Tables in Wonderland Rant- Should I have this buyer's regret?

[Beckypooh1972]

I'm disappointed in the TIW card. I did the math and realized we've essentially paid $75.00 for a card that offers a 2% discount on table service restaurants and value resort food courts. If you are thinking of shelling out $75.00 - $100.00 on this card consider how much you will actually use it! You would have to spend $3750.00 a year on table service restaurants to even recoup your $75.00 investment, let alone "save money."

The card offers 20% off purchases including alcohol, however 18% gratuity is automatically added to every purchase regardless of service. My realization of the waste of money on this card came when we were in Epcot and we were going to purchase a couple of beers to go. I told my hubby, I'll go into the Rose and Crown pub and use my 20% off instead of buying at one of the beer stands outside!

I waited twice the time to buy 2 beers and got about a $0.20 discount. Now for all the bartenders out there - I'm not saying you shouldn't be tipped but $3.00 to pour 2 beers?

We purchased the Tables in Wonderland discount card at $75.00; we have Florida resident annual passes and we are at Disney every weekend. With 2 small kids we don't do a lot of table service. I'm hoping some of the exclusive member events we'll pay off - can anyone share your thoughts on the events? Do you think the card is worth it?

 

[karice2]

I am a fan of the TIW. I make sure that I get one every year. I am mostly a solo traveler and don't really do the DDP. I use it when I eat at V&A and most of the meals that I eat are TS. I take a couple of trips a year so I do wind up doing the $375. I very rarely use it on CS.

 

[Acklander]

if I was there every weekend it would be worth it for me, but I'm the type that would tip 3$ to the bartender anyway, and we prefer table service to fast food. Since you have the card, keep track of your spendings vs savings and how much you overpaid with the auto tip on. That will give you your answer on if it's worth renewing for your family or not.

 

[mickeymaker2003]

I think the value is pretty much only there if you are doing TS restaurants. Even if you wouldn't typically tip 18%, you would tip some amount and that is pretty much your savings. Once you reach the point where you would have tipped about $70, you are even for the year.

 

[ilovemk76]

I'm disappointed in the TIW card. I did the math and realized we've essentially paid $75.00 for a card that offers a 2% discount on table service restaurants and value resort food courts. If you are thinking of shelling out $75.00 - $100.00 on this card consider how much you will actually use it! You would have to spend $3750.00 a year on table service restaurants to even recoup your $75.00 investment, let alone "save money."

The card offers 20% off purchases including alcohol, however 18% gratuity is automatically added to every purchase regardless of service. My realization of the waste of money on this card came when we were in Epcot and we were going to purchase a couple of beers to go. I told my hubby, I'll go into the Rose and Crown pub and use my 20% off instead of buying at one of the beer stands outside!

I waited twice the time to buy 2 beers and got about a $0.20 discount. Now for all the bartenders out there - I'm not saying you shouldn't be tipped but $3.00 to pour 2 beers?

We purchased the Tables in Wonderland discount card at $75.00; we have Florida resident annual passes and we are at Disney every weekend. With 2 small kids we don't do a lot of table service. I'm hoping some of the exclusive member events we'll pay off - can anyone share your thoughts on the events? Do you think the card is worth it?

You never tip when you have a meal?

Typically we tip 20-25%. If my tip was 20% and I used my TIW card at a sit down restaurant, I leave paying 2% less than if I DID NOT TIP. Since I would tip then I got 20% off my meal. I paid for my card after purchases of $375 in food and beverages. I can certainly do that in a year.

The card is worth it. With small kids do you not do character breakfasts?

 

[daisyduck123]

You never tip when you have a meal?

Typically we tip 20-25%. If my tip was 20% and I used my TIW card at a sit down restaurant, I leave paying 2% less than if I DID NOT TIP. Since I would tip then I got 20% off my meal. I paid for my card after purchases of $375 in food and beverages. I can certainly do that in a year.

The card is worth it.

I was just about to type this exact thing, but will add a little more...

We go to WDW every summer for 10 or more days & have a TS meal almost every night. We recoup our $75 investment after just a few dinners.

Heck, I'm looking at our 'Ohana dinner receipt from June 24 & it shows savings of:

20% Wonderland Food - $36.99
20% Wonderland Bev - $1.05 (must've been DH's beer )

Yes, an 18% gratuity of $34.24 was added on, but we normally tip 20% whenever we dine out...so TIW saved us some on that because we do not add another 2%.

 

[Beckypooh1972]

You never tip when you have a meal?

Typically we tip 20-25%. If my tip was 20% and I used my TIW card at a sit down restaurant, I leave paying 2% less than if I DID NOT TIP. Since I would tip then I got 20% off my meal. I paid for my card after purchases of $375 in food and beverages. I can certainly do that in a year.

The card is worth it. With small kids do you not do character breakfasts?

I guess the problem for us is we won't do enough table service to recoup the $75.00. We absolutely tip at least 18% - maybe not at a bar but generally yes we'll tip between 15 - 20% at restaurants.

By the way, my claim was you have to spend $3750.00 not $375.00 on table service meals to recoup the $75.00.

Here's how I calculated it:

$3750.00 Food X 20% discount = $750.00, total discount which is a huge savings if you would spend the original $3750.00.

Spend $3750.00 Food X 18% on tips (which we would spend)= $675.00

so...

750.00 discount
-675.00 tips
__________

$75.00 cost of the pass for a Florida resident annual passholder

Is my math flawed?

 

[daisyduck123]

I guess the problem for us is we won't do enough table service to recoup the $75.00. We absolutely tip at least 18% - maybe not at a bar but generally yes we'll tip between 15 - 20% at restaurants.

By the way, my claim was you have to spend $3750.00 not $375.00 on table service meals to recoup the $75.00.

Here's how I calculated it:

$3750.00 Food X 20% discount = $750.00, total discount which is a huge savings if you would spend the original $3750.00.

Spend $3750.00 Food X 18% on tips (which we would spend)= $675.00

so...

750.00 discount
-675.00 tips
__________

$75.00 cost of the pass for a Florida resident annual passholder

Is my math flawed?

Yes, I think your math is flawed.

It's too early for me to figure out what you're showing, but I can tell you that I'm looking at my 'Ohana receipt from last June & we payed, IN TOTAL, after taking out $38.04 for TIW savings.....our bill was $196.30.

I can probably guess that we ate at a similar place with similar prices the following night & saved about another $38.00. That would mean that in two nights, we recouped our $75.00 investment, correct? (While actually paying about $400 over the two nights).

 

[Beckypooh1972]

I am a fan of the TIW. I make sure that I get one every year. I am mostly a solo traveler and don't really do the DDP. I use it when I eat at V&A and most of the meals that I eat are TS. I take a couple of trips a year so I do wind up doing the $375. I very rarely use it on CS.

My math tells me you would have to spend $3750.00 not just the $375.00 to recoup the COST of the card. I guess I'm saying, why give Disney an extra $75.00? I'd tip the 18% too but saving only 2%? That's a lot of table service meals.

 

[HayGan]

Sorry but your math is flawed. Here is how the cash breakdown works

Without TIW card

$375 - food
$67.50 - 18% tips
______
$442.50 - total cash OOP

With TIW card
$300 - $375 worth of food minus 20% discount
$67.50 - tip
______
$367.50 - cash OOP for meal
+$75.00 - cost of TIW
______
$442.50 - total cash

So anything you purchase using the TIW card above $375 is pure savings You have to plan on using it where you would normally tip in order to realize the savings. If you aren't using it for TS meals or adult beverages where you would typically tip 18% (or more) than you aren't going to realize the savings.

 

[Marionnette]

My math tells me you would have to spend $3750.00 not just the $375.00 to recoup the COST of the card. I guess I'm saying, why give Disney an extra $75.00? I'd tip the 18% too but saving only 2%? That's a lot of table service meals.

I hope that you don't work in a hospital pharmacy! You're math is off by a power of 10!

Let's go with your dollar amount to begin with, and then compare the two.

Without the TiW card, you spend $3750 and save nothing. You also pay a 6.5% sales tax on the food ($243.75) and then, to keep things consistent, you also pay an 18% tip ($675). Total OOP = $4668.75

Now change that up and purchase a TiW card ($75-$100, depending on whether or not you have an AP). Then you purchase $3750 worth of food. With the 20% discount, you save $750 and your actual bill becomes $3000. You pay tax on that $3000, so your sales tax will be $195. And your tip will be calculated on the discounted amount ($540). Total OOP = $3810-$3835. That's a savings of $833.75-$858.75, after including the cost of the TiW card.

Clearly $3750 is not the break-even point.

 

[Cheshire Figment]

Here is a working example, using $100.00 as the original bill to make the math show up easily. Note this is for Table Service. At Counter Service there is no gratuity added.

100.00 - Original Menu Amount
*20.00 - Discount
*80.00 - Subtotal
*18.00 - Gratuity Added based on $100
**5.20 - Sales Tax on $80
103.20 - Final amount charged, takes into consideration discount, gratuity and tax.

Without TiW Discount (and still figuring 18% Gratuity)

100.00 - Original Menu Amount
*18.00 - Gratuity
**6.50 - Sales Tax on $100
124.50 - Total

$21.30 - Savings using TiW Card.

(Note - At Victoria and Albert's the added gratuity is 20% instead of 18%.)
* Ignore the asterisks; they are there only so the columns/numbers line up properly.

Note that for an AP holder, the actual break-even point is $352.11 because the sales tax is also discounted.

 

[crisi]

It is NOT a good deal if you don't do table service. Very few counter service places are covered and they add the gratuity there anyway.

Its an AWESOME deal for those of us who go for a week and eat at Jiko, California Grill, Flying Fish - order a bottle of wine and have a few cocktails, and tip our servers well without the card.

For us, we spend $75 on the card

Without TIW we will spend aat least $1k on sitdown meals and alcohol over a week, possibly more. Plus the tip, so we spend $1,200 on food

With TIW we still spend $1000 + $75 for the card. But we don't tip additionally, because that is included in the card. So its $1000 - 20% = $800 + 18% tip on the $1000 ($180) +$75 for a total of $1055, saving us $145.

That's with four of us. One year we had ten people in our party.

 

[HayGan]

My math tells me you would have to spend $3750.00 not just the $375.00 to recoup the COST of the card. I guess I'm saying, why give Disney an extra $75.00? I'd tip the 18% too but saving only 2%? That's a lot of table service meals.

Actually it is only about 2 TS meals for a family of 4 (2A/2C). We used our TIW for two trips including one where we took a party of 7 to Boma for dinner. We recouped our costs for the TIW card plus a few dollars with that meal alone!

Your math of a 2% savings recouping the cost of a TIW card is valid if you are only using the card where you wouldn't normally give a tip. ($3,750 of purchases * 2% savings = $75 cost of TIW card)

 

[ilovemk76]

I guess the problem for us is we won't do enough table service to recoup the $75.00. We absolutely tip at least 18% - maybe not at a bar but generally yes we'll tip between 15 - 20% at restaurants.

By the way, my claim was you have to spend $3750.00 not $375.00 on table service meals to recoup the $75.00.

Here's how I calculated it:

$3750.00 Food X 20% discount = $750.00, total discount which is a huge savings if you would spend the original $3750.00.

Spend $3750.00 Food X 18% on tips (which we would spend)= $675.00

so...

750.00 discount
-675.00 tips
__________

$75.00 cost of the pass for a Florida resident annual passholder

Is my math flawed?

You math is 100% flawed unless you never planned to tip (the only way you can take the tip out of the discount).

If you bought $3750 in food at a sit down restaurant and tipped 18% then your total would be

$3750 + $3750*.18 = $4425.

Your discount is $3750*.2 = $750

You paid $75 for the card, so you saved $675. That is a nice savings!


You can increase your savings if you use the card at counter service locations where you get the 20% off and to not pay a tip.

 

[mossy1]

Just putting in my 2 cents worth here but I think groups with a smaller party size are actually at a disadvantage when using the card. I always have 6 or 7 people dinning with me so I look at it this way. I would automatically have been given the 18% tip on the bill if I had the card or not, so I may as well get the card and save the tip plus 2%. I agree with Cheshire Figment on the $375 break even point, this is only 2 meals at my party size. Really a no brain er for me. Sorry if it doesn't work as well for OP.

 

[SUSIEQ]

It is NOT a good deal if you don't do table service. Very few counter service places are covered and they add the gratuity there anyway.

I did not realize that they added on a tip at the CS places.

 

[ilovemk76]

I did not realize that they added on a tip at the CS places.

They do not add the gratuity to counter service. I have used my TIW card many times at CS and never paid gratuity.

http://www.themouseforless.com/tripplanning/discounts/DDE.shtml

 

[Buzzsgramma]

Last Thanksgiving we took 13 adults (7 were teens) to Disney...i had purchased the card for $75 being an AP holder....We ate at Kozzunia's,Teppan Edo,Boma's,and another place i cant recall...It paid for itself for sure...

 

[linzmot]

I think your math is correct, but it seems like you are making the assumption that you would only tip with TIW and not tip without. To see if it's worth it, figure out how much your meal is plus the tip, THEN remove the discount. Does that make sense?