Got Disney Platinum Pass ... now what!?

[BAD311]

Hello all,

Got Disney Platinum Pass for 2017... I want to go to the following activities in 2017.. but also I want to focus on hitting up some of the best restaurants. Being a season pass holder can I book 180-days in advance? or 90? What are the top 5 restaurants? Price is not an issue - we want to splurge. Only my wife and I, no kids.

What times of the year should we go? We want to go for the flower festival, christmas time, new years eve, thanksgiving, halloween, star wars weekend and the food/wine festival...

During the years what are some things we just "have to do"?

Disney Dining... we will not be staying on property... we'll be on Hotel Blvd, can we still get Disney Dining with our season passes? I envision getting a 3-day disney pass when we stay for 4-5 days so we can also go to local Orlando places we like such as Uno's and Chevy's... can we make reservations for the higher end restaurants with Disney Dining?

I'm sure I'll have more questions... can anyone help answer some of these? Thanks!

 

[IanDLBZF]

Being a season pass holder can I book 180-days in advance? or 90?

You can book ADRs 180-Days, regardless if you are an AP or not.

 

[Monty]

If you have seasonal passes, most of the events you want to attend may be in blackout dates so you won't be able to enter the parks.

If price of food is not an issue, perhaps price of admission shouldn't be either. Upgrade to a regular AP, then you won't have to worry about blackouts.

Reservations aren't dependant on type of ticket, the only thing that impacts ADRs is whether you stay on- or off-site. Since you plan off-site, the 180 days to book ADRs. Similarly, the Disney Dining Plan is only available to Resort Guests, so staying off-site means you can't have access to it. If you stay on-site, it's based on the number of nights of your resort reservation, you can't choose to only do 3 of a 5-night stay.

The Christmas party [Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party] and Halloween Party [Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party] are hard ticket events, you need separate admission, your seasonal [or if you upgrade, regular] pass won't get you in.

 

[BAD311]

Thanks guys for the info, sorry, I updated post/title with Disney Platinum Pass. No blackout dates. I put in season pass by mistake.

 

[EricsBiscuit]

Which events do you want to attend?

Also a Tables in Wonderland card is great if you frequent the Disney restraunts.

Also the best restraunts with no kids are at the resorts. My favorite resort restraunt is the Yachtsman at the Yacht Club. However Epcot Resort Area and Epcot generally have great restraunts. It's easy to spend a day there without going into the parks (the Epcot Resort Area). At Epcot, my favorite restraunts are the Garden Grille (rotating restraunt that shows great views of the scenery in the Living With The Land boat ride with characters and is all you can eat), the Biergarten in Germany (all you can eat buffet with great live entertainment), and Le Cellier in Canada (the cheddar cheese soup is worthy of God).

At the Magic Kingdom, it is, again, better to go with the resorts if you want something more romantic. For example: the absolute best restraunt in all of central FL is Victoria & Albert's at the Grand Floridian. It is expensive (I think it's like $125 per person if I remember correctly). Basically, all the deluxe resorts are both fun to explore and have great food and shopping opportunities. The best part is you don't have to stay at the resort to go there (*cough* use the Disney Transportation System *cough*). It is also best to go with a reservation. Although, in less busy times it's not always necessary. At the park itself though, Be Our Guest usually is best but is crowded. My favorite hidden gem in all of Walt Disney World is the Plaza Restraunt on Main Street USA. No reservations, it's usually an hour wait. But a quick trip to the Peoplemover and then the time flies (they text you when your table is ready, then you have exactly 12 minutes to get there lol). Another fantastic restraunt(s) at MK is/are the Diamond Horseshoe and the Libert Tree Tavern. Both of these are family style all you can eat. The food is great, as is the theming.

Hollywood Studios has a very expensive and usually good restraunt in The Brown Derby. My favorite restraunt there is the Prime Time 50s Cafe. Definitely take your significant other there.

Animal Kingdom's best restraunt is the Tusker House. All you can eat buffet, great theming. Only potential downside is that, due to the characters, there may be lots of kids.

P.S. Please don't judge me by the amount of all you can eat buffets