Dream maker vs. Dream maker silver

[AdamF]

Hey everyone, my DF and i are trying to decide between the dream maker and dream maker silver packages for our upcoming october honeymoon. I realize that you pay for every extra with the dream maker and u get 2 "wishes" a night with the silver but can you get your moneys worth with the "wishes" easily? we are not big meal eaters and i realize that each wish = $33-$34. Also how do you redeem your wishes are the like coupons or are they on your room key? I appreciate any advice on these plans and saving money at wdw.

 

[kmcdougan]

My GF and I are going down on the Dream Maker Gold plan. We added up the cost for the things that we wanted to do that were included/not included and determined that the best value for what we wanted would be the Gold Plan (with meals included). We're not big eaters, per se, however, my GF is not a perpetual fast food person. And, in all honesty, after eating nearly exclusively fast food-type stuff over the past couple of weeks (moving out of one house into another), I am looking forward to eating at a regular restaurant once in a while. We went to MGM a little over a year ago and ate at Sci-Fi for around $70 (just the one meal). That kind of pricing will eat my wallet over the course of a week. You just need to see what it is you want to do versus what is included at the various levels and the individual costs versus the package. Feel free to PM me if you want to chat about particulars some more.

 

[Beaker74]

I saw your earlier post regarding the Gold Plan. What made you decide against it? My fiance and I are also honeymooning in the World and are doing so on the Gold Plan. At first we thought it may be a bit much and pretty pricey, but after sitting down and doing the math and looking at the possibilities, along with PMing several others who had already vacationed on the Gold Plan, our minds were made up. We'll be at the CR for 11 days and here is a somewhat quick run down of our plans: 3 behind the scenes tours (KTTK, Safari, UnDIScovered World); golf lessons, rentals, golf cart, tee time; fishing excursion; parasailing; unlimited boat rentals; and Cirque; and as far as food goes: (for dinners)Citricos, Narcossees, California Grill, Wolf Gang Pucks, Portobellos, Spoodles, Flying Fish, Teppanyaki, Artist Point; (for lunches) Rose & Crown, Restaurant AKershus, Sci-Fi, Wolf Gang Puck, Grand Floridian Cafe, Le Cellier, Beaches & Cream, Brown Derby, Japan in Epcot; (for breakfast) Grand Floridian Cafe, Kona Cafe, Spoodles, Chef Mickeys, 1900 Park Fare, CRT, Crystal Palace, Boma, Concourse. (I know, a lot of eating). On top of all that, VIP viewing for Wishes and Illuminations. By the way, we already have all of our reservations/PS's for all of the aforementioned activities. We go in around 39 days, so if you'd like I could PM you when I return an let you know how it goes. Anyway, good luck to you and your planning!

 

[AdamF]

hey beaker congrats on the wedding. we just kind of found that the gold was way more then what we needed. Yea it is nice to have all those restaurants and events at your fingertips but we dont think we could ever get our moneys worth out of it. we will probably go with the silver and use the "wishes". we figure one descent meal a day and one extra, or 2 nice meals a day and lots of time for the parks, or tickets to cirque and time at the park is plenty. I dont see ourselves doing a ton of "extras" and if there is something that really stands out and we want to do but are out of wishes we will just pay for it. i think i would rather pay a little extra when im there on certain things then to prepay for things that we may not do or may not have time to do. the dream makers are suppose to make planning easy but its tough picking .

 

[XStAnt]

AdamF,

I also saw (and responded to) your earlier post about the gold package. I think it's a good idea that you've dropped the gold package if you're not big eaters.

While I'm not a big fan of any package (I find I can do things cheaper with PHPs, room only discounts and paying for my meals) I certainly see where many people find the Dreammaker or silver package is worthwhile. For info on how to maximize the value for the silver package check out www.mousesavers.com. Mary has a page on this site with tips on getting the most value out of the silver plan.

Congratulations on your wedding and have fun on your Disney honeymoon.

 

[AdamF]

Thanks XStAnt for the reply I realize I may still save more with the basic dream maker but its just kind of nice to not have to "pay" for two things a day. I know deep down inside I have already paid for it but I guess mentally it feels like its on disney, if that makes any sence. I still would like to know though how do u redeem your wishes? I havent been able to find much on that. keep the replys coming if anyone has any good or bad experiences with any of the packages please post them.

 

[Anne2]

AdamF,

My husband and I honeymooned in Disney on the Silver plan in October of 2001.

We are not big eaters either, so the Gold plan did not appeal to us. We knew we might be able to do it a little cheaper not doing the silver plan. However, the silver plan made things so easy!! We were able to try things we never would have tried if we didn't have 'wishes'. Plus, when we added up the receipts, we actually came out a little ahead.

The wishes are put on your room key, and they are all put together in one account. When you get to a restaurant, just tell the server you will be using wishes, and they will help you out.

For a wish (or 2 at some restaurants) you each get an appetizer or salad, main course, dessert, soft drink, coffee, dessert, tax, and tip.

Example: Let's say you go to Le Cellier for dinner. You get the Chedder cheese soup ($3.99), 7 oz. Filet Mignon ($24.99), cheesecake ($4.99), and drink ($1?). That comes to $40.97. With tax and tip that comes to around $50, and your wish was around $35!! Double that for the meal, and you saved $30. Plus, you get to taste an appetizer (2 with both of you) and dessert.

You just get to try so many different things this way. Plus, you're not thinking you shouldn't try something because it is too much.

For our honeymoon, it was definitely worth it!!

 

[Anne2]

Oh, and I mentioned the wishes were on your room key card. At the end of the meal, you hand the server one of your room cards, and the two wishes are deducted from the total wishes. You'll get a receipt saying how many were taken off, and how many are left.

If you ever want to confirm how many are left, just ask your hotel's front desk for a copy of your current statement.

 

[AdamF]

thanks anne for explanning how you use the wishes...seems pretty simple.

 

[lillykat]

I responded on your other thread - DFH and I worked it out and I think if you don't want to do all of those meals the silver package is a good deal - as they said above! We had gone to WDW together in 1/02 so we already knew about what we spent on food etc so that really helped us in our decision (plus the fact we are also taking a celebrity cruise so we although we wanted to go all out we didn't want to buy a lot of extras we wouldn't use) If you want to see anything that we worked out or you have any other questions I would be happy to answer them - Also we are going on the 26th so I would be happy to tell you how it worked out. When we get back if you PM me!

Congrats again!

 

[XStAnt]

Originally posted by AdamF
Thanks XStAnt for the reply I realize I may still save more with the basic dream maker but its just kind of nice to not have to "pay" for two things a day. I know deep down inside I have already paid for it but I guess mentally it feels like its on disney, if that makes any sence. I still would like to know though how do u redeem your wishes? I havent been able to find much on that. keep the replys coming if anyone has any good or bad experiences with any of the packages please post them.

I certainly can't argue with the idea that the silver package has a certain amount of convenience and may be worth it to you to not have to worry about "paying" for something while on vacation. Sometimes when we're on vacation we just have to say "what the hec" and do what we want even if it isn't necessarily the cheapest thing to do.

From reading Mary's site (www.mousesavers.com) I think you get all your wishes at once and can use them however you want. In other words, you could use 4 wishes on one day and no wishes the third day.

Have a great trip.

 

[Gaiusrex]

If you golf, they might be worth it. A round of golf is $100. That's big savings.

 

[harleyquinn]

DF and I are also considering adding the silver plan to our honeymoon, but we are concerned about the wishes interfering with our park time. We do want to do the keys to the kingdom tour and I'd love to do Cirque, but I haven't been able to justify adding the package.

Any thoughts?

 

[AdamF]

i hear ya harleyquinn my df and i have been to wdw 3 times now so we know what we like and what we dont like so park time isnt the highest priority on our list. this will be the first time staying on wdw grounds which is the biggest thing im looking forward to..24 hrs a days surrounded by disney magic. i know we will use all of our wishes but i am concerned with getting the moneys worth out of them that i already paid for. i think it may just come down to flipping a coin which package we do. although it would be nice to use the wishes on the things you know you would have never done before or that lobster diner that looks oh so good. agh the choices