TIW Discount or DVC Discount?????????

[DVC_Corrys]

Hello,
My wife and I are planning our first "home" trip in September. We are not doing the DDP and were considering the TIW. However, I am under the impression we get discounts at restaurants with DVC.

Has anyone figured out of TIW is worth it for a DVC member??

 

[ammo]

It depends on how often you use the card. However, TIW gives you a discount at many more restaurants than your DVC card. And the DVC dining discounts seem to shrink a bit every year. Below is a link to a comparison of dining discounts (TIW is still listed under its old name -- DDE). You will notice that the differences between the discounts are substantial.

http://allears.net/pl/disc_dining.pdf

 

[Pootle]

Below is a link to a comparison of dining discounts (TIW is still listed under its old name -- DDE). You will notice that the differences between the discounts are substantial.

http://allears.net/pl/disc_dining.pdf

An excellent link - thank you

I have spare DVC AP vouchers and hopper passes (from years ago) and I am thinking it may not be worthwhile activating the AP vouchers for our next trip, but using a few days of the passes instead. However, I really wanted a new TIW card but that is now solved, we will just try the (ok, very limited) restaurants giving a DVC discount instead!

Fed up with Le Cellier anyway

 

[Muhlenberg]

The breakeven point for the TIW card vs. no discount is $300 in meals. It only takes a few TS meals to pay for the card, depending on the number of people and where you eat. The DVC discounts are mostly for lunches, whereas the TIW can be used anytime. I have yet to encounter a Disney-owned restaurant that DIDN'T accept the TIW, but the DVC discounted restaurants are very limited.

I got the TIW for our trip in August for 6 nights, and it paid for itself on that trip. We just took a trip in January, and the TIW saved us $200. We'll get yet another trip out of that card in September...the cards are good for 13 months. So for us, it was WELL worth it. (And that doesn't even delve into the 20% TIW discount vs 10% DVC discount.) It has the added benefit of free valet service for dining purposes at non-DVC resorts.

 

[dianeschlicht]

The breakeven point for the TIW card vs. no discount is $300 in meals. It only takes a few TS meals to pay for the card, depending on the number of people and where you eat. The DVC discounts are mostly for lunches, whereas the TIW can be used anytime. I have yet to encounter a Disney-owned restaurant that DIDN'T accept the TIW, but the DVC discounted restaurants are very limited.

I got the TIW for our trip in August for 6 nights, and it paid for itself on that trip. We just took a trip in January, and the TIW saved us $200. We'll get yet another trip out of that card in September...the cards are good for 13 months. So for us, it was WELL worth it. (And that doesn't even delve into the 20% TIW discount vs 10% DVC discount.) It has the added benefit of free valet service for dining purposes at non-DVC resorts.

I totally agree with this assessment! We have had similar experiences. The other great thing is that our guests were able to get the TIW discount too by ust letting us pay to begin with and reimbursing us later. With the TIW card, all dinners have to be on one check that the card is used on.

 

[DVC_Corrys]

THAT SETTLES IT!!!!!
Thanks a ton.

 

[spiceycat]

yea generally it is 10% for DVC, 20% tiw

that say DVC has some TIW doesn't that are 20% - the restuarants in the dolphin and swan.

plus think that DVC has more at DD than TIW - so you need to take both.

 

[Thumper4me]

The other BIG difference for us is that the TIW gives you a discount on adult beverages where as the other discount programs do not.

 

[ammo]

There are a lot of good points made, but be aware that TIW is not accepted in all Disney restaurants. The counter service restaurants generally will not accept TIW, such as Pecos Bill or Columbia Harbor House in MK, or Roaring Forks in the Wilderness Lodge (but Beaches and Cream does for eat-in). But it is great for TS dining.

 

[Magicdad]

Ammo has a good point. On my first trip I did not maximize my TIW card. Now I plan sit down lunches and share the entries between us for about the same price as a counter service meal.

 

[Boardwalk III]

I have a DDE card I got last April which I will be using on my March trip - do I have to get a new TIW card issued or will my 2008 card still work?

 

[ammo]

I have a DDE card I got last April which I will be using on my March trip - do I have to get a new TIW card issued or will my 2008 card still work?

It will definitely work in March, and it probably goes through the end of May. You can probably see the expiration date on the card itself. You can also find a thread that explains the dating of the card. For some reason they last a bit longer than a year -- if you buy it in late April it typically expires at the end of the next May.

 

[Tara]

The breakeven point for the TIW card vs. no discount is $300 in meals. It only takes a few TS meals to pay for the card, depending on the number of people and where you eat. The DVC discounts are mostly for lunches, whereas the TIW can be used anytime. I have yet to encounter a Disney-owned restaurant that DIDN'T accept the TIW, but the DVC discounted restaurants are very limited.

I got the TIW for our trip in August for 6 nights, and it paid for itself on that trip. We just took a trip in January, and the TIW saved us $200. We'll get yet another trip out of that card in September...the cards are good for 13 months. So for us, it was WELL worth it. (And that doesn't even delve into the 20% TIW discount vs 10% DVC discount.) It has the added benefit of free valet service for dining purposes at non-DVC resorts.

We reached the break even point in 2 meals. (Jiko and California Grill)

The awesome part about the card is that we bought it for our mid-November trip last year. It doesn't expire until the end of this year, so we'll get 3 trips out of it, plus I'll probably use it at least once when I do a non-Disney weekend with girlfriends next month.

 

[mmcculloch]

I to am thinking no DDP

I rented points for our next trip (but have since bought at BLT yeah!)
My dining reservations have been made...I know that the DVC member I rented from can call am have the DDP removed from my ressie. Should I call dining and switch my ressie off of the DDP? How do I do this and is it possible to switch at this poitn.

 

[Boardwalk III]

As a long-time DVC member I can say I think the DDE (TiW) is one of the the best discount deals available (if you have an annual pass)..... we travel with friends and almost always have 6 or more people in our party..we are able to use the 20% discount on the entire meal , including alcohol, at almost all sit down restaurants. For each 5-7 day trip it has saved us and our friends hundreds of dollars!

 

[allshookup]

I to am thinking no DDP

I rented points for our next trip (but have since bought at BLT yeah!)
My dining reservations have been made...I know that the DVC member I rented from can call am have the DDP removed from my ressie. Should I call dining and switch my ressie off of the DDP? How do I do this and is it possible to switch at this poitn.

I don't think you have to bother. As long as you have the party you rented from remove the DDP, just tell the restaurants when you check in for your reservation that you are not on the dining plan. The servers just like to know beforehand, but it's not a big deal.

 

[bonybroad]

Okay, where do I get a tiw card?
We won't be upgrading to annual passes until our second day there, but the TIW looks like something we should have.
DDPis sooooo expensive. $83 a day for four people ???

 

[allshookup]

Okay, where do I get a tiw card?
We won't be upgrading to annual passes until our second day there, but the TIW looks like something we should have.
DDPis sooooo expensive. $83 a day for four people ???

Guest Relations at any of the parks or Downtown Disney.

 

[mom3sonstt]

We were a party of 6 last year and also had 2 friends coming down for their own trip during part of our trip. We have never purchased the dining plan, but did look into the dining experience - after plotting out what restaurants we would most likely eat at, and what the general prices were I looked at the chart that was posted in a prior post and calculated how much we would save as DVC (for free) vs DDE (including the price of the card) and DDE was a significant winner even with having to purchase it. Of course our dining choices did change from what I originally estimated and we actually wound up saving even more - we got the price of the card back in no time and saved quite a bit on top of that - plus we are going back this year and it is still valid so everything saved will be extra

Looking at my card - it was purchased 8/6/08 and is good thru 9/30/09 I don't understand why it is so much longer than the 12 months - but since our trip this year is 8/2-10 I am thankful because if it was strictly 12 months it would expire halfway through our trip

 

[ILIKEWDW]

the cards are good for 13 months. So for us, it was WELL worth it. (And that doesn't even delve into the 20% TIW discount vs 10% DVC discount.) It has the added benefit of free valet service for dining purposes at non-DVC resorts.

Is TIW good for 13 months?

What about the AP? is it also good for 13 months, or just 12?......