1. My normal answer to "are you on a dining plan?" is No. When the bill comes I then bring out my TiW card.
The only time I will let the server know in advance is if some of the gorup I am with are on the dining plan, and I will tell the server to put all non-plan food and all alcoholic beverages on my bill.
2. Here is a working example, using $100.00 as the original bill to make the math show up easily. Note this is for Table Service.
At Counter Service there is no gratuity added.
100.00 - Original Menu Amount
*20.00 - Discount
*80.00 - Subtotal
*18.00 - Gratuity Added based on $100
**5.20 - Sales Tax on $80
103.20 - Final amount charged, takes into consideration discount, gratuity and tax.
Without TiW Discount (and still figuring 18% Gratuity)
100.00 - Original Menu Amount
*18.00 - Gratuity
**6.50 - Sales Tax on $100
124.50 - Total
$21.30 - Savings using TiW Card.
(Note - At Victoria and Albert's the added gratuity is 20% instead of 18%.)
* Ignore the asterisks; they are there only so the columns/numbers line up properly.
For the complete list of locations and the rules, go to
www.tablesinwonderland.com which is the Official Disney site.