Me, Muffin and WDW for Xmas stuff!! PTR - Page 11 - PassPorter - A Community of Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and General Travel Forums
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View Poll Results: Notice that I have been quiet for two whole days! Why do you think this is?!
You have been very busy delivering babies!
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19.23%
You have once again completely changed things around!
I was going to agree that the DP was probably not worth it this time - especially if you have the TiW card and the AP - we find we save more this way.
Really?!?! I am very nervous about not having the DP on this trip! It will be our first trip in ages we haven't done it!! I have a question. Does the 18% gratuity apply to just beverages?
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Originally Posted by Colexis Mom
Sounds like things are shaping up! Dropping the DDP looks like the best thing!
I hope so !
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Originally Posted by SuperDave
I think that's a smart decision on your part to just go with TIW card as I've used that in the past and find it well worth it with an AP! I've never used a dining plan on my many trips and never felt I missed it! With the TIW card you can also get drink discounts in the lounges for certain and I think the pool bars (not certain, but I think I have). I did have the Magical Wishes package back around 2002-3, when it was offered as those two Magical Wishes per day (credits) could be used for a number of things in WDW! This included dining, various sporting activities, Cirque du Soleil and Golf! It was so worth it and sorry it was discontinued! But this was the post 9/11 period, when business was down in WDW, so good marketing on their part!
Really?!?! I am very nervous about not having the DP on this trip! It will be our first trip in ages we haven't done it!! I have a question. Does the 18% gratuity apply to just beverages?
Not to hijack but thought I'd answer. With TiW, the discount is applied to the bill and then the 18% gratuity is added. Most other discounts (Dvc, AP,etc) alcohol isn't included.
Not to hijack but thought I'd answer. With TiW, the discount is applied to the bill and then the 18% gratuity is added. Most other discounts (Dvc, AP,etc) alcohol isn't included.
Perhaps, I missed something.... but the TIW discounts for alcohol are included on the bill. Just need to make sure you give your TIW card when doing so to get the 20% discount! This takes more time than your regular bill as authorization from a manager is required to approve the TIW discounts. I've found this in the lounges as they have to contact a manager to approve these. So, when in a lounge, give yourself extra time!
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October 6, 2017-Enjoying an amazing dinner at Victoria & Albert's with PP's Dot and Drew
My TR from my most recent trip is now underway. Includes: Universal Studios Florida, Disney World and Sea World Orlando Trifecta TR -Updated December 10th! TR is now COMPLETED!
Perhaps, I missed something.... but the TIW discounts for alcohol are included on the bill. Just need to make sure you give your TIW card when doing so to get the 20% discount! This takes more time than your regular bill as authorization from a manager is required to approve the TIW discounts. I've found this in the lounges as they have to contact a manager to approve these. So, when in a lounge, give yourself extra time!
You're right Dave and that's what I meant. TiW alcohol is included, other discounts, it's not.
You're right Dave and that's what I meant. TiW alcohol is included, other discounts, it's not.
That's what I thought with my previous experience with the card!
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October 6, 2017-Enjoying an amazing dinner at Victoria & Albert's with PP's Dot and Drew
My TR from my most recent trip is now underway. Includes: Universal Studios Florida, Disney World and Sea World Orlando Trifecta TR -Updated December 10th! TR is now COMPLETED!
I am seriously considering canceling the dining package for this trip as we will be at MVMCP one night and I was so impressed with Maci's dinner at the Flying Fish for the wine tasting that I am thinking I will book that instead. We will keep the CP package, so that only leaves us three nights to fill. If we keep it, we use two credits right away for CP. The Flying Fish wine tasting is a nice chunk of change and does not accept the DP, so I am thinking it will not be worth it this time. We will possibly plan one more nice meal at Yachtsman Steakhouse and the other two nights, we honestly don't care where we eat. Am I crazy?
So! When I last left off, this is where I was at with planning!! A LOT has happened since then!! When we got back from WDW, we sat down and really talked about what we wanted to accomplish with this trip.
We decided our main goal was to see WDW at Christmas time and go on a cruise with our good friends afterwards! The only requirement for a resort was that it be deluxe. Muffin said that if we wound up somewhere more remote, he would rent a car which would allow us more access to stuff we want to do.
So I went back to the drawing board and started fresh. We were not opposed to staying at the Beach Club by any means, but we wanted to check out the rest of the fall pricing for deluxe resorts. I particularly looked at the Wilderness Lodge, because I knew that where Muffin really wanted to stay, and actually booked it briefly. However! When I went to the WL page on the website I saw that little red exclamation point telling us that it would be undergoing construction while we were there. It just doesn't pay for me to be the bigger person!!
Muffin immediately said that while he appreciated what I was doing, we really didn't want to stay anywhere undergoing construction. So we once again reverted back to the Beach Club.
Still, I kept checking to see if AP fall rates were out and finally on Sunday, I noticed that they were!! There were only a few resorts listed so I called to make sure that is all that would be available for this offer. The CM said to continue checking, but that they were at this point limiting their AP discounts for fall.
That left me with three options:
1. Stay where we were but at the current rate as no AP discounts were available for the Beach Club.
2. Stay at the Grand Floridian again for a slightly higher rate.
3. Stay at AKL with a Savanna View room for 79 bucks cheaper a night.
I presented them all to Muffin and we discussed them at length. We definitely liked the idea of staying somewhere different and being close to Epcot. We the Grand Floridian and it is beautiful at Christmas.
In the end, though, Muffin said that he knew how much I loved AKL at Christmas time and that we hadn't stayed there for a while and it was significantly cheaper which would give us more spending cash for the rest of our trip. So we decided on AKL!!!
I know that I have confused the heck out of everyone at this point, but if you remember way back when, this was our original plan!! It seems as though both of my trips this year have wound up coming full circle!!
We also decided to stay one less night as we would have to leave early on the morning of December 6th to get to Port Canaveral anyway. So we are now staying the night of December 5th at the Orlando airport Hyatt and getting transfers through Royal Caribbean for the ride to Port Canaveral. We are still planning to spend the entire day on the 5th at WDW and dropping the car we are now renting off at the airport that evening.
As with our last trip, these changes really feel settled this time but I guess we shall see! We are obviously not afraid to tweak things again if need be!!
I am going to finish up my other trip report first and then I will tell you guys all about our new plans for this one!! I just wanted to update it while I remembered everything that happened!
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Some nice changes and seems to be coming together! Good choice in AKL. You will love the Orlando Airport Hyatt as I did prior to my cruise (check out my cruise TR). Some great tarmac views from my room, which I just posted yesterday. Go for the tarmac view as it's amazing!
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October 6, 2017-Enjoying an amazing dinner at Victoria & Albert's with PP's Dot and Drew
My TR from my most recent trip is now underway. Includes: Universal Studios Florida, Disney World and Sea World Orlando Trifecta TR -Updated December 10th! TR is now COMPLETED!
Just joining in, and trying to keep up with your plans! Reading your PTR from beginning to end really has my head spinning! Funny that you've come full circle, but AKL sounds like a good plan. Looking forward to hearing more.
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With the TIW card you can also get drink discounts in the lounges for certain and I think the pool bars (not certain, but I think I have). 
I did have the Magical Wishes package back around 2002-3, when it was offered as those two Magical Wishes per day (credits) could be used for a number of things in WDW! 
But this was the post 9/11 period, when business was down in WDW, so good marketing on their part! 
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Thank
Pixie Dust
Disney Magic - Oct 2015
but the TIW discounts for alcohol are included on the bill. Just need to make sure you give your TIW card when doing so to get the 20% discount! 
There were only a few resorts listed so I called to make sure that is all that would be available for this offer. The CM said to continue checking, but that they were at this point limiting their AP discounts for fall. 
the Grand Floridian and it is beautiful at Christmas. 
We are obviously not afraid to tweak things again if need be!!
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