Tables in Wonderland Card

[TXDisney]

A couple questions about this card bc I think it might be worth it for me to purchase next week.
1st it says it's $100 for annual pass holders. I'm an annual Passholder, my trip is from September 17-22 but my annual pass expires September 27th, will this effect me purchasing the card for $100?

2nd is can you link this card up with your MagicBands rather than take it out for purchases?

 

[lostpro9het]

A couple questions about this card bc I think it might be worth it for me to purchase next week.
1st it says it's $100 for annual pass holders. I'm an annual Passholder, my trip is from September 17-22 but my annual pass expires September 27th, will this effect me purchasing the card for $100?

You need a pass to buy one but not to use one.

2nd is can you link this card up with your MagicBands rather than take it out for purchases?

No.

 

[sxeensweet]

Are you going to get more than 1 use out of it for 5-6 days because I know for us if we only use it once in a year it's usually not worth it. You need to save enough over $100 for it to be worth it being TIW cost $100. For such a short trip it may not be worth the cost unless you will go back numerous times while your TIW card is still active or have a longer stay.

 

[FrostyNaples]

A couple questions about this card bc I think it might be worth it for me to purchase next week.
1st it says it's $100 for annual pass holders. I'm an annual Passholder, my trip is from September 17-22 but my annual pass expires September 27th, will this effect me purchasing the card for $100?

2nd is can you link this card up with your MagicBands rather than take it out for purchases?

I didn't like the fact there were so many restrictions.

There are a good amount of great restaurants left off the participation list, restricted to dinner only, $50 replacement fee if the card is lost (HALF what you already paid for it), Member has to pay for the bill (family member or friend cannot), auto gratuity, etc.. You can find the info here: http://tablesinwonderland.com/

I don't like all the pitfalls, and will stick with the DDP personally, or out of pocket if needed.

 

[dreamfinder]

If you plan on spending more than the $500 on food at the accepted restaurants, then it's a no brainer. It covers adult beverages while the DDP doesn't, you aren't restricted to only certain food types (IE Apps), etc.

There are a good amount of great restaurants left off the participation list

Yes, primarily Disney O/O locations accept TiW, but it's a pretty solid list. I can't think of more than a handful that don't take it.

restricted to dinner only

Nope. You can use it for any meal, snacks, whatever. Any time the location is open. There are a few situations where it is only certain meals, but it's not just dinner.

$50 replacement fee if the card is lost (HALF what you already paid for it)

Because the system doesn't seem to support deactivating a card. The card is good for the period of time, and they don't want people "losing" their card, and passing it off to someone else for them to use.

Member has to pay for the bill (family member or friend cannot)

Depends on the CM, but yes technically true.

auto gratuity

You can dispute the gratuity with the manager if you don't feel the service warrants the 18%.

I understand that TiW isn't for everyone, and you apparently may not be one of them, just wanted to make sure your points were corrected/clarified as warranted.

 

[TXDisney]

Do QS places take the card? I mean I'm there for 5 days with reservations at Le Celier, Califirnia Grill and Teppan Edo. We both plan on drinking as well. So with those reservations it's kinda a coin flip if it's worth it. The deciding factor kind of is if the QS booths in the countries at Epcot take this card. If so it's worth it for us.

 

[FrostyNaples]

I understand that TiW isn't for everyone, and you apparently may not be one of them, just wanted to make sure your points were corrected/clarified as warranted.

Which was completely unnecessary since I referenced the direct link where the program is completely outlined.

And yes, there are some locations restricted to lunch or dinner only, one offs, but they do exist.

 

[FrostyNaples]

Do QS places take the card? I mean I'm there for 5 days with reservations at Le Celier, Califirnia Grill and Teppan Edo. We both plan on drinking as well. So with those reservations it's kinda a coin flip if it's worth it. The deciding factor kind of is if the QS booths in the countries at Epcot take this card. If so it's worth it for us.

All of the participation locations are here: http://tablesinwonderland.com/

For more in depth, good place to start: Call (407) 566-5858 (Monday - Friday, 9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. EST) for more information.

 

[Victoria]

I swear by TiW. Well worth my $100. Over the course of 5 days with 5 adults eating at one table service restaurant a day we saved $186. We also got free valet parking 3 times. So I am up at least +$86 at this point and I've got at least two more smaller trips planned before it expires.

The auto gratuity doesn't bother me. If I had horrible service I would call over a manager to dispute it. We've never been given a hard time about who actually pays the bill. The card holder is supposed to be the one paying the bill but I can tell you that was rarely what we did.

We never ran into a problem with it not being accepted either. We even used it at Raglan Road which I was somewhat surprised it worked at.

I like not being forced to order certain categories of food like the DDP does. I very very rarely order a dessert in a TS restaurant. Sometimes I don't want an appetizer either. I also enjoy the benefit of getting a discount on alcoholic beverages.

Not for everyone of course but it definitely has some advantages over the DDP.

 

[dreamfinder]

Which was completely unnecessary since I referenced the direct link where the program is completely outlined.

Understood, but in an era of TL;DR, clarifying points often helps those who cannot help themselves.

 

[FrostyNaples]

I think i'm also missing the value, I mean your not actually saving anything off the food, your basically saving the 20% normalized gratuity (some would even call it a tax ) PLUS your pre-paying $100, which means, you need to spend even more on top just to get back what you already spent.

Someone open my eyes up on this one.

If pre-discount you spent $100 a day for 5 days, that's $500.

After discount that's $400 (-20%). But you paid $100 for the membership to begin with, PLUS you should still be tipping based on the pre-discount amount (or your cheaping out on your waiter).

So if we add back in the gratuity to the discount at an average of 20%, now where at

$400 (discounted meals)
$100 (20% gratuity factored back in, not being cheapo)
$100 (membership, more for non-passholders)

$600.

I guess i'm missing the savings due to there being an upfront cost on a 5 day vacation.

Lay it out for me ppl, where is the break even or better? Do you have to bring a crowd?

 

[LuvtheGoof]

I didn't like the fact there were so many restrictions.

Just have to ask - what restrictions affect you?

There are a good amount of great restaurants left off the participation list, , $50 replacement fee if the card is lost (HALF what you already paid for it), Member has to pay for the bill (family member or friend cannot), auto gratuity, etc..

What "great" restaurants are you missing out on? In addition, you say that there are a good many places left off, yet the DDP has a lot FEWER TS places to choose from, so which one is actually more restrictive?

It clearly states that the card is non-transferable, just like ALL of Disney's ticket media. That means that the cardholder has to be present at the time of payment. You could just as easily have a friend pay with a Disney Gift Card, since they aren't tied to a particular person, so there is no HAVE to pay. Or use cash. And while the CC name has to match the cardholder name when a CC is used, a friend or family member can pay that person back for the meal.

restricted to dinner only

There is only 1 restaurant that is restricted to Dinner Only, and that is BOG, since that is the only time it has TS.

I don't like all the pitfalls, and will stick with the DDP personally, or out of pocket if needed.

So you don't care to save 20%?!?!?! It has been proven by many people that the DDP can only save you money if you get the most expensive items on every sit down meal.

Sorry, but the TiW is the best deal for food, especially for those of us that prefer an adult beverage with our TS meals. Since the DDP doesn't even cover that, most people forget to add that cost in when comparing plans.

 

[LuvtheGoof]

I think i'm also missing the value, I mean your not actually saving anything off the food, your basically saving the 20% normalized gratuity (some would even call it a tax ) PLUS your pre-paying $100, which means, you need to spend even more on top just to get back what you already spent.

Someone open my eyes up on this one.

If pre-discount you spent $100 a day for 5 days, that's $500.

After discount that's $400 (-20%). But you paid $100 for the membership to begin with, PLUS you should still be tipping based on the pre-discount amount (or your cheaping out on your waiter).

So if we add back in the gratuity to the discount at an average of 20%, now where at

$400 (discounted meals)
$100 (20% gratuity factored back in, not being cheapo)
$100 (membership, more for non-passholders)

$600.

I guess i'm missing the savings due to there being an upfront cost on a 5 day vacation.

Lay it out for me ppl, where is the break even or better? Do you have to bring a crowd?

The break even is $500 at TS restaurants. Simple math. You cannot count the gratuity in your calculations, since you would be paying that OOP or DDP. I have never understood how saving 20% on a meal (including alcohol) becomes such a bad thing, and something that people argue about.

If you pay OOP for a $100 meal, add in 18% tip, and you are paying $118. With TiW, the $100 meal is $80, and add tip, and you are paying $98. If you do this for 5 meals, you have "broke even", and then the savings just add up after that. What is not understandable to everyone about this?

A meal at CG for 2 if you order steak and a bottle of wine can easily run over $200. You can get to the break even point pretty quickly if you eat at some of the better TS places!

If you eat at mostly QS, then obviously, the TiW is not for that person. Wouldn't make any sense.

 

[ratherbeinwdw]

I think i'm also missing the value, I mean your not actually saving anything off the food, your basically saving the 20% normalized gratuity (some would even call it a tax ) PLUS your pre-paying $100, which means, you need to spend even more on top just to get back what you already spent.

Someone open my eyes up on this one.

If pre-discount you spent $100 a day for 5 days, that's $500.

After discount that's $400 (-20%). But you paid $100 for the membership to begin with, PLUS you should still be tipping based on the pre-discount amount (or your cheaping out on your waiter).

So if we add back in the gratuity to the discount at an average of 20%, now where at

$400 (discounted meals)
$100 (20% gratuity factored back in, not being cheapo)
$100 (membership, more for non-passholders)

$600.

I guess i'm missing the savings due to there being an upfront cost on a 5 day vacation.

Lay it out for me ppl, where is the break even or better? Do you have to bring a crowd?

Most people pay the gratuity, so you are saving that no matter how you look at it. We saved 36.00 on one meal for 8 people. At the resorts, you save the full 20% which saved us 12.00 a day for breakfast for 8 each morning. Then, you also save the full 20% at Pizzafari and Restaurantasaurus. In one trip, we saved more than we paid for the card with a party of 8. The second trip was full savings as will be our trip next month.

 

[Wngo905]

If my math is correct, with the TiW card a $100 meal comes out to $99.60 (100-discount+tip+tax=total) versus the same $100 meal (without a TiW) coming out to $124.50 (100+tip+tax).

I believe the 18% tip is figured on the discounted price. I know the tax is figured on the discounted price.

So, instead of thinking about it only as saving $.40 you need to factor in the costs it would be without the discount. Actual savings on the same meal being 24.90. If you have four of those meals, you have paid for the card

 

[Wngo905]

Another plus is if you are eating at quick serve place in the Animal Kingdom or resorts with Quick Serve that take the TIW, there is no Tip on the meal, so you get a full 20% off and taxed on the discount. In other words a $100 meal (I know expensive QS but easy math) would be $85.20 ($80 + 6.5% tax = 85.20)

 

[FrostyNaples]

The break even is $500 at TS restaurants. Simple math. You cannot count the gratuity in your calculations, since you would be paying that OOP or DDP. I have never understood how saving 20% on a meal (including alcohol) becomes such a bad thing, and something that people argue about.

If you pay OOP for a $100 meal, add in 18% tip, and you are paying $118. With TiW, the $100 meal is $80, and add tip, and you are paying $98. If you do this for 5 meals, you have "broke even", and then the savings just add up after that. What is not understandable to everyone about this?

A meal at CG for 2 if you order steak and a bottle of wine can easily run over $200. You can get to the break even point pretty quickly if you eat at some of the better TS places!

If you eat at mostly QS, then obviously, the TiW is not for that person. Wouldn't make any sense.

This is helpful to know the amount needed to spend before savings are realized.

They are certainly stiffing the wait staff on their tips, i wonder what their opinions are on the matter.

They are adding in the auto 18% after the discount :-( - maybe they hope you order more!

 

[LuvtheGoof]

This is helpful to know the amount needed to spend before savings are realized.

They are certainly stiffing the wait staff on their tips, i wonder what their opinions are on the matter.

They are adding in the auto 18% after the discount :-( - maybe they hope you order more!

I had thought the tip was based on the non-discounted total, but I could be wrong. I haven't checked recently.

When it is earned (and it always has been!) we add more tip to the regular TS places, but we leave it at 18% for the buffet.

 

[ratherbeinwdw]

This is helpful to know the amount needed to spend before savings are realized.

They are certainly stiffing the wait staff on their tips, i wonder what their opinions are on the matter.

They are adding in the auto 18% after the discount :-( - maybe they hope you order more!

The bill has 18% and 20% and you pick the one you want to add.

 

[DisDadWoz]

The value of this card is for people like my family who: A. Are going to have meals at the higher level restaurants to eat, no matter what. B. Usually tip 18-20% C. Have a bottle of wine or some other type of cocktail with our meal. (Not a must, but just saying) D. Like to maybe share meals or get dessert instead of an app.

If you don't normally eat at these types of locations I wouldn't recommend getting the card just so you can get the 20% off. If we stay 5 nights we usually eat 5 dinners at the nicer places so the card is worth it to us. If you are only going to use it for 2-3 times in a year, you probably won't get your $100 investment back.