TIW v. DDP for family of 5

[w-family]

Yes, this is yet another thread about TIW v. DDP for a family. We have done both in the past. And yet, this trip DH and I have been discussing for weeks now which is the better option. We have an annual pass, so we will be getting the TIW card.

We enjoy sit down meals. The difference this time, is that our 2 year old will now be 3, so we will be paying for another DP. We have three kids ranging from 8 to 3. While overall I find the cost for kids to be the justification for gettign the DP, this time it seems, that it may be more cost effective not to get it. We always seem to have so much food left at the end of each meal.

We do use all our credits, so we don't waste them. If we get the plan, we will use it. We don't use signature dining and we are DVC members, so we eat our breakfast in every morning.

The other difference is that this time we want to have a couple of the sit-down meals be lunch. Which off-sets the savings. We are also planning on doing only one buffet.

We are just curious what other people find. Thanks for your input. :)

[ChelleinNC]

We go back and forth every trip but in the end we go with TiW because both of our kids are Disney "adults" and we like to have a drink with meals sometimes :goodvibes We also like the flexibility of not having to order the "right" things to get the best vaule out of the credits.

That's what works for us anyways :goodvibes

[Sammy]

We are trying to decide the same thing for our family trip in April. My parents and DD's boyfriend are traveling with us so there will be eight in all. I already have TIW card, but I don't want to go into the "ok, who owes what" at the end of every meal, so I'm thinking DDP might be better just for convenience. Then we can use the TIW for anything not covered by DDP.

[Amy&Dan]

Its probably going to be close to a wash for you financially if you plan to order meals and desserts only. If you do cocktails and appeteizers very often, TIW will save you a bundle. Heck, even if you do the DDP, having the TIW is key if you order stuff off the plan very often.

With your 3 year old now having to pay, that cuts into your savings with the DDP. If he/she can share off your plate at the non buffets, that might add some savings. I know my son at 3 needed his own meal, my daughter at 3 did not.

One thing I don't like about the DDP is that if you want to scale back meals for some reason, you really can't. Last trip my inlaws went with us, they got sick and we couldn't just say "oh lets just stay in tonight and grab a sandwich from the cs place" we had to go out and use up those darn credits! It made me realize that if anything weird comes up, you are locked in.

I also just love the flexibility of the TIW. No matter what I order, salad, appetizer, entree, cocktail, dessert; I am going to save money. Dh and I added some salads and cocktails to most meals last DDP trip and it was amazing how much it added up, and yet we wasted so much food since our 12 year old after about three days simply couldn't eat that much any more. We would have been so much better off with the TIW card since we could have just scaled back what she ate and shared some entrees with our salads. None of us are huge dessert eaters, and it was sort of sad how many desserts got tasted but mostly wasted. Had I had my TIW card, I would have saved way more money that trip in the end.

[Sammy]

...
One thing I don't like about the DDP is that if you want to scale back meals for some reason, you really can't. Last trip my inlaws went with us, they got sick and we couldn't just say "oh lets just stay in tonight and grab a sandwich from the cs place" we had to go out and use up those darn credits! It made me realize that if anything weird comes up, you are locked in.

I also just love the flexibility of the TIW. No matter what I order, salad, appetizer, entree, cocktail, dessert; I am going to save money. Dh and I added some salads and cocktails to most meals last DDP trip and it was amazing how much it added up, and yet we wasted so much food since our 12 year old after about three days simply couldn't eat that much any more. We would have been so much better off with the TIW card since we could have just scaled back what she ate and shared some entrees with our salads. None of us are huge dessert eaters, and it was sort of sad how many desserts got tasted but mostly wasted. Had I had my TIW card, I would have saved way more money that trip in the end.

These are the exact reasons I really want to go just with the TIW for our April trip. I'm just not looking forward to worrying about splitting the checks at every meal (traveling with my mom and stepdad). I thought the DDP would be good strictly for the convenience of just handing over the KTTK card each time.

I'd go with TIW if I could figure out a painless way for making the check-splitting part easier.

[Amy&Dan]

These are the exact reasons I really want to go just with the TIW for our April trip. I'm just not looking forward to worrying about splitting the checks at every meal (traveling with my mom and stepdad). I thought the DDP would be good strictly for the convenience of just handing over the KTTK card each time.

I'd go with TIW if I could figure out a painless way for making the check-splitting part easier.


I feel your pain! When we went with dh's family in 2005, that was before DVC members could do the DDP. So I had my DDE Card, and I kept track of everything. I gave everyone their "total" at the end of the trip. I had thought that would be easier (and they agreed) than sitting there at the table each night passing back and forth money and credit cards. So I would just take the bill back to the room and put it all down in a spreadsheet thing in dh's computer. They were thrilled to save the money. It was all good. UNTIL, they took over six weeks to pay me back! The deal was that they didn't want to carry much cash on the trip so they were to mail me a check when they got home. I finally had to ask for it, after of course my cc had cycled and it was just really irritating. I vowed never to do that again. This last trip we took with them, we did the DDP and it was much easier. I think we would have saved money with a TIW card but I just couldn't bear to be the Gate Keeper of the Restaurant Check again. Nothing is as convenient as the DDP.

There never seems to be a simple way to divy up the tab at restaurants.

[Sammy]

I feel your pain! When we went with dh's family in 2005, that was before DVC members could do the DDP. So I had my DDE Card, and I kept track of everything. I gave everyone their "total" at the end of the trip. I had thought that would be easier (and they agreed) than sitting there at the table each night passing back and forth money and credit cards. So I would just take the bill back to the room and put it all down in a spreadsheet thing in dh's computer. They were thrilled to save the money. It was all good. UNTIL, they took over six weeks to pay me back! The deal was that they didn't want to carry much cash on the trip so they were to mail me a check when they got home. I finally had to ask for it, after of course my cc had cycled and it was just really irritating. I vowed never to do that again. This last trip we took with them, we did the DDP and it was much easier. I think we would have saved money with a TIW card but I just couldn't bear to be the Gate Keeper of the Restaurant Check again. Nothing is as convenient as the DDP.

There never seems to be a simple way to divy up the tab at restaurants.

Wow Amy....thanks for the insight. You've just detailed my possible nightmare about the whole thing! And unfortunately, it would be me as the "gatekeeper"! I'm going to have to give it lots more thought as far as DDP vs. TIW is concerned.

[w-family]

My DH actually did a spreadsheet the other night. He printed out all the the menus and had me pick what I would eat. He then calculated all the costs for the meals and it came out almost the same. Of course the catch was counter services, thoses added up quick. I didn't even add any snacks to the mix.

The things is this - I will eat less if we do not use the DDP, but do I want the headache of coming up with cash each time I actually want soemthing extra like a snack?

I told DH that if it is about saving money, then we should cancel some of the table services and plan on eating in two nights. I already made several of our ADRs for lunch, to save cost. If he insists on wanting to have a TS every day, then I think DDP but be smarter.

Honestly, all this planning, is kind of wearing on me. I wish DH would just make up his mind and be done with it. :eek: :rotfl: At this point I would b ehappy either way!

One our last two trips we did the DDP w/ TIW, it was worth it for several reasons. 1. we went three times last year 2. It was only $60.00 last year 3. two of our trips were with additional people, so it did same a bundle on drinks & apps.

[momma2kiddos]

I've been thinking about this as well. But I figured since DD will be 12 and DS will be 2 come Dec 2010, I'll probably get the QSDP and use TIW for TS restaurants since we'll most likely end up doing a character breakfast or buffet breakfast maybe 3-4 times out of our trip. Then during the day, we can use CS credits in the park if they get hungry. And who could resist the snack credits? LOL