We’ve got some news about one of Disney World’s popular dining discounts!
Tables in Wonderland, Walt Disney World’s fee-based dining discount program offered to Florida residents, Annual Passholders, and Disney Vacation Club members, is a great way to save money if you are a frequent diner at Walt Disney World.
The program offers 20% savings on food and beverages, including alcoholic beverages, at more than 100 Walt Disney World restaurants.
Today, we’re getting news of an update to restaurants that will either stop offering the Tables in Wonderland discount in the near future, or will be subject to more blackout dates when using the card.
Victoria and Albert’s to Discontinue Offering Tables in Wonderland Discount
According to the Tables in Wonderland website, Victoria and Albert’s at Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort and Spa will continue to honor the Tables in Wonderland discount through July 14, 2014. However, as of August 1, 2014, the ultra-luxurious dining spot will no longer accept the Tables in Wonderland card.
Victoria and Albert's Main Dining Room
Currently, Tables in Wonderland members may still book dinner at Victoria and Albert’s, but are restricted in using their discount for the Chef’s Table or the Queen Victoria Room.
Popular Disney Restaurants Invoke Additional Tables in Wonderland Blackout Dates
Several other popular restaurants across Walt Disney World will continue to participate in the program, but guests who use Tables in Wonderland will be subject to additional blackout dates beginning August 1, 2014.
These restaurants include Le Cellier Steakhouse, Akershus Royal Banquet Hall, 1900 Park Fare, ‘Ohana (for dinner only), Chef Mickey’s, and Cinderella’s Royal Table.
Tables in Wonderland Members Can Still Have Their Bread Pudding at 'Ohana!
The additional blackout dates include the following blocks: November 23-29, 2014; December 21-27, 2014; March 8-April 4, 2015; and May 31-June 20, 2015.
In addition to these dates, the blackout dates for all participating Tables in Wonderland restaurants will continue to apply. These include Mother’s Day, Easter Sunday, Independence Day, Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day.
(Thanks to reader Amanda for letting us know about the update via Twitter!)
What do you think of the updates to Tables in Wonderland? Weigh in with your comments below!
Our handy (and portable!) ebook guides make sure you get the best deals and can plan a vacation of a lifetime.
I’d probably still get one but the arithmetic might get more complicated now.
Just curious, does anyone know the internal workings of TiW? Do the restaurants get reimbursed a flat fee, an amount proportional to the discount, or nothing at all beyond possibly increased business?
Don’t understand the June 2015 blackout at all…anyone please advise why those dates..
Well… Hummmm… That’s complicated. As long as we still get full discounts on Groundhog Day, Columbus Day and International Square Dancing Month… I guess it’s still a good value.
Drat! The discount at V&A always meant that the card paid for itself. I think it still will pay itself back, but I really didn’t want to do the math.
While the blackout dates are disappointing, the value of the card is exceptional still. You can use the card only a few times and get your money back in just valet services alone (valet is free when using the card).
The REAL treat for tables in wonderland is the special events which they need to do more of! Nothing like eating dinner inside the great movie ride or the VIP area of the living seas.
So the blackout dates are only for the restaurants you listed or are they for everything? Because that would suck^^ I could live with the blackout dates only for these few restaurants…And I’m sad to see Victoria & Alberts go, we actually planned just a few days ago to use the discount there in 3 years when my mom turns 60^^
Wow, sorry to hear of the changes but since I’m a “local” and love to dine at WDW whenever company comes – or, a special occasion, I will continue to use TiW with the changes. I don’t understand the May 31-June 15 other than that is the beginning of summer vacation for most US schools and the parks are super-crowded at that time. Maybe there will be “free dining” during that period, too.
hris — I’m not really sure how/if restaurants recoup the discount amount, but maybe someone else will have the info for us.
Mike — My guess would be the ramp-up of summer vacation, especially for locals. School districts around Orlando tend to dismiss for summer right around Memorial Day.
Mealtrip — Groundhog Day seems to be safe — for now 😉
Marc and JimR — Agreed that the card still represents good value for the frequent Disney diner.
Sabrina — The additional blackout dates are for the restaurants mentioned only. The holiday blackout dates are for all participating restaurants.
Amy — I’m pretty sure you’re right about those dates.
I’ve never used TiW before…I usually get deluxe dinning…My question is: If I get the basic plan 1 ts, 1 qs…can I still use the TiW for the other meal??
I understand V&A not honoring TiW for the Queen’s room or the Chef’s Table, but it is disappointing that they are now not going to honor it in the main dining room. We go to V&A a couple of times a year and have remarked that one visit to V&A makes the annual fee for TiW worth it.
Disney becomes less and less of a value, and less and less magical every day.
We were a tables in wonderland member in 2011 / 2012, it was wonderful but like everything else Disney has done since they have had their new commander in thief, they’ve destroyed it.
Lenore — As long as you aren’t combining plans, I don’t see any reason why you couldn’t use Tables in Wonderland for a meal not covered on a Disney Dining Plan.
Can still have there… what? (the end of the third picture caption is missing)
That looks incredible, but I don’t know what it is 🙂
I go to Disney once or twice a year (live in Miami – Florida resident not local), and having all these black out dates during the year, discourages me from going to Disney more now and makes me want to cut out trips now. I already a hefty amount for the card
Not destroyed for me yet. I rarely travel during those times and almost never visit those restaurants. I do ‘Ohana once every two years and it’ll just not be during those times. I don’t do character meals and I gave up on Le Cellier. Should I try it again, it won’t be during peak times anyway.
Now if they remove the discount for booze, then I will consider it destroyed.
Bruce — Haha! It’s ‘Ohana’s AMAZING bread pudding. Caption has been corrected. Thanks so much for the heads up. 🙂
Just picked up TiW for the first time, and knew of the blackout dates before buying. As a Florida resident, these blackout dates pretty much coincide with blackout dates for Florida resident passes anyway, so I don’t believe they’ll make that much difference to me.
And someone else asked about the break even point: at $125, we break even when we spend $625 at the restaurants accepting TiW. Last weekend, with ordering over & above our dining plan for dinner, and adding a character breakfast at the last minute outside our dining plan, we recouped 1/3 of the cost already.
Next time, we’re skipping the Dining Plan, and just working with Tables in Wonderland for our weekend jaunts. It will just work better for the way we dine.
Another reduction in benefits or DVC members.
My first thought went to _ Okay, they’re now getting obscenely greedy, going for every extra penny they can squeeze out of us…then I calmed down.
As a Florida resident, I have more leeway with black-out dates than out of state visitors,so I’m relatively unaffected in that respect. I was looking forward to eating at V & A, probably towards the end of 2014 & using the discount, so there’s a big letdown there. Were there so many discounts that the powers that be saw a noticeable drop in profits at V & A??? Although they’re going to be putting large amounts of cash into the new DTD, won’t the money it eventually brings in offset the measely discounts they throw us now????? It’s been a good business move on their part to give Fl. residents & AP holders an economic break. It would be of benefit to them not to get too many of us aggravated. We’re not a constantly renewable resource with no end in sight. If they keep shaving off bits & pieces, eventually, we won’t perceive TIW & possibly, AP’s as worthwhile……….so far, I still feel that they’re throwing us enough crumbs to keep us interested,but there’s a worrisome trend possibly hovering here…..
Why is it that Disney treats it’s DVC members like second class citizens? They know we’re going to come every year, and if we don’t, we still pay their dues etc. We pay and pay, while the other guest get free dining and better discounts. I’m beginning to think I would be better off swapping my points in for RCI weeks. This new thing with the mugs is too much. I buy new ones every year and use them once or twice a trip. I mostly make my own coffee in the unit and use the mug to carry it around. Now I’ll pay 10 times over for a cup of coffee.
I feel like some of the other replies I’ve read. They go up on the price of TIW and then take things away little by little. Same way with the new drink cup system. Who stays in the resorts all day and drinks 4 or more sodas a day. Most people go into the parks and you can’t use your cups there or at sit down restaurants. Like someone said they are taking bits and pieces away, charging more and soon we’ll loose interest.
We don’t visit much during those times of year or eat often at those restaurants. We’ve got a pretty good idea how much we’ll spend on meals at WDW over the course of a year and buying the Tables card is still a great deal for us. If some year in the future this is no longer true, we won’t bother with feeling “aggravated”, we just won’t buy the card. In other words, the discounts from the Tables card won’t determine how much we spend on food at WDW, our budget will. How much we spend on food at WDW will determine if we will benefit from buying the Tables card.
I can understand the blackout dates over Thanksgiving and Christmas, but I don’t understand the blackout dates from March 8 to April 4 or May 31 to June 20th. Those are dates I go to these restaurants and I am very disappointed with this announcement. What is Disney trying to do to its guests? Ohana is one of my favorite restaurants at Disney.
I have been a TiW cardholder and AP holder since moving back to Orlando in 2007. (Prior to that I was a CM, 89-97).
The small changes in the TiW program are kind of a bummer, especially the upcoming exclusion of V&A’s. If they continue, it may stop making sense to participate.
But I can not for the life of me understand the “outrage” over the mugs! The program hasn’t changed–only the technology. The only argument I have heard pretty much amounts to “Disney has made it IMPOSSIBLE for us to get around the policy now!!”
Now we can talk about whether the policy is good or bad, valuable, or a rip-off, etc all day long. But I just can’t believe how many posts I see essentially complaining that Disney has found a way to ensure the existing policy is followed!
It is disappointing when Disney taketh away. Someone has to pay Johnny Depp for the Lone Ranger, movie goers didn’t. I guess time will tell if these reductions in benefits will create more income or less. The crowds are getting bigger so I don’t think they need to offer the discount to attract customers. I don’t see the blackout dates as going to effect much, the places are already at capacity then anyway. We eat once a year at V&A in January on the same weekend for about 6 years now. When we went in 2008 there were 2 other couples on a friday night, this past year the dining room and QV room were both full and in the dining room tables were seated a second time. At 20% discount for us it only takes about 7 dinners to pay for the card so unless you are a 1 week a year visitor it is still a good bargin. Even at 1 week a year if you go same time each year the card is good for 13 months, so that’s 2 trips per card fee.
This is great news ! More blackout dates means less value; thanks Disney. Here’s hoping you make 2016 a blackout year so I can spend my $4,000 elsewhere.
Even though this is a 20% discount on food and drink, the program adds 18% gratuity. This program takes care of the servers, great idea! Since we tip at 20% or more, we still save 20% on food and drink. I’m not at all upset about the exclusions and black out dates. We are trying to renew our DiW card, and I can’t find a way to do it on line. I think I have to call Guest Relations.
As a new member of tables in wonderland I find the black out dates disappointihg, and confusing. But I am sure there is a reason for them. It isn’t swaying me either way. In response to Donna, my family and I, Have been coming to Disney world for the past 20 years we are hotel guests not DVc members and we see that the DVc members have discounts on food, merchandise etcetera. Never once have we ever gotten free food. We pay for the Disney dining plans, we pay for the concierge floor, we receive no discounts on food or beverage. So please let me know where the food is free and what discounts we are entitled to as we
Must be doing something wrong!
As a DVC members and Annual Pass holders we chose to come in non-busy times, (if there are any) so I don’t think this will impact us much. However, I agree i’m a little surprised by the June black out period – end of school rush perhaps? Anyway we will still use the Tables at Wonderland card, it has paid for itself in the past and I’m hoping that will be the case in the future. WDW does seem to be trying to squeeze every last dollar out of the golden goose, or Duck.
As a family of 2, we don’t spend the $500 necessary to break even, so we gave up the Tables in Wonderland when it moved to $100. We are there 5 weekends and 2 of those are the Food and Wine Festival when we eat at the events or booths. It’s become increasingly difficult to get a reservation at a Disney restaurant unless you plan way ahead and so we now just eat at the land in Epcot.
Regarding the 18% tip, it costs the servers at the full dining restaurants as I would normally tip 20%. But I find it outrageous that they charge 18% for a buffet.
I was initially perturbed with the new chip technology in the mugs. But after visiting quite a few times since, I appreciate the shorter lines at the refill station. It has made a very substantial impact in the number of people in line for the soda machine. Hmmmm?!!
I don’t agree with an 18% gratuity for a buffet service, with or without the TIW card. I also disagree that my party of 6 or more always gets charged a mandatory 18%, regardless if we receive great, average, or poor service. I should be able to determine the amount I wish to leave as a “gratuity”. I normally receive good service and leave a little more than 18%…but not when a tip is forced upon me. I think this mandatory tip for parties of 6 or more, especially for buffets is RIDICULOUS!!
I’ve been a TiW member for at least ten years. And an AP for twenty years. The price increase for TiW is troubling, but even moreso is the reduction in
special TiW events over the past few years. Disney used to have a special TiW event every few months at least, and they added special value to the
membership. But the number of events has dropped
off sharply. I wonder why that is?
I just read about the 50% increase in the Tables of Wonderland card. My husband and I became aware of the card several years ago and have paid increasingly higher fees over time. We always felt it was a good value to purchase the plan each year. We are senior citizens who regularly come to stay at WDW several times a year; either bringing family or close friends to have a great time together. We either go to play golf and /or visit the Parks. We generally can plan our trips to Disney circumventing the black our dates., that has not been a problem.
We spend a lot of money at WDW between our DVC membership which we have had since 1996 and our many trips to the Parks. I am so annoyed with this 50% increase! That doesn’t even take into consideration the Park fee increases! The avarice of Disney is really annoying! We will certainly be re-evaluating our options.