Tables in Wonderland Question...

[Brian152]

I posted this in the Disney Retaurants section but thought I would ask here as well to hopefully get some advice.....

I'm hoping someone can offer some advice for me regarding the Tables in Wonderland Card. We are going in June for 7 of us, my wife and I and our 2 youngest and then my oldest daughter, her husband and 4 year old. My wife and I are DVC members and going again over New Years so we are getting the TIW card. My oldest will be paying for the 3 of them separately but I would still like to figure out a way for them to be able to get the discounts when we eat/drink.... The problem is the last time we did that with them I just paid it all and kept track of their portions but of course she is a pain and had different numbers and issues came up when it was time to pay up so we will not be doing that again. Does anyone have any suggestions for them to be able to get the discount without having to just pay me back later?

Thanks!

 

[Robo]

Does anyone have any suggestions for them to be able to get the discount without having to just pay me back later?

They can pay the restaurant bills in cash.

Or, you can pay, and they can write you a check for the exact amount at the end of each transaction.

 

[CarrieR]

I typically travel with two friends; we are all AP but only get one TIW card. We rotate who pays for the meals and use an app called "split it" to keep track of who owes what. With the automatic 18% tip, multiplying the menu price by 1.032 should get you the correct amount. (I *think* it's .852 at the QSes - usually value food courts and AK QSes - but it's been a while.) We do the math together, make sure the bill reconciles, and are all in agreement at the time of service. Also, we pay everything with gift card, so there's no "ID Match" issue.

That said, I would give your daughter the options: 1) You are happy to put her on the bill with you and share your TIW discount, but she needs to be accepting of your math. Or, 2) She can have her own bill. No discount. Surely, getting a 20% discount is worth the small amounts different math methods would get you!

(Edited to fix the factors. Those should be accurate for calculation, unless you add more tip or talk to the manager about reducing it.)

 

[Brian152]

I typically travel with two friends; we are all AP but only get one TIW card. We rotate who pays for the meals and use an app called "split it" to keep track of who owes what. With a 20% tip, multiplying the menu price by 1.053 should get you the correct amount. (I *think* it's .865 at the QSes - usually value food courts and AK QSes - but it's been a while.) We do the math together, make sure the bill reconciles, and are all in agreement at the time of service. Also, we pay everything with gift card, so there's no "ID Match" issue.

That said, I would give your daughter the options: 1) You are happy to put her on the bill with you and share your TIW discount, but she needs to be accepting of your math. Or, 2) She can have her own bill. No discount. Surely, getting a 20% discount is worth the small amounts different math methods would get you!

LOL I agree.. My wife is like she's beat because she was a big problem last time, I am trying to think of something but at the end of the day I have no problem with just taking care of the 4 of us...

THanks I'll check out that APP...

 

[Disney_Princess83]

Another vote for them paying you in cash each time. With the TiW card, the person whose name is on the card has to be the one who pays. They can give you cash and you can pay for it either with cash or credit card.

 

[CarrieR]

Another option with paying with cash each time is that if she (or you) decide it's too big of a pain after the first time, you just get separate checks from then on.

My only concern with the cash system is that for three people over a week at WDW, that's a *lot* of cash to carry. I wouldn't want to encourage someone else to do it, and I wouldn't love being the end recipient of it. That's just personal preference, though - large amounts of cash make me uneasy.

 

[Accident]

If you want the absolute lowest price for food, you want to be paying in a method that gives you more discount. This might be in the form of points or cash back on a card for many sometimes multiplied by using apple pay, android wallet or samsung pay. However it's also in the form of disney gift cards purchased at target with the red card that you can get for a 5% discount. If the later is the most lucrative for your family there here is a suggestion..

Nobody looks at multiple cards as it might be multiple people paying and many come into disney with stacks of cards to pay for everything so just take $x from this card and $y from that card. Also disneygiftcards.com is a disney website where you can store your card numbers and transfer balances. This might be a way to get your money right away transferring it off their card and best discount. You could also hand a card with part of the bill and then the tiw holder using a credit card in their name for the rest. Kind of like "empty this card and charge me the rest" situation.

another possible option is you can buy a second card. at the time I did it I got myself and my daughter a card and it was $50 more for the second card. I didn't know at the time it was meant for spouses but the cast member gave it to us so my daughter could have the bill split and pay on her own or had the card for discounts when I wasn't around.

 

[bumbershoot]

There are banking apps where you can pay a person from bank account to bank account right then. What if she did that right at the table?

With tiw it's food/drink plus the tip percentage on that plus the tax on the discounted amount.

 

[WineTraveler]

There are banking apps where you can pay a person from bank account to bank account right then. What if she did that right at the table?

With tiw it's food/drink plus the tip percentage on that plus the tax on the discounted amount.

I was just going to suggest paying with Venmo. Easy to use, sends the money direct to your bank account. You have everything settled before you leave the table.

 

[Accident]

With tiw it's food/drink plus the tip percentage on that plus the tax on the discounted amount.

Only if there is a server. There are quick service locations there is no tip added on. Generally these are in resorts that do not have table service at the resort.

 

[CarrieR]

There are banking apps where you can pay a person from bank account to bank account right then. What if she did that right at the table?

With tiw it's food/drink plus the tip percentage on that plus the tax on the discounted amount.

Only if there is a server. There are quick service locations there is no tip added on. Generally these are in resorts that do not have table service at the resort.

I fixed my numbers above (massive brain fart) but if you take the menu price and multiple by 1.032 it is the cost with 18% autograt, 20% discount, and tax. Without a server, it's .852.

When I eat table service with friends, we add up all of the items we ordered and multiply each person's sum by 1.032 (and then add whatever extra tip we left - we have some allergies in our party so sometimes if one of us has been really high maintenance we'll adjust the tip up.)

Captain's Grille -

Person 1: Gnocchi, $10, and caffe latte, $4.69 = $14.69
Person 2: Snow Crab Legs, $31, soda, $2.39 = 33.39
Person 3: Pan-seared chicken, $22 (drank water) = 22

Total $70.07

Minus 20% discount = $56.06
Tax (on discounted amount) = $3.64
Automatic 18% tip (on pre-discount amount) - $12.61

Presented bill - $72.31
Person 1 was high maintenance due to allergy requests, so we round up to $74

Person 1: $14.69 x 1.032 = 15.16 + 1.69 extra tip = 16.85
Person 2: $33.39 x 1.032 = 34.43
Person 3: $22 x 1.032 = 22.70

$73.98 total. Somebody pays the extra pennies, it's not a big deal. Having the "factor" pre-determined makes life really easy. We do screenshot the app every couple of days throughout the trip and hang onto the receipts just in case of a catastrophic app crash, but it's never happened. We used to do the same method, just on paper, and the app has made it easier. We usually reconcile our meals on a bus and see who owes who what... usually it comes down to someone buying a couple of snacks for someone else towards the end of the trip.

 

[Robo]

The problem is the last time we did that with them I just paid it all and kept track of their portions but of course she is a pain and had different numbers and issues came up when it was time to pay up

There's another solution that does not involve carrying cash or setting up special accounts, etc.

Take a phone photo of each check as it comes.
Send that photo immediately to your cloud account (and the other person's, if you like.)

After the trip, look at the photos and settle up.

 

[donnishobson]

I fixed my numbers above (massive brain fart) but if you take the menu price and multiple by 1.032 it is the cost with 18% autograt, 20% discount, and tax. Without a server, it's .852.

When I eat table service with friends, we add up all of the items we ordered and multiply each person's sum by 1.032 (and then add whatever extra tip we left - we have some allergies in our party so sometimes if one of us has been really high maintenance we'll adjust the tip up.)

Captain's Grille -

Person 1: Gnocchi, $10, and caffe latte, $4.69 = $14.69
Person 2: Snow Crab Legs, $31, soda, $2.39 = 33.39
Person 3: Pan-seared chicken, $22 (drank water) = 22

Total $70.07

Minus 20% discount = $56.06
Tax (on discounted amount) = $3.64
Automatic 18% tip (on pre-discount amount) - $12.61

Presented bill - $72.31
Person 1 was high maintenance due to allergy requests, so we round up to $74

Person 1: $14.69 x 1.032 = 15.16 + 1.69 extra tip = 16.85
Person 2: $33.39 x 1.032 = 34.43
Person 3: $22 x 1.032 = 22.70

$73.98 total. Somebody pays the extra pennies, it's not a big deal. Having the "factor" pre-determined makes life really easy. We do screenshot the app every couple of days throughout the trip and hang onto the receipts just in case of a catastrophic app crash, but it's never happened. We used to do the same method, just on paper, and the app has made it easier. We usually reconcile our meals on a bus and see who owes who what... usually it comes down to someone buying a couple of snacks for someone else towards the end of the trip.

I found this very helpful. Thanks so much.

 

[FirstTimeDisneyVisit]

I was just going to suggest paying with Venmo. Easy to use, sends the money direct to your bank account. You have everything settled before you leave the table.

Absolutely agree ! No more excuses not to get paid !

 

[bumbershoot]

Only if there is a server. There are quick service locations there is no tip added on. Generally these are in resorts that do not have table service at the resort.

No one ever remembers the counter service places so I've given up mentioning them. Good reminder.

if you take the menu price and multiple by 1.032 it is the cost with 18% autograt, 20% discount, and tax.

Very nice.

What about for the one (?) All Stars foodcourt that's in the different county and has a slightly different tax rate?

 

[Surgie2]

However it's also in the form of disney gift cards purchased at target with the red card that you can get for a 5% discount.

Unfortunately Target stopped allowing a Red Card discount on all gift cards in 2016. Bummer because that was a nice way to get 5% off the Disney cards.

 

[CarrieR]

What about for the one (?) All Stars foodcourt that's in the different county and has a slightly different tax rate?

You're on your own there. We're Pop Century people. It would be .8 x slightly different tax rate

 

[supersnoop]

Unfortunately Target stopped allowing a Red Card discount on all gift cards in 2016. Bummer because that was a nice way to get 5% off the Disney cards.

That's not true. The red card still gives you a 5% discount on gift cards when purchased in the store. They did close some loopholes that allowed people to stack discounts and get the discount on amounts not paid with the red card.

 

[Surgie2]

That's not true. The red card still gives you a 5% discount on gift cards when purchased in the store. They did close some loopholes that allowed people to stack discounts and get the discount on amounts not paid with the red card.

Thanks for that info. Maybe it was just a decision at my local Target? They would not give me the Red Card discount.

 

[erionm]

Thanks for that info. Maybe it was just a decision at my local Target? They would not give me the Red Card discount.

If you pay with your Red Card, the discount is automatically applied.