TIW or Dining Plan?

[laevson4712]

First sorry, I'm sure this is like 110th time this question has come through.

We are traveling to Disney for a week with a large group of 10 or 12 (still waiting for my DB to decide) the group will include a 4 year old and a 1 1/2 year old.

My DH and I are usually Deluxe Dining all the way but I feel like there have been a lot of changes to it since we been there and I'm not too impressed with it now. The rest of the family was planning on getting the regular dining plan.

I have been looking at TIW more since we usually end up spending a lot of money on drinks. But we don't plan on having every single meal together, but still the majority.

Looking for y'alls thoughts on this. Thanks!

 

[bcarey2k]

I'm a TiW fan ... especially if alcohol is involved ... double especially if bottles of wine are involved (a good value at say Yachtsman).

That said, over 7 days, just guessing, I'd say at best you'll break even. Multiple trips = slam dunk ... just 1 ... questionable.

I personally like the ease of the gratuity added in, but that sentiment varies greatly as well.

Brian

 

[alex9179]

I had TiW on our first trip (and a second with my mom) and it was great. You get discounts on more places than are covered by the plan, alcohol, appetizers, etc. It's flexibility far exceeds any dining plan.

Are you planning on covering the entire family's meals on it when you dine together? If you are, a second card is $50 for the spouse if you split up or for really large parties.

 

[xipetotec]

First sorry, I'm sure this is like 110th time this question has come through.

We are traveling to Disney for a week with a large group of 10 or 12 (still waiting for my DB to decide) the group will include a 4 year old and a 1 1/2 year old.

My DH and I are usually Deluxe Dining all the way but I feel like there have been a lot of changes to it since we been there and I'm not too impressed with it now. The rest of the family was planning on getting the regular dining plan.

I have been looking at TIW more since we usually end up spending a lot of money on drinks. But we don't plan on having every single meal together, but still the majority.

Looking for y'alls thoughts on this. Thanks!

We've done the spreadsheet comparison on our last couple of trips and for us, TiW FAR EXCEEDS the value of Dining Plan. We used to be big dining plan fans, but it just got too expensive for what you get and then TiW was opened up to DVC members and we never looked back.

 

[Hopefully]

We have used the TiW card in conjunction with the DDP over 2 long trips and still saved money. The general wisdom is that you need to spend about $750 to begin to realize the savings.
You will need to be at all the meals it is used at
You must pay the bill the card is used for the discount for.
Good Luck

 

[laevson4712]

We are planning on at least two signatures and multiple character dining. With 10 of us that should put us well over $750. I am concerned about the fact that we are only going once this year.

 

[Disney_Alli]

I bought TiW right before the increase when you needed to spend closer to $600 to break even. Our group of 6 adults and a 7 week old did that on the first night we had dinner together at Flying Fish between some apps and a couple bottles of wine. With a group as large as yours I think you'll come out ahead very quickly even with the $750 minimum!

 

[gharter]

I think it really depends on what restaurants you plan to eat at. As mentioned above, if you will be having alcohol, especially bottles of wine, TIW can save a lot of money. The TIW discount is also available at many of the lounges and bars, if you use those. Especially with as large of a group as you mention. We had a group of 4, and saved multiples of what we paid for our TIW card.
The other option to look at is if you will have an Annual Pass, they now have a 20% discount at some restaurants. Alcohol is not discounted if that matters. For us, we went to enough restaurants that didn't have a AP discount that TIW was worth the money.

 

[Lisa F]

We are planning on at least two signatures and multiple character dining. With 10 of us that should put us well over $750. I am concerned about the fact that we are only going once this year.

I think with 10 of you, you should be fine. I went for 8 days recently with my kiddo and the value of the meals i wanted to have on the DxDDP was about $800 for the 2 of us which would have been about a $50 savings after buying TiW. The DxDDP for those meals cost about $577 so it was a bigger savings... but I had one adult and one kid... but just to give you an idea of a food budget (and it also included multiple character meals and 2 signatures). I think with 5x the number of people you are going to break even very quickly.

 

[kboo]

+1 on TiW. We did it 2015-2016 over 3 trips, but actually broke even by the end of our 1st trip because we shared some meals with our friends who have 2 kids our ODD's age (4-5). We all needed drinks, too - but here's the rundown on that first trip alone:

Akershus dinner - 5 adults, 3 kids + drinks (I think we broke even on that dinner alone!)
Crystal Palace - 5 adults, 3 kids
Boma - 5 adults, 3 kids
Tusker House dinner - 2 adults, 1 kid
CRT- 2 adults 1 kid
BOG dinner - 2 adults, 1 kid

On our 2nd trip, we had my parents around for most meals and my sister and her partner for some, it was a long trip, we hit The Wave, California Grill (6 adults, lots of alcohol on an adult dinner with friends who were there around the same time), more Tusker House, CRT, BOG dinner, Kona Cafe

3rd trip was just our family, of 2 adults, 1 kid and 1 baby but by then it was pure savings. New restaurants we tried: 1900 Park Fare (x2?) Skipper Canteen (not sure if TiW accepted?), Narcoosees, Grand Floridian Cafe x 2 or 3, Ohana, more Kona Cafe ...

Our ODD is so into princesses and BOG, there is no way DDP would have enabled us to do the same with the same kind of savings.

 

[Farps]

with such a large group TIW would pay for itself in no time, I think it would definitely save far more than DDP. Plus you don't feel obligated to order the most expensive menu items, and if you prefer appetizers instead of deserts than they are discounted also. Not to mention any adult beverages that your party might enjoy. Have a wonderful trip

 

[bumbershoot]

That said, over 7 days, just guessing, I'd say at best you'll break even. Multiple trips = slam dunk ... just 1 ... questionable.

While we haven't gotten it since the last increase, we hit profit inside 5 days for two light eating adults and one growing boy (all vegetarians) who don't get soda or onsite desserts, and only one has the occasional drink. One TS per day and one QS that isn't always at an included QS place.

With the op's group? Wow. Would hit profit so fast. Especially if they were already planning on covering the meals of the others.

 

[addiln]

For me it is always a better deal for TIW than the meal plan. I enjoy my drinks with all my meals and also in between my meals. Also I feel like I am forced to eat more on the DP. We don't always stop for lunch or need to eat all the snack that come with the DP. Our last few trips I totaled all the cost of the food we got that included snacks, drinks, and meals. It was still cheaper than the meal plan before the TIW discount and no one ever went hungry or wanted more food. Once I added the cost of the card and the discounts it saved me like $400 over all. Also we went back 10 months later for an adults only trip and I still had my TIW card for that trip as well.

 

[figmentedfollies]

Please keep in mind with TiW that you will need to be present and paying for all the meals, however you choose to do so (cash, credit card, charging to the room, gift card, etc.). Since it's limited to 10 people per card you may need to purchase a second card ($50, if I recall correctly). That being said, I will still go towards the TiW option. In my opinion it does allow for increased flexibility in terms of what you're ordering, which is worth something too!