Disney Dining Experience Program Changes

[Tinkerfreak]

I just had my first and only dinner at California Grill last week and the service was horrible. The minute I answered yes we are on the dining plan the waiter totally ignored us the entire time. We went a half hour without anything to drink and my DH had to call his name to get him to come to our table. In the mean time he was very attentive to all the other tables around us. He acted upset with us because we did not order wine. Some people are on medication and can not drink. He made us feel like we did not belong there. My young daughters kept asking us "Mommy why is our waiter ingnoring us"? He made my daughters feel so out of place that my youngest did not even dare to get up to go watc fireworks on the viewing area. We just could not wait to get out of there. I did speak to the manager and he refunded us our 2 ts credits a piece. I really think it was because we were on the dining plan and he was guaranteed a good tip. We had all looked forward to this dinner ever since I had booked it and the girls were so excited that we all got really dressed up and he totally ruined the experience for us.

[IloveDisney71]

I'm a big tipper too, and I hate this!! I prefer to reserve the right to tip more or less based on the quality of service...

I totally agree. We are big tippers for good service. However, if the service is bad I adjust the tip accordingly.
Thank goodness we are going in December!!!

[Hammer]

I don't get it. They must have a really strong servers union or something. I have never heard of an automatic tip for even small parties. So...they eliminate the tip under the DDP and lower the price $1. Then they make the 18% an AUTOMATIC addition?
We were considering the DDE or DDP on our next visit, but we may just go cheap, and skip it all together. I tip well for good service, but don't want to be forced to tip for poor service. What incentive is this for the servers to provide good service when they know they will get a decent tip automatically? I'm kind of disgusted with the whole dining issue at WDW at the moment....can you tell?

This move is all Disney, not the union. The union deal was struck a couple of months ago and the issue which they had was with Dining Plan tip and that non-Disney owned restaurants on the Dining Plan were not giving the full 18% gratuity to their staff, as this was a loophole in the old contract.

What I think is going to happen is while we will be charged an 18% gratuity, this is not what the wait staff will receive (minus taxes being taken out). As the new contract has been ratified, management can pull this maneuver and use it to appease the non-Disney restaurants to recoup the "lost revenue" of accepting the Dining Plan.

It's a real shady move by Disney management, in my opinion.

[DVC Mike]

I think servers were getting stiffed their fair tip for several reasons:

• some folks were calculating their tip on the discounted DDE cost, and not the cost before the discount
• some folks are from other countries where the tip is automatically included, and thus were not leaving a tip

[TheRustyScupper]

Ditto, this is placing WDW further and further down the list of future vacation spots. It's like they are purposefully pushing people away

1) Just another case of nickel-and-dime from Roger Ogre.
2) I can't believe what I am about to say.
3) I want Eisner back.
4) He might have been overbearing, but he cared about the guest!

[SurferStitch]

According to this 18% will be added to ALL transactions that you use the DDE card on.....which means that at some CS locations you'll be tipping WHOM?!?!??!

Disney is telling us now that they'll give us a 20% discount on our bill, but 18% will now go to the servers!! Sort of negates the whole idea of having the card!!

I'm not happy........

The DDE card can ONLY be used at TS restaurants...not CS. And no, the tipping policy is only for TS restaurants, not CS.

As for the 18% auto tip, no biggie. Even if you got the 20% DDE discount, you STILL need to tip your servers like always. The DDE card doesn't cover your tip, so to us, the DDE card basically meant a free tip to us. It's a great deal, especially since alcohol is included. You are still saving 20% on the bill....nothing is negated.

I mean, you're more than welcome to pay full price for the meal PLUS a tip, or you can pay 20% less for the meal plus a tip. Which sounds better?

We always tip on the full meal price, though, not the discounted DDE price.

Really, there's no reason to be mad about it.

[KylesMom]

The DDE card can ONLY be used at TS restaurants...not CS.

Not entirely true. The DDE is good at resorts which do not have "sit down" eateries (think Value resorts). I'm sure it will change with the addition of Tusker house as a TS, but because there was no TS in AK, you used to be able to get the DDE discount at Pizzafari.

[Tink&Goofy]

As for the 18% auto tip, no biggie. Even if you got the 20% DDE discount, you STILL need to tip your servers like always. The DDE card doesn't cover your tip, so to us, the DDE card basically meant a free tip to us. It's a great deal, especially since alcohol is included. You are still saving 20% on the bill....nothing is negated.

I mean, you're more than welcome to pay full price for the meal PLUS a tip, or you can pay 20% less for the meal plus a tip. Which sounds better?

We always tip on the full meal price, though, not the discounted DDE price.

Really, there's no reason to be mad about it.

I agree....IF you have good service. But what if the service is poor? I am STILL required to leave the full 18%! I always base the tip on the FULL price (without discounts), so that is not the issue, but now I am required to tip the same for good service, or for poor. That makes no sense.

[IndianaDisneyFan]

I just called WDW dining. We are going in January and if the gratuity is included at all TS restaurants I will not go with the dining plan. Imagine the bad service if the servers get an automatic tip from every table. I have no problem tipping 18-20% if the service is good. The gentleman on the phone said that gratuity is only included with parties of 6 or more. I hope that this rumor is not true. It is already bad enough Splash Mtn and Spaceship Earth are closed. I am trying to be positive. I love Disney, but it has to be affordable.

[mudpuppysmom]

I fully understand how the card works--you get 20% off your full bill. My point is that Disney is now telling us that use the DDE that we HAVE to tip out 18%.

As some people have said, what if you don't get good service?

We are good tippers (20-25% ....25 if DH is really feeling generous and the servers have been exceptional), but now for DIsney to tell us they are going to get an 18% tip no matter what is just not what I like.

[pooh0601]

They are probably doing this because people were tipping on their "discounted" meal price on the DDE card, and not on the price of the bill BEFORE the 20% was taken off.

But think about it..you as a server are now GUARANTEED 18% tip. What motivation is there for you to do a better/worse job? Seems to me like our service is going to diminish GREATLY at the TS restaurants. I know the server we had a Cape May in Oct. left a LOT to be desired.

Can anyone confirm that this "automatic" 18% tip is ONLY for DDE card members, or is it for EVERYONE who dines at a TS restaurant, even if you are "self-paying"?

Needless to say if this only applies to DDE cardholders than I will not be renewing next year. My current card is good thru Dec. 2007.

[Deesdisney]

Well I guess there will be more room at the sit down rest. If this is true I will not do sit down meals that much. 2 will be the max. I went last Dec. and used the ddp and enjoyed it. This time in Feb. we will not be using it due to the fact that we never finished our meals. But if they start the automatic grat. then I will be using the cs more often. I would rather use the money that I would be tipping for terrible service for something that would make me happy. However if there was some way to get my tip money back after the bad service I would think about it again.

[TBY2225]

I am not happy about this as well, but I was concerned in Jan when the new Dining plan goes into effect how many unhonest people would "forget" or act like the didn't know about the changes and not leave a tip at all. It is all so confusing and I was wondering what Disney was going to do about all the people who wouldn't tip or wouldn't tip the 18%. I think they should have left it alone personally!

[Tygger7]

I just called WDW dining. We are going in January and if the gratuity is included at all TS restaurants I will not go with the dining plan. Imagine the bad service if the servers get an automatic tip from every table. I have no problem tipping 18-20% if the service is good. The gentleman on the phone said that gratuity is only included with parties of 6 or more. I hope that this rumor is not true. It is already bad enough Splash Mtn and Spaceship Earth are closed. I am trying to be positive. I love Disney, but it has to be affordable.

I too just called WDW dining and asked if this applied to everyone (not on the DDE plan/card). The CM checked with a supervisor, and the answer was, "Yes. Each TS meal will be charged 18%, regardless of party size. If you are on the Dining plan, you will have to pay this amount out of pocket." I asked what would happen if we received bad service, and was told that those situations would have to be handled on a case by case basis with the restaurant manager. This *****. If they wanted to "automatically" include the tip (again), why not just raise the price of the dining plan?? Instead, they "drop" the price by a whopping $1, exclude the gratituity, then turn around and re-add the gratituity!! So, we're seriously considering dropping the dining plan all together now and just doing counter service meals...yuck. I'm not a happy camper.

[Hammer]

Can anyone confirm that this "automatic" 18% tip is ONLY for DDE card members, or is it for EVERYONE who dines at a TS restaurant, even if you are "self-paying"?

Needless to say if this only applies to DDE cardholders than I will not be renewing next year. My current card is good thru Dec. 2007.

From Jason's post:

We would also like to inform you that the Walt Disney World® Resort will be implementing an across property policy change regarding gratuity at all food and beverage locations. Effective January 1, 2008, 18% gratuity will be added to all transactions, regardless of party size. Thank you for your continued support.

Although the announcment was not clear, Reservations Cast have confirmed that the new automatic Gratuity policy only applies to Table Service locations.

This sounds like all table service restaurants will be automatically charging a 18% gratuity. Now that does not mean the wait staff will see the full gratuity (see my example above).

[DisneyTwinsMommy]

That is definitely not right! They are basically raising the price of each meal by 18% and there is nothing you can do about it. If that is the case they might as well really raise prices by 18% and eliminate tips, it's the same thing they are doing now! Tipping should be determined by the diner, not the management. Also, I do NOT feel that tipping should be 18% at buffets where I have to get my own food, sure I appreciate you getting my drink, but really... I got up and got my own food! The nickel and dime-ing that is going on at Disney is getting out of hand.

[DisneyTwinsMommy]

The post that Figment added does NOT say it is only TS locations, is this charge going to be applied to CS and even quick-service locations?????

"We would also like to inform you that the Walt Disney World® Resort will be implementing an across property policy change regarding gratuity at all food and beverage locations. Effective January 1, 2008, 18% gratuity will be added to all transactions, regardless of party size. Thank you for your continued support. "

[WheresWalt]

Let me say, I heard about this little bombshell this last trip but was sincerely hoping my server was off base. She apparently knew exactly what she was talking abt.. and she didn't like it either. She KNOWS this will mean fewer butts in seats at her restaurant at the end of the day and that means fewer in tips.

We are excellent tippers and in the end, this will probably mean less in tips to our servers since we won't want to fiddle with the end total.

But then we will also be giving 18% to the terrible servers too.. like the one we had at Tony's when hubbie had to get up TWICE to refill his own drink. Really burns me that THAT server will get the same tip as some of the fantastic server's we have had!! And we have had some fantastic servers.

sO.. if you would normally pay your bill in cash and thus leave the tip for the waitperson on the table at the end of the meal separate from the bill, meaning of course that the ENTIRE tip is meant for the server, could it be that now Disney could easily skim off a percentage of the server's tip from the transaction since the gratuity is included in the bill no matter the size of the party.

I guess this little boondoggle was just easier than raising the price of food and the servers will get the blame.

[DVC Mike]

I bet the DDE team is going to feel the heat for their poorly worded communique -- I guess they didn't think how it might be interpreted and that it would go beyond DDE card holders.

The boards have been buzzing all day over this one email, and I'm sure the phone lines to Disney dining were busy too. The CM's on the dining line may not have even known about the DDE email!

[Figment!]

The post that Figment added does NOT say it is only TS locations, is this charge going to be applied to CS and even quick-service locations?????

This is actually answered at the bottom of the same post.

Although the announcment was not clear, Reservations Cast have confirmed that the new automatic Gratuity policy only applies to Table Service locations.