Dream Maker + Silver... Suggestions?

[aliwolly]

The boyfriend and I are going to Disney World this September 6th through the 13th (staying in Pop Century). He insisted upon getting a package, and I went along with it, even though I think we could probably go much cheaper on our own. So we did the 5+2 Dream Maker package offer from Disney Visa and we added on the Silver plan.

So I was wondering, has anyone else used the Silver plan at Disney? I've been cruising mousesavers.com and have decided that we'll probably use our wishes on tickets to Cirque de Soleil, spa treatments, and probably the Keys to the Kingdom tour. Any other suggestions? Are these worth the wishes?

Thanks for any tips/suggestions you might have!!

Ali

 

[kandmwedding]

We used the Silver plan on our honeymoon this past January. We actually split our stay up into two reservations and only added the silver to the first 3 days. That gave us a total of 12 wishes (2 for each of the 2 of us for 3 nights) to work with. Here's how we used them at what we saved:

Hoop Dee Doo Revue (1 wish each)
Regularly about $50 a person before tax and tip, for a total savings of about $40

Spirit of Aloha Luau (1 wish each)
Regularly about $50 a person before tax and tip, for a total savings of about $40

Keys to the Kingdom Tour with lunch (1 wish each)
Regularly about $60 per person before tax, for a total savings of about $60

Hidden Treasures Tour (1 wish each)
Regularly about $60 per person before tax, for a total savings of about $60

Cirque du Soleil (2 wishes each)
Regularly about $80 a person before tax, for a total savings of about $30

All in all, we saved about $230 by using the plan instead of paying for things individually. As long as you keep in mind that each wish costs about $34, and always use them for things that cost more than $34 you'll be alright. Usually, cirque, spa treatments, tours, and dinner shows are the best savings. Dinners are really only a good deal if you normally eat a lot, otherwise you're not likely to get your money's worth. Mousesavers.com is definitely the place to look to get all the info about how to work the plan. Oh, and don't forget that along with the wishes, you get preferred viewing locations for some of the fireworks and parades (Wishes, Illuminations, and the AK parade). The locations themselves weren't great, but you were guaranteed a spot. For Wishes it's near the Plaza Restaurant, for Illuminations it's at the boat landing in Morocco. I'm not sure where it is for the AK parade.

Good luck and have a great time!!!

 

[aliwolly]

Thank you!!

Your suggestions were great... It really eases my mind to see the money that you saved by using your wishes well.

I forgot about the viewing locations. That's a nice bonus. Do you have to "reserve" those spots?

 

[airjoe]

Use them for dinner shows and tours.

If you use them for dining, make sure you use them for dinner so you get your money's worth.

 

[VAgal76]

We just used this plan and loved it. We used our wishes mainly for dining at the higher end restaurants and for my DS at the children's activity center. I think I would do this plan again. Your wish would include appetizer, entree and dessert. It can really add up. I agree with Mousesavers, the Gold & Platinum could be some serious over kill if you aren't using the extras constantly like water craft rental, activity centers, 3 meals a day, etc. I believe it may still be a little cheaper to go the AP route and plan for meals and souvneirs. Especially if you don't plan to eat at places like Narcoosee's, etc. I guess I need to sit down and do some number crunching - LOL!

 

[Billmel]

We saved almost $400 using the silver add on during our May 7-17 trip. We ate at alot of really nice places, did the leau (sp), Cirque, Cali Grill, Fulton's, etc. Really made the trip great. We will definetly do it again!

 

[lillykat]

We definitely came out ahead with the silver package for our honeymoon (4/26-5/3/04).

We saw cirque de soliel - $79 pp (at 2 wishes each $68)

We were going to do KTTK but we were too tired...lol

At every meal we ended up ahead with the exception of one - (we ate at 2 and 1 wish meals.) But at the 2 wish had lobster etc - the only restaurant we didn't come out ahead at was Jiko but we only came like $5 less than the cost of the wishes paid.

Places like Rainforest cafe at AK were 1 wish BUT they had us doing add ons etc - and so we spent like $155 but we only paid 1 wish each so we paid $68 for the meal.

Really it can be a good deal but only if you do your homework first. Honestly it was a lot of food - would we do it again probably when we want to have a nicer trip - but if you want to have counter service lunches etc or meals on the go it is probably not worth it unless you do the tours and spas and say parasailing. Remember you will still pay for alcohol.

 

[CindyKansas]

We have used the Silver Plan on more than one occasion. We have also used the Gold Plan and the now called Platinum Plan (was the Grand Plan). After using all 3 the Silver Plan is best suited for us. Gold and Platinum offer too much food. Last summer we did the 7 for 5 and added the Silver Plan and there were myself, DH and DD. We ate at nice restaurants, went to Cirque, went parasailing, and did spa treatments. DD & even shared some meals so we only had to use 2 wishes instead of 3 on some meals. To me it's worth every dime.

 

[rmdavis]

lillykat

I was wondering about the comment you made about the rainforest cafe adding add-on's what exactly did they consider an add-on that wasn't covered by the voucher? I am doing the silver plan in a couple of months and the rainforest is one place I am considering...

thanks
Robert

 

[lillykat]

There are certain dishes you can order which are say steak or shrimp dishes and rainforest has add ons (like add a lobster tail to your meal for X amount or I think crab legs) and our server told us to order these dishes then do the add ons to get say surf and turf (I read about someone on these boards doing this before so that is how I found out we could do it)

I ended up getting a crab stuffed lobster with a filet.

 

[rmdavis]

ahhh ok thanks.. I initially misread the post thinking that you said you had to pay $68..but after rereading I figured it out..

as for the add on's this sounds like a great idea did the server recommend it or did you have to ask about it?

thanks again

Robert

 

[lillykat]

No problem.

We asked him what we could do with our wish and he was like you should get the most for your money and was like order this and order that and you can do this or that. He was great!

 

[CharlesandCamilla]

Originally posted by aliwolly
I forgot about the viewing locations. That's a nice bonus. Do you have to "reserve" those spots?

You have to call wdw-tour 45 days out for Illuminations and the AK parade, 10 days out for Wishes.