What are the effects of adding a premium or platinum dining plan?

[Richard M Nixon]

I'm exploring the dining options available and the premium / platinum plans started looking very appealing. I'm trying to pin down exactly what the impacts will be on my planning. Lots of questions ahead, sorry.

First off, I know that to get any value from the plan, I'll need to be eating well for every meal. I'm in the process of picking out two potential restaurants for each meal and calculating the average cost of food per meal per day. I also know that it's a time consuming thing to have to sit down to eat for each meal, but my trip is just for my partner and myself, so we shouldn't have any issues with stopping to rest and enjoy time sharing meals together.

I see in the T&C for the plan that it's not valid with other discounts, and that I am not given the option to choose the plans when testing out the booking system and applying discounts. Am I correct in assuming that I must pay rack rate for my room and I cannot upgrade from free dining, use a free memory maker code, or have any sort of savings applied?

I have heard great reviews of the fireworks cruises, and I see that they are available for private booking, but I get the impression that if I sign up using a dining plan, I'll be set up on a cruise with other people, also presumably using the dining plan. Right?

Is there a limit to the included recreation on the plan? If I wanted to rent a jet ski for 3 hours or spend a day on the golf courses, would they allow me?

I've seen references to Fantasmic being included on various websites, but it's no longer on the brochure. Has it been removed from the plan and now just available as an add-on?

The Cirque tickets are nice, but if I want to get front row / golden circle, can I pay the difference to upgrade?

A photopass CD is being offered, but as far as I can tell it's similar in cost and much worse than the memory maker package. Is there an upgrade to memory maker available or is this basically a worthless addon if I know how to download pictures on my own?

Is the wishes/illumination preferred viewing locaiton something I can normally buy or is it just for high-end dining plan patrons? I'd like to assign a value to it if I can.

Finally, what exactly will the itenirary planner do for me? I'd worry about relying on them to make ADRs, as they are probably doing it for a bunch of other people, too. Is it the same as the concierge planners that club level guests get? If I'm really into planning, will I get anything special by using these guys? Specifically, do they have early-access to booking or anything that normal people don't?

 

[Richard M Nixon]

Bump

Maybe I'm firing off way too many questions at once? I can close this thread and make several smaller ones if it'll be easier to get info.

 

[waitomo]

Well, that is a lot of questions, but they are all related...I think it has more to do with the fact that not many people use those plans!

I had wanted to for years and finally did in December last year. It was amazing! We are going again this August and doing the plan again. A few of my thoughts in general about the plan and the planning of using the platinum or premium plan.

1. When I worked it out, the platinum was a much better "value" because of Victoria and Albert's, the spa treatments, and the upgraded (expensive) tour options.
2. Book a minimum of a day of room only at each end so that you can take advantage of the four full days of benefits with a three night price. If you were thinking of doing a longer trip, consider booking two three night packages with one or two days room only in the middle. Doubles up on some of the benefits and reduces your cost.
3. If you book through AAA, you can get a discount on the room portion of the package, otherwise, you will have to pay rack rate.
4. Yes the boat may have up to 12 guests on it. It is $350 to book your own, which we are doing this summer for our anniversary.

If these are helpful, I will try and write more later, but must run now.

 

[vicki_c]

It is true that not many people here use these plans. They are not truly dining plans, but more.

You are correct that you must pay rack rate for your room and can't upgrade to this plan with free dining or anything. There is also a minimum number of nights you must book, I think it's 3 now. I didn't know about the AAA room discount and getting the plan like the PP said. I hadn't heard that before.

I think these plans could be great for someone with a lot of money to burn, and that are not that interested in spending a lot of time at the parks,but enjoying the other amenities at the resorts and high end dining. So to me, I see these plans as good for a well-off visitor that has already been to the parks many times and is looking to branch out.

 

[waitomo]

A few more things,

Yes, for some strange reason no one seems to mention that the platinum plan can be booked through a AAA and receive a AAA discount on the room portion of the plan. I also really liked the diamond parking, not because I particularly want to avoid walking LOL, but because when I am on the platinum plan, time is a lot of money! So, both last December and this August, I booked one or two nights room only through Disney using the 30% off discount that was available and then booked the plan portion through a AAA agent for 15% off the room portion (Grand Floridian). Its a nice discount, particularly as last year I really wanted the main building for the Christmas decorations.

So, to answer some of your other questions:

1.As I mentioned on a different thread, if you do the three night package, you can spread the meals out over 4 days, the activities too. This means two meals a day and one left over, for which we bought a salad the night before our departure and saved it for the plane the next day. They even packaged our cupcake selection so nicely that it was hardly marred by the time we ate it on the plane! Relaxing for lunch and dinner was great for us. Two our of our four dinners (three nights/over four days) we ate at Victoria and Albert's.
We also did not feel compelled to "get our money's worth" so, for example, at Le Cellier for lunch, I had salad, dessert and a beverage. My husband had the steak and shared my dessert. No appetizer for him, no main entree for me. It was still over $100, so quite a good value, and we were more than content until dinner!

2. There is no limit to the recreation. I did parasailing and I was told to stay up as long as I wanted because I was on the platinum plan and I could do it all afternoon if I wanted! I stayed up about 30 minutes. We also did the jet ski tour before that (highly recommended), I used both spa services, we took a pontoon boat out, we were supposed to do the fireworks cruise but the boat left about 10 minutes early and to compensate us, they gave us free tickets to the MVMCP the next night! We did La Nouba and were in about the 6th row from the front. I would not actually want to be any closer because there were some parts of the show behind us and our level of seats was about eye level with the performers. Closer, would be looking up all the time or at their knees!

3. We also did a few of the tours. Keys to the Kingdom, which is on the premium plan and Dolphins in Depth, which is only platinum. We also did the Design tour at Animal Kingdom. They were fun, but Dolphins in Depth was definitely a special memory, even for my husband who is not an animal fan. That alone is over $200 each.

4. We didn't use the Wishes spot but I know that it is by the Tommorrow Land Terrace. We will use it this summer with the heavier crowds.

5. The itinerary planner is terrific, particularly if you have your plans set 6 months ahead. He was able to get the Chef's Table for us at V&A, move things around when our plane was late, shift fast passes when the system went down etc... However, the things that were done for us after we arrived (the flexibility) I think was due in some part at least because we were staying at the main building. Club is definitely overkill with platinum, but as I said, I really wanted the Christmas decorations.

This summer we are doing fishing, more water sports, not the Cirque, Victoria and Alberts twice again, spa, aqua tour, backstage magic etc...

As they said in Ferris Bueller, "if you have the means, I highly recommend it."

 

[whjensen]

We're looking at Disney World but are within 180 days (which means all the good restaurants are filled up). Obviously, it's not worth it to get a platinum plan (or any dining plan) - unless the plan concierge has access to more reservations. Did your concierge get you into restaurants that otherwise would have been "full up"?

Thanks!

 

[waitomo]

Supposedly not, but I think they have some pull within their own resort. We did get the help I mentioned when our flight was late and we were able to walk up for chefs de France candlelight processional at our convenience. But the trip we have planned for this summer was made about 120 days out. While BOG definitely booked solid, most of other restaurants available I think because they were the high end ones.

 

[DCDisney]

I did the platinum plan for a Mother Daughter trip and really enjoyed it. We did a lot of the recreational activities and there is no limit. We did have a few glitches--the boat for parasailing was down and ended up being down for the whole week we were there (only did the PP plan for a few days). They ended up giving us a gift cert that was valid for a year and we used it on our next trip. We also had our dolphins in depth cancelled when there was a problem with the facility for a few months. I was pretty unhappy with that since we had picked the PP over doing Discovery Cove. They wouldn't sub the Trek at AK which I thought they should have since there were very limited tours for under 16 which my daughter was. They did end up giving us like 8 FPs each at all 4 parks which was nice but not quite the same thing. We had a whole boat to ourselves for our fireworks cruise but that is hit or miss. I actually would have preferred one or two other couples because I felt like I had to talk to the boat captain when I really didn't want to for very long. The boat was huge and it would be easy to have privacy even with a few others. We did almost all signature dining and loved every minute of that. We got the very front table at Hoop Dee Doo The horse and carriage ride there was fun too. I did pay full rate at WL though I did also get the AAA loophole which saves a tiny bit BUT we got a complimentary upgrade to concierge level with a magic kingdom view room. I did let the itinerary planning folks do all my reservations and they did a great job. I got my confirmations from them and they were time stamped a few hours before reservations technically opened on my date so I think they get an under the table priority. We had the absolute best tables everywhere we ate so I think there is a notation for special treatment too. For Cirque we prefer sitting a bit farther back to take it all in and they accommodated our request perfectly. Especially for the tours and recreation you need to let them do it because it has to be set to be billed properly or you can waste a lot of time dealing with that and those can't be booked online so with the number of options we took I would have been on the phone for hours. I'm sure the photopass CD offer has switched to memory maker since they aren't really doing photopass anymore it's all memory maker. I'm not sure about the special viewing areas because with FP+ they may have changed but when we went there were chairs set up near the bridge closest to the castle as you walk towards sleepy hollow. I can't remember in Epcot. Not that many people do the PP so we were often the only ones at various things. The spa was great too but they had issues with the billing system and it ended up charging us meals (used to be common not sure if this glitch still happens) but the concierge staff fixed it for us with no hassle. Even though I lost some value from our missed tours and 1 of the 2 parasailings we had booked I still felt like it was a very magical trip. We hardly did parks at all on the days we did the PP though I think only 1 of the 3 days! That was with almost no down time too!

 

[MakiraMarlena]

Yep the premium and platinum are NOT Disney Dining Plans. They have a dining component that works somewhat like the deluxe dining plan (the big difference being that EVERY restaurant costs one credit and the platinum includes Victoria & Alberts) but they are a totally different program and should be approached differently from the dining plans.

No discounts via Disney (except on rare occasions they will offer discounts specifically for these plans), rack rate, must be a package with tickets, for the platinum you must stay at a deluxe resort or villa, you cannot upgrade to premium or platinum from any of the dining plans or from free dining.

 

[eyehartdisney]

Disney lists that V&A isn't available on the Platinum plan on the website, whether or not that's true is up to you.

 

[waitomo]

It is only on the platinum plan. There are three asterisks after V and A. Look below and it says that it extends the premium menu (standard $135 one) to those persons on the platinum plan. You pay the up charge for chefs table or queen v room. It's a terrific deal!

 

[waitomo]

Here is that link http://disneyworld.disney.go.com/me...og/WaltDisneyWorld/en_us/PDF/2012Platinum.pdf

 

[TDC Nala]

The website is incorrect quite a lot. Use the brochure to see what's on the plans and how many credits they cost.