Those that have done Tables in Wonderland....

[BLTLDZ]

Did you find it to be worth it? We are going down for three nights in may, then 13 nights in december.....We will more then likely be eating at sit down restaurants each night for dinner, as it is the only "real" meal we eat while down there....

After calculating, it *seems* that we would come out ahead....Anyone have any input? Thanks!

 

[TDC Nala]

If you're calculating that you will spend more than $375 on food and beverages (including alcohol) that is covered by TIW, then you will come out ahead on the membership.

It doesn't look like you are traveling over a major holiday, but there are blackout dates for TIW (8 days per year). The only ones May and December are Mother's Day (May 9) and Christmas Eve/Christmas Day.

 

[BLTLDZ]

If you're calculating that you will spend more than $375 on food and beverages (including alcohol) that is covered by TIW, then you will come out ahead on the membership.

It doesn't look like you are traveling over a major holiday, but there are blackout dates for TIW (8 days per year). The only ones in that time frame are Easter (April 4) and Mother's Day (May 9).

Thank you!!!

 

[Uncleromulus]

Without knowing exactly where you'll be eating, 16 nights of dining (especially if you order drinks) should put you ahead of the game.

 

[sskem96]

We don't do very many table service meals, and with 4 "adults", we still come out ahead using the card. It only takes about 3 character meals or buffets for us to break even. Even if you only have 2 people in your traveling party, with 16 nights total you should save a bunch. We just think of the TIW card as covering our tip, (discount amount = approx. tip amount) so think about how much you'd be spending in tips if you eat 16 meals out.

 

[BillSears]

I'm going to toss in a slightly different view. It really just depends on too many factors to say.

TIW vs just paying out of pocket then yep it's great after you spend $375.

TIW vs the dining plan? I'm not sure what the cut off is. Plus you are limited to an entree and dessert, suppose you're an appetizer guy? Plus it's only one TS meal a day. All sorts of variables here.

Now add in Free Dining! Darn what break even point is there when you calculate free dining vs Annual Pass discounts and all of the other variables that could come up.

So let's say you work it out and you could save $50.00 using the free dining plan. Is it worth it to you to ignore that savings to give yourself more flexibility on ordering whatever you want? Do you drink a lot and would make up the $50.00 on alcohol? It's just too hard to say.

Personally I think the dining plan and the TIW are both great. I've chosen both of them in the past and I'm choosing TIW this year.

 

[scooterpig]

I wonder if someone could tell me what Tables In Wonderland dining plan is? Is it only available for people staying within the Disney resort?

 

[vicki_c]

I wonder if someone could tell me what Tables In Wonderland dining plan is? Is it only available for people staying within the Disney resort?

It's a dining discount card (mostly Table Service) available only to Annual Passholders and Florida Residents. It costs $75 (AP holder) or $100 (Florida resident) and gives you 20% off your bill at eligible restaurants, and adds a mandatory 18% tip at table service locations. It's good for dining and alcoholic beverages.

 

[TDC Nala]

Tables in Wonderland is not part of the Disney Dining Plan prepaid meal program. It is a completely different membership-based discount program and is not a dining plan.

Only WDW annual passholders and Florida residents are eligible for TIW membership.

 

[pixarmom]

Before our recent trip, I sat down with all of our ADRs and the CS we planned, guessed what each of us would order, and then calculated it with dining plan, TIW and neither. We just returned from a 4-night trip, and plan at least 7 nights next year. While everyone should do his/her own math on this, TIW was GREAT for us.

We are a family of 5, and our 3 boys range from pre-school to pre-teen. We really liked the flexibility to order anything - drinks, appetizers, etc - and still get the discount. We used to only make one ADR per day - and only for dinner - but we ended up trying new TS restaurants for lunch. We loved it - not just the food but the break in the middle of the day. They also accept TIW at Flame Tree, which is one of our favorite CS restaurants, so that was a nice bonus.

 

[scooterpig]

Thank you for clarifying for me!

 

[tassma]

We LOVE LOVE LOVE TIW, but we eat table service almost every day of our trip. We also usually have a party of 8 (last trip we had a party of 9 but got the discount on everyone) We usually save $75 the first couple days. Don't forget it works on alcohol too.

 

[wdwnut]

It's also great if you have larger groups (we've had 15, 19, and 25+) on some trips. One TIW card for me and one for DH, and we're good to go. Trying the DDP on our ladies trip next month because it was easier for them to budget for this.

 

[Tiger926]

Yup, we love it! Just returned without DP for first time in years (DH had to have the DP) and it was awesome to have more freedom and flexibility with ordering. Kids' meals are mostly yucky @ WDW, so kids shared adult entrees, and loved this as they eat good and healthy food.

With the TIW discount at cheaper restaurants like The Plaza and ESPN Club, our little family of 4 can eat for cheaper than CS meals which is great for us as we can't stand CS meals! We eat 2 TS meals per day, so TIW is great for us!

Happy dining, Tiger

 

[drenalin'junkie]

We used a simple formula to figure our options TIW vs.DDP.

We eat bkfast CS or in room<$10
TS app/soup/salad or entre and dessert for lunch~$20
TS app entre and dessert or 2 apps and dessert for dinner~$50
Cheese tray wherever available $15

per person per day minimum,we tip over 18% most cases anyway thus we save around $20 per person per day minimum per person.Of course WD food can be far more expensive than above giving greater"savings"

We eat a lot at 2TS or signatures as well which would require deluxe DDP options
We'd be OOP for the extras over DDP bringing our costs to similar levels or greater.

OCD yes convoluted yes,but we love eating WD and try to get in 15+ days a year and often close to 30 so every $ goes a long way.

 

[TDC Nala]

Just deleted the previous post as it was a discussion of the poster's personal experiences with tipping on TIW - all discussion of tipping on the restaurant board should take place on the Tipping Information Thread stuck to the top of the main Restaurant Board. This includes tipping on special programs like dining plan or TIW. Please read the first post of the tipping thread - it has an FAQ of tipping questions, plus an explanation of why we felt the need to have one dedicated thread on tipping in the first place.

 

[Golf4food]

So May 9th is a blackout date? Craaaaaaaaaap.

We just happen to be down over that long weekend (Thurs to Mon) using TIW for the first time and have two TS meals planned that day (GFC brekfast and LTT lunch). @#$&

Great googly moogly...

 

[TDC Nala]

Sorry...May 9, 2010 is Mother's Day, which is blacked out for TIW.

 

[Golf4food]

Sorry...May 9, 2010 is Mother's Day, which is blacked out for TIW.

And the only day we planned two TS meals, ha. We forgot all about Mother's Day when we booked a month ago. Oh, well. At least now we know and it won't be a surprise.

 

[jwfla422]

We have been TIW/DDE cardholders for years. When the DDP came along we weighed the options and still come out ahead with the TIW card. We are FL residents with APs and visit WDW 3-4 times a year for 4-5 days at a time.

We dine at sit-downs at least once a day, many are "signature" restaurants. If our dd was still a child I would think twice but she's eating a lot of adult stuff now (especially the buffets which we have to pay adult prices) so for us TIW works the best.

As some of the earlier posters mentioned it will pay for itself after a certain amount of $ spent on meals. They keep adding more restaurants on it too so make sure to check out the list. I always ask at any place we get food anyway no matter where we go within WDW.

The nice thing is no keeping track of meals, etc as in how many TS or CS you're doing a day (and snacks, etc) like the DDP requires.

Another handy perk is the free valet parking which is great when traveling by car to other resorts for dining.