Discovery Magic Package

[rkalm]

Does anyone have any experience using the Discovery Magic Package? I was looking for tips, ect,.. I figured that it cost about $20-25 per flex feature (or magic wish), so I guess it makes sense not to waste them on a kid's meal for ex. About eight of the restaurants are requiring two per meal so really add up. Any suggestions?
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[hoosll]

We did it in Dec 2000 and loved it -

Here are my tips:

1. It really is not cost effective unless you plan to do mnay sit-down meals - we did one a day.
This rules out families with active kids and I really don't think it is cost effective with kids unless they are teens at the chow down age.

2. It is worth it to do Cirque!

3. Do the dinner shows - Hoop de doo, Poly Luau

4. Do breakfast buffets and character meals.

5. We kept track of what we would have spent. When we hit the break even point - meals covered the cost of the flexes, then we relaxed some.

6. Watch your weight. We ate 3 courses at dinner because we felt we had paid for it, gained 5 pounds even with all the walking. Since the waiter's tip is based on the cost of your meal they are usually very accomodating to create a meal for you - want surf and turf, ask for it.

7. Unless you really want a shirt or picture frame, not really worth it.

8. Be careful when you charge to your room from counter restaurants that they don't use your wishes. Listen carefully and check any receipts that you sign.

9. On the 2000 trip, guest services did not keep track of how/where we used our wishes only how many we had left. So be sure to keep your receipts. They said they were hoping to do a better job tracking wishes in the future. The only way we could tell that we had used wishes was that our count went down and charges for meals did NOT appear on our statement.

10. Get a statement of your room charges either daily or at least frequently. Check it and resolve problems immediately, don't wait until you are ready to check out.

11. If you order alcohol you will receive a separate check to sign, you may want to add an additional tip to that receipt if you think that your waiter has done an outstranding job.

12. We really liked the Unlimited pass option - we could go to a park just for a meal. There didn't seem to be that feeling of "getting our money's worth" out of our park visits. Exception to that - you do feel like you must visit a park EVERY day - you have paid for daily admission.
One day we just walked through Epcot to get to Boardwalk and then reversed the trip later. It was the most convenient way to get there.

13. Try DQ - we were pleasantly surprised. We probably would not have gone without the unlimited passes.

 

[LAinSEA]

we also did discover magic in 2000 (Nov. 2000) and the only restaurants not included were Fultons and Vic & Al's...

and I agree with the tips housll - great summary - someone should archive that as a frequently asked questions section on "packages"...

I'm wondering what the strategy should be for discovery magic 2002?

we are using this plan again in May - and now there are more restaurants included but 8 need to 2 wishes to eat there...

anyone use this plan recently (or end of 2001)?

thanks,
LA

 

[rkalm]

hoosll:
Thanks,
The list of tips is excellent. I'm printing them out now. I almost forgot that gratuities are included, I was thinking that was just on the dinner shows. I guess there are times I could pay for my two kids and use wishes for my wife and I since some of the kids meals are so inexpensive. Thirty six days and counting.

 

[jenpooh]

We did the discovery magic package in Oct. 2001, and loved it! So much in fact, that we're doing it again for our honeymoon trip this September.

You CAN use wishes at Fulton's, it's 2 wishes per person. But considering that our dinner there (appetizers, entree's, no dessert) would have cost us a whopping $186, it was well worth the 2 wishes each...not to mention that the food is incredible

We really like the fact that if we're using wishes, we don't have to worry about how much anything on the menu costs... hence the $186 dinner at Fulton's. Also, since we're fans of Pleasure Island, we loved the unlimited passes too.

We were at the world in December, but didn't go with a package since it was a quick 3 day trip, and really missed the wish options.

It's WELL worth the money, IMHO.

 

[MysticDDA]

We used Discovery Magic on our Honeymoon trip and loved it! We are using it again this year. Our only issue was that occasionally a waiter would claim not to know anything about it. This was easily solved by having him ask the manager.

There is so much food allowed that we found we could get by with a light breakfast we paid for ourselves (not worth wasting a magic wish) and one DM meal a day.

We used our extra wishes for things like Cirque, tours, CDs, etc.

 

[mikewdw]

we have used it the last 2 trips and LOVE it!!!!!!!!! it is just my wife and i so it really works out well for us. we are both people who skip breakfast everyday. we use the features for our meals for the entire stay!! last year we went to the living seas to eat, when the waitress found out we had the plan she said, "oh go with the surf and turf, its 58$ apiece but for you it is already paid for!" so we did (total $176, for LUNCH!!) when else in our lives are two teachers going to be able to do that!!!!! the tips earlier were great. i also highly recommend disney quest. there is a whole floor of nothing but video games from the 80's (they are all free!) plus stuff like vr rides, new video games, the roller coaster simulator. it is a great place to spend an afternoon (especially on a hot or rainy day). we like the plan because we eat at a lot of places we never would without it. plus with all you can eat we really only need the two meals a day. we dont use our wishes on counter service. instead we usually pick one day, eat a counter lunch, and you those to get a souvenier or something, (last year tried a watermouse, but not worth it. too underpowered for someone like me, 250lbs, just kind of sputtered along). i have noticed this year they added preferred seating at the fireworks. i am anxious to see how this works.
overall i recommend it, but only if you are going to take advantage of it and eat some really good food.
mikewdw

 

[bweagle]

For those of you that enjoy this package....how many days do you typically stay at WDW on your trip? I was looking into this package and am weighing the pros and cons. It is just DH and I and we want to do a lot of the extras this time

Also, Can you get the package without the rooms included. For example...if you found a discounted resort rate through a code, could you book your room with that discount and get the remainder of the package?

If not, this seems like a pretty expensive deal to me.