Silver plan

[nicknamy1996]

I have always thought the Silver plan was not a good deal. At $68 per person per night for 4 wishes (or 2 meals per couple per day) So (basically) you are paying $68 per meal per couple. At WDW not to hard to do for a meal. But if you use one for breakfast the most your going to get out of your wishes is 30 to 40 dollars, meaning you will have to spend $100 on dinner to "break even" for that day. Again this is possible at WDW, but to do it every day for 7 straight would be tough.

Now I'm looking at Other options to make it more worth doing Cirque, Luau, Tours, etc... and thinking... Maybe?

And now we have a 3 y/o and a 5 y/o. Which means that with 2 wishes for a meal we could easily feed our family of 4. This would be much better use of the wish then stuffing ourselves and still having leftovers like we did at many of the meals on our honeymoon (had the "food and fun" book then instead of wishes) To use 4 wishes would be wasteful and bad use of them value wise)

But using only 2 wishes per meal would leave us with a ton of leftover wishes at the end of the trip. (again a bad deal)

So... to make much better use out of our wishes could I book a package for 2 with the silver add on then buy hoppers for the other 2 and have them stay in the room with us. (can you add guests(room only) to a room that has the silver package)

This would give us a much more manageable total of 28 wishes vs. 56 and would cost 1/2 the price. In other words we would be able to use up the wishes on good stuff and not have to burn them on breakfast or even counter service like we ended up doing on our honeymoon.

 

[PatriciaH]

Interesting question. I know (from mousesavers.com) that you can add people that already have passes to a Dream Maker package room when you check in without them having to add the UPH tickets, so I wonder if you can with the silver add on. What if you never add the other people? I mean the room is the same price with 1 or 2 adults right. What if there are 2 adults and only one is ever added on the silver plan because the other has tickets already? Can the first adult then use both their wishes on dinner for the 2 of them? Interesting question.

 

[kitkatsmom]

When I booked I was told that everyone in the same room had to be on the same plan.
Meaning If my husband and I were silver plan then the kids in our room had to be also.


Let me know if you find out different.
I got the silver plan for us but my kids don't eat enough to make it worth it for them.

I've booked us for cirque, and hoop de doo and a few other things trying to offset the cost.
I think we will be coming out close to even but a tiny bit ahead doing the silver plan.

It's just nice to not have to worry about cash, tips, etc.
Everythings already taken care of. Plus I made or PS's at the more expensive restaurants... Normally we'd try to skimp etc.. but this time we are eating as much as we want in style lol

 

[nicknamy1996]

I've got a year to research it and think about it. If they say you can only add someone if you add silver I guess you could just book for the 2 and buy tix seperatley and not tell the front desk when you check in. I know it's not the most honest way but I'm guessing you'd be fine.

It won't matter unless the offer the 7 for 4 deal next year. That's the only way I would book a package vs. the AP and hotel discounts we have done the last 2 years. The price is almost exact and I would not be commited to go the following year or lose the 2nd half of my AP cost.

 

[kc&dmom]

On our next trip we are considering staying in a moderate rather than a deluxe and upgrading to the silver plan. I think the silver plan really can pay for itself if you plan on going to any of the dinner shows and/or make use of the kids club. The kids can stay for up to 6 hours (I think only the Neverland Club will keep them that long) for just one wish. At $10/hr -- for three kids, one night is $180. We plan on using the clubs for two nights -- if the kids enjoy it the first night!

 

[kitkatsmom]

I forgot about the kidsclub.
I have my 3 booked for one night at the club too.

We plan on leaving them there at least 4 hours so that is 120.00
in our favor.

 

[nicknamy1996]

Does anybody know if they have child services that would work with Keys to the Kingdom? I'm sure this has to come up alot with parents wanting to take the tour while the kids (who can't go) are doing some fun activity. It would be nice to use wishes on the tour and "babysitting"

 

[JJsmama]

I have just started researching the Silver plan too for a family reunion there. I have children 3 and 5 too and was planning to use the Silver redemptions (whatever are they called?) for dinner, dinner shows, but also for the child's club once or twice, watercraft rental for our non-park days and golf for my husband.

There are so many options. I definitely think you could use them all!

 

[nicknamy1996]

I think using them all would be tough but possible. I just think using them all and coming out ahead would be tough. Especailly on young ones like we both have. To use 4 wishes for a meal for the 4 of us would end up costing more than if the 4 of us ordered enough food from almost any restaurant in WDW.

 

[daniluvsdisney]

I have a question for those who know... what is included in the meal on the silver plan? For example: is it appitizer, entree, dessert and drink(non alcolholic I'm sure)? Is there a site that gives the details and listings? Just considering doing this as opposed to concierge at AKL... traveling with 3 adults, myself and a 5yr.old... will use the kids club for sure...
any help would be appreciated

 

[kitkatsmom]

The silver plan meal gives you an appitizer, main course, dessert and beverage.
It includes tax and tip also.

You can very easily get much more then your money's worth for the silver plan if you book the dinner shows (hoop de doo, aloha,) do Cirque and make your PS's for the more higher priced places to eat.

ALso if you take advantage of the child care club facilities it will really pay off.

 

[daniluvsdisney]

I was told lst night by reservation agent that my 5 yr old has to eat off of the childrens menu and that the wishes on her card are only good for her... thus there is no way to get your moneys' worth from kids meals... still the kids club alone is certainly appealing to me as she is an only child and will love to have other kids to play with. Tough decision as I know we would not normally treat ourselves to this much grazing!

 

[kitkatsmom]

You get a set amount of wishes to use and however you use them is up to you.
You don't have to use the wishes your children get for their meals.

You can use wishes for your meals then pay for their meals with cash since the childrens menu is so much cheaper.

What they probably meant was that you couldn't buy the silver plan for your kids then use the wishes for the adults.

If everyone in the room has the silver plan then all your wishes are put on your room card. You can then use them as you wish.

With us there are 5 people and at 7 days that gives us 70 wishes to use. We can use them however we want.
Personally I haven't even made all the PS's yet (still have about 4 meals open) and have already used up all our wishes.

We are seeing cirque, doing hoop de doo and aloha. I have booked the child care club, booked the spa for a massages, booked all the character meals, booked several nice dinners etc..

The silver plan isn't for everyone.
First off you have to like to eat at more expensive places. Some people don't like to spend a lot of time eating. They rather grab something quick and be off to another part of the park.

Second you have to want to do other things like cirque, other shows, child care, spas, etc..
If these are things you wouldn't normally be doing then doing them just to get your "wishes" worth isn't worth it financially.

In my case we have 3 big eaters, We love to sit down and enjoy our meals. We like to see shows, We like to take advantage of the child clubs and spas, and other "silver extras".

We don't wish to worry about meal prices, tips, budgeting money for meals etc.. It works for us to have this plan.

Thats what you have to decide.. If this plan fits you.

 

[nicknamy1996]

And now that kitkatsmom has confirmed that you still get the appetizer, meal (which usually includes salad or soup, and a side) plus dessert for each person/wish, then factor in the portion sizes for most WDW meals and the fact that a 2, 4 (and possibly your 5) year usually does not can not eat that much, my family (me, DW, DSs (3&5 next trip)) could easily order 2 adult meals, 2 appetizers (especially if they have kid friendly appetizers like chicken strips, toasted ravioli, or anything else like that), plus 2 salads and desserts and have PLENTY of food for a meal.

Now I run into the same problem of only using 2 wishes per meal (and with a meal that size we would most likely just snack or not eat a second meal that day) and having 6 wishes left over for each day we are there. Even factoring in using 8 wishes for Cirque, and using them for the adult and kids luau and hoop de du meals (which would include the big meal for each of those days) I just would not be able to use them all up without wasting some.(To use the 28 wishes for the 4 of us would be easy to do in 7 days and I could get all of my moneys worth for it then use cash for snacks and a lunch or two.)

With 56 wishes:
5 big meals(every day but hoop, and luau)=10 wishes
2 a and 2 c tix to Cirque=8 wishes
4 hoop = 4 wishes
4 luau = 4 wishes
2 keys to kingdom=2 wishes
2 kids club during tour (can you do this?)=2 wishes
That leaves 26 wishes to be used.

If we add lunch for all 7 days at 2 wishes per meal we would be eating too much food or just snacking which would again make it a poor decision financially. And I would have to get my moneys worth out of the 12 still remaining wishes. Even if you did manage to use all of your wishes and then add up the total of all of your receipts and you managed to spend as much as you paid to have the wishes in the first place it might still a bad decision because would you have really eaten that much (I won't say 'and did that' much because those things(dinner shows, tours etc...) would be fun and the memories will last forever and may be things you only did because you had the wishes(in other words even though you really wanted to, without the wishes you might have never paid $116 to take a tour through a park which you already paid $100 to get in to.))

I know, very long winded, and budget minded, but after all I am posting this in the budget board. AND it's all hypothetical, because without the 7 for 4 deal the package is not even close to being an option and I go back to the AP and room discount and the whole discussion is moot for me.

 

[bengalfreak]

Wouldn't the best use of something like this be to make two reservations, one with the silver plan add-on and one without? That way it wouldn't be so hard to maximize use of the wishes. Cirque and a dinner show and you're there.

 

[kitkatsmom]

Only people who have paid for wishes can use them.

 

[nicknamy1996]

If you had 2 families of 4 going this would work out well. Book 1 with the silver upgrade and one without then split the wishes. But as it stands we have 1 family of 4 going. So we would have to book a package for 2 then buy two hoppers for the other 2 and then add them to the room only when we check in.

 

[nicknamy1996]

Originally posted by kitkatsmom
Only people who have paid for wishes can use them.

Others have said the wishes are all bunched together and can be used anyway you want, you could use them all in one day if you wanted to unlike before.

Would I be able to buy 4 tickets to Cirque with silver plans for 2? It would take 8 wishes which would not be a problem, but I would be buying 4 tickets to the same show with a plan for 2 people. If it could not be done it would not be a big deal, because the saving of a child ticket for Cirque vs. using 2 wishes is very small anyway.