I have some questions about the Tables In Wonderland card

[luvDaMouse]

I have decided that this card might work better for me than the dining plan but I have a couple questions,

Where do I purchase one??

How much does it cost?

I plan on purchasing one in Dec of this year, my AP is good till May of 2011 and I have a trip planned for October 2011 if I don’t renew my AP in May (It may work out better to buy hoppers because I only have one trip sch next year) can I still use the TIW if I don’t have an AP? Do they ask to see your AP card?

Is there a list somewhere of restaurants that accept the TIW card?
I read that they automatically add an 18% gratuity to the bill, is this correct? I usually tip 20% if I had excellent service, do you add more or leave it at the 18%?

Lastly, If you have used this card do you like it? My dh and I a not big drinkers, I did see that you need to spend about 375.00 before you start saving. But I figured if I got at least 2 trips out of it we would definitely spend that. :)

Thanks!
Dana:mickey:

[faline]

You can purchase the card at guest services at Downtown Disney or any of the parks. We purchased our card in May of 2010 and it indicates it will be valid through June of 2011. We have not been asked to show our annual pass when we have used the card.

When we purchased our card, we were also supplied with a list of all the restaurants and lounges that accept the card. Even if you're not a big drinker but want to stop into a participating lounge for some appetizers and a glass of iced tea, you will receive the 20% discount. I always try to put it on the table at the beginning so that the server knows we have it. On a couple of occasions, we've needed to wait for a bit for a manager to change the bill when the server rang it up without the discount.

The 18% is automatically added to your bill when you use the Tables in Wonderland Card.

We think the card is well worth it. For our trip in May, when we purchased the card, I kept a pretty careful log of what we spent on lodging, tickets, food, and drink and compared this to what we would have spent on a package that included "free dining". We came out ahead using a room only discount and the Tables in Wonderland card.

Participating Restaurants (http://intercot.com/infocentral/dining/dde.asp)

[Melanie]

We purchased our card in May of 2010 and it indicates it will be valid through June of 2011. [/URL]

Same thing with us! We purchased beginning of Aug. 2009, and it's good until end of Sept. 2010 - 14 months!!! :thumbsup:

We've also never had to show our AP when using it, and have also had the (very) slight delay of having a manager's approval at a few spots.

We love the card, but we're local and use it a lot. It's saved us bundles.

[SallyP]

I read that they automatically add an 18% gratuity to the bill, is this correct? I usually tip 20% if I had excellent service, do you add more or leave it at the 18%?

Lastly, If you have used this card do you like it? My dh and I a not big drinkers, I did see that you need to spend about 375.00 before you start saving. But I figured if I got at least 2 trips out of it we would definitely spend that. :)

Thanks!
Dana:mickey:

The membership costs $75 for annual passholders and $100 for FL residents who are not annual passholders. That is the cost of one card. If you want another card for the family I believe it's an additional $50. We're always together at meal time so we just have the one card.

On your receipt for the meal/service it will add the 18% gratuity but it also leaves a line for additional tip if you choose to leave more. For us to leave extra it usually depends totally on the service received but more often than not we bump it up to 20%.

We have been members for years when it was Disney Dining Experience before Tables in Wonderland. We enjoy the special dining events they hold during the year also.

[luvDaMouse]

:thumbsup:
Thank you!
:thanks::rocks:

[DizneyRox]

Others have answered, but yeah...

It's one year from purchase, you need to have an active AP (if that's how you're getting it), but you don't need an active AP to continue using the TiW card. We were never asked for our AP card.

For me, when they add the 18% surcharge, that's all they get. I know it's part of the program, and since it is, that's the rules they (and I) play by.

I recently did the math and was surprised to see the savings. If you already have an AP, then that's not a problem, however it might be worth doing the math to see if there really is a savings. When you add the additional cost of getting an AP over a MYW ticket AND the cost of the TiW card, you might be surprised to see the break even point.

I think on our last trip which was just shy of two weeks, we saved about $200 over OOP and about $270 I think over going with the DDP. Again, for how we eat, which may be different for others. Take off the cost of the TiW and the additional cost of an AP, and we probably just about broke even.

[DisneyaHolic]

My favorite part of having the card was being invited to special events! While I live in Washington, and so can seldom go to the special events, they are fun to read about and I once actually got to attend one. It was really fun, and we were treated so well!