Any benefit anymore to TIW?

[lmgustafson]

I have been reading threads on TIW and everyone is talking about the 20% discounts and many seem to refer to dinner meals as well. Even the summary of the program on Allears.net and some other sites describe it as a 20% discount on meals (although not specifically referencing lunch or dinner). However, if you read the fine print on Disney's site there are only a few places where you get 20% off, most are 10% off for lunch and/or breakfast (including almost all the resort restaurants and park restaurants) and almost all state it is for the cardholder and up to 3 guests, not the 10 guests it used to be (or at least seems to have been). My question is at 10% off most items you would have to spend at least $110 a day for lunch and breakfast to even break even. It just seems that the plan is not quite such a great deal anymore. Any thoughts out there? I guess if your touring is more leisurely than ours generally is (rope drop each day, CS lunch and out of there by early afternoon to avoid the crowds then back later in the evening) and you are eating at table service locations for lunch most days it makes sense.

 

[walkdmc]

I liked it b/c I like saving money and not planning my day around ADRs. However, I do think it's a bummer that you're really only saving the tip. It would be great if they offered 30% off, then you'd actually get 10% off your meal.

I was also disappointed to learn several places didn't take the TIW. Teppan Edo was our first ADR and they didn't take TIW. However, the new Mexican place did , as did Flame Tree BBQ. (I thought it was only TS places that took the TIW card).

 

[baler31]

TIW allows 20% off at these locations for whatever meal of the day and includes a discount on alcoholic beverages. We more than "broke even" with just two meals at signature restaurants including wine. The most recent list I could find is below. TIW also allows for free valet parking at the resorts while dining as well as free theme park parking after 5pm. The discount is for up to 10 (or at least it was in Oct. 2010) and I have not seen it changed. There are a lot of restaurants to choose from.

Participating Restaurants and Lounges as of August 2010:

All-Star Movies Resort
World Premiere Food Court


All-Star Music Resort
Intermission Food Court


All-Star Sports Resort
End Zone Food Court


Animal Kingdom Lodge
Boma-Flavors of Africa
Jiko-The Cooking Place
Sanaa
Victoria Falls


Beach Club Resort
Beaches & Cream Soda Shop (eat-in only)
Cape May Cafe
Martha's Vineyard Lounge


BoardWalk
Belle Vue Lounge
Big River Grille and Brewing Works
ESPN Club
Flying Fish Cafe
Kouzzina by Cat Cora


Eagle Pines and Osprey Ridge Golf Club
Sand Trap Bar & Grill


Caribbean Beach Resort
Shutters at Old Port Royale


Contemporary Resort
California Grill
Chef Mickey's
Outer Rim Lounge
The Wave


Coronado Springs Resort
Maya Grill


Fort Wilderness Resort & Campground
Crockett's Tavern
Hoop-Dee-Doo Musical Revue (9:30 p.m. show only, offered seasonally)
Trail's End Restaurant


Grand Floridian Resort & Spa
1900 Park Fare
Cítricos
Garden View Lounge
Grand Floridian Cafe
Mizner's Lounge
Narcoossee's
Victoria & Albert's (excluding Chef's Table and Victoria and Albert Room)


Old Key West Resort
Olivia's Cafe


Polynesian Resort
'Ohana
Kona Cafe
Spirit of Aloha Dinner Show (late show only)
Tambu Lounge


Pop Century Resort
Everything Pop Dining (excluding merchandise)
Classic Concoctions


Port Orleans Resort
Riverside:
Boatwright's Dining Hall
River Roost

French Quarter:
Scat Cat's Club
Sassagoula Floatworks and Food Factory


Saratoga Springs Resort & Spa
The Turf Club Bar and Grill
The Turf Club Lounge
Artist's Palette


Wilderness Lodge
Artist Point
Territory Lounge
Whispering Canyon Cafe


Yacht Club Resort
Ale and Compass Lounge
Crew's Cup Lounge
Captain's Grille
Yachtsman Steakhouse


DOWNTOWN DISNEY Marketplace
Cap'n Jack's Restaurant
Fulton's Crab House
Paradiso 37


DOWNTOWN DISNEY Pleasure Island
Portobello
Raglan Road


DOWNTOWN DISNEY West Side
Bongo's Cuban Cafe
House of Blues
Planet Hollywood
Wolfgang Puck Cafe

Epcot
Akershus Royal Banquet Hall
Biergarten Restaurant
Bistro de Paris Restaurant
Chefs de France Restaurant
Coral Reef Restaurant
Tutto Italia Ristorante
Le Cellier Steakhouse
Nine Dragons Restaurant
Restaurant Marrakesh
Rose & Crown Pub & Dining Room
San Angel Inn Restaurante
Tokyo Dining
The Garden Grill Restaurant
Via Napoli




Disney's HollywoodStudios
50's Prime Time Cafe
Hollywood & Vine
Mama Melrose's Ristorante Italiano
Sci-Fi Dine-In Theater Restaurant
The Hollywood Brown Derby
Tune-In Lounge


Magic Kingdom
Cinderella's Royal Table
Liberty Tree Tavern
The Crystal Palace
The Plaza Restaurant
Tony's Town Square Restaurant


Animal Kingdom
Tusker House Restaurant
Pizzafari
Flame Tree Barbecue
Restaurantosaurus


Disney's Vero Beach Resort
The Green Cabin Room
Shutters Restaurant
Sonya's Fine Steaks & Chops (Sunday Brunch not included)


Walt Disney World Swan and Dolphin Resort
Il Mulino New York Trattoria
Garden Grove
Kimonos
Shula's Steak House
Todd English's bluezoo
Wide World of Sports
ESPN Wide World of Sports Grill

 

[baler31]

I have been reading threads on TIW and everyone is talking about the 20% discounts and many seem to refer to dinner meals as well. Even the summary of the program on Allears.net and some other sites describe it as a 20% discount on meals (although not specifically referencing lunch or dinner). However, if you read the fine print on Disney's site there are only a few places where you get 20% off, most are 10% off for lunch and/or breakfast (including almost all the resort restaurants and park restaurants) and almost all state it is for the cardholder and up to 3 guests, not the 10 guests it used to be (or at least seems to have been). My question is at 10% off most items you would have to spend at least $110 a day for lunch and breakfast to even break even. It just seems that the plan is not quite such a great deal anymore. Any thoughts out there? I guess if your touring is more leisurely than ours generally is (rope drop each day, CS lunch and out of there by early afternoon to avoid the crowds then back later in the evening) and you are eating at table service locations for lunch most days it makes sense.

I believe you may be confusing this with AP holders discount. It allows mostly 10% at a very limited number of places with some requirements to even get that. Link below is directly to Disney website that describes the 20% and 10 people.

http://disneyworld.disney.go.com/passholder-program/dining-discounts/

 

[Goosey515]

I bought a TIW card last week. We were at the world for 6 days. We (my mother, son, and I) ate table service about once a day...mostly character meals. The card has already paid for itself...$75.00 Annual Passholder rate...and we plan to use it again this summer. Yes, they add on 18% tip, but it is probably what I would have left for a tip anyway. For me a win win situation. Oh, we did not use the drinks discount, but saving 20% on adult beverages would clearly add up quickly!

 

[jwfla422]

Most restaurants are 20% off (as mentioned the 10% is for an AP for select restaurants) and many more than ever before do take the card.

But what you have to determine is this: if you are an AP holder you can purchase a TIW card for $75 which means spending $375 before you even break even. The FL resident price is $100 which means spending $500. I used to get this card every year when we were FL res. AP holders and would get to WDW 2-3x a yr.

Lately it seems though, we've only been getting there once a year for just a few days' trip so it doesn't pay for us to purchase one this time around. I know I will miss it but I did the math and now with the FL resident promotional 4 day pass it doesn't pay for us to even purchase an AP either so we'd have to pay $100 for it and I know we won't spend more than $500 this trip, so..it really depends on the size of your party and how often you go. A family of at least 4 (we are only 3 and even sometimes just 2) that would go for a week would benefit for sure.

So it really just depends. I will also miss having the free valet too, but in the end it won't really be free this time around...

 

[lmgustafson]

Thank you for the clarification. You are right, I was reading the rest of the dining benefits as a more specific explanation of the TIW discounts rather than the basic AP discounts. Given the 20% discount for up to 9 people it definitely seems worthwhile. Thanks again.

 

[AquaDame]

One last nice thing that I noticed is that they take off the 20% THEN add tip, so its a little extra savings there too.

 

[drenalin'junkie]

Since we normally tip ~20% we save money after approx $400 in meals,but if you factor in the 10% we'd save at a few places maybe closer to $500 or 5-7 meals.Since we go at NYE and around a couple other holidays I doubt we save over a couple hundred a year.But thats a couple more meals for the trouble of stopping by guest services for 15 minutes.

Like my DW shopping stories,I often spend myself nearly broke "saving"money

 

[goofy2008]

What is TIW and AP??

 

[vicki_c]

One last nice thing that I noticed is that they take off the 20% THEN add tip, so its a little extra savings there too.

That is incorrect. The 18% gratuity is based on the original bill amount, not the discounted bill amount.

 

[vicki_c]

What is TIW and AP??

TIW - Tables in Wonderland card - a dining discount card for Annual Pass (AP) holders and Florida residents.

 

[Cheshire Figment]

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 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 - Amount of Bill
*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.

 

[AppleSister1]

We had three trips in 2010, one with large extended family (7 adults, 2 kids); one with 3 adults; and one with 4 adults and two kids. Because of this, we bought APs, and then I bought the TIW card. It paid for itself in the first trip. But of course, we do a TS a day, and drink wine, etc with dinner, and generally, I tip 20% for good service. So it sort of depends on your "Disney-style."

 

[disneygrandmom2007]

Can you use a TIW membership for CS meals or is it just for TS? TIA.

 

[vicki_c]

Can you use a TIW membership for CS meals or is it just for TS? TIA.

I assume the list posted above includes the CS locations where it's taken. Mainly the value resort food courts and the CS locations at Animal Kingdom, but check the list above.

 

[bumbershoot]

Thank you for the clarification. You are right, I was reading the rest of the dining benefits as a more specific explanation of the TIW discounts rather than the basic AP discounts. Given the 20% discount for up to 9 people it definitely seems worthwhile. Thanks again.

The page that the info is on is horrible. It really takes effort and attention to fonts, bolds, and sizes, to realize that the info under "Downtown Disney Dining Discounts" is actually a subset of the AP "Dining Benefits and Discounts" info, not a continuation of the TIW information. Even looking at it now, KNOWING this, the bold font of the "Tables in Wonderland Membership Discount" looks bigger and bolder than the below info for the DTD discounts.

You're not alone in asking, I can think of one other question about it just a week or so ago, and I'm sure others have wondered!

That is incorrect. The 18% gratuity is based on the original bill amount, not the discounted bill amount.

Tip is on original, yep, but as Cheshire pointed out, tax is based on what is actually *charged*. He had his example, which I read just after pulling out one of our receipts and doing the math.



TIW was great for our trip! In 8 sit-down meals, the 3 of us went over the $75 savings mark. And we are not big eaters or big boozey drinkers, either (not teetotalers, but I'm the only one that usually has alcohol, and only one if that, and I hate paying Disney prices for booze when I had beer back in the room fridge LOL). And we're vegetarian, so no one's ordering super-expensive foods.

 

[Cheshire Figment]

And we're vegetarian, so no one's ordering super-expensive foods.

Have you checked out the vegetarian menu at V&A?

 

[Smiling Cheshire Cat]

Can you use a TIW membership for CS meals or is it just for TS? TIA.

Its mainly just TS. However, the resorts that don't have a TS like the Values you can use it there too.

 

[bumbershoot]

Have you checked out the vegetarian menu at V&A?

We're neeeeeeeever going to go to V&A. Cannot justify the money for, you know, vegetables. Plus, the kidlet's only 6.



But I was thinking specifically of Brown Derby when I wrote that comment, though. Got their tofu noodle bowl, and split it, and it was such a generous portion! If we were on the dining plan, it would have been 4 total dining credits for the adults (and 2 for the kid's grilled cheese), and we would have been beyond stuffed from trying to eat one whole noodle bowl each! And we wouldn't have had room for the ddp-included dessert.