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

[Lucky'sMom]

Sorry to ask this again, but...does anyone the value of the gift card you are given if LaNouba is dark during your stay, and must I ask for it or will it be in my packet? Thanks!

 

[TinkOhio]

Sorry to ask this again, but...does anyone the value of the gift card you are given if LaNouba is dark during your stay, and must I ask for it or will it be in my packet? Thanks!

According to another Disney-oriented website (about saving), the value of the card is $85 for adults and $69 for kids. The website does go on to say that recent reports indicate that this is only happening when there are seasonal dark periods, not the usual Sunday and Monday night dark periods. The cards are usually given at check-in.

 

[TinkOhio]

Okay...so I've tweeked our 2-day plans and have come up with this. It will be my DD13 and I, and our goal is to do as many fun outdoor activities as we can. We'll rest up the day before and the day after, as we'll probably be exhausted by the time our 2 days are over! We'll be using our rental to get around. Does this sound okay?


Day #1

7:00- Guided fishing excursion, leaving from the Contemporary. (lasts 2
hours.)
10:00- Deluxe Parasailing (lasts 1/2 hour)

10:30- Watermice rental

noon- Kona lunch, then back to resort and relax. (Putt-putt?)

4:00- Leave for HDDR

5:00- HDDR

7:00- Drive to Epcot and putz untill it's time for the Illuminations preferred
viewing at 8:30
9:00- Illuminations



Day #2

8:00- Drive to Ft. Wilderness and park car. Take WDW transportation to the
Contemporary.
9:00- Jet ski tour (1 hour)

10:00- Wakeboard/water ski (1 hour)

11:00- Parasail or rent watercraft

noon- Shower and change, then grab a cs meal at the Contemporary

1:00- Take boat to FW.

2:00- Check in for 2:30 trail ride

2:30- Trail ride

3:15- Drive back to resort. Shower and relax.

5:00- Drive to DTD for dinner at dinner at Fulton's

5:30- Dinner at Fulton's. Putz around DTD if time allows.

8:00- Line up for Cirque

 

[beansmom]

we are going on March 21 for our one night and La Nouba is dark that Tuesday as well so we are receiving the gift cards. We've seen LaNouba 3-4 times so it's not a huge loss and we'll certainly use the cards on something.

 

[TinkOhio]

Another question... (sorry!) How much have those of you who have done the fishing excursion or jet ski tour tipped your guiide? I have no clue on this one.

 

[lauralw]

Okay...so I've tweeked our 2-day plans and have come up with this. It will be my DD13 and I, and our goal is to do as many fun outdoor activities as we can. We'll rest up the day before and the day after, as we'll probably be exhausted by the time our 2 days are over! We'll be using our rental to get around. Does this sound okay?


Day #2
8:00- Drive to Ft. Wilderness and park car. Take WDW transportation to the
Contemporary.
9:00- Jet ski tour (1 hour)
10:00- Wakeboard/water ski (1 hour)
11:00- Parasail or rent watercraft
noon- Shower and change, then grab a cs meal at the Contemporary
1:00- Take boat to FW.
2:00- Check in for 2:30 trail ride
2:30- Trail ride


I would drive and park at the Contemporary and then drive and park at Fort Wilderness. You meet for horseback riding at the kennels which is right be they main parking lot. Otherwise, you are going to have to take Ft. Wilderness internal bus system to the marina to catch a boat to get to Contemporary and you are going to have to repeat the process back to get to the meeting place for the trail ride. It is a lot of extra transportation for no reason. Have fun!!

 

[disneyyes]

Another question... (sorry!) How much have those of you who have done the fishing excursion or jet ski tour tipped your guiide? I have no clue on this one.

That is a hard question and one that I'm still not sure about even though I've done the jet ski tour two times. When there were 3 of us on the tour I think we tipped $30.00; another time when there were 2 of us I think we tipped $25. The staff there was so fantastic - everyone (James, Ben, Dave) we encountered at Sammy's was extremely "Disney-like" in how they treated us! I really didn't know if we tipped enough, but they seemed very appreciative.

 

[Sugarglider]

Well - I did it!! I booked Platinum for 1 night - tues/wed combo. Staying at Poly so I am close to GF for spa/V&A/fireworks cruise and TTC to get to Epcot to do all the tours. Also - 'cause I've not stayed there.
Big thanks to all the posters here whose tip filled posts are still helping me lay out and plan the commando schedule
'have rental car, will travel'

 

[TinkOhio]

I would drive and park at the Contemporary and then drive and park at Fort Wilderness. You meet for horseback riding at the kennels which is right be they main parking lot. Otherwise, you are going to have to take Ft. Wilderness internal bus system to the marina to catch a boat to get to Contemporary and you are going to have to repeat the process back to get to the meeting place for the trail ride. It is a lot of extra transportation for no reason. Have fun!![/QUOTE]

Thanks for this advice! It seems like such a no-brainer now. Trying to fit everything in and make it all work really takes tons of planning!

 

[TinkOhio]

Well - I did it!! I booked Platinum for 1 night - tues/wed combo. Staying at Poly so I am close to GF for spa/V&A/fireworks cruise and TTC to get to Epcot to do all the tours. Also - 'cause I've not stayed there.
Big thanks to all the posters here whose tip filled posts are still helping me lay out and plan the commando schedule
'have rental car, will travel'

Thanks for the advice! I wonder if we'll have the same people for the jetski tour as the water ski/wakeboard gig?

 

[beansmom]

we are going Mar 21/22 and here's what we have so far:

Mon:
DH Epcot Round the World Segway at 8:30
Brkfst for me-Kona 9am

Lunch-GF cafe noon
Boating at the GF after lunch

Dinner at Narcoosee at 5:55
Ft Wilderness carriage ride 9:30

Tues:
DH Ft Wilderness Segway 8:30
Gardens of the World for me at 9:00
Stroll around WS til lunch
Lunch at Coral Reef 1:30

mini golf in the afternoon

boating at Yacht Club before
Yachtsman dinner 7:35

we're not commando tour-ers so this is pretty busy for us.

 

[beansmom]

this might be a dumb question but can we eat at Cinderella's castle on the Premium plan for 1 credit per person?

 

[Dizney73]

this might be a dumb question but can we eat at Cinderella's castle on the Premium plan for 1 credit per person?

Yes indeed you can!

 

[rnorwo1]

Ok, just finished reading all of these pages and have a tentative plan. Warning, this will be a long post because I have alot of questions (in italics), but would appreciate any help/advice you can offer!

DH and I will take our first adult only trip in OCt... he's looking to see which days he can get off so not certain which exact days yet. This will be during F&W, which we've never been to, so I'm wondering how the crowd levels may affect us. We want to stay at BWV but if booked already, we'll do BLT or GF, somewhere in that Epcot/MK area. We are staying at BC in May, so I'll be able to get a better sense of how close all these things are and the time it'll take to get to things.

So here is the tentative plan... I know it's alot, but that's what we want, to cram in as much as possible because who knows when we'll be without the kids again. All of our normal trips (the next one is this May) are at a very slow pace! I have tried to keep everything in the same area to decrease transportation needs, but we're open to renting a car or using taxis if needed.

Thurday:
Arrive at BWV about 12pm, wander around F&W, early to bed.

Friday:
7am or so, check in to get our platinum package (still staying at BWV, will try to get this the night before if possible.)
Grab snack boardwalk bakery, walk to Epcot
9a-4p Backstage magic tour
**it looks like the last part of this tour is the parade at MK? If so, we can prob skip that if we need to get to next thing in time
4:30-5:30: Massage for me, rest or water activity for DH
**If we stay at BWV, I would love to have massage at GF, but not sure I can have it and get back to BWV in time for dinner. They do have a spa at BW I believe which would cut down on transportation time, but it doesn't have a very appealing name, muscles something or other has anyone used services there? Is it nice?
5:45: Get ready for dinner (assuming get spa at BW and just take a quick walk up to room
6:30ish-8:00: Dinner at Yachtsman
**This is close enough to BW that we can walk to, right?
8ish: Take taxi to DTD for Cirque at 9
Bed

Saturday:
7:00 Grab snack/breakfast at boardwalk bakery
7:45-9:45 Segway tour at epcot
10:00-12:00 Jet ski tour? Are there set times for this? How long does it last? If possible, would also like to do parasailing or a boat activity there? Any other recommendations? Is this in the lagoon area by MK so we can take monorail back and forth to epcot?
12:00-12:30 Monorail back to Epcot, grab a snack
12:30-3:30 Aqua tour
3:45 ish: Lunch at Le Celier (see note below)
5:00: Spa services, either BW or GF for me, Richard Petty for DH
**I thought I read somewhere that they may not do these in the afternoons, so we can switch this with the jet ski in the morning, if that is done in the afternoon? Also, will the Indy experience be covered? DH would much rather that
Wishes Fireworks cruise: Do not know times? Can also switch this with Cirque if it's not held on this night.
Late seating at V&A

Sunday
REST and more F&W!!!!!


In all the trips we've taken to WDW, we've never eaten at a signature restaurant.... we tried Flying Fish once when my oldest was 2 and he threw up all over me and the table, so we decided that regular table service would suffice until they're older! We have eaten at Le Celier before and like it, but would like to try something different... do CG or any of the other ones have lunch hours? LeCelier is convenient with the other activities, but we may be willing to drop an activity for a different restaurant.

Ok, I think that's all my questions for now.... thanks!!!!

 

[beansmom]

i wouldn't even attempt to do a premium or platinum package without a rental car. You can rent a car in a couple places at Disney and that's what I would do rather than take taxis.

Looks busy to me but doable.

 

[Wendy&Grumpy]

Ok. We live less than 1/2 hour from Disney which gives us an awesome advantage.

I have booked AKL with the platinum plan for August 12-13 for DH's bday.

This is our initial, basic (very basic!) itineray and we would love advice and suggestions!

Friday August 12:
check-in @ AKL and Backstage Magic Tour (this is a must do & includes lunch!)
(we will have car so can leave luggage in car until after Backstage)
*do we have time for massage before dinner?
Dinner - Jiko @ 5:30 (does this give us time to make Wishes cruise?)
Wishes cruise (is this only from GF?)

Saturday August 13:
Behind the Magic of our Steam Trains Tour
*do we have time for something else before lunch?
lunch @ signature or Trail's End at FW? (undecided- suggestions?)
*need afternoon suggestions/advice - considering boating, horsebacking (DH preference), carriage ride, mini golf?
dinner @ Victoria & Albert's (best time in order to make below?)
9pm La Nouba or 6pm La Nouba and Illuminations?
home (it's awesome not to have to pay for accomodations Thursday & Saturday night!)

Remember we live locally and will have a car - should help with transportation times. We appreciate any and all advice/suggestions! My head is swimming with all that I have just read!

Thank you tremendously for all advice & suggestions!

 

[rnorwo1]

i wouldn't even attempt to do a premium or platinum package without a rental car. You can rent a car in a couple places at Disney and that's what I would do rather than take taxis.

Looks busy to me but doable.

Do you think we'd need the taxi/rental car other than to get to Cirque? I was thinking it wouldn't be worth it if it's just that one time, but not sure how realistic this tight schedule is either.

 

[beansmom]

Do you think we'd need the taxi/rental car other than to get to Cirque? I was thinking it wouldn't be worth it if it's just that one time, but not sure how realistic this tight schedule is either.

i'm not sure but i am under the impression that bus service doesn't begin early enough to make the 7:30 segway at Epcot. Remember, depending on how you 'catch' them (like if one JUST left when you get to the stop) bus service can take an hour to get from one place to another on property.

I just feel etter having a car at my disposal so I know I can make my reservations.

 

[disneyyes]

Ok. We live less than 1/2 hour from Disney which gives us an awesome advantage.

I have booked AKL with the platinum plan for August 12-13 for DH's bday.

This is our initial, basic (very basic!) itineray and we would love advice and suggestions!

Friday August 12:
check-in @ AKL and Backstage Magic Tour (this is a must do & includes lunch!)
(we will have car so can leave luggage in car until after Backstage)
*do we have time for massage before dinner?
Dinner - Jiko @ 5:30 (does this give us time to make Wishes cruise?)
Wishes cruise (is this only from GF?)

Saturday August 13:
Behind the Magic of our Steam Trains Tour
*do we have time for something else before lunch?
lunch @ signature or Trail's End at FW? (undecided- suggestions?)
*need afternoon suggestions/advice - considering boating, horsebacking (DH preference), carriage ride, mini golf?
dinner @ Victoria & Albert's (best time in order to make below?)
9pm La Nouba or 6pm La Nouba and Illuminations?
home (it's awesome not to have to pay for accomodations Thursday & Saturday night!)

Remember we live locally and will have a car - should help with transportation times. We appreciate any and all advice/suggestions! My head is swimming with all that I have just read!

Thank you tremendously for all advice & suggestions!

Hi! Looks like you have some great plans in the making, isn't it fun?!? . . . as for a spa treatment between Backstage Magic and a 5:30 Jiko dinner, in my experience this past January there would have been absolutely no chance of fitting in a spa treatment at that time. The Backstage Magic Tour ended somewhere between 4:15 and 4:30, and the bus drops you off at the entrance of Epcot. We barely made it back to Bay Lake to change in time for a 5:30 dinner at Victoria and Albert's and that was REALLY hustling (and taking a taxi to save time).


We DID find on one of our Platinum days that we had time to enjoy a spa treatment at 8:00 a.m. and then travel to Epcot and make it in time for the 9:45 Dolphins in Depth tour. I see you want to schedule the Trains tour on your second day - but if you would be just as happy to do the Dolphins in Depth (which I loved and it is far more expensive than the Trains tour) that is definitely possible.

OR - On your second day, if you would see the 6:00 La Nouba show (we had a 3:45 reservation at Fulton's and were served from the dinner menu, then went to LaNouba), you would have time after LaNouba to drive to either Epcot for an Illuminations Cruise or to Magic Kingdom for the Wishes Cruise. Then you could schedule your spa treatment the first day after Backstage Magic and eat a later dinner. I remember the Backstage Magic lunch being VERY filling - it's at Whispering Canyon Cafe. Good luck with your planning!

 

[TinkOhio]

Okay...we just received our vouchers in the mail. We'll be doing the premium plan in a little over 3 weeks. I admit that I've only read part of this thread, but I have several questions now that I look at the vouchers.

First off, our itinerary shows one premium meal plan per person, per night. Does this mean three table service meals per night, or two? Now I'm confused!

Next, our guided fishing excursion voucher has "15% off the regular price..." Our fishing excusrion is still free on the plan, right?

Also, our Sammy Duval's voucher says, "Enjoy 10% off the regualr price of all activities..." All watersport activities are free with the package, right?

And... our WDW Marina voucher states, "Receiver 15% off..."
It's still free to do our watercraft activities on the plan, right?

Lastly, do I wait to activate our card with our unique Photopass number untill right before we leave so that we have longer time to edit our photos?

I'm so confused!!

Thanks for any clarification!