DDP or TIW?

[dr&momto2boys]

We're planning a trip to WDW with our extended family. There are three families: 5 of us, 4 in SIL's family, and 2 in MIL's family. We're all staying in a Grand Villa which is a three bedroom unit but considered 1 unit so we all have to agree to use DDP or not.
Last time we all went we had the DDP and it worked out fine. At that time though the kids were younger (4,3,2,and1) so we only had to pay for food for DDP for 1 child. Also, at that time the DDP included appetizers and tips.

Our family will have AP's, so we could purchase a TIW card. We've never done this before.

Please help me determine which option would be best. Here are some more details:
Total adults is 6, kids will be ages 6,5,4,3 and 1. (I know TIW applies to 10 people. We would rarely order anything for the 1 yr old anyway.)
We're not afraid of TS with a lot of kids--they are well behaved. We'll probably do mostly character buffets though anyway.
We're not big drinkers but I'm sure some alcoholic drinks will be ordered. (TIW discount applies.)
I don't like having to divide up the check amongst 3 families everytime we eat to determine who owes what with TIW. To some extent I guess we'd have to anyway to pay for tips if on DDP.

I don't know how to figure out which option is best without figuring out pretty much exactly where and what we want to eat. Any insights?

 

[CharacterFan]

It's all math. For DFi and I TiW works out better, because we're split and appi, 2 entree, split a dessert, and a nice coctail people. We also like to do 2 TS a day sometimes.

I'd look at the places you'd most likely eat, what you *might* order and do the math. It can take awhile, but that's what I did.