Dividing Dining Costs using Tables in Wonderland

[LovesTimone]

Tips are based on the undiscounted prices but tax is calculated on the discounted total.

Thanks so much...

 

[wuzzles]

Of course YMMV but when we have used the card in the past and had more than the max number of people allowed by the card, our servers were always willing to put all the drinks, apps, & desserts on the TIW tab and add in the 10 most expensive entrees. That just left out the cheapest kid's entrees at full price.
In our case we were a family of 3 but we were traveling at the same time as friends and dined together multiple times with their group of depending on the day 8-12 more people. In our situation I couldn't justify spend the extra $50 to get the second card.

If you are comfortable settling up later I highly suggest taking a photo of the receipt at the end of the meal in case it gets lost. Maybe even jotting down on your copy who ordered what while still at the table and it is still fresh in everyone's mind.

 

[supersnoop]

I believe the AP discount on meals can be used on up to 10 people (maybe the visa too)

The AP discount is valid for four people, not 10. I’m not sure about the Visa.

 

[Halle]

We are DVC members and have one TIW card. When we went with our entire family (21 adults and Children)
we asked the server to use the TIW for the ten adults and the DVC discount for the children. We have done the same thing with the AP discount which in some instances can be more than the DVC discount.

 

[Paula25]

We are DVC members and have one TIW card. When we went with our entire family (21 adults and Children)
we asked the server to use the TIW for the ten adults and the DVC discount for the children. We have done the same thing with the AP discount which in some instances can be more than the DVC discount.

This is brilliant. I'm going to see if it would work rather than paying for a second TIW card. THANKS!

 

[Paula25]

This is my reality report~

After 6 days in WDW using Tables in Wonderland to get a discount for 12 people and dividing it up among us, here's my assessment of Plates by Splitwise and Splitwise - we are using both.

To make it easier for me, and because Plates can only divide to 10 people, I grouped the couples together so most of the time I am splitting 7 ways.

Many restaurants, but not all, show by seat who ordered what, so the receipt itself is very helpful in determining who should pay for what. If I was unsure, I did my best to note on the receipt who had what before we got up from the table. One thing I didn't think about before until I was trying to divide up the first receipt was that when using TIW, the discount is for the entire bill. So to determine what each person needs to pay in Plates, I have to take 20% off each line item before entering it in Plates. That is probably the biggest hassle in the whole process. As a result, I have been saving the one or two receipts from each day and processing them at night in the hotel room.

Once I have the correct amounts to charge, I start entering them in Plates. In general, I love this app - but there are two things I would recommend to the app creators. First, you have to divide up the amounts before you attach names to the plates. So you really need to remember which plate belongs to whom while you are dividing the bill. I "designated" the plate owners by their position on the screen and always used the same positioning for every receipt. That was a tremendous help. Second, they should allow you to enter an exact tip amount. With TIW, the 18% tip is figured before the discount - so it's between 22-23% of the discounted total. The Plate app only allows you to select a whole percentage.

In spite of the above concerns, I would use Plates again in a minute. It's so easy to drag and drop the amounts, it divides the tax and tip equitably based on the amount purchased by each person, and sends a text to everyone who owes something. I always add a note at the end of the text to say which meal this is for, and that has been a lifesaver. The text has a link to a clear and cute screen that shows the total amount and what each person owes. I have used those repeatedly as I try to keep track of payments, etc. in Splitwise. Touching the plate on the screen gives a detail list of all amounts that were charged to that person - which means it is easy to help people understand the charges if you need to do so.

Now to the part that even the Splitwise help desk apologized for - there is no practical integration between Plates by Splitwise and Splitwise. So for every receipt, I have to enter the bill and the amounts owed into Splitwise separately based on the calculations from Plates. It kinda sucks but it is worth it. For the people in the party using Splitwise, once I enter in a bill, it tracks for them what they owe me. When someone pays me, I enter into Splitwise that they paid. Splitwise keeps track of "lending" and payments by person. One thing I would suggest for Splitwise to do is to have an easy way to see history for each person - what was owed vs. what was paid in detail. You can generate a spreadsheet with that information which is helpful but not pretty.

Now for the final confession - yesterday, even with all the help from Plates and Splitwise, I created my own Excel spreadsheet. It helped a lot for me to see who had paid for what and who had not paid for what. Just easier to read for me. It does not replace the Plates calculations or the Splitwise shareability, both of which are extremely valuable to the process.

So there it is. For anyone splitting the bill, I hope this helps!