TABLES IN WONDERLAND - are my calculations correct?

[karen4546]

Hi all! We are going back to WDW for 8 days in April-staying at AKL - we upgraded in December to Annual Passes. I am considering purchasing the TIW card and here are my calculations:

NOT USING TIW: Cost of Dining : $800 plus tax at 7% ($56) plus gratuity at 18% ($144) = $1000

USING TIW : COST OF TIW $150 PLUS food cost $800 minus discount (-$160) plus tax ($44.80 if they tax on discounted amount) plus gratuity ($144) so total is $978.80

Of course this is assuming i ONLY eat at restaurants that take the TIW card.

now if they tax before discount....$990


So, I am essentially getting the TIW card free right? Since i would have spent $1000 on dining but the same dining is $978.80 but i still have the TIW card to use for a year. (BTW when i called to inquire on cost the rep. said that if i order in Feb. that the card would expire 3.31.20 )

just want to add that DH and i spent over $250 on one meal at Jiko in December-worth every penny-he had bourbon and i had 3 glasses of wine.

Please let me know if my numbers are wrong

 

[WDWFan0813]

Tax is calculated AFTER the discount is taken, but you are right that the gratuity is calculated before the discount is taken. One thing I don't see you considering, many restaurants offer a 10% AP discount, so you should really factor that into your "Not Using TIW" calculations depending on where you will be eating. If you google "Disney dining discount comparison" you can find a nice table laying out the discounts by type.

Enjoy that AP!

EDIT: Note that the AP discount does not include alcohol either.

 

[smiths02]

Is there an advantage to ordering the card in February instead of just getting it when you get there in April? (You would have a longer expiration date then)

 

[coasternut22]

TIW discount is computed on the amount of food and beverage before tip and tax. Tip and tax are added after the discount is applied. Gratuity is added to the full price of the food and beverage. Tax is added to the discounted price of the food and beverage.

 

[karen4546]

Is there an advantage to ordering the card in February instead of just getting it when you get there in April? (You would have a longer expiration date then)

We are arriving late to our resort (8:00pm) and we will have dinner at Jiko on our first night. We do drink alcohol so the discount will be great. I will probably order the first week of March to get the 4.30.20 expiration since i actually don't leave arrive in WDW until 4/27.

 

[karen4546]

TIW discount is computed on the amount of food and beverage before tip and tax. Tip and tax are added after the discount is applied. Gratuity is added to the full price of the food and beverage. Tax is added to the discounted price of the food and beverage.

i believe that is how my first calculations are done. My only question really was about the taxes and you answered that for me. I think the TIW discount is a good choice for our style of eating over the dining plan. I read several place where it would take $1500 or more in food to see a return over the AP discount, but we drink wine with our meals so i think it is a better bargain.

 

[karen4546]

TIW discount is computed on the amount of food and beverage before tip and tax. Tip and tax are added after the discount is applied. Gratuity is added to the full price of the food and beverage. Tax is added to the discounted price of the food and beverage.

so are FL taxes only 6.5% ? I did my calculations on 7%.

 

[robinb]

I think it's hard to make comparisons because there are a lot of moving pieces.

(1) The DDP includes CS meals, TIW (mostly) does not.
(2) Most TS restaurants also offer a 10% AP discount, so your true savings is really 10% more on food and not 20%.
(3) The TWI card includes alcohol, while the AP discount does not.
(4) Check black-out dates (I think Easter is blacked out).

We did buy the TIW card for the first time in a years last week. I used discounted Disney gift cards so my real cost was a bit lower than $150. We did it because we are planning to return in October and possibly in August too.

 

[Deb & Bill]

Hopefully, you are a Florida resident, DVC member or AP holder.

 

[karen4546]

Hopefully, you are a Florida resident, DVC member or AP holder.

YEP! I stated that in my original post that i upgraded in December 2018 to AP.

 

[Deb & Bill]

YEP! I stated that in my original post that i upgraded in December 2018 to AP.

Missed that.

 

[karen4546]

Missed that.

It happens. Are you a TIW card holder? Any tips? I am just happy to be an AP holder and getting 40% off my room. We have rented points through David's several times but this time the AP rate was a bit better and our trip is in only a few months. I have been to WDW a couple of times a year since 2012, but there is just still so much i don't know.

 

[NYCgrrl]

Timely post.
Non FL resident AP holder and considering finally buying a TIW card for what will probably be our last trip during the next 2 years. We eat amostly at lot of signature restaurants and while I enjoy a glass of good wine the man prefers vodka martinis. Still haven't done the math to decide if the AP, TIW or a Disney dining plan will give us the best bang for the buck but good to see a lively discussion on the subject.
Carry on!.

 

[Ben E N]

Considering you are not taking 10% off dining with your AP card (or call it 6% since your meals will include alcohol), it actually looks like you would be better off without the card. I make my break evenish point of $1200 in almost guaranteed dining. The real break even number is $1500.

 

[Deb & Bill]

It happens. Are you a TIW card holder? Any tips? I am just happy to be an AP holder and getting 40% off my room. We have rented points through David's several times but this time the AP rate was a bit better and our trip is in only a few months. I have been to WDW a couple of times a year since 2012, but there is just still so much i don't know.

We had the TIW card a few times. Haven't gotten it recently. It was really good to have when our son was a CM and we'd take him and a few of his friends out for dinner. Between the dinner and the adult beverages, we usually got our card fee back pretty quickly. Now we just go with the DVC or AP discount on the meal.

When he graduated from HS, we brought him and eight of his friends to WDW (they paid for their own food and park admission). We provided the OKW Grand Villa on our DVC points. We did take all of them to breakfast at Chef Mickey's one morning and got the TIW discount on ten of our eleven meals.

 

[Ben E N]

We had the TIW card a few times. Haven't gotten it recently. It was really good to have when our son was a CM and we'd take him and a few of his friends out for dinner. Between the dinner and the adult beverages, we usually got our card fee back pretty quickly. Now we just go with the DVC or AP discount on the meal.

When he graduated from HS, we brought him and eight of his friends to WDW (they paid for their own food and park admission). We provided the OKW Grand Villa on our DVC points. We did take all of them to breakfast at Chef Mickey's one morning and got the TIW discount on ten of our eleven meals.

My wife, kids and I used it in 2016-2017, but we had three trips in that time period, including a ton of meals and a stay in the Pop Century food court, where it is good for use. Other than that, we plan to use it for a huge family trip in 2021, but not in between. It locks you in to a lot of table service meals to make it worthwhile, which is both good and bad.

 

[marikujawa]

You really have to consider what’s right for you. If you consider alcoholic beverages (including pricey wine), the $1,500 is nowhere near correct as a break even point.

 

[karen4546]

update: I am definitely getting the TIW card and one for my husband at an extra $50 since sometimes he visits the lounges without me before dinner. Planning our trip has our dining at around $1200 (including alchohol) and that is just this trip. I plan on going at least 2 more visits this calendar year. I will order the card in March and it should have an April 2020 exp. my AP expires December 2019 but i plan on renewing. The photopass and merchandise discount on the AP are a couple of the reasons why i will renew the AP. I have already more than made up for the cost of the AP.

 

[kiford]

I have to sit down and actually calculate how we did over the holidays with our TiW card. While I can't recall exactly, I do remember that some places only took AP discounts and some only TiW so having both was quite useful to us. We also have wine with dinner, went to some lounges and even had snacks or CS this trip (something we don't usually do) so we were well covered. I have no doubt that we'll more than break even since we're going another 2-4 times this year but I'd like to get an exact amount as well as the difference between if we just had AP versus TiW. And we did get told that our card was good for 13 months.

 

[kkar]

We've been TIW holders for many years. We enjoy the signatures, and normally have pre and post-dinner cocktails and very often a bottle of wine with dinner. so for us it works well. Another benefit that I haven't yet seen mentioned is free valet parking at the resorts, which is really nice if you're all dressed up for a dinner date! Totally worth it for us!