Are DVC folks still using the TIW cards? I see they are 150 now..

[KAT4DISNEY]

It is so hard to decide. WE do not eat a TS meal every single day of trip, but several days for sure. We also don't eat at a lot of the buffets anymore or the fancier ones I should say. We have a few faves but DISNEY DINING IS NOT LIKE IT USED TO BE that is for sure. We used to do a ton of the character meals and buffets but it is a hard pill to swallow for some of those prices for for what you actually get. We don't go to Disney for dining...it is not our priority but we do enjoy a few faves.

See if any of your favorites offer discounts for being DVC - those have expanded a lot.

It still is just a numbers game - the payback isn't as low as it used to be but if you have enough people or dine at the more expensive places and drink alcohol it still can pay off. But it takes more spending now. I really debated this year but finally bought it again. I'm a little doubtful we'll do anything more than break even though as a trip that would have made it worthwhile ended up being put on hold.

 

[RachaelA]

Its worth it for us, but we do a lot of character meals and almost nowhere we eat would has a DVC or AP discount so TIW is our only option. We currently have 2 adults and 1 child, but starting next year our youngest won't be free anymore for buffets.

 

[DizDaD7]

Its worth it for us, but we do a lot of character meals and almost nowhere we eat would has a DVC or AP discount so TIW is our only option. We currently have 2 adults and 1 child, but starting next year our youngest won't be free anymore for buffets.

Holy cow, I just noticed . It appears they almsot have the same B-Day..2 years & 1 day apart??? or 2?

 

[stormer]

The price increase was the breaking point for us. We aren't buying it anymore.

 

[Jessiemendez1]

Wow. I bought mine 7/2/2016, and it expires 7/2/2017!

I bought mine 09/01 and it expires 10/31/17

 

[RachaelA]

Holy cow, I just noticed . It appears they almsot have the same B-Day..2 years & 1 day apart??? or 2?

Yes 10/29 and 10/30! 2 years 1 day apart. Makes planning a birthday trip easy!

 

[Geomom]

Yes, we will reluctantly buy it at the $150. DH and I had a discussion after it went up, we weren't happy about the price increase...but the next time we go to Disney there will be 6 of us dining at 6 table service restaurants, my 'low' estimate is that we'd spend $1300. We'll get 2 trips out of the TIW, although the second will be during food and wine festival so we might only have 2 table service restaurants for the 4 of us. I did check the AP and DVC discounts, and it only has 1 of the restaurants we're going to--so the number crunching works in favor of the TIW this time.

 

[oufpat]

Due to the increase in price, I decided it wasn't worth it for us .

 

[suebeelin]

We bought it for 2 trips- each with 9 people (5 adults, 4 kids), and a a total of 11 days (and 5 TS meals). We are barely breaking even.

Won't get it next year/trip.

 

[erikawolf2004]

How do I found out which places offer the DVC discount and is it good for our whole party staying in the villa? We bought the card last time, but might pass this time. It will be 8 of us for 7 nights and 5 us for 3 nights. We aren't doing a lot of character meals and don't drink.

 

[CarolynFH]

How do I found out which places offer the DVC discount and is it good for our whole party staying in the villa? We bought the card last time, but might pass this time. It will be 8 of us for 7 nights and 5 us for 3 nights. We aren't doing a lot of character meals and don't drink.

Here's a good comparison of the various dining discounts, thanks to All Ears: http://allears.net/pl/disc_dining.pdf.

We'll buy a new TIW in October when we're there, because in January we'll be treating DD and DSiL (both foodies) to six TS meals and in March we'll treat DS, DDiL and 3 DGC (including a 13 y/o DGS who already eats like a teenage boy) to five TS meals. Add in the 3 or 4 DH and I have planned for our trips in October and December, and I think we'll get good use out of it.

 

[Maistre Gracey]

We save tons with TiW but we eat at WDW often and are drinkers both with dinner, and prior to dinner at the bar.

We also valet park which more than pays for the TiW card by itself.

MG

 

[MakiraMarlena]

I just bought a new one this month, and it's just for me, I might have friends on it sometimes. It's good at bars and lounges and at a lot of places at Disney Springs, and it works on booze. And after two dinners at Flying Fish with wine and a cocktail, it won't take too long for it to be worth having.

I bought it September 4 and it expires October 31 next year, so it's not my experience that it's only good for 12 months now.

 

[Matty B13]

We have a 7 day trip with 10 people coming up this spring, so we are pretty sure it makes since for us, especially the discount on alcohol

 

[Dean Marino]

Just us - YES . $150? We get two trips, and with proper timing of TIW purchase, THREE trips, from each card.
$150 is chicken feed . Please, for US, let me explain......

We go twice per year, April and Nov. Each trip? EIGHT Dinners. EACH dinner at a SIG, two people. And I rob WDW . We would tip 20% in any case.... it's what we do. TIW equates to WDW paying for the tips, at really GOOD Sigs.

Now - best use of card? If you are not going to tip anyone - just forget it. No Judgement.
Go to SIGS - MAXIMIZE that 20%.
Be very CAREFUL as to when you BUY this card..... You can actually CALL TIW, though they seem to have eliminated EMAIL contact. These folks have been VERY helpful with us in terms of suggesting just WHEN to buy a card, for maximum use:


(407) 566-5858 (Monday – Friday, 9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. EST)

 

[Maistre Gracey]

Just us - YES . $150? We get two trips, and with proper timing of TIW purchase, THREE trips, from each card.
$150 is chicken feed . Please, for US, let me explain......

We go twice per year, April and Nov. Each trip? EIGHT Dinners. EACH dinner at a SIG, two people. And I rob WDW . We would tip 20% in any case.... it's what we do. TIW equates to WDW paying for the tips, at really GOOD Sigs.

Now - best use of card? If you are not going to tip anyone - just forget it. No Judgement.
Go to SIGS - MAXIMIZE that 20%.
Be very CAREFUL as to when you BUY this card..... You can actually EMAIL TIW at:

18% tip is a bit light for us. We always tip extra, but that still doesn't take from the value as the amount would be the same anyway.

I said it earlier, and I'll reiterate... if you drive and like to valet, the valet parking more than pays for the card.

MG

 

[crisi]

We made it work with four adults and two teens for a five night trip. But there were a number of signature locations and quite a bit of booze.

 

[DizDaD7]

Just us - YES . $150? We get two trips, and with proper timing of TIW purchase, THREE trips, from each card.
$150 is chicken feed . Please, for US, let me explain......

We go twice per year, April and Nov. Each trip? EIGHT Dinners. EACH dinner at a SIG, two people. And I rob WDW . We would tip 20% in any case.... it's what we do. TIW equates to WDW paying for the tips, at really GOOD Sigs.

Now - best use of card? If you are not going to tip anyone - just forget it. No Judgement.
Go to SIGS - MAXIMIZE that 20%.
Be very CAREFUL as to when you BUY this card..... You can actually CALL TIW, though they seem to have eliminated EMAIL contact. These folks have been VERY helpful with us in terms of suggesting just WHEN to buy a card, for maximum use:


(407) 566-5858 (Monday – Friday, 9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. EST)

LoL, Just saw the part that said,If you're not going to tip? Who in the world isn't tipping...We end up tipping 20% minimum & sometimes more, but if someone decided to tip 15% you couldn't blame them..That would be like 5% cash back in their pocket...Tipping $0 would be outright outrageous..No?

 

[smcabee]

Yep. After averaging our meal costs and valet benefit over the past few years, it would have to get to $200, have some significant changes in accepted restaurants and/or get rid of the free valet for it to be not beneficial for us.

 

[georgeat]

My DW and I are going to Food and Wine in 2 weeks. I will buy the TIW card. Have a reservation at Yachtsman and with valet parking will recover almost 1/3 of the cost right there. Usually pays us to purchase since we drive and use valet parking. It adds up quickly.