Premium Plan for One Night Just for the Tours, LaNouba, etc.??

[2ofUs]

Because we are doing this on a weekend, we don't get the 4 park tour so we are doing the behind the magic in MK. It looks something like this: SAT
Breakfast Where will you eat this meal? Have you considered using 1 of your 2 snacks and eating at Main Street Bakery pre-tour?
Tour MK lunch included Great tour - but is your son old enough for the tour? I think they must be 10 or over.
Water sports, parasail, ski, wakeboard
4:00 pm - I leave for DiveQuest while rest of family goes back to room and cleans up.
DS goes to child care center, DH and DD go to signature dining. They have car.
I leave a bit early from Dive Quest, go back to room and clean up, snack on left overs. Ouch - left overs when DH & DD got all that great food? Ah, well, you'll have fun with the fishies! By the way, I don't think your family will be able to see you from Coral Reef as it's viewing area overlooks a different part of the tank - maybe if they are right by the window and can look up & over??? Have them ask at check-in desk for CR.
DH and DD take car to DTD and get tickets for Cirque. I meet them and we see show.

SUN:
Breakfast at CR
Personal Watercraft Tour 10:00
FW segway What time is this tour - 8:30 or 11:30? If 8:30 you won't have time for the Watercraft and if 11:30, you won't be able to eat lunch until after 1:30.
Lunch - the Wave? Also great food. This is convenient for the FW Segway tour, just be sure you allow plenty of transport time - boat from Contemporary to FW, then walk to an internal bus & take to Mike's Bike Barn. Must arrive 15 minutes prior to tour beginning. They do have another tour at 11:30am that may allow you more time for a leisurely breakfast? We were able to do the Steam Train tour (7:30am) and follow it with the 11:30 FW Segway, but again kids must be 10 or older, but it was a fun tour.
More water fun ski/wakeboard OR is there an afternoon tour we can do see my response above...There is a back stage safari tour at AK beginning at 1:30 I believe - 3 hour tour, but that would mess up your massage! ?
Photoshoot Poly
3:30 Massage
5:00 V&A dinner Any way you could switch Cirque and the cruise? The Cirque at 9 would be easier to fit in after V&A. It would also allow you more time - ah, I think you are on a weekend and Cirque is dark. I believe you may not wish to rush your meal and, as a result would not make the cruise in time. Somthing to consider
7PM Fireworks Cruise

Is it possible to make it to Epcot for Illuminations? Yes, technically, but you are trying to pack a lot into your days. Believe me, it is better to slow down and enjoy each experience than to try and pack things in to 'get your money's worth' out of the package. It is instinctual to do that, but when you are actually there you'll be wondering why you didn't space things out a bit better. You still have time to look over your plans and REALISTICALLY figure transporation/parking/walking and ENJOYMENT time. Better to have time to spare than be rushing, exhausted and cranky.

How does that plan look? We do have a car and we are staying close to the things we want to do.

I added some comments in RED above. Please consider moving things about and allowing rest time to have a more pleasurable experience.

 

[lauralw]

Would you guys tell me what should be in the package we recieve at check-in?

From previous posts, it seems we need vouchers for La Nouba, which we take to the ticket office and exchange for tickets. Someone also mentioned boat vouchers -- does this apply to sea raycers and personal watercraft? Are there any other vouchers or forms needed to enjoy all that is offered? Is everything else accessed from our card key?

Thanks in advance and thanks to all who have contributed to this amazing thread!!

 

[weHEARTmickey]

Would you guys tell me what should be in the package we recieve at check-in?

From previous posts, it seems we need vouchers for La Nouba, which we take to the ticket office and exchange for tickets. Someone also mentioned boat vouchers -- does this apply to sea raycers and personal watercraft? Are there any other vouchers or forms needed to enjoy all that is offered? Is everything else accessed from our card key?

Thanks in advance and thanks to all who have contributed to this amazing thread!!

We didn't receive ANY vouchers from the Poly So, I will be VERY interested in seeing what we should have gotten!

 

[2ofUs]

Would you guys tell me what should be in the package we recieve at check-in?

From previous posts, it seems we need vouchers for La Nouba, which we take to the ticket office and exchange for tickets. Someone also mentioned boat vouchers -- does this apply to sea raycers and personal watercraft? Are there any other vouchers or forms needed to enjoy all that is offered? Is everything else accessed from our card key?

Thanks in advance and thanks to all who have contributed to this amazing thread!!

I cannot speak to the EXACT things you will be given at check-in as that depends on the activities you book. Some things will have vouchers such as La Nouba and you will be given an itinerary of your stay.

In our instance, we had a ROOM-ONLY at POP for the night before our Premium Plan. We were actually given our Premium envelope/information at that time, but were told that is not always the case and you may not get the items until the actual morning of the plan. I encourage that you ASK at check-in and request a CM or Front Desk Manager or Concierge CM to pull up the information and go over it with you for accuracy, even if they cannot release the packet to you until the next morning.

We were given vouchers I THOUGHT were actual tickets to La Nouba, but upon arrival at Cirque we had to exchange them at the 'pick-up' ticket window for admission tickets. There was no line so it only took a couple of minutes, but definitely allow time - or if you are in DTD prior to the show, get them ahead of time.

For Spirit of Aloha, the concierge desk at our resort printed these out, but know that must be done AT LEAST 3 hours prior to your ressie time. I imagine HDDR would be the same.

Everything else we did (Bass Fishing Tour, all park tours, Segway, meals) was attached to our KTTK tickets. We chose NOT to have our Park Passes added to KTTK as we were staying for several days (and at 2 other resorts) after the Premium Plan.

NOTE: Our trip was booked through a TA, so there was a glitch that the resort could not see/did not have access to any of our reservations until the actual DAY the Premium Plan began. We had made a last minute change the day before the Plan (switched from FW Segway to Epcot Segway) and had to pay for the Epcot tour and have concierge re-ring and credit us back the next day. Shouldn't happen to others, but just know things can get a bit convoluted since these plans don't seem to be widely used, especially at POP Century. The CMs do need better training, specifically those at concierge.

Conclusion? If you don't get the answer you expected, keep asking (nicely, of course ) for a manager or someone with Premium/Platinum plan knowledge.

And, again, I cannot stress enough the need to allow TIME - for transportation, for glitches that may occur, for sanity sake (maybe that's just ME ), but most of all to allow enjoyment of the MOMENT you are in. If you are hurrying to finish one activity so you can rush to the next, where is the joy?

When all is said and done, you will remember the overall experience, but not the minutia. For instance, though we ate some amazing meals during our September trip and do remember the restaurants, we would honestly have to check notes to see what we ate. Consequently, the service, experience and atmosphere of WHERE you eat becomes the memory - not necessarily the food, even if it's good or not so good at the time.

We are 'seniors' in our early 60's but fit, active and regular visitors to WDW. We wanted to get the best 'bang for our buck' using the Premium Plan and LOVED getting over $700 in 'free' activities/food - who wouldn't? But it wasn't really free and if we had added even more stuff to do, we would have needed to rest 2 days after instead of the 1 down day we used. Our feet were tired and our heads were swimming with all the stuff we did so we had a sleep-in morning with a short mid-afternoon visit to AK for a couple of rides, then ordered pizza delivery for dinner. (Then I had a long soak in the jacuzzi - ah, ah, but it WAS my 62nd birthday that day so I deserved it, right?)

So, consider the trade-off: 1) Try and cram it all in to make the most of our hard-earned money and enjoy the "look what I saved" instant gratification - or - 2) Plan to enjoy the investment by creating and savoring long-term memories. We chose option 2 and are truly glad we did.

Plans will differ if your group consists of small children, teens or other adults, so just keep all factors in mind and plan a pace that will be most comfortable for the entire group. Take lots of pictures, be flexible, and build those memories! Remember, there is always the 'next trip' for things we missed this time, right?

 

[equinoxman]

We start our stay in the morning. Got into Kissimmee Sunday afternoon driving in from Rhode Island. Staying at the Polynesian for a total of 9 days. First 2are on the premium plan. Going to be busy couple of days. Then the rest of the week will be at a more SANE pace. Will try to post durng week, but I do not pay for internet access so you may not hear from me util we are finished and on our way home.

 

[2ofUs]

We start our stay in the morning. Got into Kissimmee Sunday afternoon driving in from Rhode Island. Staying at the Polynesian for a total of 9 days. First 2are on the premium plan. Going to be busy couple of days. Then the rest of the week will be at a more SANE pace. Will try to post durng week, but I do not pay for internet access so you may not hear from me util we are finished and on our way home.

Have a terrific time on your (oh, I am soooo envious) 9 day stay at POLY!!! Didn't see your itinerary, but I'm sure you have lots of good things scheduled and I applaud your efforts to keep a 'sane' pace. Let us know how THAT goes.

Look forward to reading all about your trip & give Mickey a big smooch for us won't you? .

 

[gibbersome]

I cannot speak to the EXACT things you will be given at check-in as that depends on the activities you book. Some things will have vouchers such as La Nouba and you will be given an itinerary of your stay.

In our instance, we had a ROOM-ONLY at POP for the night before our Premium Plan. We were actually given our Premium envelope/information at that time, but were told that is not always the case and you may not get the items until the actual morning of the plan. I encourage that you ASK at check-in and request a CM or Front Desk Manager or Concierge CM to pull up the information and go over it with you for accuracy, even if they cannot release the packet to you until the next morning.

We were given vouchers I THOUGHT were actual tickets to La Nouba, but upon arrival at Cirque we had to exchange them at the 'pick-up' ticket window for admission tickets. There was no line so it only took a couple of minutes, but definitely allow time - or if you are in DTD prior to the show, get them ahead of time.

For Spirit of Aloha, the concierge desk at our resort printed these out, but know that must be done AT LEAST 3 hours prior to your ressie time. I imagine HDDR would be the same.

Everything else we did (Bass Fishing Tour, all park tours, Segway, meals) was attached to our KTTK tickets. We chose NOT to have our Park Passes added to KTTK as we were staying for several days (and at 2 other resorts) after the Premium Plan.

NOTE: Our trip was booked through a TA, so there was a glitch that the resort could not see/did not have access to any of our reservations until the actual DAY the Premium Plan began. We had made a last minute change the day before the Plan (switched from FW Segway to Epcot Segway) and had to pay for the Epcot tour and have concierge re-ring and credit us back the next day. Shouldn't happen to others, but just know things can get a bit convoluted since these plans don't seem to be widely used, especially at POP Century. The CMs do need better training, specifically those at concierge.

Conclusion? If you don't get the answer you expected, keep asking (nicely, of course ) for a manager or someone with Premium/Platinum plan knowledge.

And, again, I cannot stress enough the need to allow TIME - for transportation, for glitches that may occur, for sanity sake (maybe that's just ME ), but most of all to allow enjoyment of the MOMENT you are in. If you are hurrying to finish one activity so you can rush to the next, where is the joy?

When all is said and done, you will remember the overall experience, but not the minutia. For instance, though we ate some amazing meals during our September trip and do remember the restaurants, we would honestly have to check notes to see what we ate. Consequently, the service, experience and atmosphere of WHERE you eat becomes the memory - not necessarily the food, even if it's good or not so good at the time.

We are 'seniors' in our early 60's but fit, active and regular visitors to WDW. We wanted to get the best 'bang for our buck' using the Premium Plan and LOVED getting over $700 in 'free' activities/food - who wouldn't? But it wasn't really free and if we had added even more stuff to do, we would have needed to rest 2 days after instead of the 1 down day we used. Our feet were tired and our heads were swimming with all the stuff we did so we had a sleep-in morning with a short mid-afternoon visit to AK for a couple of rides, then ordered pizza delivery for dinner. (Then I had a long soak in the jacuzzi - ah, ah, but it WAS my 62nd birthday that day so I deserved it, right?)

So, consider the trade-off: 1) Try and cram it all in to make the most of our hard-earned money and enjoy the "look what I saved" instant gratification - or - 2) Plan to enjoy the investment by creating and savoring long-term memories. We chose option 2 and are truly glad we did.

Plans will differ if your group consists of small children, teens or other adults, so just keep all factors in mind and plan a pace that will be most comfortable for the entire group. Take lots of pictures, be flexible, and build those memories! Remember, there is always the 'next trip' for things we missed this time, right?

Great post and great contribution to the thread!

We are going to be trying to cram quite a bit into our two days but we've left a lot of free time in between for both transportation and relaxing. The only thing we have left time for...is sleep, lol. But since we're both of us are in school we are no strangers to getting 5-6 hours each night!

We have a 7 AM bass fishing tour booked (leaving from the Yatch Club), but we're trying to get into the Dolphins in Depth tour for 9:45 AM the same day. The tour is completely booked, but if it opens up we will most likely cancel the bass fishing (for the extra 2.5 hours of sleep).

You're absolutely right that savoring a tour right after finishing it is part of the enjoyment.

 

[MinnieVanMom]

Due to some unexpected issues our Death by Disney, platinum plan has been cancelled. We were flying in our DD who we don't see nearly enough to watch DS for us while we ran like chickens with heads cut off.

After much thought and prayers we changed our plans. We don't see our DD nearly enough and we didn't want her to fly in and then not be able to play with her also. We have cancelled our platinum plan and now will be spending the two days with our DD and our DS and watch them enjoy the magic of Disney.

There will be another time and now we know how to plan and what to do thanks to this forum.

 

[mkandjpsmom]

This is such a great idea! Thank you to the OP and everyone who has contributed to this thread. I am planning this for my kids April vacation this year and I booked through AAA to get their discount. If I did the math right I saved around $600 by booking through AAA over the website for a week stay. The TA I talked to at AAA was able to book it correctly, and I have 4 reservations. I was very clear about exactly what I wanted so I think that helped!

 

[Zife]

So, from skimming this thread, reading some trip reports, and running some numbers, my wife and I have decided to give this a try (Platinum). Our trip isn't until Sept/Oct 2011, but I thought I'd throw out some questions to the experts on here.

I've noticed some people saying they're doing Archery, Horseback Riding and Carriage Ride with this plan. I didn't realize they were covered. Can anyone shed some light on this for me?

We're going to be staying AKL, Club Level, Deluxe Dining from 29 Sept - 5 Oct, then changing to Grand Floridian, Theme Park View (No Club Level), Platinum from 5 Oct - 6 Oct, then going off-World for a few days for non-Disney activities. Do I need to book everything from 29 Sept - 5 Oct through AKL, then book the Platinum stuff through the included IPO, or can I do it all with one or the other?

Right now, all we're looking at doing is Around the World at Epcot, Keys to the Kingdom, Aqua Seas tour, La Nouba, the spa treatment and V&A's. Based on just those, we wind up saving about $350 (estimated) based off doing these things a la carte, so I'm not too worried about adding on anything else, but I'm open to suggestions. My basic itinerary right now is as follows.

Wednesday, Oct 5
Around the World Segway - 7:45am
Aqua Seas - 12:30pm
Lunch - 3:30pm?
Another Activity/Tour?
Victoria & Albert's - 7:00pm

Thursday, Oct 6
Keys to the Kingdom - 8:30am
Other stuff/Lunch/Supper/Spa/Etc
La Nouba - 9:00pm

What I'm wondering, is if it would be better (or possible) to shift V&A to the latest sitting possible, and do the early show of La Nouba the same night, since our Wednesday lunch will be so late because of the Aqua Tour.

Finally, I did a quick search through this thread, but can't find any info on what spa treatments are included in Platinum. Is there a selection, or is it just one basic treatment?

Thanks all!

 

[gibbersome]

Three spa treatments are included in the plan:
• One 50-minute Swedish Massage
• One 50-minute Radiance Facial of choice
• One Spa Manicure and Pedicure Combination

You are allowed one spa treatment per person per plan, so your wife can do two treatments if you choose not to do yours.

There is more information in the Platinum Plan brochure:
http://disneyworld.disney.go.com/me...og/WaltDisneyWorld/en_us/PDF/2011Platinum.pdf

It will tell you exactly what's covered, and includes the activities you mentioned.


About switching to Grand Floridian, that's something I don't know about so I'll leave to others. I am booked at the AKL for the Platinum and the IPO were a great help. Don is extremely polite and very knowledgeable.

 

[Zife]

Thanks Gibbersome. Took a quick look at the brochure, and printed it. Started to freak out when I noticed missing restaurants, then realized it's the 2011 brochure, so not necessarily complete yet.

The brochure is awesome though. Thanks again!

Oh, and the change to GF is definitely happening, Rin and I have always wanted to try it, and this gives us a great opportunity.

 

[kungaloosh22]

What I'm wondering, is if it would be better (or possible) to shift V&A to the latest sitting possible, and do the early show of La Nouba the same night, since our Wednesday lunch will be so late because of the Aqua Tour.

I think that's a good idea. I'm not even sure V&A offers 7PM seating times. I think there are 2 groups of times, something like 5:30 - 6:30 and 9:00 - 10:00. (I don't think that's exactly right, but someone else around here will probably know.)

 

[gibbersome]

Thanks Gibbersome. Took a quick look at the brochure, and printed it. Started to freak out when I noticed missing restaurants, then realized it's the 2011 brochure, so not necessarily complete yet.

The brochure is awesome though. Thanks again!

Oh, and the change to GF is definitely happening, Rin and I have always wanted to try it, and this gives us a great opportunity.

No Problem. I know what you mean about GF, we're doing the Platinum plan precisely to do all the things we want to do at a fraction of the price we'd pay otherwise.

Wednesday, Oct 5
Around the World Segway - 7:45am
Aqua Seas - 12:30pm
Lunch - 3:30pm
Another Activity/Tour?
Victoria & Albert's - 7:00pm

Thursday, Oct 6
Keys to the Kingdom - 8:30am
Other stuff/Lunch/Supper/Spa/Etc
La Nouba - 9:00pm


Would an earlier lunch on Oct 5th be doable? You should have time after your segway tour ends around 10AM and before your Aqua Seas tour begins since you'll be in the same park. The one activity I would add is a cruise, which is also included (otherwise costs $300+ out of pocket). You could do this by having an early dinner at V&A at 5:00 or 5:30 then doing a Wishes Cruise. But this would be tricky to plan without knowing what time Wishes will be. Since Wishes is at 8:00PM during January, we are doing the cruise first and then doing dinner at V&A. There's also the Illuminations cruise if you don't want to do Wishes. The people at the IPO will let you know if your plan will work or not.

The second thing I would suggest is eating at Fulton's Crab House on the day you are planning to do La Nouba. Fulton's is only on the Premium and Platinum plan and you'll be in DTD anyway.

 

[2ofUs]

QUOTING Zife: My wife and decided to give this a try (Platinum) Sept/Oct 2011.

I've noticed some people saying they're doing Archery, Horseback Riding and Carriage Ride with this plan.

Staying AKL, Club Level, Deluxe Dining 29 Sept - 5 Oct; then Grand Floridian, Theme Park View (No Club Level), Platinum - 5 Oct - 6 Oct; then off-World a few days.

Do I need to book everything from 29 Sept - 5 Oct through AKL? Yes

Then book Platinum stuff through the included IPO?Yes

Or can I do it all with one or the other? Don't think the IPO will be able to do the AKL part and whoever you have do AKL could do the GF, but since the IPO is a SPECIAL benefit of doing Platinum, why not utilize it? A good Travel Agent could take care of all of it for you as well.

Looking at Around the World at Epcot, Keys to the Kingdom, Aqua Seas tour, La Nouba, spa treatment and V&A's. Based on just those, we save about $350. I'm not too worried about adding on anything else, but open to suggestions. Your savings will be more when you add in the other meals and/or activities

My basic itinerary as follows:

Wednesday, Oct 5
Around the World Segway - 7:45am
Maybe add lunch at Coral Reef here as you will be hungry by now. Segway tour lasts 2 hours so you have plenty of time. I believe first ressie is 11:30, but you can get in and out pretty quickly.

Aqua Seas - 12:30pm

Lunch - 3:30pm? Try to eat earlier, even if not at Coral Reef. I suggested this location as it's right there in the same building; is a beautiful place with fast service; has a great view and really good food.

Another Activity/Tour? Other activities: Horseback riding/archery things at FW or water activities at Bay Lake. Or work in a nice massage on this day. Even more radical thought REST a bit before your wonderful dinner tonight?.

Victoria & Albert's - 7:00pm You will only have 2 seating times to chose from. This is where your IPO will be of great assistance. In fact, I would plan the PLATINUM part of your trip first to insure you get everything set and coordinated.

Side benefit, IPO may be able to answer lots of questions about 'other' activities you are considering - things you may wish to do pre-GF stay. I encourage doing more expensive things on-plan, then less expensive while at AKL.

We really enjoyed the Magic of Steam Train tour (must be at the MK entrance by 7:15am - but are the 1st ones in the park, which is very cool) and it isn't very expensive. Might be a nice early morning thing for your AKL stay!

Thursday, Oct 6
Keys to the Kingdom - 8:30am I assume you doing the 4.5-5 hour tour within MK (the other is an 'all day, 8 hour, multi-park tour' costing $200+ pp. It is wonderful, informative and includes TS lunch mid-tour.) The MK KTTK includes a CS lunch at Columbia Harbour House and lasts 4.5-5 hours.

Other stuff/Lunch/Supper/Spa/Etc You won't exit the KTTK tour until 1 or 1:30. You would have time to do some watersports or the FW things and still be able to get to a 6pm La Nouba (must arrive by 5:30) and nice dinner after. Depending on transportation time, you might even be able to add an Epcot Illuminations tour pre-dinner and dine late at Flying Fish - say 9:45???

La Nouba - 9:00pm As noted above & below, consider 6pm show this night w/dinner after.

Would be better to shift V&A to latest seating possible? YES! You will want to linger here and the meal requires at least 2 hours for all courses.

Then do early show of La Nouba the same night? Again, yes. They have 6:00pm & 9:00pm shows. We did 6pm show and had plenty of time to drive to AKL for 8:30 Jiko seating - even arrived early.

However, consider leaving these 2 activities on different nights. On La Nouba night, could do early show, have a nice dinner at DTD location -Portabello or Fultons - or Flying Fish (Boardwalk), Artist Point (WL), Narcoosees or Citrico's (GF), which was our favorite dinner last trip. Truly, you will enjoy dinners so much more if you don't have to rush through them to attend another activitiy.

That being said, if I were doing PLATINUM, there would definitely be a WISHES cruise in the mix. There is nothing quite like viewing the fireworks over the castle from out in the bay - and we have viewed them from pretty much every concievable location, including the Top of the Towers at BLT.

This would be possible IF you do 6pm La Nouba, latest V&A seating on one night, then WISHES tour with late dinner after at one of the other 2 lovely places at GF. Then you could request that staff ROLL you to your room & tuck your stuffed and exahusted little bodies into bed!

What spa treatments are included in Platinum? Already answered by brochure gibbersome attached.

You have PLENTY of time to put your plans in place. Utilizing the IPO is a terrific option for Platinum plans. We did the Premium in September 2010 and I had everything 'done' by mid-March. Then I began making changes over the next couple of months, mostly just tweaking. I actually dropped some things in favor of timing - went for quality of the overall trip instead of quantity - with no regrets.

Will we do this again? ABSOLUTELY.
Will we do it differently? CERTAINLY.
Will we Deluxe? MOST LIKELY as I really want to do the Platinum next time, especially for V&A and WISHES cruise.

 

[HaleyB]

I let AKL Club level staff book everything for me, they were able to answer all my questions. They helped a lot with figuring out timing and such. I liked being able to deal with one person for our entire stay just for simplicity.

@Zife. Switching to GF is going to be a big pain. You'll need to check in before you can go on that 7:45 Segway tour. I know it is yet another reservation but have you considered switching over one day early?

You would have one less night on DxDP so you will have fewer credits to use, but they do not expire until midnight. (over)stuff(ed) happens, this adds the flexibility to skip a meal if you get too full or pressed for time. If you never run into that, worst case is you pay oop for a few meals. I know there are times when all I want or have room for is a salad and of course dessert

Just a thought.

I second the Wishes cruise as a must on this plan, it is really something special.

 

[2ofUs]

@Zife. Switching to GF is going to be a big pain. You'll need to check in before you can go on that 7:45 Segway tour. I know it is yet another reservation but have you considered switching over one day early?

You would have one less night on DxDP so you will have fewer credits to use, but they do not expire until midnight. (over)stuff(ed) happens, this adds the flexibility to skip a meal if you get too full or pressed for time. If you never run into that, worst case is you pay oop for a few meals. I know there are times when all I want or have room for is a salad and of course dessert .

Ohhhhh...what she said!!! Definitley a good idea.

You're already paying for a Deluxe resort, and, though the GF room is going to be more - probably a good bit more, you COULD do a room-only with a 35-40% pin code discount you will no doubt receive between now and arrival! You still have to technically check-out/in on your PLATINUM morning, but that only takes a moment and you'll be off for your big adventure.

You'll also avoid the 'crunch' of shlepping all your luggage to GF, checking-in and monorailing back to Epcot. Doing it all mid-day the day before will allow for a much more restful beginning to your Platinum plan. Simply do the check-out/in then head out the front door for the 'Epcot Express' monorail - woo-hoo!

There is so much food on the Deluxe Dining Plan that you may have plenty left over to use up on your room-only stay. Plus, there will be lots to eat on your PLATINUM day(s) - remember, you get 2 snack credits each.

For the KTTK tour, there will be coffee and bottles of water waiting for you at tour sign-in. You check-in @ 8:15 & will have about 10-15 minutes before the tour begins @ 8:30. We arrived at the park about 30 min pre-tour and had time to slip down Main Street to the Bakery - used our snack credits for danish & fresh fruit, yum.

Ah, the delight of sitting outside Town Hall on a bench eating a light breakfast and watching all the smiling people/kids coming in ... plus the characters (particularly Daisy & Pinochio) walk right past you for shift change. Such a life.

 

[weHEARTmickey]

This may have already been addressed somewhere within the thread, but it didn't apply to me, so I probably missed it. I have a friend who is interested in doing premium or platinum for her DD 6th or 7th(?) b-day trip. They will be staying DVC in May & usually add on the dining plan. How would this work for them? Would they have to add 1 night on in the beginning or end of their DVC stay? Could they remain in the DVC resort? TIA

 

[2ofUs]

Yes, they can (and probably should) remain in their DVC resort, though they CANNOT add either plan onto that reservation - I tried. It would be easiest not to have to pack & relocate for just one night, so make a seperate resservation at a resort of your choice.

I recommend Wilderness Lodge as a good location, lower priced Deluxe option if doing PLATINUM. And, if they decide on Premium, POP Century works well as it is inexpensive, but they would need a vehicle here to insure they get everywhere on time.

We booked our Premium Plan at the beginning of our trip for several reasons:
1-Used the required park pass purchase and added the rest of our days onto that;
2-Were well-rested and excited at the beginning of our trip;
3-Had a 3-night stay in a non-Disney resort wedged in the middle;
4-Planned to add Deluxe Dining onto the end.

We did a room-only with Pin Discount at POP for arrival day, then began our Premium plan the next morning. Total room cost: $62 for 1st night, $98 for second. Of course the Premium plan added $167 per person for the second night, but we MORE than made up for that in our activities.

If they are DVC owners, chances are they also have Annual Passes. In that case they can save the required 1-day park pass for their next renewal and book the Premium/Platinum plan mid-trip. That would allow them to arrive, get settled into their DVC resort and enjoy a few park days pre-plan.

If they decide on Premium (with a 6-year-old, that is what I would suggest) they need not even stay at POP, just check-in and pick up their room key for use during the plan. This is a great time saver - not having to pack/unpack.

For the Platinum plan, just pack an over-night bag for everyone to take to the Deluxe resort.

If they chose WL, it is very near Contemporary and FW and all 3 have boats going to/from each other as well as MK!!! From Contemporary they can catch the monorail to Epcot. All the water sports/activities are there as well, and the horseback rides & stuff are over at FW, as well as HDDR if they want to attend that - Category 1 on the Premium plan (as is Spirit of Aloha).

For the minimal cost of a room at POP ($90+ at most), it will definitley be best to stay at their DVC (you didn't say which resort) and spend the $$$ for a one-night ressie with Premium.

I think there is only 1 (maybe 2) tour that allows children under 10, and I'm not sure she would enjoy an over 2-hour 5 course meal at V&A. But the Premium plan includes La Nouba, Spirit of Aloha, HDDR, FW activities, many water sports/activities, Photo session, Signature meals (except V&A), and carriage & horseback rides. Though there isn't the WISHES Cruise or Epcot ILLUMINATIONS option on Premium, for the cost it would be a better bargin/optiion. And they do offer 'reserved viewing areas' for both Wishes and Illuminations on that plan. At least you wouldn't have to hold a spot for an hour pre-show. Illuminations spot is pretty good, Wishes not so much - tress block the castle view, but the fireworks and Tink flying overhead is great!

There is always NEXT trip for Platinum, right?

 

[weHEARTmickey]

Thank you!!! I knew I could count on you!!! Yes, I think premium would be perfect. That's what we did with our DD10 & DS7. There was only ONE tour that they could participate in, so we completely avoided the parks both days during our 1 day premium stint. We loved LaN, parasailing, horseback riding, golf, boating, & the 3 signature meals I think platinum would be neat b/c you could do a fireworks cruise on the night you're not seeing LaN. Thanks again! I'll send her a link to your response, rather than trying to explain it. You've become the resident Premium Pro around here!