Premium plan anyone?

[Jennygt]

I am not sure what this is all about, at first glance it looks but when I read more and thought about what I would wind up paying oop I am not sure if it is that crazy after all, anyone have a thought on this?

 

[Faldred]

Premium (and Platinum) take Deluxe to the next level -- in addition to the meal plan (which Premium and Platinum improve upon by removing any "2 credit" requirements and adding additional restaurants), you gain the "all inclusive" features such as golf, tennis, tours, water sports, horseback and carriage rides, etc.

If that's the kind of vacation you want, then I think it's a great bargain -- doing a tour or golf each day more than covers the additional plan cost from Deluxe to Premium. An upgrade to Platinum makes sense for small parties on short stays if you want the extras of the spa treatment and the free Photopass CD.

ETA: What would make this work really well is if you do a "split stay" where you spend only a few nights of your vacation of Premium/Platinum, and then spend the rest of your vacation under a different plan. You can use the Prem/Plat entitlements over the days on either side of the number of nights you book, and then use your other plan credits on the remaining days. You have to buy at least a 1-day ticket for each package (except for AP holders of DVC members staying on points), but you can always hold onto them for another visit if you don't go the AP/DVC route.

Example: For an 8-day/7-night stay, split it as 2 nights premium and 5 basic. For the premium nights, and the days on either side, that's 6 meal credits and 4 snack credits to use (and at a wider selection of restaurants), plus access to all of the amenities. The "basic" plan offers an additional 5 TS, 5 CS, and 5 snack credits. So, strategically using credits and other entitlements might work as follows:

Days 1-3: 2 "premium" meals (go for normally 2-credit meals, such as signature, dinner show, and/or CRT, mixed with prem/plat only restaurants); take tours and/or golf/tennis each day, take a carriage ride at night, see Cirque de Soliel, etc.
Days 4-8: Normal park days, still being able to average 1 TS and 1 CS per day

 

[Colleen27]

We like the idea of the premium plan but decided it just doesn't make sense with the kids. We wouldn't do enough of the tours, golf, recreation, and shows for it to pay off because the kids are too young for so much of what is included. When DH & I take an adults-only Disney trip somewhere down the road we'll probably try it, but at this point (with 3 kids, 11, 7, and 7mo) it doesn't work for our family.

 

[staceyeileen]

I REALLY want to do the Premium plan sometime for a 1-night stay over a weekend. I think it's a real bargain for potentially 3 signature meals/dinner shows plus 2 days of unlimited tours, cirque, etc.

 

[rlovew]

I REALLY want to do the Premium plan sometime for a 1-night stay over a weekend. I think it's a real bargain for potentially 3 signature meals/dinner shows plus 2 days of unlimited tours, cirque, etc.

You might want to think about doing it during the week- you will get very few tours on the weekends- most of the tours are during the week.

 

[luckytobeme88]

We would definitely want to try "Premium" one of these days. I am thinking like 2-nights with "premium" then downgrade to something else. This plan is perfect if you are going to La Nouba, couple of tours plus a few rounds on the "green". Shhh! I have to keep it to myself for now because my DH can literally camp on the fairways.

 

[bhencey]

We(2 adults) are doing the Platinum plan in July for 10 days. It made financial sense to us since we have scheduled 6 tours, La Nouba, 2 massages, 1 round of golf, jet ski's, para-sailing, and 7 Signature TS meals.

 

[jgazda]

We(2 adults) are doing the Platinum plan in July for 10 days. It made financial sense to us since we have scheduled 6 tours, La Nouba, 2 massages, 1 round of golf, jet ski's, para-sailing, and 7 Signature TS meals.

Wow! Impressive. Room for one more?

 

[Pakey]

We have done the Platinim Plan before. I don't think we'd do it again. It's great if you want no free time or no park time. To take advantage of all of the "free" stuff, you spend all of your time doing other activities and eating. It puts a lot into one vacation. We enjoy the tours, parasailing, spa trips, etc, but not packing each of these items into one single vacation. We were exhausted after this vacation.