silver magical wishes....

[86cammie]

...Is it worth it? We plan on doing several character meals. We have priority seating at Sci - Fi for lunch, Rain Forest Cafe for Dinner, California Grill for dinner, Prime time for dinner. The rest of the time (10 days total) will be counter service or whatever our whim is. We were going to do Mickey's Backyard BarBQ which is not available as a wish.

What are your thoughts?

 

[lovespugs]

Originally posted by 86cammie
...Is it worth it?

It really depends on your eating habits. If you went with the silver plan and did eat counter service as you mentioned, no, it would not be worth it. The silver plan comes with a non-alcoholic beverage, appetizer, entree, dessert, and coffee for each person on the plan for each meal. Depending on what you pay for your package, it will work out somewhere around $33 per wish, which includes tax and a 15% tip. If the meal would have cost at least that much on its own then it will be worth it. If not, you would be better off paying cash.

Also, it makes a big difference whether you will have kids with you or not. I don't have kids so I don't know the specifics, but I do know that while you pay less for kids' wishes, they are required to order off of the children's menu. So you would probably be better off paying cash for their meals.

In my mind, it comes down to what you consider "worth it." If you are only interested in whether the silver plan would cost less than paying cash, I would say based on the plans you mentioned it would not be worth it. However, when my DH and I were on the plan in December, we thought it was worth it to pre-pay for our meals and not think about money while we were on vacation. We ordered what looked good no matter how much it cost, and we always ordered dessert - might as well, it's included!

 

[buzzlady]

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=317173

Read this post. It might be of some help.

 

[Maleficent2]

but I do know that while you pay less for kids' wishes, they are required to order off of the children's menu

this better not be the case I asked this question when booking our ressies and told no they did NOT have to order off the kids menu




Mal

 

[lovespugs]

Originally posted by Maleficent2
this better not be the case I asked this question when booking our ressies and told no they did NOT have to order off the kids menu.

How old are your kids? According to the link buzzlady posted...

"Children ages 3 to 9 must order from the children’s menu where available. Children under the age of 3 may share from the adult’s plate or a meal may be purchased separately a la carte from the menu."

 

[punkin]

Ordering off the kids menu is most definately not worth it, however, with the amount of food you get, you could probably share with your kids no problem. I think the things on this package that are really worth it are the more expensive eateries (if you order the more expensive things on the menu); the dinner shows (Luau and Hoop de Doo - usually $49 per adult); green fees for golf; some of the tours; some of the spa treatments; and childcare. Other than that, I think you'll loose money, especially on the charecter B-fast buffets. Even CRT (the most expensive b-fast) will only cost you $20 + tax and tip which still puts you way under the $33.50 you need to break even.

Nevertheless, I am still considering this package for a sometime future trip when my hubby and I will eat only at very expensive places and leave our kids in child care every night. (I can dream can't I?)

 

[Maleficent2]

and both my sister and I asked this question of the CM's when booking this really burns me and am now wondering if the silver add on will be worth our while.

It is not the amount of food it is what is offered for our very picky eaters.

so how do they know if it is a childs wish or an adult wish?

And if we only want to pay for part of the meal in wishes how do we do that?


Mal

 

[kdibattista]

And if we only want to pay for part of the meal in wishes how do we do that?

You can use as many or as little wishes as you want at any given meal. There were several times last year that I chose to eat off the kid's menu so we only used one wish (instead of two). Just tell the server ahead of time how many wishes you want to use for that particular meal.

 

[Maleficent2]

the CM told us that all wishes would be on our Room key card so how do they know it is a child's wish or an adults and couldn't we use all the childs wishes on merchandize or does that matter as long as we net $33.50 per wish?????

TIA

Mal

 

[punkin]

Also, I think the restaurants where you need to use two wishes are also hard to make worth it.

Even at Californis Grill I can't imagine being able to eat $67 worth of food. The entrees are just not that expensive.

Good bets (IMO) are Le Cellier, Concourse Steakhouse.

Has anyone tried to figure out if the Gold plan makes financial sense?

Does anyone know which type of Cirque tickets you get for your 2 wishes on the Silver Plan?

 

[lovespugs]

Mal - I *believe* that even though you paid child's prices for the children's wishes that you could use them just like any other wishes. So, for example, you could eat dinner and use wishes for the adults, pay cash for the kids, and use the children's wishes for merchandise, tours, Cirque, or anything else.

Punkin - The tickets we had for Cirque were in the front row, as far to the right as you can get (as you face the stage).

 

[punkin]

So for Cirque basically, that's a category 2 ticket, which costs $72 for adults (compared to $67 worth of wishes) and $44 for children (compared to $51 worth of wishes). You do have to figure in tax which (I think) is about $4 for adults and $2.50 for children (I could be way off here).

Makes sense for the adults, but not children. I still think there must be ways to make this work out overall.

 

[kdibattista]

Lovspugs is absolutely correct about the wishes... they are all tied together so it doesn't matter what you use them for. DH and I had 28 total and I know I used more then him. I used several of "his" wishes for spa treatments. You can pay for the kid's meals and use those wishes however you want.

 

[honeymo78]

Punkin - I have gone on the gold plan on almost every vacation to disney and we have always come out ahead. Of course we love to eat 3 sit down meals a day and participate in extras such as wake boarding, fishing trips, tours, horseback riding etc. I'll be on gold again in Aug and I'm sure we will save money if you don't count the new discount for FTP. That was unexpected but I didn't want to change my plan b/c I really want 3 great meals a day and tours, etc all included. I figure if I was willing to pay $$ before they introduced FTP I wasn't giving up gold for the discount especially since I didn't have time to extend the vacation. I also really enjoy not having to carry much money with me or even a credit card for anything other than emergencies. It depends on the type of person you are and what activities you are interested in that makes the difference in breaking even or saving money. My parents even did this plan when my brother and I were younger and we still came out ahead because we like to do stuff other than just go to the parks every day. I remember one year my dad went fishing 4 mornings while my mom took us kids and grandma to the parks - that definitely would have been really expensive if we weren't on gold.


I'll let you know how I do in Aug.

 

[buzzlady]

Originally posted by Maleficent2
and both my sister and I asked this question of the CM's when booking this really burns me and am now wondering if the silver add on will be worth our while.

It is not the amount of food it is what is offered for our very picky eaters.

so how do they know if it is a childs wish or an adult wish?

And if we only want to pay for part of the meal in wishes how do we do that?
Mal

We just got back on 7/7 and used the Silver Plan. I have the pamphlet that you receive at check-in and it states "Children ages 3 to 9 must order from the children's menu where available. Children under the age of 3 may share from the adult's plate or a meal may be purchased seperately a la carte from the menu."

Your wishes are kept in a cental computer system and I'm sure it shows how many adults, Jr (ages 10 - 17) and children (ages 3-9) are on the plan.

Yes, you can pay cash for the kids meals and use their wishes for merchandise or even boat rentals.

As for picky eaters, most of the kids menus have pizza, hot dogs, hamburgers or mac and cheese. If the menu doesn't have any of the above and there is a food court, ask the waiter for what it is that you want and they will be able to get it. I did this for my DS(7) at Maya Grill. There was nothing that he would eat on their kids menu so I asked if he could get a hamburger. Not a problem.

Another thought might be to call and request the pamphlet about the plan before you go. If you have any questions, I will try to answer them.

 

[punkin]

Thanks honeymo78. I'm looking at all my options. My husband is a golfer so that becomes expensive quickly. We also want to see Cirque (we have never made it before) Our kids aren't picky eaters (especially the older one who'll eat anything). When we are not on a plan, we usually have sit down breakfasts and dinners every day and half the time sit down lunches as well. We do not go to the cheaper places either. I think if we do at least 1 tour and utilize child care, the silver plan will work for us.

About the gold plan, I haven't found out that much about it. You don't get wishes right? You just get 3 meals a day anywhere you want and unlimmited recreation time? How much does all this freedom cost?

 

[Maleficent2]

I *believe* that even though you paid child's prices for the children's wishes that you could use them just like any other wishes. So, for example, you could eat dinner and use wishes for the adults, pay cash for the kids, and use the children's wishes for merchandise, tours, Cirque, or anything else.

that is about what the CM told us, but our 7 yr old loves crab legs and we were going to order these at Fulton's for him, so we asked if he could order off the adult menu and we use his wishes she said that should not be a problem.

oh well quess we will just have to work it out.


Mal

 

[honeymo78]

Punkin - here's the lowdown on the gold package

It costs $139 per night for adults and $94 per night for kids. You do not get wishes but you do get a bank for your meals. You get 3 per person per night you stay. My fiance are staying 6 nights so we get 36 meals. We won't eat 3 the first day we are there so we will have one left over and use it for lunch on our last day. It also includes unlimited recreation, childcare at the children's centers, la nouba tickets, and unlimited tours. We are doing a tour and going to Cirque so, assuming we don't do anything else (like water sprites or get our leave a legacy tile at Epcot) we have to average $38 each for each meal - not much more than what the wishes need to average to come out even. Of course, we will rent water mice for at least an hour each and get the tiles at Epcot so that will make the amount we need to spend at meals even less to break even. Oh, actually we also got a $100 off for being Disney club members so if I include that and the cost of each of us renting water mice for an hour and the tile at Epcot our meals need to be $32.50 each or $65 total with tax and tip to break even.

Also sometimes the servers at restaurants will be very lenient on what you can order such as an appetizer and soup/salad or a specialty non-alcoholic drink in a souvenir glass, etc.

If you have any other questions let me know.