18% Gratuity as Standard....

[Goofyish]

That is disgraceful. I don't drink alcohol so I drink 4 or 5 soda's with a meal. If I am not offered a refill by the time I am near the bottom of each drink I lower the % tip.

I'd be weeing all night if I had 4-5 sodas with a meal

 

[paulh]

I'd be weeing all night if I had 4-5 sodas with a meal

me have at least 15 brews in a day.then again i am in construcion and its expected
Paulh

 

[wayneg]

I'd be weeing all night if I had 4-5 sodas with a meal

I thought I drank a lot until we went to florida with friends, he drank double what I drank. His wife said he drank 2L+ of coke every evening after work.
Few months later he found out he had diabetes.

 

[martinrmn]

I am sorry to add to this, its not personal. If I go to a restaurant, whether its full service or not, I expect to chat to staff and ask them the options etc. Does this mean that by asking some questions people should be tipped? Let us not forget it is their job. And yes, before all the replies come flooding, in I do tip for good service, like others I do not like being told how much to tip. The next time I am stopped and asked directions can I expect a tip?

 

[paulh]

I am sorry to add to this, its not personal. If I go to a restaurant, whether its full service or not, I expect to chat to staff and ask them the options etc. Does this mean that by asking some questions people should be tipped? Let us not forget it is their job. And yes, before all the replies come flooding, in I do tip for good service, like others I do not like being told how much to tip. The next time I am stopped and asked directions can I expect a tip?

from jan 1st if on any disney meal plan,DDP, delluxDDP, primieum meal plan or using the dde card,and if paying cash on a party of 6 or more a gratuity of 18% will be required.Hope this helps info.As you say its a thorny isue and like you i dont like being told what to do.and as someone elce has said when will it be expected to pay above this as well
Paulh

 

[MorningGlory]

I would think this will hurt the waiting staff rather than help them. Especially where you may only have a couple of drinks and would just give, say, $10 for a $7 bar bill, now I would let them take their service charge, but expect my change back.

It will definitely drive some people away from dining with Disney altogether as well, as this thread has illustrated.

 

[CarolynU]

Sharon,
Not really sure what went wrong at Le Cellier that night.
Our server seemed to be completely disinterested in our table, and we weren't offered any water, nor any soda refills at all. We had to ask our food runner when she bought our entrees if we could have refills. He didn't explain anything about the breads, nor ask us how our meal was. He didn't speak to us at all in fact. There was no interaction whatsoever, which would have been Ok had he even checked that we had everything that we needed. I ordered a desert, but my friend didn't so he threw down two spoons as he decided himself that we intended to share, which we didn't, and then before I had finished eating he gave me the check.
This was the one place that I got the impression that as we weren't on the DDP and the gratuity was therefore not included and being British who are known for being bad tippers this worked against us. He had already decided that as he wasn't going to receive a decent tip he wasn't going to bother with us.
Luckily our meal was outstanding, so I wasn't that bothered. I paid, and left a smaller tip than usual, and had a quiet word with his manager on the way out. I said that I didn't want to make a big deal of it, but the server did need some further training.
I wouldn't hesitate to go to Le Cellier again, because I really enjoyed the food, and I'm sure that this service was a one off.

 

[wayneg]

If I had been treated like that it would have been 1 cent left on the table. They should not earn any tips and find another job if thats how they work.
Oh how I hate bad service.

 

[Shooby doo]

Right folks really begining to get confused! I've trawled thru' the pages here & I still don't know if the 18% tip is included? So far on here & on the US threads I've seen an excerpt stating that a 18% tip will be automatically added to all DDE meals? We have DDP on our next trip but have seen no mention of the "tip" being added either in the brochure or any WDW correspondence.
Now like other posters we normally reward good service with @ 20-25% but there is a difference between that being our choice & being advised/told to leave 18%!As we are already signed up to DDP,if the 18% turns out to be correct,we will use our allocation this trip but on future trips eat off-site as we have done on past trips-there are plenty of good eateries out there.
SD

 

[fizz13]

Right folks really begining to get confused! I've trawled thru' the pages here & I still don't know if the 18% tip is included? So far on here & on the US threads I've seen an excerpt stating that a 18% tip will be automatically added to all DDE meals? We have DDP on our next trip but have seen no mention of the "tip" being added either in the brochure or any WDW correspondence.
Now like other posters we normally reward good service with @ 20-25% but there is a difference between that being our choice & being advised/told to leave 18%!As we are already signed up to DDP,if the 18% turns out to be correct,we will use our allocation this trip but on future trips eat off-site as we have done on past trips-there are plenty of good eateries out there.
SD

From what i can work out, if you are on the disney dining plan for 2008, the 18% tip will not be included in the plan, so you will be expected to tip accordingly but it will not be compulsory and is at your discretion, unless you have 6 or more people in your party, then the 18% tip comes into effect. Where the 18% tip is compulsory is if you are using a disney dining experience card, which you can buy as an annual pass holder or florida resident.
Hope that answered your question

 

[angel659]

I think its stupid. Why it effects the DDE is beyond me. I would of thought the people who have it shows loyalty? Give you a discount in one hand and take in another.

Well this has certainly made my disney dinings from now on minimal. I like tipping, but do not like being told how much. Surely it is judged on thier service. Tips reflect this. How would disney know if there service is improving or becoming worse, with slapping on a standard fixed percentage.

 

[Red-Snapper]

Unfortunately a lot of British people dont tip when in the USA and the end result is that people start adding tips automatically to the bill, or including those horrible little cards reminding their "international visitors" of the customary tip.

Having said that I dont like being told what to tip (we always tip well)

 

[wayneg]

Unfortunately a lot of British people dont tip when in the USA and the end result is that people start adding tips automatically to the bill, or including those horrible little cards reminding their "international visitors" of the customary tip.

Having said that I dont like being told what to tip (we always tip well)

A lot of Americans don't tip either, its just with us being in a foreign country they think they can get away with it.
I have said before we have friends in North Carolina, she took a job waitressing expecting good tips, had to leave because very few people tipped and thats in an area all Americans.

 

[paulh]

Right folks really begining to get confused! I've trawled thru' the pages here & I still don't know if the 18% tip is included? So far on here & on the US threads I've seen an excerpt stating that a 18% tip will be automatically added to all DDE meals? We have DDP on our next trip but have seen no mention of the "tip" being added either in the brochure or any WDW correspondence.
Now like other posters we normally reward good service with @ 20-25% but there is a difference between that being our choice & being advised/told to leave 18%!As we are already signed up to DDP,if the 18% turns out to be correct,we will use our allocation this trip but on future trips eat off-site as we have done on past trips-there are plenty of good eateries out there.
SD

think we will find out jan 1st in asnswer to you quistion as the first post will start to come in on that day,would wait till then.
But as ive staed earler 18% will be standard for meal plans IMHO
Paulh