Pearl and platinum

[Mdub1021]

Honestly, if folks are paying the premium to stay at Disney AND use their transport, it only makes sense that they be able to get there early and get on early. I never really understood why they made them arrive so late, except for crowd control.

I’ve been platinum since 2018, but have never been able to use the group 1 boarding or terminal waiting area since our 2020 cruise we canceled and they’ve not brought that back. It makes me sad, and I feel they could still do group 1 with buses being shortly thereafter.

 

[gatordoc]

First time checking in under the new change by tier. Pearl checkin this morning for July 13th cruise. Didn’t go well. Website had issues. Got PAT 11:30 and Bg#7. Wow. I’m guessing silver and newbies will have very high boarding group numbers if Pearl is getting #7.

Friends of ours are on the same cruise, also Pearl, logged in at midnight, and also got PAT 11:30 and BG 7.

 

[n2mm]

Honestly, if folks are paying the premium to stay at Disney AND use their transport, it only makes sense that they be able to get there early and get on early. I never really understood why they made them arrive so late, except for crowd control.

I’ve been platinum since 2018, but have never been able to use the group 1 boarding or terminal waiting area since our 2020 cruise we canceled and they’ve not brought that back. It makes me sad, and I feel they could still do group 1 with buses being shortly thereafter.

We stay at WDW too…dvc members, but drive to th port since we drive to florida. Yes, my daughter and granddaughters all are platinum now, and they were excited to be #1 until it stopped. they didn’t care about any other perk. But will never get that long awaited perk.

 

[European]

Honestly, if folks are paying the premium to stay at Disney AND use their transport, it only makes sense that they be able to get there early and get on early. I never really understood why they made them arrive so late, except for crowd control.

Exactly how I feel! Think I will write a compliment to DCL for finally changing this. We once arrived so late, 1 of the 2 restaurants was already closed. And our luggage only arrived after we left for (early) dinner…

 

[Snowwhyt]

I was thinking maybe “group one” is no longer a group of (?100+?) people but a category like:
Back to Back and Concierge?
And groups two through six are all 100 people each. But they skip or multi-board groups 4-6 because they never filled 5 and 6? But they leave enough room in the system to board all those in case they had that many people stay in pre-board hotels and Disney arranged airfare?
I seem to hear a lot more people mentioning getting group 7 and they basically just had to hit “enter” to get a PAT.
So because I explain things badly maybe it’s which ever category you fit below first.
Group 1
Back to back
Concierge
Group 2-6
People with hotels, or flights through Disney
Group 7+
People with fast midnight fingers
People with slow midnight fingers
Early morning risers
People who say “Oh, was I supposed to do that last week?”

But if you don’t have pre-cruise plans through Disney, you would never get higher than boarding group 7. Even though there might not even be anyone in group 6.

Imagine then, if there was some delay in getting people on the ship, customers wouldn’t really feel the delay. On the other hand if everything was running on time, they could let groups go in earlier and seem like they’re running a very efficient system and people are always happy to get on earlier.

Why do I have to think about these things at 1 o’clock in the morning?

 

[dwg]

I was thinking maybe “group one” is no longer a group of (?100+?) people but a category like:
Back to Back and Concierge?
And groups two through six are all 100 people each. But they skip or multi-board groups 4-6 because they never filled 5 and 6? But they leave enough room in the system to board all those in case they had that many people stay in pre-board hotels and Disney arranged airfare?
I seem to hear a lot more people mentioning getting group 7 and they basically just had to hit “enter” to get a PAT.
So because I explain things badly maybe it’s which ever category you fit below first.
Group 1
Back to back
Concierge
Group 2-6
People with hotels, or flights through Disney
Group 7+
People with fast midnight fingers
People with slow midnight fingers
Early morning risers
People who say “Oh, was I supposed to do that last week?”

But if you don’t have pre-cruise plans through Disney, you would never get higher than boarding group 7. Even though there might not even be anyone in group 6.

Imagine then, if there was some delay in getting people on the ship, customers wouldn’t really feel the delay. On the other hand if everything was running on time, they could let groups go in earlier and seem like they’re running a very efficient system and people are always happy to get on earlier.

Why do I have to think about these things at 1 o’clock in the morning?

This past November I was up at midnight to check in and got an 11:30 am PAT time and boarding group 5. Online check in was open to everyone at the same time. I did not have a flight or hotel booked through Disney prior to the cruise. We will be on the Wish in September. Online checkin is now staggered. We are Platinum so Concierge and Pearl would be able to check in before us and we will be able to check in before others below Platinum. Not sure how much of a difference it will make this time in the PAT time or boarding group.

 

[Snowwhyt]

This past November I was up at midnight to check in and got an 11:30 am PAT time and boarding group 5. Online check in was open to everyone at the same time. I did not have a flight or hotel booked through Disney prior to the cruise. We will be on the Wish in September. Online checkin is now staggered. We are Platinum so Concierge and Pearl would be able to check in before us and we will be able to check in before others below Platinum. Not sure how much of a difference it will make this time in the PAT time or boarding group.

I was thinking they put my possible understanding of a new check in system in place earlier this year. I Was talking to several people that were going in February. Turned out the platinum people for the February cruises were getting group 7 and hotel guests were getting groups 3-5 as first timers in NOLA. I was surprised at the platinum’s being in group 7. I myself am Gold and got group 3 but also had a hotel package. The platinum definitely was 10 minutes before my check in actually was finished. I felt guilty about it.
Also nobody in the group ever said they were in group 6. Which was kinda weird.

 

[n2mm]

This past November I was up at midnight to check in and got an 11:30 am PAT time and boarding group 5. Online check in was open to everyone at the same time. I did not have a flight or hotel booked through Disney prior to the cruise. We will be on the Wish in September. Online checkin is now staggered. We are Platinum so Concierge and Pearl would be able to check in before us and we will be able to check in before others below Platinum. Not sure how much of a difference it will make this time in the PAT time or boarding group.

not to worry. I’m Pearl and checked in a few days ago for my july cruise. I got pat 11:30 and boarding group 7. Last night was platinum and I had to check two cabins for my kids and grandkids. I got pat 11:30 and boarding group 7 and pat 11:45 and boarding group 8. Plus the website was a disaster and it took me 30-40 minutes to get in. my July cruise is a full cruise. So not much difference between Pearl and Platinum.

 

[dwg]

I was thinking they put my possible understanding of a new check in system in place earlier this year. I Was talking to several people that were going in February. Turned out the platinum people for the February cruises were getting group 7 and hotel guests were getting groups 3-5 as first timers in NOLA. I was surprised at the platinum’s being in group 7. I myself am Gold and got group 3 but also had a hotel package. The platinum definitely was 10 minutes before my check in actually was finished. I felt guilty about it.
Also nobody in the group ever said they were in group 6. Which was kinda weird.

I think that whatever system was in place in February is already out the window since the new staggered online check in has been put in place. I am assuming that the staggered system allows higher level castaway club members first shot at early PAT times assuming they check in as soon as they are able. I know there are some exceptions such as those taking Disney Transportation. It is my understanding that they are able to enter the terminal as soon as they arrive but may still have higher boarding numbers.

 

[dwg]

not to worry. I’m Pearl and checked in a few days ago for my july cruise. I got pat 11:30 and boarding group 7. Last night was platinum and I had to check two cabins for my kids and grandkids. I got pat 11:30 and boarding group 7 and pat 11:45 and boarding group 8. Plus the website was a disaster and it took me 30-40 minutes to get in. my July cruise is a full cruise. So not much difference between Pearl and Platinum.

Thanks for the information. I am sorry to hear about the website issues. That is very frustrating and my biggest fear when it is time to check in. Did you have website problems with both of your checkin dates or just Platinum. I am assuming that there is significantly more Platinum members than Pearl. If it was both times that is even more scary.

I was under the impression that the website issues would have been fixed by now, especially considering there is now a staggered online checkin system. I guess I was wrong.

 

[Snowwhyt]

I think that whatever system was in place in February is already out the window since the new staggered online check in has been put in place. I am assuming that the staggered system allows higher level castaway club members first shot at early PAT times assuming they check in as soon as they are able. I know there are some exceptions such as those taking Disney Transportation. It is my understanding that they are able to enter the terminal as soon as they arrive but may still have higher boarding numbers.

We did not have a PAT for my first 5 cruises but my last two have had a PAT.

I was thinking they were doing a slow rollout of the new plan. But you’re probably right, I’m sure it’s at least tweaked by now.

 

[n2mm]

Thanks for the information. I am sorry to hear about the website issues. That is very frustrating and my biggest fear when it is time to check in. Did you have website problems with both of your checkin dates or just Platinum. I am assuming that there is significantly more Platinum members than Pearl. If it was both times that is even more scary.

I was under the impression that the website issues would have been fixed by now, especially considering there is now a staggered online checkin system. I guess I was wrong.

Yes, the website issues were the same for both Pearl and platinum checkin nights. Ready to go both times before midnight. After midnight nothing worked. The app was the worse. Once you got the blue circle of death you couldn’t get it off your phone. I even cleared my cach/cookies and it was still spinning. Good luck when your day arrives.

 

[shananigans]

It’s curious to me why Pearl and Platinum wouldn’t come before others.

We are taking our 10th cruise in September out of Miami, but we are sailing concierge, so no worry with PAT or boarding group numbers.

We sail again in late Oct/early Nov and this will be our first Platinum cruise - but we aren’t sailing concierge. We are sailing out of NYC, so there are no options for hotel or transportation via Disney - so god only knows what our PAT/boarding group number will be!

Our final cruise we have planned will be on the Wish in January out of PC. Again we are concierge and Platinum- but I am convinced nothing more than concierge status gets you on the ship earlier.

Seems a shame that loyalty to a brand doesn’t pay off as much as booking concierge.

 

[Snowwhyt]

It’s curious to me why Pearl and Platinum wouldn’t come before others.

We are taking our 10th cruise in September out of Miami, but we are sailing concierge, so no worry with PAT or boarding group numbers.

We sail again in late Oct/early Nov and this will be our first Platinum cruise - but we aren’t sailing concierge. We are sailing out of NYC, so there are no options for hotel or transportation via Disney - so god only knows what our PAT/boarding group number will be!

Our final cruise we have planned will be on the Wish in January out of PC. Again we are concierge and Platinum- but I am convinced nothing more than concierge status gets you on the ship earlier.

Seems a shame that loyalty to a brand doesn’t pay off as much as booking concierge.

I’m going to be very surprised if you get a boarding group that is after 12:30 as platinum. But concierge is all about paying for privileges but that’s anywhere you go really.

Have you rechecked on hotel’s through Disney recently? Sometimes they add them later. They added my NOLA and Fort Lauderdale late.

 

[Cheburashka]

Exactly how I feel! Think I will write a compliment to DCL for finally changing this. We once arrived so late, 1 of the 2 restaurants was already closed. And our luggage only arrived after we left for (early) dinner…

On the other hand, since you're paying that much for a Disney resort and possibly also for Disney World tickets, some people would rather have the morning free to spend there before heading to port, especially since staterooms aren't open until 1 or 2pm.

 

[European]

On the other hand, since you're paying that much for a Disney resort and possibly also for Disney World tickets, some people would rather have the morning free to spend there before heading to port, especially since staterooms aren't open until 1 or 2pm.

If I was staying at a deluxe resort perhaps, but I usually don’t. And I wouldn’t want to go to the parks before getting Disney transportation to port, too stressful. Plus it seems like a waste using a ticket for just a few hours instead of a whole day.

 

[Cheburashka]

If I was staying at a deluxe resort perhaps, but I usually don’t. And I wouldn’t want to go to the parks before getting Disney transportation to port, too stressful. Plus it seems like a waste using a ticket for just a few hours instead of a whole day.

I agree it depends on where you're staying and what you're doing. When you're getting multi-day tickets, especially for several days, having one more day can be an insignificant price jump. And then early morning entry can help you make the most of a morning, etc. Once before a cruise we were staying at the Contemporary and spent the morning touring Magic Kingdom before we boarded the DCL bus to the port. No stress since we just had to walk over and back. We were happy to spend the morning at the park instead of in the port building and onboard with our carry-on bags before the staterooms opened.

 

[gatordoc]

We’re Pearl, and when we checked in for our upcoming cruise (midnight at 60 days) we got an 11:30 port arrival time and boarding group 7. Today I got an email to re-upload my photo, and when I logged in I now have an 11:00 port arrival time and boarding group 2. Not sure what happened, but I downloaded/printed that new form out as fast as I could.

 

[Minnie352]

We’re Pearl, and when we checked in for our upcoming cruise (midnight at 60 days) we got an 11:30 port arrival time and boarding group 7. Today I got an email to re-upload my photo, and when I logged in I now have an 11:00 port arrival time and boarding group 2. Not sure what happened, but I downloaded/printed that new form out as fast as I could.

Thanks for sharing your experience. Did you change your PAT and boarding group, or was it somehow magically changed when you logged in? Also, how long after your 60 day checkin did they email you to re-load your photo?

 

[gatordoc]

Thanks for sharing your experience. Did you change your PAT and boarding group, or was it somehow magically changed when you logged in? Also, how long after your 60 day checkin did they email you to re-load your photo?

I did not do anything to change my PAT or boarding group. I just happened to look at it while I was logged in to upload the photo. I got the email with a little over 3 weeks until our cruise.