CALLING ALL PASSHOLDERS- Tables in Wonderland or Dining Plan?

[dismichael]

Hi,
We joined the DVC within the past year, and have, in previous years, always used the Disney Dining Plan to pay for our dinners in the parks. We LOVE and look forward to our food ventures throughout our Disney trips. Disney has some of the best restaurants in the world, but also, some of the most expensive. We have 7 sit-down restaurants booked, Le Cellier being the most expensive, then the rest are more moderately priced (i.e. Chefs de France at lunch and Sci Fi theater). We do have Crystal Palace booked, which is somewhat on the expensive side, too. We are going to be purchasing annual passes for our trip, and we learned that we could purchase the Tables in Wonderland card that gives 20% off sit-down restaurants for about $75 one-time fee. However, the Dining Plan is a set price-per-day, and covers all the restaurants that we are going to. Does anyone have experience with both of these methods, and have a preference as to which is better? Your opinions are greatly appreciated

 

[PADISFAM]

We have done both. What works well for us right now (& since we get two rooms - we have a little more flexibility on who to put on what plan) -- we get the QSDP and utilize the TinW card for sitdowns. But really to figure out what will work best for you is doing the math. www.allears.net has easy to read up to date menus and prices. We've done the math 15 ways to Sunday & essentially the dining plan gives us a 'free' snack a day. It does make a big difference in how many people will be on the dining plan & are any of them children.

 

[tigger51276]

I've been DVC for 10 years now and I've been using the Dining Plan the last 3 years. I have not used the TIW card because I use restaurants that are on the plan as 1 table service credit except for CRT. I hardly ever purchase an app because I can never finish my dinner so to me the Dining Plan makes more sense. If I was a huge app junkie and was using a lot of signature restuarants then I'd say the TIW would probably work better.

 

[pamjb]

Personally, I prefer the Tables in Wonderland (TiW) card. But, I am not a fan of the dining plan, as I think it is too much food. We typically don't do a table service meal every day. We were travelling in a party of 10 last year, and it only took 2 meals for us to break even with the TiW card. And that was just in the first 2 days of having the card. Plus, you can use the TiW card to get a 20% discount on adult beverages almost anywhere, not just at table service restaurants.
BUT, because you have a table service meal every day, the Dining plan may be a better way to go for you. It is all about doing the math . Check out the menus on allears.net and see about how much your meals will cost. Here is a comparison that I found on Mousesavers.com http://www.mousesavers.com/diningplanreview.html#compare
Don't forget that you can also use your DVC card or your annual pass to get discounts at some restaurants.
http://allears.net/pl/disc_dining.pdf

 

[patsal]

Fan of TIW, it offers more flexibility. However if I had a 7 yo and buffets planned, that might make a difference for me. Usually when you add children to the mix the DDP becomes a winner depending how you eat.

 

[Golf4food]

For us as a couple of just adults we prefer the flexibility and ease of the TIW card. We might change our mind when we have kids. Who knows. We've done DDP in the past (and DxDP).

 

[missycj96]

I always buy TIW and sometimes do DDP and sometimes not. Lately, I have been doing the DDP because DD4 has been enjoying character meals (which get expensive). Without the character meals, I find TIW to be the way to go. TIW gives you flexibility and discounts on everything, including alchohol. Also, you can get free valet parking for dinner. When it is pouring rain, being able to valet the car is fantastic.