Annual Pass and TiW savings

[BaseballMoM2007]

Just curious how much you average saving on a trip with a TiW card. We are planning a trip for next Christmas and thinking about getting annual passes to bridge over 2 trips. I think this will save us about 300 on Park tickets for the 2nd Trip. We usually stay on property and do the dining plan but are really wanting to give Swan and dolphin a try (Boardwalk/Epcot are our favorites but our pockets aren't quite deep enough for the other Epcot area Resorts.) Is it easy to get back the $175 for the purchase of TiW plus some to make it pay for it's self especially if we use it on two 7-10 day trips?

 

[ddluvsdisney]

Yes! Depending on the size of your party it could pay off really fast. TIW is the best thing we ever bought. It usually pays for itself rather quickly for our family of 4. Our sons are grown so eat adult meals and we usually do one or two signatures each trip.

 

[erionm]

Is it easy to get back the $175 for the purchase of TiW plus some to make it pay for it's self especially if we use it on two 7-10 day trips?

If you get an AP, the TiW costs $150. You would need to spend $750 is pre-discounted dining. Also, the TiW is the only discount that includes alcohol.

$175 for Florida Residents
$150 for Walt Disney World® Resort Passholders and Disney Vacation Club Members
Add a second membership for your spouse or partner for only $50 more!

http://tablesinwonderland.com/

 

[gdrj]

Personally not a fan of dining plan. Last few years we used TIW, prior to price increase. For us it was worth it. It was only 2 of us but we made multiple trips during the 13 months. Since it is on alcohol as well, it served us well. Besides using for Upscale Restaurants, it was nice to be able to use at lounges for beverage and bar menu. I'm sure there are plenty of threads breaking down the dollars. When we first tried it we didn't analyze we just used it and it worked well for us. This year we didn't renew AP's or TIW as our own little protest (not that it impacts Disney). I was just tired of them doing a constant money grab this past year in a construction zone (but I digress).

 

[lovethattink]

This is our first year not having TiW. We haven't eaten at any TS, so I haven't missed it yet.

 

[Maistre Gracey]

The free valet parking alone more than pays for the card.

It's a great deal, especially if you're drinkers.

MG

 

[catra121]

Oh my gosh...we saved so much with the TiW card when I got it several years ago. The price has gone up...so our savings would have been a little less...but at the time we easily saved over $400 during our 6 day stay. We were a party of 4 adults and our meals typically ended up being between $150-200 with apps, meals, and alcoholic beverages. The 20% off saved us a lot and honestly we even saved on the tips because it is an automatic 18% gratuity added...but I usually tip 20% or so and round up (I did add some extra $$ a couple of times for a few waiters/waitresses who were outstanding though). Between the savings with the annual pass upgrade (free parking on that trip when we were staying off site made that upgrade almost pay for itself) and the TiW card...I saved a bunch that year...made 2 more trips before my annual pass and TiW were up. Really great value if you plan to use them and do those things anyway. You can definitely eat cheaper without if you want too...but dining that way was the plan anyway so it really worked out for us.

 

[Dis703]

We saved a lot when we had it a few years ago. Took 2 family trips and one mommy and me trip that year so the savings added up. This year with shorter trips planned, and less of us going each trip, I don't think it's going to be worth it. We might just break even, but I think that would be it. It really depends on how many are in your party and how much dining you'll be doing where the card is accepted. Like someone mentioned you have to spend $750 to break even and then you start saving after that.

 

[Farps]

We purchased the TIW card for the first time this past June for our 8 day trip. We just about broke even on this trip alone and we'll be using it again on our upcoming weekend in January and a family trip in May.

 

[loves to dive]

I had one before the price went up, I think you had to spend $500 to break even before you started seeing the discount. The first trip with it we broke even the 2nd day in. It was 3 adults, we enjoyed refreshing adult beverages at meals and ate at signature restaurants. I'm not getting one this year, with the price increase and my son getting divorced so there are only two of us I probably wouldn't break even. If he went on every trip with me I would but I go at least once solo and that's normally F&W so I don't eat anywhere but the booths except for breakfast.

 

[Jestocost]

Back in the day one dinner at V&A could pay for a TiW card (and did for us). Today the TiW card is more expensive and V&A doesn't participate.

For my family and how we dine at WDW the TiW card is still a great deal, but everyone needs to look at TiW or "free" dining or whatever promotion they are considering and determine if it make sense for THEM.

I actually went through every receipt from a specific trip and modeled those costs as if we had used the DDP vs. if we had used TiW. For us TiW was a clear winner but YMMV.

 

[MaryLovesPoohBear]

This is our first year using it.

There are only two of us. And my husband doesn't drink. I might have a glass of wine, maybe 2. But not every meal or even every day.

We have two trips. One for 10 days, one yet to be booked, but will likely be 7-9 days.

We will see.

 

[Dan Murphy]

are really wanting to give Swan and dolphin a try

TiW is recognized at S/D also.

 

[ArmyVet80]

We paid for our TiW card in 2 trips (one 8d/7N and one 4d/3n). The first trip we had a dining plan and just put our drinks on it. We spent $300 on that trip and that was with us purchasing drinks for our friends to get the discount. The second trip we used it for our meals and drinks. That was around $500 for a two trip total of $800 paying for the $150. It is valid through our next two trips which are again 8D/7N and 4D/3N. All said and done it will have been well worth it for us even when we were on the dining plan.

The best part about it is that we aren't heavy drinkers. Going to some of the bars/eateries is expensive even for a couple of drinks.

 

[Accident]

What is interesting is right now there is some merchandise discounts for TiW but that is for a limited time so unless your showing up in the next week you'll probably not get to use those discounts. There has also been a few interesting events announced just for tiw, not tons of unlikely you'll happen to be here for them and they aren't free events but so far they have been really nice.

i've been trying out all the table services I've been ignoring. for a party of 2 non-drinkers it's roughly 4 different meals when you break it even. more people, alcohol, more expensive places and it could be as few as 1 meal and you've saved money.

 

[Maistre Gracey]

hmmm...

MG

 

[Aravan24]

One other thing to note with the TiW card...

We purchased two cards as we were at WDW back in June to get married and were having a few different group events before the wedding with a group of 17 people. One of our events was a dinner at O'hana that fell during one of their blackout periods (specifically on June 16th, during a blackout that extended to June 18th) so we didn't expect to get the discount that night. At the end of the meal I did double-check with our server to see if there was a TiW discount available and she offered to run the card anyways. She came back a few minutes later to tell me that it had gone through and we got a discount of about $175 off our group meal.

I would definitely recommend that you always see if they can run it, even if you are dining at a restaurant during one of the blackout periods!

 

[BaseballMoM2007]

I just added up the meals and prices I had estimated for the first trip and total savings (not including alchool) was about 255. So just on the first trip looks like it would save us 155.