of Aloha Dinner Show
at the Polynesian or the Hoop Dee Doo Revue at Fort Wilderness.

Premium Package Scenarios

Before starting this section, I need to confess to everyone that at first
my intention was to gloss over it. However, after looking at the details
I thought otherwise. It’s really important to understand what this particular
package is all about.

Let’s say that the Jones family wants to see if the Magic Your Way Premium
Package would work for them. They decide to look into how much this package
would cost if they stayed at a Value resort like Pop Century.

They look at the 6-night/7-day Magic Your Way premium package. The cost
for such a package is $1,382 per adult, $1,121 per junior, and $811 per
child. The total cost—and remember, this does not include
the cost of airfare or rental car—is $4,696. That is not a typo.
And remember, we are talking value resort, so you know the price is higher
in other resorts.

This package presents a challenge: How too make good use of your time
to ensure you get the best value from it.

Let’s try to estimate what those $4,696 get for the Jones, individually,
at full prices:

Our subtotal of $2,794.71 means that we are $1,901.29 short of the cost
of the package.

Now let’s focus on our meals.

We still have 64 meals left on our plan. We started off with 72 (four
persons eating 3 meals per day on the plan for six days, which equals
72 meals). We used up 8 of those meals for Hoop Dee Doo.

If we can fit in another 16 meals before we leave, each meal would go
for about $29.71 each. Of course, if some of those meals are breakfast
meals, then that would call for an expensive breakfast, especially for
8-year-old Lilo.

I think you’re catching my drift here.

If you plan to keep a close eye on your budget, it will be hard work
to get the proper value out of this package. I’m not saying it’s impossible,
just hard work. In this particular case, we have only 6 days to work with
so finding the time to make use of everything on the package is quite
challenging.

We haven’t even mentioned things like golf, tennis, or other options
that this package offers.

I’m sure there are some people who will find these packages quite convenient
and can map out a vacation itinerary that works towards getting good value
out of their package dollar.

However, the big obstacle with the features-filled Premium Package is
time. Do you have enough time in your vacation to do everything this package
offers? Remember, if you don’t use it you lose it.

My goal is not to steer you away from these packages but to make sure
you realize what it takes to get the true value out of these packages.

I have to admit that I am a bit cautious when it comes to any vacation
package.

The $700 Man

Back in 1992 a friend came to me and asked that I help him plan a week
in Walt Disney World for his family. The vacation was to include my friend,
his wife, and their 6-year-old son. He wanted to stay at the Polynesian.

We sat down and worked on all the line items. I came up with a cost of
$2,800 for a week at the Polynesian, and that included airfare, admission,
room, and meals.

It was an a la carte plan—not a package—securing the components
piecemeal.

I gave him complete details on how to get the discounts and he thanked
me for spending the time and said he would look into all I had put together
for him.

The following Monday he came up to me and told me he was all set. He
had gone to a travel agency and had booked a package; deciding it was
easier to do that than all the stuff I had discussed with him the previous
Friday.

The cost of the package was $3,500—a whopping $700 more than my
original estimate (and I was estimating high).

His package did not include a car rental but did give him a few meals
and such options as those old “Fun and Sun” deals like golf,
sailing, and horseback riding, none of which he ended up using during
their vacation.

He wasn’t concerned about the price, though. He commented on how much
work it would have taken to get all the discounts I had pointed. For him,
convenience won out over cost.

Today’s Magic Your Way packages are similar—providing convenience
for a lot of WDW guests, such as first-time visitors who are confused
by terms like Park Hopper, Priority Seating, Early Magic Hours, and other
WDW lingo, as well as those who just want to experience WDW and prefer
convenience to economy. They welcome these packages, which make for an
enjoyable vacation unemcumbered by a lot of meticulous planning.

I know that my $700 man was pleased when he came back. He didn’t use
all his perks but he was happy. And I’m sure Walt Disney World was also
happy he didn’t use all his perks.

If you are interested in any of the Magic Your Way packages, my suggestion
is to get a quote from your travel agent or the Disney Travel Company.
Then do a little research and see if putting together your vacation a
la carte provides you with significant savings.

Next Time

Remember that letter to Al Weiss with all those suggestions? Yeah, I
did send it to him. In our next session, I’ll tell you what resulted from
that letter.