Tables in Wonderland - Is it worth it??

[mickeycoffee]

I am looking at this for our next trip, we definitely spend more than $469 so it seems to make sense.

Can someone tell me how the discount works for CRT if we already paid for it?

They refund your original pre-paid charge and then charge the newly discounted price to your card. Easy peasy.

 

[erionm]

I am looking at this for our next trip, we definitely spend more than $469 so it seems to make sense.

Can someone tell me how the discount works for CRT if we already paid for it?

From the TiW website:

Pre-Paid Reservations and Dinner Shows:

• For any participating Walt Disney World restaurant where reservations are pre-paid, please make a reservation and pay full price at the time of booking. Upon arrival to the restaurant, present the Tables in Wonderland card for a 20% refund.

http://tablesinwonderland.com/

 

[tink519]

Thank you!

 

[bumbershoot]

They refund your original pre-paid charge and then charge the newly discounted price to your card. Easy peasy.

All they do is refund the TIW discount. No re-charge.


DVC Grandpa, doing the math is worth it. For us, we were barely going anywhere that had a DVC discount, and the normal AP discount wasn't helpful in any way that I recall. Seems we just go to places, and at times, that the AP and DVC plans don't cover. But it's worth knowing!

 

[Hollymom1229]

While it's generally just DH and I on our trips, we have never had trouble breaking even on the card. We like to eat at some of the really nice Disney restaurants (Jiko at least once a trip) and we like to have a glass of wine a piece with dinner, and usually another adult beverage with dessert. DH and I have easily racked up a $150 - 200 tab on that meal alone. We also do at least one TS a day while on a trip, and will usually spend some time in our resort's lounge with a drink or two in the evening. Over the course of an 8 night trip we have always broken even with just us.

When we have had friends or family with us we break even faster. The TIW card we get this December will be paid for by then end of that trip and will be pure discount for our trips in June and December 2014.

 

[sgtpet]

I generally have one meal a day at a location that I can use TIW. So when I travel 3 times in a year with the annual pass for 24 days it definitely pays off. I also paid $75 for it last year so it was even more economical but even at a $100 you can easily spend that. The Disney restaurants are not cheap.

 

[RSWA2]

We went for 19 days during January and February and used the TiW card where ever accepted and we broke about even. Now we are scheduled for another 21 days during the F&W festival. If you think about it, perhaps I should consider how much I would have saved by using other means of discount such as DVC discounts when I make the savings calculation.

If you only chose places that had a 10% AP/DVC discount and a 20% TiW discount, then the effective percentage that you save is approximately 10%. (Slightly higher since the 18% tip is calculated on the 20% discounted total)

So then you would have to spend over $900 to break even?

Is that right?

This might help http://allears.net/pl/disc_dining.pdf

 

[Lorelei528]

No. The freestanding kiosks do not offer the TiW discount. Many bars and lounges do.

http://tablesinwonderland.com/

We were able to use it on Grand Marnier Slushies at the kiosk. Maybe it wa a fluke, but it doesn't hurt to ask.

This trip we're going to ask everytime we buy a drink no matter where we are!

 

[dsneygirl]

We definitely think it is worth it. Originally we had 3 trips booked for the time period of our APs and TiW. We're still doing 2 trips=19 days we broke even and saved another $75 or so last Sept so everything else is gravy this year.

We went to Ohana with friends in a big group and our server put all 8 Lapu Lapus on our TiW card and everyone gave me cash. Save a bundle right there

 

[lucyem]

For us the TIW was worth it for awhile when we ate more TS meals on property. But doing the math, for us, it does not work out anymore.

 

[AmyB2006]

Yeah i didnt preface this by saying i usually dont travel in a big party..sometimes im alone sometimes with just a few people and I only get to WDW 2x a year max usually for a 5 days per trip so it doesnt pay..youd have to get there many times a year and in a huge party and to extremely high end restaurants for it to pay

So for you it doesn't pay. For others it does. There's nothing to "get".

For us, there's 4 adults and 2 children and we go there at least 3 times a year, and will definitely spend more than $500 each trip in TS meals. So for us, it does. Plus my parents are locals and they go into Disney sometimes just to eat dinner at one of the restaurants.

Pays for some, doesn't for others.

Same as why the DDP isn't worth it for us, but is apparently for others. For the way we dine, TIW makes much more sense.

 

[Inkmahm]

Yeah i didnt preface this by saying i usually dont travel in a big party..sometimes im alone sometimes with just a few people and I only get to WDW 2x a year max usually for a 5 days per trip so it doesnt pay..youd have to get there many times a year and in a huge party and to extremely high end restaurants for it to pay

Not exactly. You only need to spend $500 in 13 months for Disney Food to make this card worth buying. That is not hard to do at all if you eat at Table service restaurants (were the Table in Wonderland card is valid.)

I've had the Table in Wonderland card since I first started to get annual passes, I think 2004. It has saved me LOTS of money over the years. It was $50 in the beginning, then $75 and now $100. Still, it is definitely worth it for me and my husband. I highly recommend it.

 

[bumbershoot]

So for you it doesn't pay. For others it does. There's nothing to "get".

But he doesn't see that it COULD pay for him. He says "sometimes im alone sometimes with just a few people and I only get to WDW 2x a year max usually for a 5 days per trip".

10 days, usually, per year. Sometimes alone, sometimes with others. The question is, where does he generally eat? Are those places included in TIW? What does he order? Does he pay for the other people that come with him? etc.

The answers are what would determine if TIW could work for him. Because it sure works for us, and we are a small group of people who don't tend to order all that much!

 

[ML_LovesDisney]

The one year we got annual passes, so paid $75 for the card, and went twice that year. It was worth it going twice totaling 13 nights, but other than that, it would not be worth it for us especially paying $100. It is a good option at times though, it just depends.

 

[sfbntpc]

Can I combine my DVC discount with the TiW card?

 

[mouseaider]

We bought it one year when it was $75 and it helped.

It was my DW and I on one (8 day) trip. Then our DS, DIL, and DGD joined us for another (8 day) trip. My DW and I went for another (8 day) trip within the 13th month. I thought we saved big $$ that year,

This last trip we didn't buy it because we would be by ourselves for two trips and we eat more in our studio.

As it turns out, we are returning in early April and we might have as many as 14 family members there with us, so we would get it for that trip and also use it again for either October or December.

Every situation is different.

 

[JWG]

I find the TiW to be a more flexible version of the DDP. Disney advertises you get 20% of with the DDP. Not sure if true, haven't done the math on paying for what you get with DDP.

What I know is, we don't eat like the DDP sets you up. We bring water into the park with us, we don't order desserts (especially with counter service), and it's just not a real savings since it forces us to eat differently.

We've doen TiW twice and loved it. You know what you have to spend to break even ($501), and you get the 20% on what you actually eat. So for us, the added perk of including alcohol is a bonus.

Now, the forced 18% tip doesn't help if you do a lot of buffets as I never tip 18% on a buffet. But, my normal tip is 20% on total (including tax), so it works out for us.

But, we only do it if we're traveling with a group bigger than the 3 of us and/or if we'll be there multiple times over the year. Since we usually do breakfast in the room and CS for either lunch or dinner, we have to make our money back on 1 TS a day. That means typically 10+ days.

We follow the same strategy for TiW as we do an annual pass. If we won't be there long enouth to warrant an annual pass, we likely won't get our money back on the TiW.

Keep in mind, another perk is free valey as long as you have your dining receipt. That can help tremendously if you're needing to park at the resort to eat.

We did Yachtsman Steakhouse this last trip with TiW - we realized it right away.

 

[BTSD]

FYI - Your breakeven point would be around $750 - give or take because of any alcoholic beverages. Your DVC membership gives you 10% at most places, so you'd have to take that into consideration as well.

 

[lucyem]

Can I combine my DVC discount with the TiW card?

No combining of discounts, it is one or the other.

 

[JWG]

FYI - Your breakeven point would be around $750 - give or take because of any alcoholic beverages. Your DVC membership gives you 10% at most places, so you'd have to take that into consideration as well.

It's not often we've gone to a restaurant that has the DVC discount when we're there. Either it's a rotating discount in Membe Perks, it's a lunch discount and for some reason we need to go for dinner, or it's not a location that has a DVC discount.

So, yes, definitely have to think about if you're really only getting 10% because the membership already includes a 10% discount potentially. IE, we will do Mexico for lunch when we don't have the TiW card and use the 10% discount.