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

[nannette]

Wow, you are extremely ambitious!!! I do think that if you are able to successfully schedule the photo shoot (others have reported it is no longer part of the plan) you won't need a full hour to do this. You probably will need longer than 2 hours to dine at Victoria & Albert's though; you might consider an earlier reservation (maybe 5:45 or 6:00) so you'd have at least 2 1/2 or maybe even closer to 3 hours.

I hope that whoever told you the Wild Africa Trek is now on the Platinum Plan is correct!!! Can I ask who gave you this information? I would love to see this tour on the plan, and if so I hope I can convince my friend Disney73 that she should do this for a second time, during our July "Girls Only Getaway"! It might be a letdown for her second time around, though, because her big surprise the first time she took the tour was that Joe Rohde (chief imagineer of Animal Kingdom Park) was one of the participants on her tour!

As for the JetSki, if you want to do the Guided Excursion of Bay Lake, there are definitely set times . . . I think in November there would be one tour available and that would be at 9:00 a.m. Summertime they have 8:00 and 9:00 tours. Later in the day, you can still take out the jet skis but you are limited to an area over near the Fort Wilderness shore. They told me this is because the jetskis are the fastest watercraft on Bay Lake, and since the tours take you over near Wilderness Lodge, Grand Floridian, and the Poly, they must do those early in the morning before all of the WDW boating traffic gets really busy.

I just called yesterday for information regarding the tours offered and asked about the Wild Africa Trek and was told that it is not included as of now. My trip is scheduled for November. I was told that it could change but as of now it's not included. This was on Monday.

~Nannette

 

[PatriciaH]

I hope that whoever told you the Wild Africa Trek is now on the Platinum Plan is correct!!! Can I ask who gave you this information? I would love to see this tour on the plan, and if so I hope I can convince my friend Disney73 that she should do this for a second time, during our July "Girls Only Getaway"! It might be a letdown for her second time around, though, because her big surprise the first time she took the tour was that Joe Rohde (chief imagineer of Animal Kingdom Park) was one of the participants on her tour!

Thanks for your input. I was pricing things out on the WDW web site yesterday and the chat box came up with a CM. I asked some questions about the Platinum Plan and one was is the new Wild Africa Trek on the PP. He said yes it is with !!! points. Hopefully it is and he was not misinformed. I will try to email IPO today and find out.

 

[nannette]

Thanks for your input. I was pricing things out on the WDW web site yesterday and the chat box came up with a CM. I asked some questions about the Platinum Plan and one was is the new Wild Africa Trek on the PP. He said yes it is with !!! points. Hopefully it is and he was not misinformed. I will try to email IPO today and find out.

We can hope... I got my information from the Platinum IPO. I really want to do this tour so I'll hope your person was right, but won't hold my breath as they also say the photo shoot is still available as well and I was also told by IPO that was no go to! I am approaching my booking window soon, but not soon enough... thats when I'll know what I really get! Come on May 19th!! (unless they let me book it when my real reservation date begins on the 17th... 2 DVC nights so probably not).

~Nannette

 

[PatriciaH]

We can hope... I got my information from the Platinum IPO. I really want to do this tour so I'll hope your person was right, but won't hold my breath as they also say the photo shoot is still available as well and I was also told by IPO that was no go to! I am approaching my booking window soon, but not soon enough... thats when I'll know what I really get! Come on May 19th!! (unless they let me book it when my real reservation date begins on the 17th... 2 DVC nights so probably not).

~Nannette

Keep us posted and I will let you know if they get back to me. My 180 window will start in early May.

 

[PatriciaH]

Oh-is there only 1 spa treatment per person per visit or per day? I thought 1 per visit but on Mousesavers she says "Here are some examples of one-day itineraries that maximize value and make transportation easier. Remember that you can do TWO of these itineraries with a 1-night/2-day Premium or Platinum Plan! These suggested itineraries are by no means the only options." and a lot of them have spa options.

 

[LeslieLou]

I've read over 80 pages of this thread! And, today, I started putting together thoughts in a spreadsheet. I will have a 3 DS, 6 DS and DH. I haven't seen much posting related to parents using this plan, but from my calculations - we'd save about $1200-1400 depending on how much value you place on activities.

I need help to make my plan better! My children love boats and fireworks...and thus the premium plan seemed to be a lesser value for us. My husband and I would have liked to fit in V&A but it didn't seem to be happening w/o wasting dining credits for the kiddos or eliminating our ability to go on the fireworks cruise/to La Nouba. We're planning on staying at VWL splitting a DVC stay in early December.

Itinerary Day 1
Bass Fishing Trip 7:00 AM 9:00 AM
Parasailing 9:30 AM 10:00 AM *deluxe tandem & Deluxe single rides
Boat Rental 10:00 AM 1:00 PM *probably various activities
Lunch OOP 1:00 PM 2:00 PM *flexible
Portraits 2:00 PM 2:30 PM *not sure on this one
Rest
Pony Rides 3:45 PM 4:00 PM
Carriage 4:15 PM 4:45 PM
HDDR 5:00 PM 6:30 PM *seems like I'll need a filler here?
Fireworks Cruise 8:00 PM


Itinerary Day 2
@ Park ? 10:00 AM
Fam Magic Tour 10:00 AM 12:00 PM
CRT 12:00 PM 1:00 PM

In Room Child Care 1:30 PM 6:00 PM
Golf Lesson 2:00 PM 3:30 PM *me and DH OR other activity?
Massages 4:00 PM 5:00 PM *me and DH
Narcosee’s 6:30 PM (w/kids)
La Nouba 9:00 PM (w/kids)

 

[SnowWhite33]

You are right - it is tiring, but quite fun. You didn't ask for suggestions, but may I take the liberty of suggesting you make an adjustment? On your second day (Bass Fishing/Segway/Lunch @ Le Cellier) perhaps you could consider doing the 1st La Nouba followed by dinner @ Foultons? Your lunch at LC is probably going to fill you up quite well and you may find it nicer to see La Nouba and RELAX over dinner at Foultons? Just a thought.

I am really trying to get DH to go that route with La Nouba 1st and Fultons after. He is thinking that he and DS will be hungry by that time, especially DS-he's always hungry though

And now DH and DS are not sure they want to do the fishing excursion and would rather do boat rentals. Which I guess is ok with me-no 5 AM alarm clock.

Which boats can we rent? I know the small boats but what about the pontoons? Can we rent those?

 

[2ofUs]

Day 1
Check in early at WL or Polynesian:
1st-SNACK Get breakfast snack.
9am-10am-Parasailing @ CR (may move with Jet Ski time)
10am-11am-Horseback Riding (maybe- if I think we can make it. Parasailing is quick but we still have to get to the front of FW so I may move Parasailing.)
11:30am-1:30pm-Wilderness Back Trail Segway Tour-FW
2nd-SNACK Light lunch/snack
2:30pm-3:30pm-Jet Ski (Are there set times for this? Are there tours and/or free jet ski?) Parasailing and horseback riding are offered throughout the day, so ensure you have your Segway Tour and Jet Ski times set first, then build around them.[/COLOR]
4pm-5:30pm-Spa GF (shower there)
5:30pm-6:30pm-Photo Shoot (if still available-may move to Day 2)
1st MEAL 6:30pm-8:30pm-V&A Agree with previous poster that you need to get an earlier seating at V&A - and I believe there are only 2 seatings per night? I have never eaten there so I don't know the times for sure but I think the first is at 5:30. Perhaps you could plan your spa trreatment a bit earlier, then V&A and allow transport time to arrive for Wishes Cruise as I think you need to check in 15-30 minutes prior.
8:30pm-Wishes Fireworks Cruise

Day 2
2nd TS Meal Room service BF
8am-11am-Wild Africa Trek (they told me today this is included on the Platinum Plan. If not when I go to book- Dolphins In Depth or Backstage Safari.) Hope this is correct, could be fun. They also offer the Wild by Design morning tour here that includes a breakfast and you could follow it with the Backstage Magic...just an option.
12:30pm-3pm-Aqua Seas
3rd SNACK Light lunch/snack
4pm-5pm-Richard Petty for DH (maybe.) Only one in the party can do this if I remember right, but it would be a great adventure.
If not golf lesson (what times do these go to?) The take 45 minutes, but you are told to allow 1 hour AND you need to check-in 30 minutes prior. We were also told they are best done early, but most Pros won't do classes after 3pm, especially in winter months. You can call the golf line and talk to someone anytime they are open, though you cannot book more than 180 (maybe even 90-don't remember) days out. or boat rental
Pool time or Photo Shoot if moved
3rd MEAL 8pm-Spirit of Aloha or Cali Grill Though we enjoyed SOA, we felt they served way too much food (but beer/wine was free) and the during dinner entertainment was just so-so. A group of 2 is generally scrunched in between other guests, even in Cat 1. The after dinner show is better, but we wouldn't do it again, just our personal opinion. California Grill has more to offer for an anniversary celebration, so I'd vote for them! We have NEVER had a bad meal or experience there and, if you get a nice window table, the fireworks can be extra special.

I could throw in a fishing excursion on Day 1 from 7am-9am if I really wanted to push it. We truly enjoyed our early morning Bass fishing - did ours from Contemporary - especially for picture taking. We were ready to end the tour early and had the 'captain' drop us off at MK dock around 9am for our KTTK tour @ 9:30. Would we do this again? Maybe, but not for the price they normally charge!

All-in-All, your plan looks pretty good. You have TONS of Disney experience and know the 'back-road' transportation well so that shouldn't be an issue.

I noted you scheduled 3 snacks (or light meals) so I assume you plan to buy at least one QS meal, right? You actually may not need to do so if you toss in a couple of protien/granola bars and/or piece of fruit.

We used both snacks our first morning for danish & fruit tray @ Main Street Bakery, eating them with the free coffee provided while waiting for our KTTK tour to begin. This tour included QS lunch @ CHH. For dinner we did SoA.

2nd day we had to relocate so we hit McD's early for hubby to grab a breakfast muffin (I ate a granola bar), did EP Segway tour, headed to HS for lunch at HBD. That evening was 6pm La Nouba and dinner at Jiko (in retrospect, should have done Flying Fish).

My point here being, we were QUITE full after 2 Snacks and 3 TS meals over the 2 days and ended up eating very little food on the day after our plan ended (laid around like slugs, actually). We found the Premium Plan to be much more about the experience than the food, which is the biggest reason to do these in the first place, right?

I might suggest you set up your plans on a spreadsheet so you can move them around & rearrange accordingly; chose your 'PRIORITIES' first (for what reason am I doing this plan...would I regret NOT doing this?); then your would 'LIKE' to do (this would be a GREAT opportunity to try); followed by 'time fillers' (if not too tired & time allows, this would be FUN); but don't forget to allow a BIT of REST TIME in there somewhere. Then ENJOY YOUR ANNIVERSARY!

 

[2ofUs]

I am really trying to get DH to go that route with La Nouba 1st and Fultons after. He is thinking that he and DS will be hungry by that time, especially DS-he's always hungry though

And now DH and DS are not sure they want to do the fishing excursion and would rather do boat rentals. Which I guess is ok with me-no 5 AM alarm clock.

Which boats can we rent? I know the small boats but what about the pontoons? Can we rent those?

I am almost POSITIVE you cannot rent a pontoon - they require a captain and some expertise to navigate (someone correct me if I'm wrong). Bass fishing is okay if you enjoy early mornings and lovely sunrises. We did the one from Contemporary and it was great seeing the surrounding resorts in the early morning. Hubby caught lots of fish - I took lots of pictures. We were ready to stop 1.5 hours in. If DH & DS want to rent boats, that is probably a better option.

As for DS being hungry, I have 8 grandsons, so I DO understand. Remember, though, these meals INCLUDE appetizers, entrees and deserts. I was stuffed and could not finish my meals, even when I ordered lightly. And my DH who can really shovel a meal was also quite full. If you can toss a snack at him or grab a QS bite pre-La Nouba, that would truly be the better way to go.

 

[PatriciaH]

All-in-All, your plan looks pretty good. You have TONS of Disney experience and know the 'back-road' transportation well so that shouldn't be an issue.

I noted you scheduled 3 snacks (or light meals) so I assume you plan to buy at least one QS meal, right? You actually may not need to do so if you toss in a couple of protien/granola bars and/or piece of fruit.

We used both snacks our first morning for danish & fruit tray @ Main Street Bakery, eating them with the free coffee provided while waiting for our KTTK tour to begin. This tour included QS lunch @ CHH. For dinner we did SoA.

2nd day we had to relocate so we hit McD's early for hubby to grab a breakfast muffin (I ate a granola bar), did EP Segway tour, headed to HS for lunch at HBD. That evening was 6pm La Nouba and dinner at Jiko (in retrospect, should have done Flying Fish).

My point here being, we were QUITE full after 2 Snacks and 3 TS meals over the 2 days and ended up eating very little food on the day after our plan ended (laid around like slugs, actually). We found the Premium Plan to be much more about the experience than the food, which is the biggest reason to do these in the first place, right?

I might suggest you set up your plans on a spreadsheet so you can move them around & rearrange accordingly; chose your 'PRIORITIES' first (for what reason am I doing this plan...would I regret NOT doing this?); then your would 'LIKE' to do (this would be a GREAT opportunity to try); followed by 'time fillers' (if not too tired & time allows, this would be FUN); but don't forget to allow a BIT of REST TIME in there somewhere. Then ENJOY YOUR ANNIVERSARY!

Thanks for your input! We will hopefully have breakfast on the Bass fishing boat on the first morning if they still have pastries/coffee on it. Our 2 snacks each will probably be used at Roaring Forks for chili and a side salad or fruit salad with our refillable mugs around lunch time. On day 2 I would love to do Coral Reef for lunch but it would probably mean missing Richard Petty as they close at 5pm. It would also be pretty late after our tours at 3pm. So we will use our 2 snack credits each at the F&W booths close to Living Seas. We can use our other table service for room service that morning.

I had thought about doing Fulton's and La Nouba on the 2nd night but we have seen La Nouba 4 times already. We have never seen HDD-wow! We have eaten at nearly every WDW restaurant and never done it. I also have only done the old Luau. DH has never been. So I am still working on day two's events. May golf in the afternoon instead of Richard Petty. May do SOA or HDD or another signature.

 

[Lehuaann]

Has anyone stayed at FW on the Prem package? Were you able to get a golf cart rental as part of unlimited recreation/rentals? Thinking of doing a 1-nt cabin stay.

TIA

Anyone?

 

[2ofUs]

Thanks for your input! We will hopefully have breakfast on the Bass fishing boat on the first morning if they still have pastries/coffee on it...

Sadly, they do NOT, nor have they EVER (at least according to our captain) serve anything on the Bass Fishing. We did get a bottle of water and the use of some handi-wipes (eewww, fish scales). That is why we ended up using our snack credits pre-KTTK tour, we were starving!

Feel free to PM me if you'd like more assistance, etc.

 

[2ofUs]

Anyone?

The original poster of this LONG thread stays quite frequently at FW, but uses their own camper. I know that without a car, it can be tough getting around the parks from FW, except for the boat from FW to MK, Contemporary & Wilderness Lodge. We plan to stay there sometime in the next couple of years in one of the larger cabins, but mostly for the camp-type experience for our youngest grand daughter.

For a Premium/Platinum pkg, WL would be the best priced 'deluxe' with a close location. We stayed at POP for our Premium, but we did have a rental car.

 

[Lehuaann]

The original poster of this LONG thread stays quite frequently at FW, but uses their own camper. I know that without a car, it can be tough getting around the parks from FW, except for the boat from FW to MK, Contemporary & Wilderness Lodge. We plan to stay there sometime in the next couple of years in one of the larger cabins, but mostly for the camp-type experience for our youngest grand daughter.

For a Premium/Platinum pkg, WL would be the best priced 'deluxe' with a close location. We stayed at POP for our Premium, but we did have a rental car.

Thanks for the quick response! We usually drive our own vehicle and rent a golf cart when staying at FW cabins. I just wondered if anyone had successfully rented the 24hr golf carts as a part of unlimited recreation on the premium package. FW would be a better financial option for the 6 of us over WL. A value resort is another great option...hmmmm.

 

[Belle599]

Hi Friends!

DH and I are planning to do a 1 night Premium for May 17 and 18 (Tuesday and Wednesday).

Although I am tempted to 'maximize the value' of our Premium 1-nighter, DH wants to keep things relatively slow-paced an relaxing so that we actually enjoy our activites/meals instead of rushing from one thing to another. Of course we will have a car. We will be staying at Bonnet Creek for 11 nights and are looking for the cheapest room ressie for the 1 night - thinking FW campsite.

However, I am open to suggestions on any changes/additions to these plans!

Please critique! Be tough! I am looking for the feedback from experts!

May 17, 2011

8:30am - Leave Bonnet Creek for FW

9am - Check-in to FW campsite

9:30am - Check-in for 10am horseback riding MAYBE? Not sure if we will be too sore from this. Also, it would be done at 10:45am. Is this enough time to get to our 11:30 Segway Tour? I know we need to catch the internal bus. Orange I think.

If this would be a rush, we might just not do the horseback riding and just hang out at FW and grab some food.

11:30am - FW Segway Tour. What time do we need to check-in for this?

1:30pm - Segway Tour done. Take internal bus back to car and drive over to Contemporary.

2:10pm - Lunch/snack at Contempo Cafe. Must have blackforest cupcake.

3:00pm - Personal watercraft excursion - 1 hr, right? What time do we need to check in? We'll have our swimsuits under our clothes for a quick strip

4:30pm - Assuming watercraft excursion is 3-4, we will be back at Bonnet Creek. We will relax and get dressed for dinner.

6:30pm - Leave for AKL.

7:05pm - Jiko! We will take our time hanging out at the resort.

May 18, 2011

8:15am - Leave Bonnet Creek for Epcot.

9:00am - Segway tour around World Showcase. What time do we need to check-in? We've done this before but I forget.

11:00am - Tour is done and we are in Futureworld. Time to get over to the opposite side of the park!

11:30am - Via Napoli for lunch. We will be slow to enjoy ourselves, and probably take until 1pm.

**BIG GAP in our day is here and I'm looking for suggestions.** I am thinking that I would like to try parasailing at the Contemporary but DH does not want to try this as he is afraid of heights. He would be glad to watch me try it but I am looking for suggestions as to something that we can do together. I don't really want to do mini golf since that is dirt cheap to do normally with our AP discount.

2pm - Maybe Parasailing? How early would we have to arrive at the dock? It says 8-10 mins in the air, but does the whole preparation and process take 1 hour?

4pm - Back to Bonnet Creek (flexible with the time) to beautify ourselves for dinner.

5:50pm - Yachtsman Steakhouse for dinner

9:00pm - Either Illuminations or Wishes. Probably Illuminations.


Here are some additional questions I have:

1. Since Cirque is dark these days, Mousesavers suggests that we will receive $85 GCs when we check-in for each adult. Can anyone confirm this?

2. I heard that FW campsites are excluded from Premium, however I can book this online. True or False?

3. We kind of want to do archery, but is this on Thurs, Fri and Sat?

4. Where is the best place to use our snack credits at FW for Breakfast/Lunch?

5. Where is the preferred fireworks viewing for both Wishes and Illuminations? Which location is most remarkable in comparison to where I could normally stand to watch Wishes/Illuminations? We usually watch Illuminations from between the 2 shops at the foot of lagoon, and watch Wishes from the foot of Main Street or Cali Grill.

6. If we are going from Yachtman Steakhouse to Epcot for Illuminations, would it be quickest to walk through International Gateway, or get in the car and park in the Epcot parking lot? I am aware that it is likely preferable to Disney for us to vacate the Yacht Club parking lot after our dinner.

And there you have it, please let me know what you think!

Thanks to everyone who has posted to this thread for the inspiration!

 

[Lehuaann]

So from what I understand the portrait sessions were removed from the premium/platinum packages...could it have anything to do with the info in this new thread?

Disney Portrait Sessions have changed....
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?p=40320408#post40320408

 

[LeslieLou]

So from what I understand the portrait sessions were removed from the premium/platinum packages...could it have anything to do with the info in this new thread?

Disney Portrait Sessions have changed....
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?p=40320408#post40320408

The portrait sessions are still listed in the 2011 platinum brochure. However, they are not listed in the premium brochure.

platinum: http://disneyworld.disney.go.com/me...og/WaltDisneyWorld/en_us/PDF/2010Platinum.pdf

 

[Lehuaann]

2011 Platinum package without portrait package.

http://disneyworld.disney.go.com/me...og/WaltDisneyWorld/en_us/PDF/2011Platinum.pdf

 

[Dizney73]

2011 Platinum package without portrait package.

http://disneyworld.disney.go.com/me...og/WaltDisneyWorld/en_us/PDF/2011Platinum.pdf

Correct... no photosession included anymore. But the Photopass CD for all those pictures in the parks still is included!

 

[Zife]

Been a while since I posted on here, but the mention of the PhotoPass CD triggered a question. I've read conflicting reports about the CD. Some say it can only be used for PP pictures taken over the two days of the Plan, others say that you can add all of your PP pictures (pre- and post-Platinum days) to it.

Can anyone confirm which is correct?