Tables in Wonderland vs. Disney Dining Plan

[Brian Noble]

Will I order water instead of a soft drink?

Will TIW force us to be more economical - and take away the care free style that the dining plan has allowed us to have when it comes to what to order, what to drink, and how often to eat?

I forgot to address this earlier. This is the one place where only you know the answer for yourself. Personally, when I am on vacation, I ignore the right-hand column on the menu. I treat "vacation dollars" as some weird foreign currency that has no relationship to day-to-day dollars. So, I just order whatever I want, whenever I want it. Long experience has taught me about what the total will be at the end of the trip (though it does keep going up each year), and I know that at the end of it I will be able to pay the charges off in full. So, I just don't worry about it.

If you would worry about it, and it would seriously crimp your style, that's the *one* reason I can think of to go with the Plan.

 

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

I forgot to address this earlier. This is the one place where only you know the answer for yourself. Personally, when I am on vacation, I ignore the right-hand column on the menu. I treat "vacation dollars" as some weird foreign currency that has no relationship to day-to-day dollars. So, I just order whatever I want, whenever I want it. Long experience has taught me about what the total will be at the end of the trip (though it does keep going up each year), and I know that at the end of it I will be able to pay the charges off in full. So, I just don't worry about it.

If you would worry about it, and it would seriously crimp your style, that's the *one* reason I can think of to go with the Plan.

This is our philosophy, too. And knowing that our costs will come in at about HALF of what a Dining Plan would cost? We are more likely to splurge when we feel like it because there is NO WAY we will spend $5000 on dining like we would with DxDDP!

 

[dmoore22]

This is our philosophy, too. And knowing that our costs will come in at about HALF of what a Dining Plan would cost? We are more likely to splurge when we feel like it because there is NO WAY we will spend $5000 on dining like we would with DxDDP!

We have been consistently satisfied with TIW and have been using it since the days it was known at the Disney Dining Experience. We found an almost identical experience as jackskellingtonsgirl regarding meal costs comparing DDP & TIW. We consistently come out ahead with the TIW.

 

[Tiger926]

We are having the same dilemma this year, because of the ability to split the DP.

We have been doing DDE/TIW for years, with DP thrown in, depending upon our situations. Since we have kids, the DP is always cheaper due to the outrageous costs of character meals, especially during peak season (I'm a teacher).

This year, we are doing DP for 2 nights out of 14, and then TIW for the rest. If we just did TIW, it would cost us a couple of hundred dollars more, because we enjoy a big savings with kids' DP over paying full surcharge buffet price using TIW.

I crunched all numbers, and for us, TIW alone will cost more, so we are mixing it up. We don't drink alcohol, so that's not an issue for us. I do not like paying $75.00 for the card, nor does hubby like mandatory gratuity, but it looks like we are leaning towards this combo plan.

Tiger

 

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

If you have kids who are still "kids" by Disney standards then I think the DDP makes sense. If you have kids who are "adults" with voracious appetites it MIGHT make sense to have a DDP. If you don't have an AP or FL residency to qualify to purchase a TIW then a DDP might make sense. For us, we don't spend what it would cost JUST for the plan, let alone the cost of the plan PLUS tips.

 

[Doug7856]

We are doing TiW for the first time this year. I think it will work well for us. I don't care for dessert and being forced to have a dessert over an appetizer (my preference) seems like a a bad deal to me. The 18% gratuity really isn't an issue for us as we would tip at least that amount when eating out.

Our son still qualifies for the children's menu, but for our last trip in '09, he was hard pressed to find something he would like. The kids meals suffer from sameness from restaurant to restaurant. I remember going to one counter service location because he wanted a hot dog, but the hot dog was only on the adult menu! The CM took pity on my dilemma and gave him an adult meal for the counter service credit.

I came to the conclusion during our last visit that the dining plan was to rigid and didn't really fit our needs.

 

[Kathymford]

I treat "vacation dollars" as some weird foreign currency that has no relationship to day-to-day dollars.

I LOVE this sentiment!!!

If we had 4 trips planned for this year I would definitely go with TIW. We are going to Disneyland this year, so that's out of the ordinary for us - so that's another factor.

Don't forget that TiW doesn't get you anything at DLR.

 

[csharpwv]

If you buy a discounted ticket from Undercover Tourist and then upgrade it to the DVC AP you can save quite a bit. That saving you then can use towards the TiW.

See, I thought about that - but can you do that with a DVC discount?

I don't think you can, but I'm not sure why I think that.

A little OT - but worth discussion!

 

[ajjollie23]

thanks for all the info. I have been debating this issue myself. We have been doing the ddp but I feel like it is so much pressure, always rushing to make ressies, eating sometimes even when we aren't hungry because our previous meal ended up being later than the original plan. So much stress. I like the idea of just going back to being able to go to the parks I want, change parks if the one I have a ressie at is crowded and then just canceling the ressie and going somewhere else for meal. I think I have been craving that flexibility. Yet, the penny pincher in me has been trying to figure out if TIW would be worth it vs DDp. (we are also DVC and AP members) After reading this I am kind of leaning towards just going with the TIW this trip and seeing.

 

[ajjollie23]

See, I thought about that - but can you do that with a DVC discount?

I don't think you can, but I'm not sure why I think that.

A little OT - but worth discussion!

We did that last year, bought from Undercover Tourist, used it one day then upgraded to DVC-AP and yes we were able to use our DVC discount to get the AP.
TIW I think you have to buy prior to your trip, but the money you saved on your AP could certainly reimburse you for TIW

 

[csharpwv]

WOW Dis-Folk - GREAT discussion going on!

The DDP really has taken Disney Dining down a whole 'class'

We honeymooned back in 2006 when the appetizer, and gratuity were included. So - when we went back in 2008 and all that was 'gone' it really didn't feel like a great deal.

Having gone back multiple times since then, the quality and experience continue to suffer at the cost of the DDP.

The term 'free dining' is even annoying these days LOLOL

BUT, having read everything everyone has said - I can definitely see the flexibility being much better with TIW.

I am a total dessert nut - I LOVE dessert. But DW doesn't care for dessert, she would rather have an appetizer.

So, I can easily see us getting 1 appetizer, and 1 dessert - and sharing!

That seems to make sense - huh?

We are going to keep all of our receipts on this trip and see what we save.

I am going to go look for a list of restaurants that offer an AP discount.

 

[Tigger1]

How did you calculate the tip on DDP. Should'nt the Tip be the same for either plan as you would assume you are eating the same thing when comparing.

 

[laura-k]

That requirement is quite liberal. I have a travel mate who often valets at Boardwalk to walk to Epcot, and then stops at the Bakery or at ESPN for a beer on the way back from a full day at Epcot to satisfy the "receipt" requirement.

For me, it's a no brainer. We go TIW all the way. I like wine ... a lot .... so that 20% makes all the difference in the world to me. Plus I absolutely hate what the DDP has done to the dining options in Disney (too homogenized, too bland, and way too crowded). I wish it would disappear altogether and they would get back to the way it was pre 2005, when the restaurants had more of an individualized personality, and dining was a little more of an experience, rather than a cattle call at the Golden Corral.

I too totally agree with this ,some of my favorite places are just mediocre
bland and some of my favorite things replaced with cheap yucky sides -

 

[vellamint]

I am also having a problem with this. Right now I have the QSDP booked and plan on purchasing TIW. I have 4 teenagers and QSDP will allow them to eat wherever/whatever park they are in whether we are with them or not (I do NOT want to allow them charging priviledges and not because I dont trust them not to charge it up because I am paranoid they will lose their KTTW card).

Sadly, (or not lol), I have a sitdown reserved for every day also!! Places they have not been...Trails End, Cape May, The Wave, Via Napoli ......

I was ALSO planning on getting TIW (I bought myself an AP).....

I figured it out on paper and it seems we "may" save money by upgrading to the regular dining plan........like over $200 worth of savings.....

I am going to try to figure it out again......because that just does not seem right to me......

We did not enjoy "having" to get to a certain restaurant at a certain time .... the last two trips (before DVC and also one of the reason we bought DVC) were using Free Dining.....we had problems.....it wasnt fun stopping what we were doing in order to meet up....my kids are older. We didnt have a car. They DO ENJOY EATING though!... I figured this trip if one/two/three did NOT want to meet up with us for our reservations...FINE!

I just dont know what to do....I LOVE the planning....this one has me stumped. Especially attempting to figure in what Disney considers "peak" times. If I get the regular dining plan I dont need to think about what meals (specifically buffets right?) are going to cost that much more per person.....

I think I need help....

 

[Tigger1]

We are doing the DDP for the Aug trip and the QDS for the Oct trip.Since I will have an annual pass I am ok with meeting for dinner. If I was not going back for a while I would not want to plan my trip around dining daily. With the pricing going up, Not sure if I will do dining next year. I might just go back to eating in the hotel or trying places off site.

 

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

I am one who LOVES dessert. The problem was I was frequently too full for dessert! Knowing that we didn't HAVE to either try to shovel in more food after we were full, or try to deal with taking perishable desserts to go was really nice. I knew I could always get dessert later on, or just skip it.

Looking at our total costs on food/bev over 15 nights ($2600) we averaged $173 per day, all inclusive (tips and alcohol). That is less than the base cost of the DxDDP with NO tips or alcohol. It's a no brainer for us to use TIW and skip the dining plans.

 

[dmoore22]

Having gone back multiple times since then, the quality and experience continue to suffer at the cost of the DDP.

A year ago those past Christmas we had reservations at Tony's Town Square Restaurant. When we were seated the CM passed out the menus to each in our party. When the waiter came to the table he asked whether we were on a dining plan. I responded "Tables at Wonderland." In an interesting turn of events he immediately collected our menus and apologized for giving us the DDP menus by mistake. Unfortunately I had not had time to scrutinize that menu carefully other than to notice that it did not seem to have some of my favorite entrees. That did raise a red flag for me regarding the DDP. That may not be that case today as this occurred about 18 months ago.

 

[BEASLYBOO]

In an interesting turn of events he immediately collected our menus and apologized for giving us the DDP menus by mistake. Unfortunately I had not had time to scrutinize that menu carefully other than to notice that it did not seem to have some of my favorite entrees. That did raise a red flag for me regarding the DDP. That may not be that case today as this occurred about 18 months ago.

Not the case, only one menu, few choices whether you're on the DDP or not, just high prices if you're paying out of pocket! The high out of pocket pricing for the same fare is Disney trying to force people to do the DDP! I wish there were two menus, and that they would offer to those who want it, more menu choices and maybe higher end selections like in years past.

Thee DDP is too profitable for Disney, so I don't see a change coming! Thank goodness for the TIW card for those of us who choose to not do the DDP!

 

[adminjedi]

We've done both and prefer TIW.
We order what we want and enjoy the meal.

 

[cogero]

I love our TIW card. We average 2-3 trips a year and it really pays for us. Especially since we like to share a bottle of wine with dinner.