dvc discount, TIW or dining plan?

[dez1978]

We are new DVC members, purchased direct. We are going in November and I have a few questions regarding food and which would save the most. We have 2 adults and 2 kids. We are planning to get Aps since we are planning a trip for March 2021 as well. We are trying to decide which would save us the most money. Do we use just the dvc discount on dining (where applicable), buy a TIW card and use that, or get the dining plan? We do a few character meals and always HDD (my kids love that place). We like to have 1 sit down meal a day, just as a break. DH and I also enjoy alcoholic beverages, within reason, bc kids.. We've gotten the dining plan a couple of times and mostly gotten more than our money's worth out of it. We will be staying in studios, so no full kitchen to cook in. WWYD?

 

[BillPA]

With 2 trips planned, I would go for the TIW, it will work for both trip, and that 3rd one you haven't plan for yet. But with APs and TIW trip 3 will be a bargain. Have a great pair of trips.

 

[Sandisw]

Since most AP and DVC discounts are 10%..a few are more..it takes $1500 to break even against TIW.

TIW covers alcohol though and others don’t. But, 18% tip is automatically added when using it, even at the bars.

You don’t mention how long your trips are, but if they are close to week with each time with 4 people and sit down daily, TIW seems like you’d come out ahead

 

[minthorne]

If you do several trips with larger crowds the TIW will work out. But with trips of 2 people it is harder to get TIW to work.

 

[gharter]

The simple anwer is to look at the numbers.
For the 2 of us, we space our trips, so we get 3 trips out of our APs and TiW cards and have saved money each year we purchased.
We tend to have a meal at a signature restaurant nearly every night and enjoy the lounges.
We also use the free valet parking with TiW.
To break even you need to spend about $750 with just the TiW card. If you already have an AP or DVC discount, then you really are only saving about 10% with the TiW card so need to spend $1500 to break even.
Depending on where you eat, and if you go to the lounges, the numbers will show you whether it is worth purchasing or not.

 

[dez1978]

The simple anwer is to look at the numbers.
For the 2 of us, we space our trips, so we get 3 trips out of our APs and TiW cards and have saved money each year we purchased.
We tend to have a meal at a signature restaurant nearly every night and enjoy the lounges.
We also use the free valet parking with TiW.
To break even you need to spend about $750 with just the TiW card. If you already have an AP or DVC discount, then you really are only saving about 10% with the TiW card so need to spend $1500 to break even.
Depending on where you eat, and if you go to the lounges, the numbers will show you whether it is worth purchasing or not.

The 1st trip is 2 adults and 2 kids. The 2nd trip is 4 adults, 1 "Disney adult" and 3 kids. I feel like with the 2nd trip we'd def spend more than 1500. All the adults enjoy a few drinks. We won't have a car, so parking wouldn't come into play.

 

[dez1978]

With 2 trips planned, I would go for the TIW, it will work for both trip, and that 3rd one you haven't plan for yet. But with APs and TIW trip 3 will be a bargain. Have a great pair of trips.

I totally agree with this. However my job and my husband probably do not. Stupid job and responsibilities..

 

[Maistre Gracey]

The simple anwer is to look at the numbers.
For the 2 of us, we space our trips, so we get 3 trips out of our APs and TiW cards and have saved money each year we purchased.
We tend to have a meal at a signature restaurant nearly every night and enjoy the lounges.
We also use the free valet parking with TiW.
To break even you need to spend about $750 with just the TiW card. If you already have an AP or DVC discount, then you really are only saving about 10% with the TiW card so need to spend $1500 to break even.
Depending on where you eat, and if you go to the lounges, the numbers will show you whether it is worth purchasing or not.

We too imbibe at the lounges and use valet parking, but that’s exactly why the break even is not $1500 if you have an AP. Heck, we blow $750/year at the bars alone clear out of the water.

 

[cedricandsophie]

We go to DW every March for two weeks. We don’t do the parks much, but hang out at the pool and go to dinner every night. We take our adult disabled daughter and her best friend. We always have a one bedroom so we do breakfast in the room, buy a couple lunches at the pool to share and enjoy a nice dinner usually with a bottle of wine. We get TIW every March 1 or so and it is good until the end of April the following year so we get two trips (and sometimes more if we go around Christmas which we do about every other year). For us it makes perfect sense because we use it for 4 people, we get alcohol and we do signature dining almost every night. We like the Boathouse which doesn’t take TIW but does take the DVC card So we do get the 10% discount at least. It’s also good for most character meals except for Storybook Dining.

 

[Louis morrell]

Here is a thread which includes my recent experience

https://www.disboards.com/threads/tiw-need-to-decide.3791616/#post-61551913
If you drink it could save you some

 

[WIll C]

Beyond the Kingdoms Youtube channel did a breakdown of the DDP and other discounts recently. Might be worth checking out. With kids, the dining plan might be more worthwhile since you'll still get the 10% DVC discount if you buy TS meals outside of the plan (we also have the Visa card which is the same sort of discount). If you had four or more adults that drink then the TIW would probably be better.

 

[Sandisw]

The 1st trip is 2 adults and 2 kids. The 2nd trip is 4 adults, 1 "Disney adult" and 3 kids. I feel like with the 2nd trip we'd def spend more than 1500. All the adults enjoy a few drinks. We won't have a car, so parking wouldn't come into play.

Then TIW wins for sure with that many people!