Wine and Dine?

[DISchick]

Has anyone here added on the Wine and Dine option? What are the details of the plan? Is it worth the $39.99 a night?
Thanks for any info you have--can't find a whole lot on the Diney site about it.....
JIll

 

[Luvmyfam3]

DISchick,

Great minds think alike. I was about to write the same question! How is the "predetermined wine selection"? Could I get the same bottle for $12.50 somewhere else? Inquiring winos want to know...

Thanks!

 

[CoolPool]

I looked into it for my upcoming trip. I'm no expert but here's what I thought. Let me know if you have other ideas/thoughts.

Pros:
1) Probably represents a savings on the usually jacked-up prices found on restaurant menus for a bottle of wine
2) Pre-paid is convenient

Negatives:
1) excludes mixed drinks (a favorite thing to sample at WDW)
2) Your table only gets one bottle: one type of wine. So depending on what people order you have the white vs red and sweet vs dry (etc) problems rather than letting each diner order according to their own desire by the glass.
3) I distinctly remember many bottles of wine sold at the hotel shops and in epcot shops as being less than $40/Bottle. So if one were to buy OOP at a shop, then say drink it at your room as a nightcap, that would represent a savings.
4) I bet some wines/brands are excluded? Otherwise there'd be a lot of Veuve Cliquot and Pommery being poured.

 

[irene_dsc]

I looked into it for my upcoming trip. I'm no expert but here's what I thought. Let me know if you have other ideas/thoughts.

Pros:
1) Probably represents a savings on the usually jacked-up prices found on restaurant menus for a bottle of wine
2) Pre-paid is convenient

Negatives:
1) excludes mixed drinks (a favorite thing to sample at WDW)
2) Your table only gets one bottle: one type of wine. So depending on what people order you have the white vs red and sweet vs dry (etc) problems rather than letting each diner order according to their own desire by the glass.
3) I distinctly remember many bottles of wine sold at the hotel shops and in epcot shops as being less than $40/Bottle. So if one were to buy OOP at a shop, then say drink it at your room as a nightcap, that would represent a savings.
4) I bet some wines/brands are excluded? Otherwise there'd be a lot of Veuve Cliquot and Pommery being poured.

Plus, it only works (savings-wise) if you order a bottle of wine every single day. I haven't seen anyone report on it yet! I definitely know it wouldn't have been a good idea for us - we ordered one half-carafe of the house wine at Marrakesh, and dh had a pina colada at 'Ohana. Plus, we ordered a bottle of wine with our grocery order, which we never got around to drinking, and managed to safely pack home in our suitcase.

I'm guessing this plan won't be repeated...

 

[TMcG88]

We did the wine option on our recent visit Feb. 5-9, 2008. It wasn't bad, but we probably wouldn't do it again. Your assumptions are right on. The plan excludes "premium wines". Most of the wine we got were in the 50.00-57.00 price range. So it was definately a savings, however, as mentioned some nights I may have preferred a mixed drink. Also if your sit down dinner was at lunch, you probably wouldn't want a whole bottle of wine. On our last night we had one wine credit leftover so I went to the Outer Rim lounge at the Contemporary and the bartender very graciously opened a bottle for us and gave us glasses to take bak to our room. I wasn't sure if that was possible, but it saved us from using two 2 credits through room service! Also, don't forget, you're tipping on the full price of the wine!

Hope that helps!

 

[DISchick]

We did the wine option on our recent visit Feb. 5-9, 2008. It wasn't bad, but we probably wouldn't do it again. Your assumptions are right on. The plan excludes "premium wines". Most of the wine we got were in the 50.00-57.00 price range. So it was definately a savings, however, as mentioned some nights I may have preferred a mixed drink. Also if your sit down dinner was at lunch, you probably wouldn't want a whole bottle of wine. On our last night we had one wine credit leftover so I went to the Outer Rim lounge at the Contemporary and the bartender very graciously opened a bottle for us and gave us glasses to take bak to our room. I wasn't sure if that was possible, but it saved us from using two 2 credits through room service! Also, don't forget, you're tipping on the full price of the wine!

Hope that helps!

Thanks for the info,TMcG88! That's kind of what I thought, so it's good to hear the details of the plan.
I don't really think we'd want a whole bottle of wine EVERY night--I mean, a girl's gotta have her margaritas, right?