Eating as a DVC Member

[lazydazy8]

We are working on figuring out what we'll do for our trip in December. We love the food plan, but it is just so much food. I am going to sit down with the menus, figure out what (approx.) we'd spend if we just paid out of pocket for the ADR's we'd HAVE to do vs. doing the food plan.

I am also considering purchasing the Dining in Wonderland card. Is this card really worth it? I will need to look at the list of participating restaurants.

I will also consider that some restaurants give a DVC discount and the annual passholder discount is available to us.

Has anyone done this kind of investigating themselves? I would love to get some feedback on all these options if you'd compared as well.

TIA!

 

[drusba]

You need an AP to buy the Tables in Wonderland card. That is what we have. It is worth it. 20% off meal and drinks at almost everywhere. A few don't take it (one is Teppan Edo in Japan). Go here for places that take it: http://www.wdwinfo.com/disneydiningexperience.htm They do automatically add 18% tip at restaurants (to the discounted price). You also cannot use it on holidays (just the holiday date itself because it is still usable for days around a holiday).

 

[wheelcap]

I do the math for every trip! On one trip a couple years ago, we got the dining plan (1ts, 1cs, 1s); but that was the only time the math worked out for us. Other than that, for how much we eat, none of the 'deals' were worth it. For our trip later this summer, even with friends to help distribute it, TIW still won't pay for itself, and we're planning too many 'special' things to make the dining plan work right. It's all about the math.

 

[Debrn]

I'm trying to figure the same. We have a split stay VWL 6 nights and BLT 4 nights. 3 nights at VWL is a 1 bdr. I was thinking breakfast in the room and 3 nights dinner I will probably cook . My DS 6 and DS will be 10 end on Nov. they don;t even finish the kids meals so I dont thing the DDP would be worth it for us. I thought we would do the AP and get the TIW card. My husband and I also like a few drinks in the evening.

 

[Inkmahm]

The TIW card is generally valid for 13 months so we use it for 3 or 4 trips. It pays for itself in a couple meals for us as we eat TS for almost every lunch and dinner. I can't imagine the TIW card NOT being worth it unless you eat a lot of CS meals, even at dinner (bleech) or you make your owm meals in your villa (no chance other than breakfast.) We save LOTS with it.

We've also done the Deluxe Dining Plan but that really is a lot of food to eat. It turns out to be about the same as if we'd just used the TIW card instead and purchased our TS meals ala carte. We don't drink much soda or coffee though so the refillable mugs weren't a benefit to us.