Poly-concierge or dining plan?

[Princess Mindy]

Well I am planning my September trip (25th birthday celebration!) and am wanting to stay at the Poly. no question. I want this to be special, so I was thinking about concierge. But we went this year and LOVED the dining plan-we saved so much because I am a TS fanatic. So I want to do that. But I have been reading posts about how there is just too much food if you do both and how both aren't worth the cost....so I am asking you for help. What would you do? Would you choose concierge, dining plan, or both? With my AAA rate all options are affordable (in 100 easy monthly installments ) but I do want to make sure that I get my money's worth.
Thanks~!

 

[Tikiman]

First of all I would not consider the concierge a replacement for the dining plan. If you want the services of the concierge I say go for that and than decide if you want the use of the dining plan as a separate issue. If you only want the cost of one of them than decide which one is more important to you.

 

[SeaSpray]

We're staying at the Polynesian LVC in just over a week, and we chose to also do the dining plan.

We'll have breakfast each morning (or most mornings anyway) in the concierge lounge, have a counter service lunch (this will be a new experience for us because we've never done counter service at WDW before), and then a table service dinner.

Our dinner ADRs are for 6:35pm and later, so I plan on stopping into the lounge at around 5-5:30pm to sample the evening offerings (last July the ribs and the chicken lo mein and spring rolls were out of this world!), and to take pictures. LOL In July we *never* were in the lounge for the desserts and cordials, so I plan on making sure we check them out this trip.

I know that since the Dining Plan includes appetizers and desserts that the food offerings in the lounge may seem like over-kill, especially at dinner time, but we figured out price-wise how much we pay for our meals even without appetizers and desserts, and the Plan will still end up costing us less. So even if we don't eat the appetizers and desserts at the restaurants, the fact that the concierge lounge has these things really doesn't factor into it, for us.

Another big reason we choose Polynesian LVC is because of the location of the resort itself, the Hawaii building, AND the view. The concierge part of it is just an added bonus

Oh, and the concierge staff is wonderful!! It was SO nice to come back from the Magic Kingdom in July, dripping wet after being on an afternoon tour in the pouring rain (thanks to Hurricane Dennis! LOL), missing our AKL-Boma reservation, and having the concierge desk CM able to get us into the Kona Cafe (our favorite WDW restaurant!) for dinner, even though it was booked solid for the night, AND knowing we had guests meeting us for dinner that night.... And, we even got to choose the time we wanted to dine.

To us, THAT moment alone when the CM's reply to my "Is there ANY WAY you can get us into the Kona Cafe tonight even though they just told us they're booked solid?" was "ABSOLUTELY!!" was PRICELESS; more than worth the cost of concierge.

 

[Mom of Sleepy Bashful and BabyDoc]

I might be in the minority here, but I wouldn't do both.

YOu said you wanted to "get your money's worth".........I don't think you will if you do both.

I would go with the dining plan since you said you were a TS fanatic.

I would then to something really special for my 25th anniv. such as booking a Wishes or Illuminations cruise...............something a little out of the norm.

Have fun planning.

 

[Julia M]

Well, I'm planning a trip, in December, staying at Poly GVC. I don't view the food offerings as the main reason to stay concierge, though.

In my case, I wanted the preplanning help.....my work is very busy, and I didn't want to be on the phone arranging things. I just email with the concierge staff, and it's taken care of.

Also, we have 5 people in our room; 2 adults and 3 kids. I am planning on "extra space" from the concierge lounge....like in the morning, after some of us are dressed and ready to go, we can hang out in the lounge. The same at night....if someone is ready for bed, the others can be in the lounge.

As for the dining plan......I looked at where we planned to eat, and what we would do, and for my "budget choices", I was just saving about $200. So, I paid for dining, and am splurging with our meals.

On the other hand, with 5 people, the extra $$$ for concierge goes "farther" than for just 1 or 2 people. Normally, I'm a very budget person....I would stop and get groceries, bring water to the parks and so on. We wanted this to be a splurge trip, so for our family, by the time we do a CS breakfast at Captain Cooks for the kids, a latte for dh and I, a beer in the afternoon for the adults and a soda for the kids........well, that's about $30 for breakfast and $20 for drinks.....so right there, the "extras" of concierge are really just costing me an extra $50 per night, or about $500 for our 9 night stay.

If it were just dh and I, I would likely of just done the dining plan, and not concierge also.

Julia

 

[KristineN]

We are doing both as well. This is our first Cocierge stay & am looking forward to the planning help etc. Hubby liked the dining plan...and it seemed to work pretty well for the 5 of us last time.

 

[3littleHalls]

Agreeing with the Tikiman Figure out which is more important. Do NOT count on the offerings as a meal plan. A decent continental breakfast yes. A snack yes. and desert yes. We did LVC at the Poly for the views(which are spectacular) and the trip planning. Have a magical trip

 

[Princess Mindy]

I suppose looking at it that way it may justify the cost for both. There may just be 2 of us, but I want to experience Poly "in style" and not having to deal with making ADRs will make my life much easier. That took a lot out of me last time and I love planning! Thanks so much for all of your valuable advice. I would do garden view if I went concierge just simply because I could not afford lagoon view concierge. Is the view still spectacular? I'm not as big on the view because you can see MK from the lounge..(am I correct? ) but still I'd like to know what you think

 

[DisneyConvert]

January will be our 2nd visit to Poly Concierge.
(we've done 4 other trips to WDW during the past 6 years, but those who know WDW know that the Poly is . . .)

I agree with the poster that says, even though the Poly rooms are pretty big, the Concierge upgrade works well if one's room is, well, full. We only have one child, but our Mother/in-Law is joining us. The Lounge and the common areas give us some more stretching room.

The benefits for 4 people are a pretty wonderful deal, even if it's just some place quiet indoors to read a book or a (free) newspaper. The Concierge service got us some pretty amazing Priority Seatings last time -- wonderful!
(I also think Kona is an amazing restaurant!).

Have to agree that while the food, drink and treats are pretty lavish, they are not wholy substitutable for real meals. It's a bit tacky to pack one's shorts with mini-hotdogs (a la "Trading Places") but folks still do it.

On our last visit, we grabbed breakfast items early in the AM - fruit, bread items w/ spreads, juice (that's what we eat at home). Maybe some snacking in the PM, too. But nothing to make up for a real sit-down (Character?!) meal.

We reviewed what we spent on meals on our last Poly Concierge, and the fact that we really enjoyed ourselves with a proper lunch at Crystal Palace, dinner at Hoop-de-Doo, etc., and decided to get the meal plan as well.

We may NOT get "full value", since we are not particularly counter-meal folks either, but we have 5 Advanced Reservations already. I have studied the thread on the Disney Meal Plan to maximize our "value" -- either way, the entire experience is wonderful!

 

[Princess Mindy]

Heres a good question: Does Poly concierge lounge or room have the coffee that is in the Kona cafe? That would be fabulous as I am a fan of Kona coffee!
Loving all the advice. Thanks!

 

[3littleHalls]

Sorry, I don't know what kind of coffee is offered. I do know there IS coffee, just don't know what kind. Staying Poly conc will treat you well I think the last minute ADRs are very nice. We decided we wanted Kona for dinner, got there and it was a 3hr wait for walk ins...walked back to the conceirge desk and was seated within 30 mins! Yes, you have a lovely view of the castle from the lounge and library.

 

[MissionMouse]

I would also hang on your words, "...I want to get my money's worth.." like some of the other respondents already have done.

If you are taking this position then you should take the meal plan and get a room location meeting what you value. Concierge is not something you can really evaluate in term's of getting your money's worth. It is a service more than anything else. The lounge food offerings, while being a nice luxury, are not really intended to be a meal...you should still expect to eat meals out during your stay at WDW. It will also be a rather distant location to travel back to periodically during the day to get your money's worth.

 

[Princess Mindy]

oh man this is difficult. if I went concierge it would be a total surprise for my DM as we live in different states and I can keep secrets..but I wonder if she would really appreciate it as much as I will. That would be a huge factor in "getting my money's worth"

 

[MrsNick]

We stayed AKL Concierge, and I agree that if you have a "full room" the value of it goes up.

We were only able to take advantage of the evening h'ors d'oevres and wine once in an entire week, but we did have breakfast in the lounge every morning, and I thought this made Concierge worthwhile. It wasn't just the money we weren't spending on breakfast (and we normally don't eat a heavy breakfast anyway), but the convenience of stepping out of your room and being able to grab coffee and a bagel really fast, and being out the door to the parks. It was a huge timesaver, and also we weren't fighting crowds at the restaurants. It was a nice relaxing way to start the day. That was one thing that made Concierge worthwhile.

The other is that they made all of our PS's for us. Even last minute (as in the day before or day of, which was during July, one of the most crowded times of the year). It also seems to me that we got some pretty good tables.

Not fighting crowds at check-in and check-out was wonderful. Having a quiet haven, since the concierge floor was open only to concierge guests, was wonderful. Having the lounge to go have coffee and read a paper while DH and DSD were getting ready in the morning was priceless. Finally, I liked the added security. Yes, in theory, you can only get on property if you're staying there or have a dining reservation on property. But, even so, although I'm sure most people staying or eating there are good people, you never know, and with a then 13 year old DSD, it felt good knowing that she could walk out of the room to the lounge (which was attended by CM's) and not worry about her safety. I think she also liked that she did not have to be supervised by us every second of the day.

So, I don't think you can really compare Dining Plan to Concierge (apples and oranges, IMHO). But personally, if I had to choose, I think I'd choose Concierge, because it really does make your vacation that much more relaxing and magical. And, I've heard that the Dining Plan, for many people, is just too much food. I'd rather take Concierge breakfast, do a light lunch and have a fabulous dinner.

Whatever you do, I'm sure you'll have a great trip.

 

[pedro2112]

I'd rather take Concierge breakfast, do a light lunch and have a fabulous dinner.

Then it sounds like the dining plan would fit perfectly in such a situation. One only gets two meals a day... a CS meal (can be the light lunch) and a TS meal. If one likes to have at least one nice sitdown dinner a day at the better restaurants, then the dining plan will save most people money, even if you don't do any CS meals or snacks.

An easy way to prove this is add up the cost of what you would normally spend at restaurants such as Chefs De France, Ohana's, Le Cellier, Maya Grill, etc.. per night, and compare that to the cost of the dining plan. Unless you usually skimp out at dinner, you would probably save money on the dining plan.

 

[3princesses4us]

I would take the dining plan! But then again, half the reason I go to WDW is for the food!