Should I get Tables in Wonderland

[Wendybird55]

Hi..
For the past few years or more we've been buying annual passes and TiW card..we find this the best and most flexible way go to WDW. We love TiW and are familiar with benefits HOWEVER..this upcoming year only know of 1 tip so far. We will renew AP because with DVC discount and added benefits it's a better deal then buying PH tickets on undercover tourist even for 1 trip. But I'm not sure about TiW..I was just looking at all the restaurants and QS food places that have AP discounts TIW may be a waste of money...I know only some give 20% discount with AP and others 10%..does AP discount also include alcoholic beverages? Is there any reason I should get TIWARI or WILL AP and DVC discounts be enough? DDP doesnt work for us as DS is a picky eater and we usually need substitutions and such plus many the DH and I prefer appetizers to desset. Any way..TIW or not?
Thanks

 

[rwdavis2]

Only TiW discounts alcohol. You have to have spent, a pre-tax , $750 to break even withTiW.

 

[Accident]

There is no blanket answer for everyone to this question.....

It comes down to the money.. How and where you dine, how much you spend, what other discounts you might get already all tie into if the added cost of TiW will save you money....

There are a lot 10% places that you get 20% with TiW. There is many resorts depending on where you stay without table service where you get 20% off resort food costs and that adds up pretty quick even if your just coffee and breakfast or snack people. All the values, POFQ for the moderates and saratoga springs from the deluxes. Of course those with table service you get the 20% off their table service but your not going to do table service for morning coffee every day...

Also we don't really know what's going to happen to the AP discounts once oct 1 hits. Will they extend, will they get better for epcots anniversary year, will they not reduce all the way back to what they were.. I think success of pandora is really going to tie into if they want to get more money by offering more discounts to ap holders..

It does offer alcohol so if your a group that gets a drink or two at your meals or just goes out for drinks it can really add up in savings really fast making it very worthwhile. Some signatures if your coming with a group of 10 you can almost pay it off that 1 meal alone, and save a lot if there is alcohol being served. Also AP is only good for a few people (family of 4 I believe is the max) dining where TiW is good for 10 people and 20 if you get a spouse card for your significant other and both people and cards are present.

I was on the fence as well but I think they might be trying to get rid of the card so I took a chance oct 1 was going to really drop the ap discount so I renewed. I don't know if this is the norm but I got more than 12 months on my renewal so I have an even longer period of time to save money. I also know there is going to be family coming through a lot this fall so I'll more than save money.

then you have other discounts like the non-disney owned places with their own loyalty or discount cards. disney visa might get you a better deal than AP at some places.. your points or cash back,especially if your an apple pay or android/google/samsung pay user it might be more valuable to spend the extra to get the better rewards or more lucrative cash back.

So again no 1 answer, you just need to sort out if your wasting money to get it or not.

 

[Wendybird55]

Thanks Accident..was curious about the additional perks if they were going to continue...didn't remember date was Oct. ...we're going in Dec.. Quick question...is there a discounted renewal fee for TIW like for AP? Our AP renewal is next month which we are doing, and we bugh the TiW same day last year we activated our APS..so can I call someone to renew TIW as well and will it cost less..or domestic I usually do..buy TIW at ticket window when we go in Dec?
Thanks

 

[Barbydoll8]

TIW is $150 bucks w/o any renewal discount. You can buy it at any Guest Services location once you are there. Last year I just about broke even due to this price increase. Needless to say, I did not purchase this year.

 

[wdwthanksgiving]

I am an AP holder and we only go twice a year to WDW..for total of 7-8 nights ..I justify the cost of the AP because of the discounts on food and usually on hotel. We used to get the TIW but it has gotten too expensive for us - even with the discount for alcohol included, it takes a lot of food to get to the pre tax $750 point when I can already get 10% from many places with my AP. We loved having the current 20% with AP and hate to see that end at the end of Sept...I, too, am hopeful they will either extend the 20% or have a new promotion for AP holders with the Epcot celebration!

 

[mdelano4]

I ran the numbers, putting DDP, DVC Discount, AP Discount and TIW side by side. After taking enough trips, I have a pretty good idea of what we will be spending at each location. For us, TIW doesn't make sense this year. AP gives several of the same discounts and a number have been added for this year only (including some QS). We don't drink very much, so I didn't factor in alcohol (thanks for the tip, Accident), but perhaps I should have with a now over 21 DS. Maybe I will re-run the numbers, but as of now, AP puts us about $100 lower than TIW (which was next best).

 

[Wendybird55]

The increase in TIW won't make it worth it for us as well. DDP isn't a good deal either as DS is a very picky eater and the constraints of DDP don't work for us..we need to make substitutions and have the ability to order from either kids or adult menu
for our son. The year we went to Disney 3 times on one AP and TIW when it was $75 was great...we may only have one trip on this AP..However cost to renew gold AP with our DVC discount is only a couple of dollars more then purchasing the 6 day PH tickets we would need for our early Dec trip. Well looks like another good deal is no longer a good deal..at $150 no TIW..we'll just use whatever discounts we get from DVC and AP and hope there's another good AP offer after Oct. Thanks for the info...

 

[Deb & Bill]

TIW starts when you buy it. So if you aren't using it until Dec, don't buy it until you need it. Then you get the full year. Otherwise, it will expire 12 months from next month if you buy a new one then. You don't have to show the AP when you use the TIW, just an ID for the holder of the TIW card.

 

[CJCaesar]

How do they calculate the 18% automatic gratuity, before the TiW dicount or after?

 

[Ralph&Pam]

How do they calculate the 18% automatic gratuity, before the TiW dicount or after?

Before the discount.

 

[mab2012]

Only TiW discounts alcohol. You have to have spent, a pre-tax , $750 to break even withTiW.

And that assumes no other discounts. OP is an AP holder and DVC member. Even assuming no AP discounts after October 1, nearly all of the restaurants that accept TiW also offer a 10-30% DVC discount (mostly 10%). Doesn't include alcohol, but unless you're drinking an awful lot, that still puts the break-even mark nearer to $1500 for DVC members. http://allears.net/pl/disc_dining.pdf

I looked at it, as we expect to spend 12 nights at WDW within the next year, but even then I don't think it's worth it for my family of four. Maybe we'd save a bit... or not, depending on where and what we eat. I try to avoid discount programs that I have to pay for up front unless I know for sure I'll see a return (usually that means immediate).

 

[supersnoop]

The

nearly all of the restaurants that accept TiW also offer a 10-30% DVC discount

I don't believe that's true. The DVC discounts were expanded with the special AP discounts this year. In the past, there's only been about a 20% overlap of TiW and DVC discounts.

 

[cedricandsophie]

We have had TIW for three years. We go to Disney st least twice a year with a minimum of four people and never stay less than a week, We always eat dinner in a signature restaurant and sometimes lunch although we rarely go to parks anymore. We also usually get a bottle of wine with dinner and may have a couple of drinks st the pool or other lounges during the day. For us it makes perfect sense. But we are also DVC members so we could get ten percent st most places we eat, but not including the alcohol. Unfortunately we can easily spend a lot at dinner so for us it makes sense.

 

[honeymo78]

For my group of 3, we will be using TIW for 2 trips covering 14 nights. Honestly, betweeen alcohol and a Shulas visit each trip, we will hit the break even point. The rest of our meals, including a couple California Grill visits, will be pure savings. Actually 2 visits to those restaurants will likely put us close, even if we didn't drink a lot. However, my brother and I like to enjoy afternoons/evenings at Epcot, mainly at Rose & Crown where we can do some serious damage.

 

[TheRealDrDisney]

I haven't seen this mentioned yet, so I'll toss this out as well - free valet! You can't beat rolling up to Disney Springs (or any resort hotel) and dropping the car off at Valet. Get a couple of drinks at any TIW-participating restaurant and you've met your requirement to park with the valet for free.

Saving 25 bucks a pop on valet, plus 20-25 a meal at the sit-downs, it usually only takes us a few nights to recoup the costs.

I know it's different for everyone - but that's how it is for us.

 

[mab2012]

The

I don't believe that's true. The DVC discounts were expanded with the special AP discounts this year. In the past, there's only been about a 20% overlap of TiW and DVC discounts.

Sorry, which part of my post do you disbelieve? I provided the reference. A quick scan of that chart shows only a few TiW locations (mostly at value resorts) that don't also give a DVC discount. I haven't independently verified that the chart is 100% accurate, but the bits I've cross-checked are consistent.

I certainly wasn't making any kind of comment on what used to be true, or what might be true in the future. Of course DVC discounts are subject to change. So are TiW, for that matter.

 

[LovesTimone]

We have had TIW for a couple of years and renewing is up in the air.. depending on what happens with the AP's in October. While we enjoyed getting the discount on adult beverages, not sure if that will be enough for us to renew our TIW card. But then again DH was like well lets see... I'm on board either way.

 

[bumbershoot]

Sorry, which part of my post do you disbelieve? I provided the reference. A quick scan of that chart shows only a few TiW locations (mostly at value resorts) that don't also give a DVC discount. I haven't independently verified that the chart is 100% accurate, but the bits I've cross-checked are consistent.

I certainly wasn't making any kind of comment on what used to be true, or what might be true in the future. Of course DVC discounts are subject to change. So are TiW, for that matter.

You mentioned the October changeover of discounts in your previous post. So you have already made an allowance that things might change.

Having such an number of crossover discount places is new and different this year. It's not normally like this.


So for a December trip we *have to* note that this year is an anomaly and could easily go back to normal, which would likely make tiw appear better again.

 

[mab2012]

You mentioned the October changeover of discounts in your previous post. So you have already made an allowance that things might change.

Having such an number of crossover discount places is new and different this year. It's not normally like this.


So for a December trip we *have to* note that this year is an anomaly and could easily go back to normal, which would likely make tiw appear better again.

I acknowledged the expected change in AP discounts, because those those have specifically been identified as "limited time" discounts that are set to end on September 30, unless something changes. Maybe they will be extended, but there's no reason to assume that will happen. Most of the 10% DVC discounts are good for the calendar year, unless something changes midstream (which is possible but not likely). They might be renewed next year, or they might not. I see no reason to make assumptions either way on those. We all know that DVC benefits change from year to year. IMO the fact that those discounts haven't been offered in the past doesn't say anything about whether they'll be offered in the future, any more than the past presence of a discount would guarantee its continuance.

Anyhow, I'm not trying to talk anyone out of TiW, and not really sure why people are jumping on my post as though I've provided misinformation. If TiW works for you, great. My only point was that the $750 break-even point mentioned by a previous poster is an absolute minimum, and assumes no other discounts. For those who hold APs or particularly DVC members, the break-even point at this time is likely substantially higher, and I think potential purchasers should be aware of that before buying, especially if they're on the fence to begin with. That's all.