Which would be cheaper TiW or Dining plan?

[AimKo]

I'm trying to assess which would be the better way to go for our next trip. Since TiW is going to be available for all DVCers I'm tempted to pick up the card....we have always done the dining plan in the past.

I've liked the dining plan a lot for that feeling of being "bill-free"...almost like making Disney an all inclusive.....but we do order alcohol and I understand that with TiW the 20% off applies to drinks as well. DH and BIL have a habit of finding the most expensive Scotch at Raglan road!

Thoughts on which is the greater value?

Aim

 

[RobPickles]

It depends on your family's eating habits/style.

I have gone through all the calculations and in the end have found the cost difference to be negligable. In the past, I have done the Regular Dinging Plan and had the TiW as backup for appetizers and drinks which I paid for seperately.

The only downfall to the TiW is that it is for table service restaurants only. That is why I do both now. That way I do not even have to think about the cost or worry about when and where I am going to eat. We setup our dining ressies as early as possible (its fun! - LOL!) and so when it comes time for vacation, everything is ready to go.

 

[Starshine]

It depends on your family's eating habits/style.

Yep. For DH and I it ends up cheaper to do the TiW because we're not huge eaters and we rarely eat dessert. Many times we get appetizers only or get one appetizer and share an entree. But we almost always get an alcoholic drink or 3 so TiW is a much better deal. And we usually make 2 or 3 trips a year, so one TiW card lasts through all of them.

 

[drusba]

TIW gives you a 20% discount on table service and buffet restaurants for both food and drink (including alcohol). It is unusable on a holiday. They automatically add an 18% tip (that is based on pre-discounted cost) with the usual net effect that you end up paying with tip just a little under the total that the regular price would have been. Thus, I look at it as mainly covering my tip cost.

The dining plan has more than one form but all of them offer a total discount for the number of daily meals and snacks covered which total is often difficult to actually figure out because it ultimately depends on where and what you eat. A major problem we have with even the basic DDP is that we simply cannot use it all because we don't do meals and snacks as often as needed , and if you cannot use everything for all days which includes arrival and departure date, any real discount can quickly disappear and the plan itself could easily end up costing you more than if you just bought meals with cash. Alcoholic beverages are extra, as is tipping (unless you have 6 or more or are using it for a dinner show or Cinderellas Castle in which case tip is included).

We personally feel TIW wins by a wide margin considering our family eating habits and also considering that it applies to alcohol. However, you must also factor in the cost of the card -- ours is $75 per year as AP holders; Florida resident is $100 and no one knows yet what DVC will charge; if it ends up being much higher than Florida resident cost then you will really need to start doing number crunching.

 

[KathyK]

I made a spreadsheet which compared DxDDp, DDP, DDP+TiW, and TiW only. DDP came out the highest, and DxDDP, TiW, and DDP+TiW were all +/- $100 of each other once I added in the cost of the TiW card.

My spreadsheet was really complex and I estimated what each person in my party would order at each restaurant we planned to eat at. I included drinks (alcoholic and non-alcoholic in separate columns), tax, and tip. In the end, it turns out that for our family, DxDDP is going to be easiest so that's what we're going with.

 

[DisneyMama21]

I know for my family DDP is best. We like to go to mostly Character dining and have 3 kids DS7, DD5, and DD3...so the low daily cost of the plan for children under 10 works out for us. The kids daily cost is less than just the character meal and they get a QS and snack as well! When the kids are older, I'm sure we'll do more with TIW...especially after they've had their fill of the character meals.

 

[a742246]

My take on this is:

If you are traveling with children the dining plan is probably a better choice.
If you are traveling as a couple or with older children the TIW is a better choice.
Single travelers just stick with the DVC Perk discounts.

This is from my experience, yours may differ.

 

[DebbieB]

If you buy it for $100, you have to spend $500 to just break even. The thing I don't like about it is it is not good for most counter service.

 

[Chellymouse]

We've done both and for our eating habits (2 grown children...no small children) we do better with TIW. DH doesn't really care for dessert, we both like appetizers and usually will order 1-2 and we both like our adult beverages. The last year we used DDP, we found that we spent quite a bit out of pocket for adding appetizers and drinks and paying gratuities and in order for us to get our money's worth on DDP, we had to order the most expensive entrees and desserts at TS as well as CS for us to get out of what we paid every day. We love snacks so that wasn't a problem until we ran out of snack credits. Having said that, many people often voice that they wind up blowing credits on their way to DME because they didn't use them. We're AP holders so the $75 fee (we factored the fee in when we purchased it) was worth it and we broke even at $375. We also ate more like we used to and didn't spend OOP what we would have even with all of our snacks. We usually will split a CS for lunch and either eat breakfast in our villa or at Artist Palate,(SSR) and TIW is good at AP so we save there. Finally, we usually average 2-3 trips per 13 month cycle so we get our money's worth.

 

[Tamar]

The dining plan just wouldn't work for us, because we like to keep our meals flexible. I wouldn't like feeling like I "had to" order certain courses, or that I "shouldn't" order other courses because it didn't fit in "the plan".

I also like a glass of wine or two with dinner. For is, it's been TiW ever since we started getting APs.

 

[RachaelA]

I definitely ditto what everyone else said. Depends on your dining habits.

We very rarely buy alcohol and like having 1 TS and 1 CS a day so the dining plan is perfect for us.

 

[BirdsOfPreyDave]

We do TIW almost exclusively, now. I've saved all receipts from our past few trips and made up a spreadsheet to compare what our total costs would have been on DDP versus what we paid on TIW. For what we enjoy eating and drinking, TIW was by far the best choice for us.

 

[Sunshine22]

The dining plan was fine when our kids were young, but TIW is a better choice for us due to savings and flexibility now that they are teens.

 

[Dean]

I'm trying to assess which would be the better way to go for our next trip. Since TiW is going to be available for all DVCers I'm tempted to pick up the card....we have always done the dining plan in the past.

I've liked the dining plan a lot for that feeling of being "bill-free"...almost like making Disney an all inclusive.....but we do order alcohol and I understand that with TiW the 20% off applies to drinks as well. DH and BIL have a habit of finding the most expensive Scotch at Raglan road!

Thoughts on which is the greater value?

Aim

IMO, one needs to do the calculations independently then compare. Is TIW worth it? Is the DDP worth it? which is better? If they're close or if you can squeeze another trip of the TIW, that's often the best choice. I suspect TIW will be far better for you. We pick and chose depending on our group, reservations and LOS. Often I can get a 20% savings or more using DDP over what I would have spent and a 50% or more value compared to what we actually ordered. Kids 3-9, shorter stays, early arrival/late departure, more expensive TS options & WP Express/Pepper market for QS tend to increase your value for the DDP. Alcohol, Signature restaurants, longer stays and multiple trips tends to favor TIW. Look at the menu's for you options and compare as if you were ordering.