we leave for Disney in 8 days and my father in law decided to switch from having the dining plan to doing tables in wonderland. I'm still up in the air about this decision. Has anyone here done both and could you give a comparison and say which one you preferred.
Jess we never did TIW, but we did decide to do it for our January 2012 trip. I can see us saving a significant amount of money and I know Brad has said that TIW was definitely the better way to go. Now maybe you can let us know what you think of it. I also think Vettelover has TIW too.
Mark
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If you go to WDW more than twice in a year, you like table service, and you tend to have a large group (4 or more), than TIW, in my opinion, is a better deal. I think we paid ours already by the end of our first week at WDW with the savings that we get from using it. I also don't have this "urgency" to make sure we use it up by the end of our trip, or we will lose it. With the dining plan, I always feel that I need to make a reservation well in advanced to make sure we have table service to be able to use it and to get our money's worth. I don't feel that pressure with TIW, where I often walked up to Guest Relations, sometime on the same day, to make reservations.
So yes, I much prefer TIW.
Zz.
No longer an active member.
Jess is kinda against it because of the no snack credits. I'm for this because I don't know how many times I want an appetizer as my dinner and couldn't because you weren't allowed.
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Can you get the TIW discount on snacks?
From what I see no. Also no counter service either.
Mark
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The only counter service areas seem to be the resorts that only have counter service (All-Star resorts and French Quarter) Mostly it's for sit down restaurants. We got it this year with our annual passes and so far it's been all right. Be advised that they will include an %18 tip on your bill. On the plus side alcohol is included 
.
We've stayed at:
Grand Floridian, Wilderness Lodge, Beach/Yacht Club, Old Key West Resort, Port Orleans (Riverside & French Quarter), Coronado Springs, Boardwalk Inn, Animal Kingdom Lodge, Caribbean Beach, Pop Century, All Star (Music & Sports).
I agree it has its ups and downs..we had it back when we had an AP and I really liked it because it included everything and can let you get what you want etc. We more than paid for it on one trip. The DP is good but it can be SOO much food that sometimes it was too much for us. Especially with kiddos I think the TIW will be a good choice. Don't you have AP's? Do they still offer AP discounts at some counter service? I haven't had an AP in over 7 years but I seem to remember getting some kind of discount (10%) I think at counter service places.
Bella
we don't have AP's but my in-laws do so they will use theirs for the discount. Yeah we know about the 18% tip but we had that with the dining plan as well.
I was wondering about this too. Was leaning toward TIW b/c we are FL residents and family of 4 (5 when we take my Mom). We do either dinner or lunch sit down,so thought this would be more economical for us than the DDP.
Anxious to hear how it works out for you and your family.