Overwhelmed/dining

[PugLover]

Hi Everybody!

My first post! I am amazed at the amount of information available to plan a trip, how fantastic

My DH and I are fairly certain we will be taking advantage of this super promo they have going on. We would like to stay at the CBR and would go the second week of Sept (a belated 4th wedding anniv. trip, our anniv is in June). I have a price quote (room w/king bed, we opted out of travel insurance and will arange for our own transport from the airport) that is reasonable - 1291.00.

My confusion is if we should upgrade our pkg. to the "silver plan". From the quote I got directly from disney reservations via the phone it would be an additional 952.00 to upgrade to the "silver plan" I understand what it is but I am not sure if that is the way to go or not. Perhaps somebody can shed some insight, some deatail:

We are both 28 and have no children, neither of us have been to Disney since we were 10 and 12 yrs old so I really have no idea what to expect. We are NOT breakfast eaters at all, perhaps a coffee for me, a tea or juice for DH and at most, a bagel of muffin. We usually eat a small to med. size lunch at 1 or 2pm then eat a large meal around 8 or 9pm. We enjoy fine dining and ususally (including wine/beer/bar drinks) spend around 150.00 on a meal when we go out (we live in NY). Having that info do you think the "silver plan" would be good for us. My thought is we would be spending our 2 wishes per day on dinner and just pay out of pocket for our breakfast/lunch items.

When we travel "resort style" we always have an all-inclusive package and the "silver plan" seems to be the closest to all-inclusive as we will get. I think it might save us a bit of money but I dont want to limit our dining choices too much. Choosing the resort was hard enough, soon we will have to dive in where we want to eat and what we want to see.

My other concern is that I read the MK closes very early in the eveing in Sept, long before we will be thinking about dinner... does that limit our dining choices wiht the "silver plan" too much? It seems we could still eat at Epcot, Downtown Disney or the Resorts at the later hour we desire.

I know the wishes include the meal but how does it work if you order beer/wine/bar drinks? Can you just charge those items to your room and pay for the remainder of the meal w/your wishes?

Lastly, are we better off going for a Sat-Sat stay or a Sunday-Sunday stay? Normally we prefer getting home late Saturday evening when we travel so we have Sunday to just rest before heading back to work on Monday but for this trip I am leaning towards a Sunday to Sunday stay so we have a full Fri/Sat to enjoy.

I thank you for any info/input you may have. In the past two days I bookmarked more disney sites, LOL. This one is by far the most informative!

Thanks Again!
Nicole

 

[Minniespal]

Can't help you with the infor you are looking for but welcome to DIS.

 

[CoolDisneyCat]

As far as MK closing early, I would not worry about that. IMHO, the eating places in the MK are good, but not as good as many of the ones in the resorts Last week, we had all of our PSs at 8:30 or 9 and it was wonderful. The restaurants have cleared out a bit, not many kids, and it is quieter.

I have never used the silver plan, but I know that yes, you can charge the things not covered, like cocktails, to your room. Or you can just pay cash.

How many days is $952.00 for? 7? Last week, we ate at some of the nicest places at WDW (Yachtsman Steakhouse, Spoodles, LeCellier, Boma) and our bills were $70 - $125 for 2 people.

 

[montessori]

Welcome, Nicole!
I don't know anything about the special packages DW offers but I do know you will enjoy the many fine restaurants there!
I'm sure you will get some good advise from others on this board.

Have fun planning!

 

[jel0511]

First off welcome!!! Now, personally looking at your eating habits, I'd advise against the silver plan. It only becomes a "deal" if you're going to eat either a full breakfast or full lunch AND a full sitdown dinner. Alcoholic drinks are not included in any of the WDW meal plans, so you'd have to pay for those out of your own pocket, and you can charge them back to your room. You won't have a problem finding places to eat around the times you're looking to eat at, with the exception of MK and maybe MGM. MGM also might close around 7 or 8 during the week in September, with the exception of possibly a Fri of Sat. Epcot is always open until 9:00, so if it's an Epcot meal, make your ressies around 8:00. If you plan on eating at a lot of resorts during your stay, I'd recommend renting a car. Since you enjoy eating late, your transportation options within the WDW transport system will be severely limited. This will ease getting you around the entire resort at later hours, after most if not all parks have closed. Otherwise you're looking at taking possibly 1 to 1 1/2 hours to return to your hotel after a dinner, since you'll have to transfer at DTD using WDW transportation for a ride in a car that would have taken 10 - 15 minutes at most.

 

[PrincessAurora]

OK, I've used the Silver Plan 2 times previous and for my upcoming trip. I also did the math. It is a deal if you eat in the upscale dining places (for dinner mainly) and eat your fill (order the priciest thing that strikes your eye) and get all the items that are covered: appitizer, soup/salad, main dish soda/coffee/tea and dessert.

Now most of the really good places are 2 wishes each so I recommend, light breakfast, moderate lunch and then graze for dinner. Forget the parks for fine dining (with the exception of EPCOT which have some very nice offerings). The excellent dining spots are at the resorts.

Here are some high points:
Citricos (GF)
Artist Point (WL)
California Grill (C)
Jiko (AKL)
Concourse Steakhouse (C)
Flying Fish (BW)
Yachtsmans Steakhouse (YC)

Welcome to DIS!

 

[Pammy_from_WI]

I too had looked into the silver plan and did a lot of math, picking some of the best place in WDW to eat, mainly resorts. I didn't even come close to what they wanted for the plan. So we're going it alone, paying out of pocket. How many days did the plan cover for the price?

I know some love the plan, they can play for their trip and not worry about things during the trip, they can eat 3 full, sit-down meals a day and they plan to use a lot of the extras that are included. For some it works great!

Like someone else said it does not include drinks, just soda, tea and coffee.

You need not worry about finding great places to eat, for under the $150 you're use to paying. Check out www.wdwig.com and look at some of the menues and prices. Do some math and you'll see unless you plan on a HUGE dinner (that means soup/salad, appetizer, meal, extra side dish and dessert), it isn't going to pay being on the silver, unless you plan on eating lunch and breakfast too.

I had posted this ? a long time ago and got a lot of PMs and e-mails for folks that bought the plan and most said they wish they hadn't.

Good luck with your decision!
Pammy

 

[PugLover]

Thank you so much... everybody, for all your expert insight!

The 150.00 price for dinner I quoted was when DH and I go out and "do it right" at a local upscale restaurant. I just figured it would be best to plan for the most expensive, be pleasantly surprised and realize I over budgeted.

In the past when we travel to all-inclusive resorts we like the concept of having our entire trip paid for up front and basically only needing money for whatever we buy and off-resort activities. On the flip side you almost feel *obligated* to eat all the time because the food is essentially "free"! Usually by the 4th or 5th day we are "fooded out" and are much happier just having a platter of food in our room (fruit, cheeses, bread).

The 952.00 price was for a 7 day package. It seemed high to me but since I havent been to Disney as an adult I really didnt have a lot to go on (until I found this wealth of info that is).

I think we will opt not to upgrade to the "silver plan" and just pay for all our food/drinks out of pocket. I am thinking at a place like Disney where we always be on the go we might enjoy a larger late lunch and a small light dinner (salad, sandwich). I think if I budget 150.00 for food (knowing it is high but we wont be caught short) per day we will be fine.

I have a few more questions that arent totally food related so I hope it is okay to post them here:

Somebody mentioned renting a car so we can dine late night at the many wonderful resorts. Do all the resorts offer free parking? What time does the monorail/bus system stop running? Do they make limited runs after certain hours? I have read a ton of posts where people say they rented a car but it never left their lot. We are very used to walking places everyday but that is around our neighborhood, it seems Dinsey is just like a small city and maybe not totally walkable.

Whew, I bet you are tired of all my questions! I really do appreciate all your expertise. I just never imagined all the options we had for Disney. A few years ago we priced out a package after some friends returned and raved. We were stunned at the prices and were able to go to a Sandals for less! When this promo came out we decided to give it another shot and now we are both crazy excited.

My last question (I promise, for now, LOL). Are we better off staying a Sat - Sat or Sun - Sun. Right now I am leaning towards the Sunday - Sunday so we have one full weekend (Fri/Sat) at Disney.

This is harder than planning my wedding Thanks Again!
Nicole

 

[jel0511]

Hi PugLover, I was the one who recommended getting a car. The reasons are many. Here are a couple of scenarios. Since you're going in the off season, most parks will close around 6 or 7 o'clock with the exception of Epcot which closes at 9:00. The buses and monorails only run approx 1 hour after closing, then stop working. WDW transportation is GREAT getting to/from the parks, but when trying to go resort to resort, really stinks IMO. You mainly have take your resort bus to a park then transfer to the resort you want to visit for dinner, same thing on the way back. Since you wish to dine late at night, most (if not all) parks will be closed at the conclusion of your dinner. Leaving you the only opportunity to get back to your resort to take the Downtown Disney bus then transfer there to the Caribbean Beach bus. This can take at least an hour, probably more, as the bus system doesn't run as efficiently late at night as it does during park hours, again my opinion. I personally would hate taking so long to get back to my resort, when I could have driven back in 10 minutes. You can pick up the rental car at the airport and use it as your transportation to/from the airport. Since there are only two of you, you can easily get away with a compact car, and it probably won't cost you more than $120 - $150 for the week. Money well spent in my opinion. I always rent a car when we come into MCO, I like being in control of my destination, and I have a complete dislike for Mears. We don't use the car to go to/from the parks, but use it to/from the airport and to visit other resorts and DTD.

As for your question as to Sat/Sat or Sun/Sun, I agree with you that I also prefer Sat/Sat usually, but at this time I'd recommend the Sun/Sun trip. In the off season, WDW has been only running the Spectromagic parade (my fav parade by the way) on Saturday nights. It's the nighttime light parade at MK, and it's AWESOME. If you're staying Sat/Sat, you might just be too tired from getting up so early on Sat, to really enjoy or even make the parade. If you're leaving on Sun, you'll be well rested, relaxed and eager to catch it. DH and I haven't been to WDW without kids since our 1996 trip, and you will have a GREAT time!!!!

 

[montessori]

Hi again Nicole!
I don't think it matters to have a full weekend at Disney.
You can go Sat thru Sat and then have Sunday at home to recoup.

We don't eat big meals during the day but we do splurge on dinner. Because we drink alcoholic beverages, we tend to spend a lot more than those who don't abide. Drinks are not cheap at Disney.

We like having our car to get around. If you are staying at a Disney resort, parking is free. We usually valet, but not always.
It's not convenient to use Disney transportation from resort to resort.
Most of the best restaurants are at the resorts, but they are not open for lunch. Unless you do lunch at 5:00, but you will be paying dinner prices.
We also like dining late, when the crowds are lighter and there aren't so many children there.
CBR is close to The Boardwalk, our FAVORITE place in DW.
You can dine at Flying Fish and Spoodles. You can have drinks in the Belle Vue Room. You can wander around the lake and visit the other Epcot Resorts. You can walk to Epcot and MGM from there. We like to go to Atlantic Dance on the Boardwalk and MANY people love JellyRolls, the dueling piano bar.
I'm rushing through this but maybe I've answered some of your questions.
More later!

 

[PugLover]

Amazing info! Thanks all.

::: off to price rental cars:::::

I have used travel agents in the past to plan vacations to new places as well as planning on my own. Never have I come across such a helpful and wise group of people.

I promise to limit my millions of questions to 1 per day This weekend DH and I are going to hit the bookstore and choose a WDW planning book or two.

Usually our "driniks" at dinner mean splitting a bottle of wine or me having a bar drink and DH having a beer. I didnt want it to sound like we were stumbling drunks, LOL

People want to know why we are going to Dinsey as we are not huge amusement park "riders"... we are going for the food, attractions, people watching and FUN!

Thanks Again!

 

[Pammy_from_WI]

We usually rent a car, this is the first year we're not renting. But we've always found having a car is a big bonus if you're going to be eating at the other resorts. It's very easy to get around, everything is well marked. Parking is free if you're staying at one of the WDW resorts, but valet is extra, well worth the few extra bucks, if you ask me.

When buying guide books the Unoffical Guide is one of the best, but take the reviews in stride. He tends to pick on the WDW restaurants. But it has a ton of info in it.

We've been very lucky with dining and only had one bad meal in the last 2 or 3 years and that was at MGM - SciFi. But we've loved all of the resort places we've eaten at.

Also I'll second what montessori said and say do visit Boardwalk, it's a wonderful place at night!!! Spoodles and Flying Fish are both great.

Here's something I dug up after reading your post, keep in mind we had 3 adults this trip: Had dinner at the Yachtsman (excellent). We ordered shrimp cocktails-2 for appetizer, 3 of us had filets, I ordered a special side dish of asapargus w/ cirtus butter, plus salads, 2 glasses of wine and one bar drink, one soda and 3 different desserts and the total was $160 plus tip. Not bad if you ask me, for 3 adults, at a nice place.

And don't be hesitant to ask lots of questions, that's what these boards are for and the people here are wonderful. I usually learn one new thing a day and I consider myself a WDW pro.

Have a ton of fun planning!
Pammy

 

[PugLover]

Yes, we have decided for sure to rent a car. DH has expressed interest just exploring Orlando for a day (not Disney related) and we will need a car to do that. Rental car it is.

I am so glad I asked these question before I bought that "silver plan", I would have been kicking myself the entire trip!

After we really look into all the resort restaurants I think we will plan for about 4 really nice dinners out (I am guessing this is where the priority seating I read so much about will come in handy) and the rest of the times just wing it with casual meals for lunch and dinner.

Having a car will be helpful for those "wing it nights"... we may just go offsite of Disney and grab a pizza or go to the market and get some fruit/cheese/wine. I will assume the CBR has no issue with guests bringing in "outside food" to enjoy in their rooms or on the grounds? I think one evening we will make a picnic for the beach. I know I can create a lovely meal buying from the market than if I ordered one via Disney.

After we get our rental car and before we check in I think we will hit the market for some sodas/bottled water for the room. I don't think we will rent a fridge and just rely on ice machines. I already have been told to bring my own coffee for the room.

Thanks again.. all your info has helped avoid some budget busting errors.

Nicole

 

[Scottwdw]

You haven't asked about Priority Seating (PS for short) yet. So, in anticipation for your future needs, check out my site (use links below) for planning all your wonderful dining adventurers at WDW. You are either inside or close to being inside the 120 day window. All Epcot and resort restaurants allow you to make a PS 120 days out.

Oh, please, you must check out some of Epcot's World Showcase restaurants, they are wonderful!!

 

[PugLover]

Ya'll need to all get together and write a book, I bet it would be a hot seller!

Now that I have the resort chosen, flights and rental car decided on my next venture is going to be learning about PS (thanks for your links, bookmarked right in the Nicole & David Michael's Disney Trip Folder) and what restaurants to book. Then on to deciding about attractions.

DH is poking fun of me because I have been reading so much about Disney, LOL. I bet he will be glad I did.

We don't like to feel scheduled on vacations but as far as eating at certain restaurants go I think the PS is a must!

I was just telling my mother in law about the trip and she asked how in the world I learned all this stuff... LOL... I told her about this little gem of a resource.

Happy Day all!

 

[LAWalz23]

Welcome to the DIS. It is truly a wealth of information. You made a wise decision renting a car. Reading a guide book or two will bne extremely helpful. WDW is extremely big and the lesson we learned two years ago was to leave almost twice the amount of time that we thought we would need to get anywhere. I can recommend Le Cellier for dinner, great cheese soup and steaks. Have a great time!

 

[crisi]

An alternate suggestion for a car (although that sounds like a good plan for you, I know there is always someone lurking these threads) is to plan for a cab when doing resort restaurants - particularly for those that either don't enjoy driving in a strange place or those that do enjoy drinking.

 

[Scottwdw]

Originally posted by PugLover
Now that I have the resort chosen, flights and rental car decided on my next venture is going to be learning about PS (thanks for your links, bookmarked right in the Nicole & David Michael's Disney Trip Folder) and what restaurants to book. Then on to deciding about attractions.

Okay, I'm sure you've read and will get a lot of suggestions on planning. Here's my theory which is shared by others, figure out on what days you are going to be doing each park. Then see where your restaurant picks fall in to that scheme.

For instance, we'll be doing Epcot on a Monday. Well, one of our favorite restaurants is the UK's Rose & Crown Pub which just happens to have a patio. This patio is perfect for watching Illuminations, Epcot's nightly fireworks spectacular. Make PS for around 7:30 to 8:00pm depending on when the show starts during our visit.

Or, we want to do a character breakfast before the MK opens on the day we planned for MK. We have five choices: Chef Mickey's at the Comtemporary, 'Ohana in the Poly, 1900 Park Fare in the Grand Floridian, Crystal Palace in the Magic Kingdom, itself and, the Grand Daddy (er, that should be Mommy ), is Cinderella's Royal Table in the Castle. All are either a short monorail ride away or in the MK.

Have fun!

 

[PugLover]

DH and I really looking forward to Epcot and think we will probably plan to go twice during our 7 day stay. We havent decided on any dining excpet for this Rose & Crown Pub I keep hearing so much about! We love to dine outdoors and the fireworks show sounds wonderful. As soon as we are able we are going to try to make a PS request for an outdoor table to eat and see the show. I bookmarked the site with the PS calculator and this weekend we will see when we would be permitted to make the PS request. As I understand it you have to leave a credit card for a PS request. Are you required to use the same credit card you billed the room to? Is a certain amount tied up until you arrive at the PS?

Due to the fact that we are moving this summer (local move) and planning two other major trips (Aruba for Thanksgiving with my sister and brother in law and a cruise in Feb. with some friends) and purchasing a new vehicle next month we are trying to get our budget for Disney nailed down now. Via the FairyTale pkg. our room/tickets are paid for, the car and airfare is paid for... could somebody please tell me they think 850.00 is a "safe" amount to budget for food/drinks for 2 adults for a 7 day stay? Like I said before our breakfasts are usually no more than coffee/tea/juice and a bagel or muffin however we might do one large meal type breakfast. We plan to do 4 really nice dinners and the rest of the time go causual for lunch/dinner. Before checking in to the resort we plan to hit a local market for some soda/water and fresh fruit for our room (we dont plan on renting a fridge).

We are in the mindset we would rather budget high and be pleased when we have an overage in the budget than budget low and have a balance on our credit card to pay when we get home.

Thanks!

 

[Scottwdw]

You only need a credit card if they ask you for it. Most restaurants don't need a credit card unless it's a major holiday. The dinner shows, some special PS events and a couple of the Princess character meals do need a credit card. Don't worry, WDW Dining will ask you for one if needed for your PS.