DDP or TiW

[AirGoofy]

I call it the apples to apples comparison. If you compare DDP to paying OOP, ordering the same meals on both, the yes, DDP is a better value. But, as others posted, every person to have their own dessert right after dinner. We like to split an appetizer and dessert as a family, but can't do that on the DDP. The TiW applies to everything we actually want to eat.

 

[lucyem]

You need an "other" box to check

Which plan that is best for you depends on the ages of your family and how you eat at WDW.

We are 2 adults and 2 kids. We have never done the DDP because it has never worked out as a value for us. (sharing meals, appetizer as a meal, etc) Plus now with one of those 10yr old Disney adults who barely can finish a kids burger it is really not worth it.

(and an aside I find it causes a ton of wasted food. I have repeatedly seen people ordering desserts for example just because its on the plan and then they are not even touched)

The TIW was worth it for a while. When we did more sit down meals and character meals it was great. But once again with the price increases, not only to the TIW card but to the actual TS meals, we skip it. And don't even get me started on the quality of the last few TS meals we have had Our list of repeat TS meals gets shorter every time. We might barely do a TS meal for lunch 1 day out of 3. The rest we either snack or CS or eat in the room.

Being DVC and having the kitchen is really the big money saver for us. We don't get elaborate with food there but for the basics it is great.

 

[AmyB2006]

The wage rules are the same in Canada. The tipping standards are the same here as in the US.

You're saying that the standard tip in the US is 10% to 15%? Because another poster said that's what it was in Canada. It's 15% to 20% here so I don't see how that's the same. And actually, 20% is becoming more and more common I'm seeing.

 

[cslittle999]

You're saying that the standard tip in the US is 10% to 15%? Because another poster said that's what it was in Canada. It's 15% to 20% here so I don't see how that's the same. And actually, 20% is becoming more and more common I'm seeing.

I'm saying that in Canada, just like in the US, servers earn less than minimum wage and are expected to earn the rest in tips. The tipping standard is 15% to 20%.

 

[AmyB2006]

Will restaurants split the bill between two parties and apply the TIW discount to both tickets as long as the card holder is present?

Sent from my iPad using DISBoards

We just dined in February at Garden Grille with 12 people. We wanted separate checks, but they told us it wasn't allowed. Only one party could use the TIW card if we split it. I suppose it's possible to find a restaurant or someone to "bend" the rule, but typically, no they will not split it.

 

[bbangel]

I'm saying that in Canada, just like in the US, servers earn less than minimum wage and are expected to earn the rest in tips. The tipping standard is 15% to 20%.

I don't know of any servers making less than minimum wage. Where is this?

 

[cslittle999]

I don't know of any servers making less than minimum wage. Where is this?

In Ontario the minimum wage is $10.25 but the minimum wage for liquor servers, which covers most servers in restaurants, is $8.90.

 

[Kidanifan08]

Will restaurants split the bill between two parties and apply the TIW discount to both tickets as long as the card holder is present?

Sent from my iPad using DISBoards

This is the official rule from the TIW website: The Tables in Wonderland discount is good for up to 10 people including the member, as long as everyone is on the same check, and the Tables in Wonderland member is paying the bill. If you have the Tables in Wonderland card, and your spouse or partner has the Tables in Wonderland secondary card, together you may cover up to 20 people. Both members must live at the same address and be 21 years of age or older.

Now, I have seen others post that it will depend on the server. I however, have always been stuck with the bill.

We just dined in February at Garden Grille with 12 people. We wanted separate checks, but they told us it wasn't allowed. Only one party could use the TIW card if we split it. I suppose it's possible to find a restaurant or someone to "bend" the rule, but typically, no they will not split it.

They won't apply TIW to separate checks. But they will take more than one form of payment for the check. What we have done is have our guests use a Disney Reward card. The server then applies our guest's portion to the reward card and the rest to our room charge. You could probably do this with Disney gift cards or cash, as well.

 

[AmyB2006]

They won't apply TIW to separate checks. But they will take more than one form of payment for the check. What we have done is have our guests use a Disney Reward card. The server then applies our guest's portion to the reward card and the rest to our room charge. You could probably do this with Disney gift cards or cash, as well.

We actually had a situation (I forget where, sorry) but they would not even take my Rewards Card for the whole bill because the TIW is in my Mother's name. She was with us, but I wanted to pay with my Disney Rewards card. They said technically, the name on the card has to match the name on the TIW card.

However, I will also say, that was only that one time that happened, and we've used my card since without a problem. I guess certain people pick which rules they're going to enforce.

I want to say that was at Boma, but I'm not sure.

 

[Kidanifan08]

We actually had a situation (I forget where, sorry) but they would not even take my Rewards Card for the whole bill because the TIW is in my Mother's name. She was with us, but I wanted to pay with my Disney Rewards card. They said technically, the name on the card has to match the name on the TIW card.

However, I will also say, that was only that one time that happened, and we've used my card since without a problem. I guess certain people pick which rules they're going to enforce.

I want to say that was at Boma, but I'm not sure.

I guess I meant the Disney Rewards Redemption Card. It has no name on it. My DSIL has the Disney Visa and just used her redemption card to pay for their portion of the TS meals.

 

[Hunclemarco]

We actually had a situation (I forget where, sorry) but they would not even take my Rewards Card for the whole bill because the TIW is in my Mother's name. She was with us, but I wanted to pay with my Disney Rewards card. They said technically, the name on the card has to match the name on the TIW card.

However, I will also say, that was only that one time that happened, and we've used my card since without a problem. I guess certain people pick which rules they're going to enforce.

I want to say that was at Boma, but I'm not sure.

There have been reports that they will do the same thing with Annual Pass Discounts. If the money is coming from anyone other than the person who has the AP, they will not give the discount. Technically the person who owns the card is the one that Disney expects to be paying paying the bill. We have never had that problem, but i have heard others that did have problems.

 

[gopfans]

We were in the World traveling with another family this past week. We have a TIW card. Like another poster said, they won't give separate tickets but accept two forms of payment. At both Chef Mickey's and Rose and Crown we asked them to put half the bill on our credit card and half on our friend's card with no problem. We travel several times a year so TIW is worth it to us. DDP is not worth it to us anymore with 2 of our 3 kids now counted as adults and not doing as many character meals anymore.

 

[ITGirl50]

We bought the TIW card for the first time this past week. We used it at Victoria and Alberts, Garden View tea room, Be Our Guest, Boma, and several other places for 4 people. We got our money back. The only dissappointment was that Guest Services at MK insisted it only last 1 year from the date bought, so we won't get to use it next spring break. I told her some people have reported they have had it extended at least until the end of the month and she said that was not policy and it should not be happening. Maybe MK guest services is stricter than others?? Where did you buy yours?

 

[staceymay00]

We prefer TiW (we did even when all three kids were under 10 and DDP was not so expensive for them), although I'm not sure we'll continue buying the card with the price increase. We don't eat as many TS meals as we used to. I have never tried to split a check using TiW, however a family member once paid our entire bill using my TiW card and his credit card. I would not expect to be able to do that, however it was not a problem that one time we tried it.

 

[staceymay00]

The only dissappointment was that Guest Services at MK insisted it only last 1 year from the date bought, so we won't get to use it next spring break. I told her some people have reported they have had it extended at least until the end of the month and she said that was not policy and it should be happening. Maybe MK guest services is stricter than others?? Where did you buy yours?

That happened to us, also. We bought ours at EP GS in January and it expires exactly one year later. Apparently we are in the minority with that being enforced, though. I know in past years we have gotten the extra month. In our case it does not matter much since I don't think we will be at Disney during that extra month of use anyway. I didn't actually ask about the expiration date at EP, I just assumed they had changed the expiration policy, but after our trip I read several posts of people reporting the extra month.

 

[Lizard Valley]

We bought the TIW card for the first time this past week. We used it at Victoria and Alberts, Garden View tea room, Be Our Guest, Boma, and several other places for 4 people. We got our money back. The only dissappointment was that Guest Services at MK insisted it only last 1 year from the date bought, so we won't get to use it next spring break. I told her some people have reported they have had it extended at least until the end of the month and she said that was not policy and it should be happening. Maybe MK guest services is stricter than others?? Where did you buy yours?

I bought mine on Feb 28th at Guest Relations just outside MK. The CM's name tag said "trainer" under her name, and she seemed to know what she was doing.

The expiration date is March 31st, 2014. I asked her had I waited until the next day to buy it (March 1st), would it have been valid until April 30th?, and the answer was yes.

 

[bumbershoot]

I bought mine 2/6/13, and I just checked...it expires 3/31/14. Epcot Guest Services outside the gates, and she just did it.

I don't understand their saying it's not policy. The policy was that the expiration was padded because you used to have to buy it by phone/mail and have it mailed to you. It was live the moment it was printed, so they put a later expiration date. And that's why people still get that, even though we aren't buying them by mail.

Obviously someone's mistaken on what policy is, but as far as I have seen the vast majority of CMs are doing it with the padded expiration, so to me THAT seems like it's the policy.

That said, I went into it expecting one year exactly, and I only checked just now for the expiration date.

 

[erionm]

I don't understand their saying it's not policy. The policy was that the expiration was padded because you used to have to buy it by phone/mail and have it mailed to you. It was live the moment it was printed, so they put a later expiration date. And that's why people still get that, even though we aren't buying them by mail.

Mail order is still an option for FL Residents and Annual Passholders.

 

[loveswdw]

We use DDP. We only travel once a year and we have two boys under age 10. Doing lots of character dining and buffets so the DDP works better for us. I have downloaded the spreadsheet tool to compare and so far, DDP still comes out cheaper for us. That may change next trip when DS turns 10. But I'll still keep working the numbers to see which doesn't cost us more $$$.

To me, TiW works for people best who don't have children under 10, people that travel more than once a year, like to have an alcoholic beverage (which we rarely do at Disney--too expensive--I do buy a margarita at least once a trip!).

We have never felt that DDP was "too much food" for us. We either don't order the dessert at CS or we order something easily portable such as a cookie. We also tend to order the higher priced items at table service but we would even without the DDP. We are steak and seafood lovers so those are always more expensive. If we didn't do DDP, we'd probably go OOP and then we'd end up doing less table service and more counter service I'd bet.

 

[goofy4tink]

I've used the ddp many times in the past. But once they started changing it (making it more expensive, yet cutting out the gratuity, etc), I stopped. The only time, in recent years, that we have used it was when we traveled with another couple. We wanted to eat at more upscale places and have a big breakfast and no lunch. So, we booked the deluxe dining plan. It was still a better deal for us, even after adding in gratuities, than the TiW card. But, if I'm going on a regular WDW trip, I use the TiW card. I'll be getting one for my May trip, since I'll be going again, with DH, in Sept. That will make it cost effective for me.

Only one time have I had to speak to a manager to get the tip reduced. I usually tip at 20%, so the mandated 18% isn't a big deal for me. Unless I have received really dreadful service. Which I did at Crystal Palace one morning. We had an awful server...worst I have ever had in over 30 trips. I spoke to the manager and told him what my issues were, and that I didn't feel that the server should be rewarded with that kind of tip. I was willing to leave something, but not that. The manager agreed to allow me to leave what I wanted. No issue at all.