TIW vs. DVC dining discount

[weheartdisney07]

Hi! DH and I just recently bought a AKV DVC this week. I had a question regarding dining discounts. I noticed on the allears website it noted a 10% discount at most restaurants that we are going to be eating at during our next stay. Does that 10% have any exclusions such as alcohol purchases? It will just be the 2 of us so do not think that we would break even on paying the $100 for the TIW. Any feedback would be helpful! TIA

 

[rlovew]

Yes- there is a restriction of it not being allowed for alcohol. Also many times it is for lunch only during the week at many places. DH and I use TIW for just ourselves and tend to break even after about 5 days of using it but we also generally eat 1 TS per day.

 

[JustTinking]

We find that TIW, which is 20% discount and includes alcohol, is a much better deal than the DVC discounts. We fall back on the DVC discounts if we are someplace that TIW doesn't cover.

Obviously DVC discounts are part of your membership, so no cash outlay there. The TIW, we found with a larger party we break even on the first visit. If just the 2 of us, we break even either towards the end of our first visit, or on a second visit within the same year. Really depends on the category of dining you plan to do.

 

[Dean]

Hi! DH and I just recently bought a AKV DVC this week. I had a question regarding dining discounts. I noticed on the allears website it noted a 10% discount at most restaurants that we are going to be eating at during our next stay. Does that 10% have any exclusions such as alcohol purchases? It will just be the 2 of us so do not think that we would break even on paying the $100 for the TIW. Any feedback would be helpful! TIA

The TIW does cover more locations, covers ETOH and is accepted at more locations. However, for 2 people it's often a better deal to use the AP or DVC discounts. Realize that many of the DVC/AP discounts are only Lunch or weekdays. Be sure to download the Portable perks so you can see the true listing. For the DP it depends but for the Quick Service or Basic plan (1 Qick Service/1 Table Service) option, they often give little if any savings. The Deluxe Plan is often the best deal if it works out for your trip but it's a lot of food and seems best suited for shorter stays, kids 3-9, Large eaters, and multiple room situations.

 

[SarahInMN]

We find that TIW, which is 20% discount and includes alcohol, is a much better deal than the DVC discounts. We fall back on the DVC discounts if we are someplace that TIW doesn't cover.

We get the TiW every year in large part because of the alcohol discount. Plus the DVC discount is more limiting - less restaurants, dinners usually excluded etc. TiW is also taken at Swan and Dolphin which is huge - because we have always been able to walk up to sit downs there.

Due our eating habits, TiW easily pays for itself in 1 trip (especially if my DH's parents join us for part of it). As an example, we have an upcoming 10 day trip - we have ADRs for dinner at Artist Point, Cali Grill, Jiko, and Be Our Guest. Plus lunch at Brown Derby.

When we don't have ressies, we do walk ups (usually Swan and Dolphin) or eat in the bar/lounge area (ie Crew Cup lounge) where TiW is taken.

Depending on how you eat, TiW may or may not be superior to the DVC discounts.

 

[JimC]

We use TIW because it includes more restaurants and has a larger discount. We also enjoy the special dinners offered by TIW. Those events are a hit pricey, but always great fun. TIW has an annual fee and certain holidays are blacked out. One of our favorite restaurants, V&A's, will stop accepting TIW later next year. An automatic tip is added at table service restaurants - 18% at all but V&A's, which is 20%.

DVC/AP are back up options when TIW is not accepted.

 

[Dean]

An automatic tip is added at table service restaurants - 18% at all but V&A's, which is 20%.

Jim, I don't see this as a significant deterrent since we'd usually tip 18-20% anyway and you can get it taken off if there's a real issue. The only situation where it'd be an issue for us is for buffet's where 18-20% is not reasonable, even at Disney.

 

[jekjones1558]

Here is a neat chart listing DVC, AP and TIW discounts around WDW:

http://www.allears.net/pl/disc_dining.pdf

 

[Doug7856]

Here is a neat chart listing DVC, AP and TIW discounts around WDW:

http://www.allears.net/pl/disc_dining.pdf

Thanks for posting! That's a great chart to have.

 

[Dean]

Thanks for posting! That's a great chart to have.

It is nice to have and to put on a smart phone for reference. Just realize that there are times when it's not completely accurate due to changes and holiday exclusions.

 

[staceymay00]

We are on our 2nd TiW card. The first cost us $75, but I think the 2nd was after the price increase and cost $100. As a family of five, we have definitely saved money with TiW, but this might be our last card for a while. We typically go to WDW every other Thanksgiving week and that timeframe will be blacked out in the future if I recall. Also, we just don't eat as many TS meals as we used to. We've tried many of the TS restaurants and there are only a few we like enough to return. The automatic tip was never a problem for us since we almost always tip at that rate anyway, but now that 2 of our 3 kids are Disney adults, the automatic tips at buffets are a bit too high in my opinion. I think we have reached a point where TiW will save us very little if anything, but it was worth it when we were trying several new restaurants every trip. We don't usually eat at the signature restaurants at WDW, btw, but obviously the break even point comes more quickly if you like the more expensive restaurants, a bottle of wine with dinner, etc.

Sent from my iPad using DISBoards

 

[Anal Annie]

Because it is a percentage based discount I think it depends on the size of your family & ages of the kiddos (we are just a family of 3 so the percentage takes longer to accrue vs a larger family) and how many ADR's you want to plan.

AND of course it was a much better deal when it was only $75. The first time we had it DS was little and still eating off the kids menu - this was back when it was called the DDE (Disney Dining Experience) and it only cost us $65 back then. We ate at a couple of places that didn't take it (didn't realize they were exceptions when we made our ADRs) and we did not plan ADR's for every single day so it took us 2 trips to get our money out of it - we barely broke even. The next time we had it I think we had 3 trips in 1 year, DS was older and it still only cost $75 so we did REALLY WELL with it that time.

THIS time DS is 16 and oftens eats like a starving child from a 3-world country BUT the cost went up to $100 so it took more meals to recover our initial investment. We used it in August at 50's Prime Time, Le Cellier, Via Napoli, Flame Tree BBQ, Pizzafari, Wolfgang Puck's Cafe, The Plaza, Tony's Town Square and Liberty Tree Tavern - we "saved" $135 in discounts - so we went over our investment cost by just $35. That was with 7 TS meals (with alcohol) and 2 CS lunches. We are going again in January but it's only a 4-night trip so I've only booked Boma and Be Our Guest so I'm guessing we'll add another $35 or $40 to our savings. I sometimes feel like it is work to use it right - takes some planning and sometimes the one place you want isn't on it. (I was disappointed this last time to find that La Hacienda was taken off the list.)

If the cost goes up again we probably won't buy it again. It just takes too many ADR's for 3 people to break even.

 

[christianweecare]

I was considering purchasing TIW for the first time when we get ready to go in Dec. 2014. When I checked on Allears.net there was an update referring to black out dates during our dates in 2014 so that won't work.

 

[twinsouvenirs]

It seems to me your breakeven point for TIW is $500 of eligible spending, am I right? Since our kids are 1 yr old and graze from our plates, and we mostly cook at the condo except a few splurges, I'm not sure that it makes sense for us. That said, we do drink plenty so if we could use it when drinking around the world (for wine flights at Germany, Italy and France...) or at Jellyrolls, we'd probably take the plunge. Alas, it appears that those are not eligible spending.

 

[drusba]

For a long time, the black-out dates for TIW were only actual holidays. Disney recently announced that for certain restaurants such as Le Cellier, Akershus, 1900 Park Fare, Ohana, Chef Mickeys, and Cinderellas Royal Table (there might be others added), the black-out dates will include a lot of other dates starting next year: November 23-29, 2014; December 21-27, 2014; March 8-April 4, 2015; and May 31-June 20, 2015. Moreover, the price with an AP has gone from $75 to $100 (buying with DVC has been $100 since it was allowed as a purchase with a DVC card; however it was not too long ago when it was $50 with an AP). That means you need to spend $500 total now to reach the break even point after which you get a real discount (20% discount of $500 = $100 TIW purchase price). Also, Victoria's and Albert's is being removed from the restaurant list next June.

We have seen this pattern before. Have something that many like and is a real discount and then Disney starts chipping away at it annually, taking away portions of the discount or raising prices until the real benefit of having the discount program disappears completely. Right now it is still a decent deal as long as you spend well over $500 per year and are not affected by black-out dates. Adding the 18% tip is something we would likely do anyway so we do not consider that a downside but just be aware that 18% is added to the food and drink price before the discount is applied.

 

[Dean]

It seems to me your breakeven point for TIW is $500 of eligible spending, am I right? Since our kids are 1 yr old and graze from our plates, and we mostly cook at the condo except a few splurges, I'm not sure that it makes sense for us. That said, we do drink plenty so if we could use it when drinking around the world (for wine flights at Germany, Italy and France...) or at Jellyrolls, we'd probably take the plunge. Alas, it appears that those are not eligible spending.

That assumes the $100 buy in and that none of your restaurant options would have qualified for other discounts like DVC or AP. Realistically it's more in the $600 range for applicable restaurants.

We have seen this pattern before. Have something that many like and is a real discount and then Disney starts chipping away at it annually, taking away portions of the discount or raising prices until the real benefit of having the discount program disappears completely. Right now it is still a decent deal as long as you spend well over $500 per year and are not affected by black-out dates. Adding the 18% tip is something we would likely do anyway so we do not consider that a downside but just be aware that 18% is added to the food and drink price before the discount is applied.

Absolutely agree. The Food N Fun and it's replacement program certainly come to mind. At the end it was more expensive to use the program than to use normal discounts.

 

[Doug7856]

I think the changes spell the end of TIW as a useful program.

 

[Dean]

I think the changes spell the end of TIW as a useful program.

Since this is the main "competition" for the DP options, it may mean that will deteriorate faster than it already has.

 

[Doug7856]

Since this is the main "competition" for the DP options, it may mean that will deteriorate faster than it already has.

This really gets to the heart of the modern "Disney Parks" management: extract as much as possible with minimal expenditure. Costs for guests rise faster than inflation without added value. At some point the "equity" will be depleted and nothing will be left. It's like taking a 120% equity loan on the the good will of Disney guests.

 

[GrumpyPOTFH]

I have looked at TWI as being meant more for locals to draw them to eat a WDW more often.