Tables in Wonderland. . . To buy or not to buy?

[TDC Nala]

California Grill is a flatbread, sushi and wine deal for me...I don't bother with the entrees or desserts. The desserts aren't that good there. I've been there a lot over the past year. On DDP I could get a flatbread and sushi, but I'd have to get the dessert or give up that value, and sushi isn't the greatest DDP value there for two credits. So I would have ended up ordering some entree I didn't really want, and maybe paying for the sushi because I couldn't stand not having sushi, and the days when I could eat a flatbread, sushi, an entree plus dessert are probably over.

 

[Brandis]

They used to have great soufflés there. Apparently, they had a special soufflé oven, but unfortunately they are gone from the menu a long time now.

Any place at WDW to get decent soufflés nowadays?

 

[TDC Nala]

Bistro de Paris does souffles (and they take TIW but not DDP)

Ca. Grill did a souffle for the F&W signature dinner, it was one of the best things they served (even though they messed it up by putting coffee in it - if they'd put in too much coffee I would have had to give it away)

 

[StitchFan73]

We've always done the dining plan before this trip but decided to go with TIW since Disney now considers my son an adult. We much preferred TIW and will continue to go this route in the future.

Small OT but this kinds irks me. Next year my eats-like-a-bird DD will be 10 and considered an adult. I really think they should have 3 tiers for this. Little kids, then maybe an in-between group up to maybe 14 or so, then adults. Very few kids can eat the adult portions and also they should make it an app OR dessert choice-as a lot of kids are not into the apps on the adult menu. Sorry for the mini rant

 

[Girlie1]

Small OT but this kinds irks me. Next year my eats-like-a-bird DD will be 10 and considered an adult. I really think they should have 3 tiers for this. Little kids, then maybe an in-between group up to maybe 14 or so, then adults. Very few kids can eat the adult portions and also they should make it an app OR dessert choice-as a lot of kids are not into the apps on the adult menu. Sorry for the mini rant

This why we are switching to TIW this year (well not to mention this is the first time we are getting an AP (three trips in 12 months ). My son turned 10 and although we really enjoyed the DDP, I will not pay for him as an adult when he still eats like a kid.

 

[deerislemaine]

Our one trip last April is consistent with everyone who advocates for TIW and the flexibility. We had the dining plan. It was fun, but we found ourselves overeating quite a bit. We have 3 kids (ages 12, 10 and 3). The older kids got their money's worth, but we all ate too much. It also seems that there are more options with TIW. We'll be able to have a salad and a glass of wine for dinner instead of a full dinner and desert-- of course we could have turned down desert, but we trying to get the most out of the card.

We just purchased a DVC resale, and we hope to visit in January, May, and then again in January 2011 before the year is up. We'll do the AP and the TIW and feel that they will give us the flexibility that we are looking for.

The other posts were very helpful and confirmed that we were leaning in the right direction.

 

[StitchFan73]

This why we are switching to TIW this year (well not to mention this is the first time we are getting an AP (three trips in 12 months ). My son turned 10 and although we really enjoyed the DDP, I will not pay for him as an adult when he still eats like a kid.

I wonder if Disney is losing a lot of DDP people like this, and if they care? Probably not

 

[TDC Nala]

They're not losing many DDP people over this, and I don't think they do care.

TIW is available only to annual passholders (or Florida residents). I'm guessing the majority of visitors are not annual passholders. Of those who like the dining plan, they'll just get the plan and suck it up. You can do things like order for the kids OOP if the restaurant will let them have kids menu meals, then save their adult credits to buy MORE meals for the actual adults. At buffets and fixed price restaurants they'll be charged according to age, so DDP credits can be used there.

 

[Boardwalk III]

I think the TiW card is one of the best values at WDW. Have been using it for years and as we often travel with friends, the fact that it applies to entire party and includes alcoholic beverages is terrific! We often recoup the cost of the card after our first 2 meals!

 

[Bronte]

As far as Rose & Crown Pub & Dining Room will this work at just the pub?

 

[Tara]

They used to have great soufflés there. Apparently, they had a special soufflé oven, but unfortunately they are gone from the menu a long time now.

Any place at WDW to get decent soufflés nowadays?

Victoria & Albert's makes wonderful soufflés. And they accept TIW in the main dining room.

I love TIW but I don't believe there is any one-size-fits-all or any situation that always works best or saves money 100% of the time. DS8 and I had a wonderful vacation this summer using DxDP and saved a bunch of money (and more than TIW would have saved us) but it was a special situation that will likely never repeat itself since he'll age out of the child price next year and that will make any of the DPs a bad value for us.

I'll be getting a new TIW on my April 2011 trip - I'll only get 1 trip from it but we'll have 10 people for about half the meals and 4 for the other half so no doubt TIW will pay for itself very, very quickly. And hello - free valet parking when dining and using the card at valet-offering resorts!

 

[Chellymouse]

We purchased TIW in Oct after having done the DDP for the last 4 years and found ourselves WAY ahead, even with all of the snacks we purchased. We were much happier not being tied to so many ADRs and we were able to eat exactly what we wanted instead of ordering generally the more expensive items because we felt as though we'd "paid for it" in order to get our $$ worth on DDP. We found that had we done DDP we would have paid roughly $880 for the 2 of us, not including tips, which we figured would have been around $150. Even including snacks and some CS, we spent a total of $780 on our last trip which was 10 days and we didn't deviate our eating habits. Even adding in the $75 cost of TIW card, it came out to be nearly $300 less than DDP. Can't say that we will ever go back to DDP after this trip. Thankfully, we will get at least one more trip out of this card also.

 

[BoomNLeon]

We have saved a bundle with the TIW card! One dinner at Cali Grill runs us about $200, so we are halfway there to recouping the cost of the card. It is great how it saves at so many places - it really adds up quick!

It is worth it to us.

 

[wildernessDad]

If you like eating at signature restaurants and/or want the flexibility that the TIW card provides, then the TIW card is a winner.

If you are doing a straight compare between TIW and DDP, where you do not eat at signature restaurants, then the DDP comes out slightly ahead. At least it did when I calculated a while back.

For us, it's recently been the TIW card for the flexibility in choice.

 

[M&C]

Read all the posts, looked at the TIW website. Just a few questions: Can we use TIW in counter service restaurants around the parks and for snacks too? Is there a minimum purchase?

We're going for 11 nights, with Christmas in between. I read that TIW is not honored during Christmas Day, but I saw conflicting info regarding Christmas Eve.

Thanks!

 

[bumbershoot]

Read all the posts, looked at the TIW website. Just a few questions: Can we use TIW in counter service restaurants around the parks and for snacks too? Is there a minimum purchase?

We're going for 11 nights, with Christmas in between. I read that TIW is not honored during Christmas Day, but I saw conflicting info regarding Christmas Eve.

Thanks!

http://www.wdwinfo.com/disneydiningexperience.htm

The TIW discount is not available on holidays including New Year’s Eve, Year Year’s Day, Easter, Mother’s Day, Fourth of July, Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. Certain restrictions may be applicable. Participation is subject to change. ....

Tables in Wonderland phone #: 407-566-5858

And at the bottom half of the page, there's a list of restaurants. Mainly table service.

 

[Disneycouple99]

Read all the posts, looked at the TIW website. Just a few questions: Can we use TIW in counter service restaurants around the parks and for snacks too? Is there a minimum purchase?

We're going for 11 nights, with Christmas in between. I read that TIW is not honored during Christmas Day, but I saw conflicting info regarding Christmas Eve.

Thanks!

Look at this thread http://allears.net/din/dde.htm as well.

 

[dmoore22]

http://www.wdwinfo.com/disneydiningexperience.htm




And at the bottom half of the page, there's a list of restaurants. Mainly table service.

Many Disney programs have black out dates which are generally the holidays. However the savings for us have been more than enough to offset the price difference on those dates.

 

[shellspb]

To be honest, we never buy any of the dining packages. When I add up what we actually order at restaurants vs. the options allowed in the dining deals, it doesn't seem to save any money. It seems as though we would have extra options left that we wouldn't use up as well.

Not sure if this helps at all but thought I'd give my input

 

[dmoore22]

To be honest, we never buy any of the dining packages. When I add up what we actually order at restaurants vs. the options allowed in the dining deals, it doesn't seem to save any money. It seems as though we would have extra options left that we wouldn't use up as well.

Not sure if this helps at all but thought I'd give my input

We noticed the same thing. That influenced us to go with TIW. I'm not sure if we'd use TIW if we only made one trip per year.