Poll: How do DVCers pay for dining?

[Micca]

We've considered TIW, but up to this point we're OOP folks. There are typically 3 in our party with varied desires of when/what to eat. One of us will eat a formal meal only once a day, only one of us wants any breakfast, etc. One of the things we love about DVC is stocking up our room with treats and snackage materials. Quite frankly, a sandwich made with deli turkey, cheese and some tasty bread with some chips compares favorably to what many of the QS places at WDW offer(and the price can't be beat!). We're all adults so it's not like someone is spending their vacation prepping meals for the group, we're all on our own. Still, the TIW idea is alluring...we'll have to see what happens.

 

[lovin'fl]

Well, I picked TIW even though we've done the DDP most of our DVC trips...all but the last DVC trip in which we paid OOP. The trip coming up...in 8 days ...we are doing TIW and we'll probably do it from now on (thank you DVC for now letting us get TIW w/out AP). We loved DDP when it was under $40/adult, our kids were kid pricing and tips plus apps were included. But, over the last few years DDP has become a bad deal. I had a hard time paying the latest pricing and January will be another increase that 'put the nail in the coffin' on DDP for us.

 

[Granny]

We do TIW, though now that it is primarily just DW and I going to WDW, I'm not sure we spend enough to make the TIW work out. If they keep jacking up the price on the card, we'll probably just go out of pocket in the future.

And probably start eating off-site more regularly since the parks are becoming less and less of our focus for the trips.

Good poll...I've wondered what the percentages of people here are using the DDP since there are so many threads talking about it.

 

[Caren]

The dining plan doesn't really fit the way we eat. Usually we have our meals in our villa and only do one or two meals per trip with Disney. Because these are usually high-end meals and because we do tend to spend a lot on drinks, we do have a Tables in Wonderland card.

 

[psac]

Definitely TIW. We like appetizers more than desserts, and don't do much counter service, so basic DDP doesn't really work for us, and DxDP is too much food. TIW seems just right.

 

[christianweecare]

Wow! I am really surprised at the results of this poll so far!

 

[mickeyplanner]

I chose TiW because we prefer it. But our AP's expired in Sept. and TiW in November. So this coming trip (in 4 days) we are doing the dining plan. Very happy that soon TiW will be available to DVC members without AP's - just wish the announcement (and subsequent implementation) had been announced a little sooner!

We made an offer today on a DVC resale, so I am not fully aware of all the perks available to DVC members. TIW is a wonderful addition. When did that start and what other perks do you get with your DVC membership?

 

[suedaisy]

If you don't mind my asking...
I am not an owner, but I am a frequent renter of points. I have a trip planned in January and one in March (both in 2012). I used gift cards to pay for the Dining Plan in January and plan to add DDP to my trip in March. I calculated what I thought the price would be for January 2012. My payment was actually less than what I thought. Could it be that I was charged the 2011 price? Would this be the same for my March 2012 trip if I add DDP and pay prior to January 2012? It may be "worth" it to me to pay early if that is the case. Any suggestions?

Sorry. I know that I am not an owner, but I have become a fan of the villas!

 

[a742246]

We made an offer today on a DVC resale, so I am not fully aware of all the perks available to DVC members. TIW is a wonderful addition. When did that start and what other perks do you get with your DVC membership?

Good Luck on your offer.

 

[lnevo]

We just finished an 8 night trip and went with TiW this round. Dining plan would have cost us ~$720 plus gratuities. Our itemized total on food was $600 with tips. I call it a win, plus we will use it on our next two trips. We had my parets with us the first four nights so the savings were even more. I think we recouped the $75 after the 3rd day.

 

[Kidanifan08]

We have used TIW the past year. We can't eat all of the food that comes with the DDP. We have used the card for 4 trips which covered about 28 dayst at WDW, so the TIW paid for itself. We generally travel with more than just the three of us, so it does not take long to cover the cost of the card. We pay out of pocket for our CS meals, of course. We keep wanting to use the card at Flame Tree BBQ, but we love eating at Yak and Yeti too much and never get around to it!

We will renew our TIW when it expires. If the DVC pricing is higher than the AP pricing, we will buy it with our AP, since we will renew those as well. Hopefully they will cut DVC members a good deal on the card!

 

[castleri]

We have found the TIW to work well for us in most cases. This last trip last week we paid OOP and had one day of DxDP. Our TIW card expired in Oct and our APs today. I will not renew either until the next trip since we don't have one planned and don't know when we will be back. The DxDP worked well and we had our fill of table service restaurants in the two days we used it. We did lunch with the princesses at Norway and it included two pictures (we had 5 people in the group). Then we all had dinner at the new Mexican place. Two of the group had dinner at Norway and 3 at Raglan Road the following evening. The rest of the time we ate mostly CS meals except for one at Rainforest Cafe and had breakfast in the villas. We were there 6 nights and found this worked better for us than when we had DDP for an entire trip. One evening my DGD (24) and I ate popcorn for dinner while watching the MSEP. We had a good breakfast and lunch and dole whip and ice cream and just weren't hungry. If we had had the DDP it would have been just too much food and would have interfered with the great time we were having in the park with DGD(4) who did have a cheeseburger and fries while we munched our popcorn.

 

[disneyfreak2127]

Very happy that soon TiW will be available to DVC members without AP's - just wish the announcement (and subsequent implementation) had been announced a little sooner!

Just curious...when will this be implemented? Before our March 2012 trip, I hope! DH does not like to be tied to too many ressies so we can be more flexible in our touring. TIW would be awesome, but since we are not currently AP holders, not an option.

 

[Pakey]

We use TIW. One dinner at Victoria & Alberts covers the cost and we try to eat there every time we visit WDW.

The dining plan is too much food for us and unless the dessert is something extraordinary, we skip.

We have found that as each trip comes and goes, we are less and less thrilled with WDW dining (more so the structure of the vacation than the actual food) and we do more and more in-villa eating because it's a more relaxed vacation style.

 

[missycj96]

I do a mix. Last summer i did segmented deluxe and did all my character meals on the plan. I also do oop with tiw sometimes. The character meals are too expenive oop. Without segmented dining, i would not do dining plan at the current prices. The dining plan has become so expensive that the value is low - especially over the course of a longer trip. As to how we actually make the payment we do a mix of cash, credit or key to the world. I'd love to see a great dvc rewards credit card with double and bonus points for all disney purchases.

 

[supersuperwendy]

In 2009 and 2010 we did the dining plan because it was what were used to from booking packages. In Jan. 2011 we paid OOP and loved it..we saved so much money. For 2012 we have a big group of extended family going with us so we will be doing DDP for ease. In the future after that...TiW for sure!

 

[lovin'fl]

If you don't mind my asking...
Could it be that I was charged the 2011 price? Would this be the same for my March 2012 trip if I add DDP and pay prior to January 2012? It may be "worth" it to me to pay early if that is the case. Any suggestions?

You may have been. You should call and check on that. It would be worth it to add DDP for your March trip now, if they charge you 2011 rates.

 

[disneynutz]

For us we use OOP. The DDP is no longer a good value and we don't care for the high price food that Disney is now offering at most of their restaurants. Putting a small piece of meat on a plate and drawing a circle around it with some type of sauce while charging you $38 isn't for me.

We eat more off site and/or eat in the Villa. Eating isn't the reason that we go to WDW and dealing with ADR's and planing your day around getting to your next meal isn't relaxing for us.

Bill

 

[JimMIA]

If we were going to eat onsite, we'd use the TiW card.

But we eat virtually all of our meals offsite now. After several years with DDP (before they gutted it), we really got tired of the same old food. The first couple of years, we did one character meal each trip, but we don't even do those now -- or at least we haven't the last two trips.

We find offsite offers far more variety, better food at every level, and lower cost. And quite frankly, we also enjoy just getting AWAY from WDW for a while each night.

 

[PoohsFan1]

We always use the dining plan we like to know that our meals are already paid for. I think I am going to look into the Tables in Wonderland card for our next trip since we will more than likely become AP holders, plus I think I read that it will be offered to DVC members too in the future.