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

[Mary2e]

It is doable.

BUT, when I took the plat package you had to chose between either the Illuminations cruise or the Wishes cruise. You couldn't do both.

Also, it's a boat specifically for those on the package - you won't have it to yourselves.

 

[vikkii19]

I think for the most part is sounds doable. I have a couple of things to think about for you:

Unless you are really wanting to spend the one night at Wilderness Lodge, you might want to consider doing the cheapest room category at AKL, you'd be closer to your room you'd be going back to, and I *think* it's cheaper than Wl? (could be wrong about that).

Also again, not sure, but I think you are only entitled to one fireworks cruise per stay on Platinum. Check the brochure PDF to be sure.

Make sure your CS lunch on the second day is light and early! You definitely don't want to be full for V&A at 5.

It is doable.

BUT, when I took the plat package you had to chose between either the Illuminations cruise or the Wishes cruise. You couldn't do both.

Also, it's a boat specifically for those on the package - you won't have it to yourselves.

Well after all this wonderful information I booked last night a 1 night at the WL with our park tickets. Thanks for your replies. I took them into consideration and changed a few things. You guys were right, it is only one cruise per package.

I thought about staying at AK, but my DH was really impressed with the WL on our last trip when we had dinner there. He said he wanted to stay there someday... so someday will be November 12th.

So day 1 will be:
- get on early 7am bus to MK, then get to WL
- check in and get our park tickets. We will leave our bags with bell services
- Head to Epcot for the Dolphin's in Depth tour @ 9:45am
- lunch at le cellier @ 1:30pm
- head to the GF for our massages @ 3:30pm
- go back to WL to shower and get ready for dinner
- V&A's for dinner ** does anyone know what the seating times are??**

Day 2:
- Check out WL
- head to FW for the wilderness segway tour @ 8:30
- head to Epcot for the Aqua seas tour @ 12:45pm
- get to DTD for dinner at Fulton's @ 6pm
- Head to the yacht club for the Illumination cruise.

 

[2ofUs]

Flight arrives 9:38a
(now the scariest part of the trip, hoping we can pull this one off)
Get to AKL, check in, get our package items
Lunch at Rainforest cafe at AK 1130a (figure if delayed at airport or checking in can cancel and just grab QS)

Allowing time to disembark the plane (10-15 min), get to ME or rental car (15 min), ride/drive to WDW (30 min), check-in (10-30 min), drive or use Disney bus to AK (10-30 min) I'm not even sure you will make the 1pm Safari tour which requires everyone to meet in the front of the park by 12:45.

These times are, of course, approximate but pretty realistic depending the number of other people using ME buses; timing of bus departures; or, if renting, time to get to the rental area & pick out a vehicle; drive time to WDW is 20 minutes MINIMUM whether bus or car; if ME, there may be more than one resort stop.

Check-in can be feast or famine depending on how many others are checking in at that time; buses from resorts generally run every 20 minutes but if you JUST MISS the last one, you could be waiting a while; the walk from the bus drop off at AK is one of the longest and could take you 10 minutes to get to the entrance.

Might I suggest you call AKL and ask for their concierge desk. They will be glad to assist you with your plans and may even arrange for taxi vouchers to help insure you get to your destinations in a timely manner.[/I]

Backstage safari 1p
Massages
Portrait session (hopefully can still get these two around 5-6pm)
Wishes Fireworks cruise
Fultons 1030p


Sat
Get up early, head to POP to get new passes for next reservation since will need admission for...

You are staying at AKL for the Platinum package, so the only reason I can see for you to go to POP this morning is to relocate for the rest of your stay. AKL will have all your passes, etc. there and they can arrange to have your luggage transferred to POP for you.

Really, for the cost of the package, you need to rely on WDW to assist you with coordinating these plans - and they will be GLAD to do so. Honest - give them a call - it will REALLY help you consolidate things.

830a EPCOT segway tour
12p lunch at The Wave
2p parasailing and other watersports
may head to FW for horseback riding if time afterwards
830p V&As

then some much needed sleep.

Oh yeah, you will definitely need a good night sleep by now, but you will have enjoyed some of the best of Disney in just 2 days! HAVE FUN!

 

[vikkii19]

So do I have to contact IPO or do they contact me. My 180 days is up next saturday.

 

[mstew99]

Allowing time to disembark the plane (10-15 min), get to ME or rental car (15 min), ride/drive to WDW (30 min), check-in (10-30 min), drive or use Disney bus to AK (10-30 min) I'm not even sure you will make the 1pm Safari tour which requires everyone to meet in the front of the park by 12:45.

These times are, of course, approximate but pretty realistic depending the number of other people using ME buses; timing of bus departures; or, if renting, time to get to the rental area & pick out a vehicle; drive time to WDW is 20 minutes MINIMUM whether bus or car; if ME, there may be more than one resort stop.

Check-in can be feast or famine depending on how many others are checking in at that time; buses from resorts generally run every 20 minutes but if you JUST MISS the last one, you could be waiting a while; the walk from the bus drop off at AK is one of the longest and could take you 10 minutes to get to the entrance.

Might I suggest you call AKL and ask for their concierge desk. They will be glad to assist you with your plans and may even arrange for taxi vouchers to help insure you get to your destinations in a timely manner.[/I]

Yeah, it is a bit of a gamble, but I'm trying to remain hopeful. We've taken the same nonstop flight with the same times each of our last 3 visits, and so far every time have arrived early. I'm a premium member of my car rental company, so I can just head straight out to the lot (it's on airport property, no shuttle needed) and grab a car and go. This will save us on waiting for buses at the resort too. We have a AAA diamond parking pass too, so hopefully will get good parking and avoid trams at AK as well.

Sat
Get up early, head to POP to get new passes for next reservation since will need admission for...

You are staying at AKL for the Platinum package, so the only reason I can see for you to go to POP this morning is to relocate for the rest of your stay. AKL will have all your passes, etc. there and they can arrange to have your luggage transferred to POP for you.

Really, for the cost of the package, you need to rely on WDW to assist you with coordinating these plans - and they will be GLAD to do so. Honest - give them a call - it will REALLY help you consolidate things.

Well, since we had to book a minimum two day ticket to get the free dining on our POP stay, I only bought a one day ticket for the platinum, and a 8 day on the POP reservation. We'll use up our one day pass to get into AK on Friday, and will need our new passes from POP so we can get into EPCOT on Saturday. I still need to book some of the things for our package, so i'll give the itinerary planner at AKL a call soon and see if there's anything else they can do to help us out with things.

Thanks again for your input!

 

[2ofUs]

So do I have to contact IPO or do they contact me. My 180 days is up next saturday.

They will contact you once the package is paid for. Go ahead and set up the things you KNOW you want to do, especially your food ADRs, insuring you allow enough travel time between activities. It is tempting to try and cram a bunch of stuff into the day, but how much enjoyment is there if you are rushing through one experience to 'hurry up' and get somewhere else?

 

[2ofUs]

So do I have to contact IPO or do they contact me. My 180 days is up next saturday.

As for your schedule, I know you have already made some changes, but perhaps you might consider a bit more tweaking. As a suggestion:

1st day:
FW Segway (must be there by 8:15) on your first morning since it is a simple boat ride over from WL. The tour will finish @ 10:30 am and you still have a bit of time to do horseback rider or archery you originally planned.

If you are doing a CS lunch OOP, they have a decent buffet there at FW. By the time you are done, you’ll be ready for that massage @ GF and could catch a boat from FW over to Contemporary, then monorail to GF. (I don’t know what type of transportation you are planning?)

After your massage, you need to get to WL (mono to TTC & bus to WL from there?) to change for dinner. Then reverse that when heading back to GF for dinner – allow plenty of time. I believe the first seating is 6:30???

If you moved your massage to a bit earlier, you could go back to WL after Segway and enjoy an early lunch at Whispering Canyon or just take in the atmosphere, then leisurely make your way to GF for the massage, come back to the room to rest a bit and clean up for V&A.

2nd day:
Check out and ask WL to transfer your luggage to AKL for you (it will only cost you a tip to luggage services at both resorts but will save you a LOT of time).

Head directly to Epcot (bus from WL) for the entire day and work in the most important things you want to do here: Dolphins in Depth, Aqua Seas, Le Cellier (if you can get a ressie).

You might consider trying Flying Fish for dinner instead of Foulton’s – the food @ FF is amazing. That way you won’t have to leave the area – you can simply take the boat over or a nice stroll around to the Yacht Club for the Illuminations cruise?

Transportation is a HUGE time consumer at WDW. And if you have to rush everywhere, it is difficult to enjoy the experience of the moment. Just some thoughts.

 

[arilvdc]

They will contact you once the package is paid for. Go ahead and set up the things you KNOW you want to do, especially your food ADRs, insuring you allow enough travel time between activities. It is tempting to try and cram a bunch of stuff into the day, but how much enjoyment is there if you are rushing through one experience to 'hurry up' and get somewhere else?

The IPO should contact you within a few days of booking, not once the package is paid off.

 

[Mom21]

The IPO should contact you within a few days of booking, not once the package is paid off.

Really? I booked and no one had called me in 2 weeks, so I ended up calling them. I didn't realize they should have contacted me.

 

[vikkii19]

Really? I booked and no one had called me in 2 weeks, so I ended up calling them. I didn't realize they should have contacted me.

Where did you find their number? I've searched for it, but can't find it anywhere.

 

[2ofUs]

I booked my package nearly 2 months ago for our September trip. I have not received a phone contact. Therefor, before I posted the response above about the package being paid for, I called to clarify who should call whom and when. I was told by a TA CM that "once the package is paid for, the guest will be called" and thus my posted response.

Maybe that only applies to certain resorts or certain pacakges, but I'm not sure how they would differentiate. I will make another call today to see if I am able to receive further clarification.

 

[beautifultomorrow]

You guys are all doing platinum right? Cause I don't think premium gets IPO services, is this correct?

For platinum or concierge level stays ipo is supposed to contact you after you have a confirmed reservation, whether its paid in full or not. I have read in other threads that sometimes they don't contact you first, you have to contact them.

 

[2ofUs]

Actually, from the posts I have read (including the original poster "Premium Plan for One Night...") most of us are doing Premium.

I would be interested in hearing from others whether or not they were contacted and if so, were they Platinum or Premium?

After scouring BOTH brochures, I found nothing about IPO on either.

I have pretty much gotten everything put together for our trip but would appreciate getting an 'official' pronouncement that my plans/timing are correct and since EVERY resort has a concierge desk and POP only offers Premium, I'm just assuming they provide the support.

Several calls to several sources has not provided me with any consistent answer.

 

[let'sgo]

I am doing the Premium Plan and have not been contacted. And now I have to call them as my reservation for Cinderella's Royal Table was charged to my credit card.

 

[tink713]

We are doing the Platinum Plan which we booked a few weeks ago and we have yet to be contacted.

 

[arilvdc]

I'm doing platinum at wilderness lodge, and their IPO contacted me within 48 hours of my reservation confirmation.

 

[Joie]

Sorry if this has been asked already but I was wondering on the premium plan is how many credits do you use on signature restaurants? on ddp and dlxdp its 2 ts credits is it 1 ts or 2 ts for signature restaurants on premium plan?

 

[IMGONNABE40!]

As I understand it, you don't get credits like with the DP and DDP. You get 3 meals. You can eat a those 3 at Casey's Hot Dog Stand, or you can do 3 signatures.

 

[Symans3honeybees]

As I understand it, you don't get credits like with the DP and DDP. You get 3 meals. You can eat a those 3 at Casey's Hot Dog Stand, or you can do 3 signatures.

 

[wishicouldgomoreofte]

IPO is included in Platinum only, not Premium. I booked through Walt Disney Travel Company. They gave me the IPO number at the end of the call.
They never contacted me. I called them a few days later.
Sue, at AKL IPO didn't want to be bothered, since I only have a one night ressie. She said, "Well you are only staying one night". Obviously not worth wasting her time. I made all my own reservations, and the CM from Walt Disney Travel Company hooked them to the reservation for me. I had booked Fireworks Cruise, and a CM corrected it to the Platinum Package Fireworks Cruise. IPO did nothing.
I know people on these boards have had good experiences with IPO. They all must have longer stays.
I recommend you do all your own, based on my experience with Sue.
Has anyone had a good experience with her?