Poll: Tables in Wonderland or Dining Plan?

[ZephyrHawk]

I recently looked into this very question with regard to my upcoming trip. I determined that the DDP is no longer a good value for my family (or for the 3 families that will be traveling with us). I also determined that TIW would be a good value, especially if we "treat" those other families several times. However, I'm not sure, if we weren't traveling with extended family, whether I would bother getting TIW. In my calculations I might save more than the cost of the card....might. So I'd probably just pay cash if we were going alone.

 

[gdrj]

TIW for us IF we are making multiple trips. We used it for a family trip, an extended family trip as well as for the two of us. After the first trip we were ahead.
DDP for us increases our cost based on our eating habits. I don't need dessert with every meal. We used this only once when we had our Daughter and her friend with us. This allowed us to not worry about cash for them to eat while they bounced around on their own.

Currently have 1 possibly 2 trips planned for this year for just the two of us and probably will stay with just using DVC and AP discounts

 

[luckyman_apd]

Since I was the one that brought up the 18% gratuity for TiW card, it was not to say that that one should not tip. I actually have at times add to the 18% TiW gratuity, instead it was to point out that TiW adds this to the bill automatically (which I feel is a another benefit or factor of having the TiW). However, if you feel the service was not deserving you can reduce it, which I have done once. Table servers at Disney World have told me they get less tips (percent and number wise) from those using the Dining Plan. Since these individuals seem to believe either the meal is free, so there is no basis to tip, or the Disney is providing the tip for the server.

I wasn't calling you out....I was agreeing with you. I have seen other threads where people were against TiW that it was only a 2% discount because the gratuity

It really is sad if people feel that they don't have to tip because they are on the dining plan. It explicit says gratuity NOT included. I personally hate the DDP because of all the advanced planning.....and it's too much food. I also have a 9 year old who is approaching 10 who will NEVER eat an adult sized portion. If there is a particular place we would like to eat.....we try to get an advanced reservation.....but for the most part, nothing ruins a trip like saying...."Hey kids.....stop having fun...because we need to be at (insert restaruant name here) by (insert time here). THAT is why we stopped the DDP. We felt like the whole trip was planned around meals. Never again. If I'm hungry.....we'll go eat....but planning that stuff is for the birds. If we decide hey, lets get a sit down meal tonight....we'll see what's available on the app that day, or try our luck for a walk up. Only once was the selection so narrow that only a handfull of places were open on property.....and I was pleasantly surprised (Ragland Road)

 

[mommary]

Tables in Wonderland for us! Just seems like a better deal for what we need.

 

[EPCOTgrl1]

If I know that I am going to spend more then $500 (which isn't hard at all) on food for my trip then I get TIW. The first time we got it was for my sisters 21st Birthday and there were 10-14 people at each meal and we used it overtime. It was also nice because with a group that big everyone paid for a meal so even if it wasn't my name on the credit card we still go the discount.

 

[disneynutz]

Depends on what we have planed. We always look over the menus and decide what type of vacation we want to do, check out the costs and pick the best deal.

Bill

 

[MaryLovesPoohBear]

Depends on what we have planed. We always look over the menus and decide what type of vacation we want to do, check out the costs and pick the best deal.

Bill

That's us.

I tend to plan our trips down to the meal. So we look at where we might be when, and check out the menu for that meal. I'll make reservations if it is a table service, or just note the counter service location. We add up what we might spend, then calculate that against the dining plan.

We've never had to say, "stop having fun." We simply plan for meals. Just like we do at home. Maybe it helps that we don't have small children.

We haven't tried the TIW. We just aren't big drinkers. So having the discount on adult beverages just isn't a big selling point. But we to see if it will save us money. So far, it hasn't.

 

[shpdem]

I prefer ddp only bc I want everything paid before we go except tips that way we can decide what we want then instead of trying to plan that out in advance to know how much we need.

 

[otterpop]

Check out this link to download a dining price calculator (it's an Excel spreadsheet). I think it could be off by a few dollars, but will still give you a good idea of cost comparisons.

http://seeyareelsoon.wix.com/seeyareelsoon#!dining-plan-calculator/cxc0

My family (2 adults and 2 children) have used the basic dining plan (1 QS and 1 TS) several times over the last few years and will be using it again for our 5 day trip in August. Although I feel that the DP does "force" us to eat how we would not normally (desserts and snacks), but the way I look at it..we're in DisneyWorld and on vacation! We have ADR's for BOG, Boma, Mama Melrose (Fantasmic Package), Biergarten and Cape May. We would normally eat at those "types" of restaurants for dinner and would also have 1 QS each for lunch.

Using the dining plan gives us 2 adult and 2 children TS/day, 2 adult and 2 children QS/day, 4 total snacks/day, and 4 mugs. According to the calculator (includes 18% gratuity) for the above, the estimated out of pocket total cost would be $1,009, the estimated cost using the TIW would be $1,000 (this includes the $100 investment to purchase the TIW card), and the estimated cost by using the dining plan would be $875. The way I look at it, we are saving about $135. Now some people will say (myself included) that the mugs are a waste of money, you won't eat all of those desserts and snacks, etc...But, even if that is the case, we still have the mugs to use if we want (and we will use them a few times, but not a lot) and we have the option of eating all of those desserts and snacks AND are still saving some money. As for the alcohol, I don't drink and my wife will occasionally order a glass of wine...but, still saving more money with the DP, over the TIW.

Now there is also one intangible with the DP...knowing that everything is paid for in advance, lets me enjoy my vacation that much more for some strange reason!

I agree with others with the fact that if you are traveling to DW several times over the next year, the TIW might be best in the long run. Also, I think the DP works well for us in the sense of "saving" money because of the two children. If I change the values to 4 adults into the calculator, the #'s change to OOP, $1,385, TIW, $1,336, and for DP, $1,310.

Like others have suggested, you need to figure out the where and what you plan to eat and then see which option will works the best...

Evan

 

[ccbloom]

This was our first trip trying TIW vs. our past 5 trips using the DP, and I am saying TIW wins for us!

DP for me, DH and DD8 was about $950 for our 8 night stay.

• We never used the mugs because we would get a drink with breakfast and then be stuck carrying leaky mugs around all day. Total waste for us, so the lack of them is no big deal. Since we were in a villa, we made our own coffee each morning, which was much easier than walking to the damn Boardwalk Bakery!
  
  
• We always had about 10 QS meals left on our last day. We would normally split 1 or 2 at a meal time because a TS wasn't far behind or ahead.
  
  
• We like to have a couple cocktails with each meal. So, even after paying almost $1k for a dining plan, we were still spending approx. $60 per meal with tip and drinks.
  
  
• MOST of our TS meals this trip were about $75-85 with drinks and tip included, the exception being Boma, which had my husband spending about $40 for a plate of mac and cheese and fish nuggets.
  
  
• I would go crazy worrying about how many snack credits we had left. It seems like DH and DD want a pretzel or popcorn every time they see them, and we would run out of snacks by day 5.
  
  
• Some nights we wanted a larger meals, and some nights we wanted a couple appetizers and some drinks. We weren't tied to a full meal even with ADRs.
  
  
• DH is not a big dessert fan. Some meals we shared a dessert, some meals we didn't have any at all.
  
  
• DD's appetite was much bigger this year than it had been in the past. I had thought she would have shared with me and DH more this year, but she seemed to get her own child meal at many of the TS restaurants. Totally fine because she could get whatever she wanted and opted for an appetizer at some.
  
  
• We might not have gotten as much food, but I felt more free to eat however I wanted. I know on the DP there are lots of options, but I always felt that I needed to have dessert, or I needed to have a HUGE meal. And I KNOW my waistline certainly thanks me!
  
  
• DH was afraid I was going to be a penny-pincher because the amount we spent was directly related to exactly what we ordered. He thought I was going to be telling him to get a cheeseburger instead of a steak. And I never once did. With the MB, it's so easy to pay...kind of too easy, like a credit card!
  

I haven't added up everything just yet, but with the DP costing $1550 per trip ($1k + $550 in additional tips/drinks), and TIW being approx. $1075 ($700 for TS with tips/drinks, $150 CS, $50 snacks, $100 TIW card, $75 in-room groceries that we normally don't buy), we definitely come out ahead a couple hundred dollars with TIW. Even if we did break even this trip, we still have the TIW card to use for our trip next year since it expires at the end of the next month.

Now, I haven't done the savings of DVC/AP 10% vs TIW, but since TIW discounts alcohol, that was why we went with it. Gosh, I make us sound like a couple of drunks, but 2 drinks ea per meal is $40!

 

[Anal Annie]

OK, I must be loosing my mind - I don't see a poll to vote on. But I would vote for TIW if I saw it. The older our DS gets and the more he eats the more of a value it is. When he was still eating kids meals, not so much. But now he's the one who'll be able to put away enough to feed 6 ppl. Since we're only 3 ppl and we don't eat TS EVERY DAY it usually takes us a couple of trips to be ahead on the cost now that it's $100 to buy. I will sometimes order a drink with dinner and DH often orders a beer with his meal too and likes to pick up a beer here & there as we walk around Epcot so the TIW is nice for that too.

 

[loveglobe]

TIW for sure. We'll usually each have a glass of alcohol per day (at dinner) and like to eat at table service places at least one meal per day (breakfast is typically something fast that we make in our room). Also, we found it far too stressful trying to make sure we maximized our dining plan points, like ordering the most expensive thing on the menu even if it wasn't what we truly wanted and eating far more than we really needed to make sure not one pre-paid dollar went to waste. TIW allowed us more flexibility, and for a party of four (2 hungry adults, 1 big two year old, 1 smallish grandparent) there for a week it saved us money overall.

 

[MaryLovesPoohBear]

Reading through the responses, it seems that TIW comes out ahead, if you drink alcohol and if you don't tend to plan meals.

I will have to sit down and calculate it on our next trip. Since we don't drink, maybe one drink per trip, and we do plan most if not all of our meals, it seems that TIW might not be worth it. We also tend to eat table service, just once a day. It is counter service the rest of the time. We also eat breakfast in the room.

Math mind working . . . . . . . . . . . .

 

[AnnaS]

TIW for us. We get two trips out of it. Will add that we have never done the dining plan.

 

[gmi3804]

Another perk that no one's mentioned is the free valet parking with a dining receipt. Over my typical 9-day trips, I'll use the valet service easily six or seven times. If I were staying at GF or BW, I'd use it every day, multiple times. At $20 a pop, the card pays for itself very quickly, before even taking dining discounts into account. We get three trips out of one card, as we visit in May and October every year.

 

[MakiraMarlena]

I'm one of those who finds the dining plan too restrictive and not at all convenient. TIW all the way.

Check the black out dates on the TIW card. That's why we aren't getting one this year. And we don't do the dining plan. You didn't have NEITHER on your poll.

Personally I find the blackout dates inconsequential. I'm not there on the major holidays and can easily avoid the few restaurants with extended blackout dates. But then the alcohol discount is probably my biggest reason for sticking with TIW over something like the DVC/AP discounts.

 

[skier_pete]

I have to say as someone that has used the DDP a lot over the last 8 years - it used to be a great value, then it was a good value...now it is of marginal value. If you eat at a ton of character buffets, it can work well for you, but overall it is NOT something I would recommend unless you are getting it at a discounted package rate or as part of "free dining". Neither of those apply to DVC of course. Working the DDP well, and you can perhaps save some money. But it really depends on how you use it.

TiW is much easier to calculate. You save 20 % off certain restaurants. IT costs $100. If you are going to eat at restaurants that take it (And realize that much of the QS restaurants in the parks DON'T take it. ) and spend at least $500, then it will save you money.

What many people forget is that DVC members get a 10 - 20 % discount at many restaurants in Epcot (Chefs De France, Teppan Edo, Biergarten, Tuto Italia,etc), DTD (Raglan Road, T-Rex, etc) and at the DVC resorts (most of the Boardwalk restaurants, Sanaa, Citrico's, Artists Point,etc) . The full list is at the DVC website. This should also be factored into a TiW purchase. For instance, if you use your TiW card at Tutto Italia for a $100 meal, as a DVC member you get 15 % off anyways, so TiW only saves you an additional $5.

But overall, I would say the TiW is better in most cases.

 

[Dean]

DDP is a specialty item. IMO one needs to save 20% over cash minimum to even consider it due to the risk involved if one has to cancel, leave early or becomes ill. It's very difficult if not impossible to save this much on the quick service, a little easier but still difficult on the basic plan and easier on the deluxe plan but only if one works it. All are generally best for shorter stays and when kids 3-9 are involved. The TIW has a cost that can be difficult to make up. While cash was mentioned, the other discounts were unless I missed them skimming the replies. To me there are 3 choices that include the DP, TIW and cash with other discounts. For many trips cash is the best option because one has no potential losses. To make the decision one simply goes through their dining options and the menu's and it's a pretty simple math issue after that. My opinion is the DP has to be a major discount comparatively speaking to be worth it, it is often for us for the deluxe plan only.