[Goofy3]

I am sure this has been covered before on here, everyone is always so helpful! We are debating whether or not to go for the silver-plan package for our trip in March. We will be staying 6 nights and it will be me, DH & DD (who will be 5 by then).

First of all, when you use a wish at a sit-down restaurant, what does it include? Is it appetizer, entree, dessert & non-alchoholic drink? What about for children? Is that the same?

I guess that's the only question I had, other than just wanting to know if anyone has done the plan and what they thought about it. I know it is a lot of money, and they do seem over-priced, but my reasoning is as follows: We might SAY we are going to go all-out while on vacation, but once we get there, we find ourselves thinking "I'm not paying $25 for a steak, I'll just get chicken", so we skip things we would really rather have. I think if we had the plan, with most things being pre-paid, we would be able to really relax, enjoy ourselves, and REALLY get what we want!

Any thoughts?

[mickey]

If the meal is a buffet, you basically get everything included in the buffet, including tax and gratuities. If it is menu restaurant, you get 1 juice, 1 breakfast entree and one coffee/hot chocolate for breakfast or 1 appetizer, 1 entree, 1 dessert and 1 non-alcholic drink per person. Children (3-9), at a menu restaurant, must order off the kids menu, but get the same stuff. All taxes and gratuities are included.

I think that is where the benefit is, everything is paid for already, you can just order what you want, and not worry that it will be expensive. My usual suggestions are that it is never a good deal financially with little kids. That is just dollars and cents though, and doesn't take into account the relaxing portion at all.

[mitchhorowitz]

My family of 5 used the silver plan last feb. It was PERFECT. Got to use all the points. We ate at all restaurants we wanted. Even the character meals, etc...Got to use some points to rent a motorboat on the lagoon out side the hotel (Poly). Something we NEVER would have "paid" for.

I really believe that the plan helps make the vacation better for the reason you stated. If you are going to pay at that time, you might not even though you"want" to. I actaully saved $$ because if you add up the cost of the add on plan Vs what you would pay if you actually DID those things and PAID at the time of service there was about a 500 difference.

Addtionally, you get "preferred" viewing at Illuminations, MK parade and AK parade. It is great not having to cue up 45 minutes before showtime to get a good seat.

We are going next summer and are doing the silver plan again!! Can't wait

[MagicalMom]

Sorry, but I think I have to disagree with Mickey. Silver plan turns into a better deal if you have bought one for a child also. It is my understanding all of the Wishes are pooled so that anyone can use them at anytime. If you do this than you can use your daughter's Wishes that you have paid less for on your meals. If you use them this way then you will still have to pay for the kids meals once you get there. In that respect Mickey is right. Using Wishes on a kids meal is a waste.

Consider doing Hoop De Doo or the Luau. You reallly make out if you use Wishes on these.

[mickey]

MagicalMom, what you said is true. The problem with that is that many people have a problem using their own wishes, not to mention extra wishes from kids. You deinitely can make it work, and there are some advantages to having everything prepaid. I think if you are ok with the cost, then go for it.

[mitchhorowitz]

It is NOT advantagous to use wishes for "kids meals". We were warned of that many times on this BB prior to our trip last Feb. If you break down the cost (which I did not!) I was told that the cost of each "wish" is more than a kids meal costs. Save them for the BIG ticket meals like at EC, character meals, etc. We had VERY few left over but we were able to buy some gifts, and do some things we were not usually able to do. You can use them for Spa tx's (if you're into that) or golf tee times, etc.... We essentially used it for meals and gifts and to get priortiy locations for the parades, etc...

[woohoo]

We chose to do the wish thing this time and so far its working out well. We are using them all for our dinners and breakfasts and paying seperate for the kids (we are looking into the vouchers for their breakfast from either ebay or elsewhere) otherwise we are using them for an anniversary dinner at fultons crab house, cirque du soleil,hoopdedoo,character breakfasts for the kids, a spa treatment for me, parasail for my hubby, activity centers(if you have done the big boat its yellow people at the parks) for the kids and its all covered with the wishes. We are doing one large breakfast and then a big dinner on most nights. The silver plan makes a big difference from our normal trip since it makes a magical vacation out of one that normally would be same old same old. The other thing to keep in mind is that if we went to the same places (we more than likely would have) and ate frugally (we would have) we would have spent the same either way (we did the math when deciding) I hope this helps.

[Goofy3]

Thanks for all of the coments. It really does help out a lot.

We really want to do the vacation this way, but were a little hesitant because of the price factor and whether or not we would get our $$ worth.

Should be a great trip. Daughter is already looking forward to it, and I am sure that when we get our 2005 calender, it will be one of the first things she wants to have marked.

Thanks again for all of your thoughts and feel free to list more ideas if you have any. How do I add a countdown to my posts?

[mickey]

Try this: Countdown Instructions

[Goofy3]

Thanks for the info on the countdown !! Maybe next I will figure out how to put a cool picture beside my name...

[Soundgod]

I'm going to take this thread up a notch, mostly because my experience is with the old Grand plan and with the current Gold plan. Again, our situation is a middle age childless couple, adding kids might well change the math. The biggest difference between Silver and Gold is that there are no wishes with Gold. You stretch out even more and your vacation becomes an all inclusive experience on a par with any exclusive resort. Boats, meals, Cirque, preffered viewing areas, golf, it's all there for your asking. As with any plan, you need to do a little math. We did 5 days/4 nights at the Contemporary (Tower Club)and spread our 12 meals out over the 5 days and even invited a friend for two meals. It all pays for itself, if you eat heavy. It cost $3603.70, but after expensing everything out ala carte it would have cost $4440.96. The room alone was $1940 and our meals totaled a whopping $1475.38. No wonder we weren't doing between meal snacks, but one of my biggest joys of going to WDW is all the fine dinning. Simply add in the 5 day park hopper tickets and you're in the black! Best of all, you don't have to worry about a thing once you're on property other than missing that next PS. It isn't for everyone, but if can swing the extra money, you'll find it's worth it.

[yesimaprncss]

We actually did the Platinum Plan on our last trip because we wanted to eat at Victoria and Alberts (what a treat! Have my PS for this next trip already!). Although we might not have maximized all of the extracirricular activities (it was too cold to go parasailing like we'd hoped and none of us golfed), we did hit the spa, saw Cirque, went on an Illuminations cruise, got preferred seating at all the parades/shows and ATE TO OUR HEARTS CONTENT! We got to eat at all the restaurants I'd pretty much ever wanted to and try pretty much anything on the menu (including some things NOT on the usual menu) - all without worrying about the cost. We STILL had points left over at the end to do a little shopping! We saved our meal receipts and added them up at the end and we definitely got our money's worth out of our "Platinum Princess" trip!!!

On our next big family trip (likely 2006) with 8 adults and 1 kid (maybe more by then), we've already talked about doing at least the Silver Plan, but more likely will do Gold so dad and the boys can golf while us girls hit the spa! And we all love good food, so it's a bit of a no-brainer for us.

[woohoo]

Another thing we did was olnly have our package be from the first full day to the last full day not including days that we fly. this way we are not paying for wishes nor are we paying for park passes. We had to add a single night hotel to each end and "could" end up moving rooms but they said its doubtfull if you add it all and have it crossreffrenced on the reservation. This little here and there almost paid for the wishes in entirety. We are also using them mostly on the adults and paying for the kids. This way we have paid $35 for 2 wishes per day and $68 for 2 wishes (adult fare) But we eat as adults- ( thanks to the lady at wdw dine that gave me this tip)