Disney dining verses tables in wonderland

[iadis58]

:confused3Any advice from all the experts out there. Going in Sept during free dining but we booked another deal so would have to pay for dining. We will have anual passes and DVC members. Four adults and a sixteen year old. I tried to run the numbers when there were three of us and boy it seems so close based on what we might order. Would you or do you do DD or TIW. Thank you

[Faldred]

If you're bound and determined to maximize "value", you can do better on the dining plan. It also covers more restaurants. There's an intangible benefit of having it all "pre-paid" (minus tips) so you don't have to worry about prices on your vacation.

TiW offers a more guaranteed savings, and you have a lot more flexibility about where to go (though fewer actual choices) and what to get while you're there, without having to worry about "I must order XXX to get the most out of my plan". It also covers alcoholic beverages.

Which one is better? Depends on your style and preferences. Personally, I'd say TiW, although I'm not eligible for it, and I do appreciate the "all-inclusive" feel of being on deluxe dining...

[iadis58]

If you're bound and determined to maximize "value", you can do better on the dining plan. It also covers more restaurants. There's an intangible benefit of having it all "pre-paid" (minus tips) so you don't have to worry about prices on your vacation.

TiW offers a more guaranteed savings, and you have a lot more flexibility about where to go (though fewer actual choices) and what to get while you're there, without having to worry about "I must order XXX to get the most out of my plan". It also covers alcoholic beverages.

Which one is better? Depends on your style and preferences. Personally, I'd say TiW, although I'm not eligible for it, and I do appreciate the "all-inclusive" feel of being on deluxe dining...

That is my dilema, we were on the basic dining lasy year, not deluxe (Way too much food) Always felt unless we ordered the more expensive meals, we were cheating our selves. Surprisingly it was my daughter who always ordered the most expensive meal and I do not want her to feel like she has to settle for something less than what she wants. We don't drink so alcohol will not be a factor either. TIW have to also add in tax which takes the actual value down to 13 percent

[ChelleinNC]

We always run the numbers before every trip and for our family of 4 Disney "adults" (2 real adults, 2 teens/tweens) the cost is about the same. I'm pretty sure Disney does that on purpose :laughing:

The big difference to us, is not being locked in. By that I mean if we don't eat the most expensive things or miss a meal because someone is sick (has happened more times than I can count!) we don't lose money. For that alone, TiW works better for us. We also like that we can use it for multiple trips just like our AP's. Get them in July and a 2nd trip the following June :thumbsup2

[anne930]

We liked the dining plan when it included appetizer, entree & dessert. But the current plan forces you to pay extra for an appetizer/salad. We just don't want 2 desserts every meal. For that reason, we like Tables in Wonderland better. To us it's too much work to maximize the value of the Dining Plan.

[Pakey]

We also prefer the TIW over the DDP. Reasons: flexibility. We are not people who budget so our main concern is not which gives us the best bang for the buck, rather we want what fits our vacation style better.

With the TIW, I can have an appetizer for an entree, or two appetizers and no dessert, etc. I like being able to sit down and order whatever catches my eye rather than trying to make it fit some sort of prepaid plan.

[disneyfan55]

We have done FD 2 times and it was fine. We did also have TinW card and used it somewhat during free dining. While FD is great, we just booked with a PIN that comes with a $500 gift card actually starting next Saturday. We did make a few resverations but feel that between the $500 and TinW we will be able to not only eat at a few of the 2TS places, but not have to order desserts (that we never really get) and could order exactly what we want. With eating at 2 of the signature TS as well as 4 other TS we figured (based on Allears.net) we will spend only about 250 of the 500 on those meals. I don't feel so compelled to order up as many have said. We will just get what we want and plus basically have it on WDW (due to the 500 card) The trip cost is 885 for the 2 of us at ASMu and 1 day passes and we get back 500. I thought this was a great offer (only for Values though)

[smiths02]

I would lean heavily towards TiW. The difference is you are not locked in. We are getting DDP, and I am having stress worrying that "what if someone gets sick?" "What if someone doesn't want to go to dinner one night and just orders counter service?" etc. With 4 adults and a 16 year old, it seems that planning ahead of time for that many meals would be difficult, something will come up...

Also, the way I calculated, we are basically only saving money because of the snacks/desserts/drinks (I am more worried about how many wasted sodas that is a day than the desserts that everyone else say are overkill!) AND the holiday surcharge. You said you are going during free dining, which is not in the surcharge period.

[MelanieC]

We were going to do TiW for our entire trip, but when I looked at free dining for the portion of our trip that we were going, and what we would save with TiW - hands down it was better using the free dining.