2008 DDP discussion, questions, rants and vents

[bicker]

I've read several other web forums on this subject. It sounds like most everyone who has used the DP in the past is very disappointed with the changes to the plan this year. Most people are asking why they can't decide between an appy or dessert. Some are really bugged by the fact that the tip is no longer included. On the other hand if you look at various postings for reviews of restaurants the biggest complaint is cost.

So guests simply want what they want for as little as they can get away with paying for it. That shouldn't surprise anyone.

Also, it was mentioned somewhere else that Disney was giving this new incarnation of the DP 3 months then they would reevaluate it based on consumer feedback. So everyone who has used this plan this year, let the big D know what you thought.

I don't put much stock in such projections. Disney continually evaluates everything, but with regard to the fundamentals, they will evaluate it over the course of the year and factor what they learn into the 2009 Dining Plan.

 

[bicker]

I have read through dozens of pages of comments and rants on the changes. I can't remember who posted it (so I apologize for not giving credit where due), but this explanation seemed to me to make the most sense, from Disney's point of view. When you eat a meal, you are much more likely to pay OOP for an appetizer than a dessert AT THE RESTAURANT. If dessert were not included, you would likely just get dessert later at a cart - there are LOTS of choices for desserts other than the restaurants (and they are usually MUCH cheaper choices!). If you really want an appetizer, you will still buy one. This is the best of both worlds for Disney.

I think a few of us have said this; I surely did. And this was underscored by aclov said on February 6 -- that her co-worker just got back from a trip, with the Dining Plan, and the co-worker "still ended up paying [a lot] out of pocket because of the tips and they prefer appetizers instead of dessert which they weren't about to swap..." So Disney does indeed get the best of both worlds: They save the cost of appetizers for many guests, and for the few who want appetizers, they get additional money.

And for those who don't like the arrangements, they're still evidently getting a lot of folks (perhaps MORE than last year) patronizing the restaurants OOP.

 

[bicker]

I think there is a fair amount of people who are deciding not to do DDP because of the results.

However, what are they doing instead. How much profit would Disney get from those folks getting the Dining Plan the way they want it at a rate they would be willing to pay for it, VERSUS how much profit Disney is getting from those folks eating some restaurant meals and some counter service meals (which STILL do offer Disney quite a bit of profit, indeed, perhaps at a higher percentage margin than the restaurants). Also, how many people are returning to the restaurants this year (and will do so next year) specifically because the Dining Plan isn't dominating as much as in the past. Demographics could be at work here: Perhaps Dining Plan guest are more family-oriented and don't drink as much alcohol (BIG profit) as the dining guests who have been chased away from the restaurants by the Dining Plan's ascendancy over the past three years?

Disney needs to look at the bigger picture, and unfortunately that may mean doing things that some guests don't like.

 

[englishrose47]

As I said I just returned . I used the DDp and while I would have preferred the choice of appie or dessert in some cases I did payy oop for the cheese soup at Le Cellier and so couldn't finish my delish Brulee The ddp still offers plenty of food and how good a value it is depends on what you order. Breakfast all the time would not be the best value but if that's what you enjoy why not. I will continue to get DDp as I enjoy the freedom of choice and not having to carry cash with me ( or not that much) I tipped cash and had no problem. Talking to the wait staff, as I haf projected they are the ones who are suffering with the new plan. At table service/sitdowns the waiters expressed some discomfort in having to explain the tipping thing to guests but said it was getting better. At buffetsthey told me their tips were way down and many left nothing!! So I was not surpriseda s that was what I expected to happen. My service was great thruout the trip!!

 

[DCDisney]

were told to total the bill out with tip. I didn't like someone pointing it out, seemed rude. When I said that I wanted to leave cash for tip and not charge it to the room the servers behavior became very demanding. This happened in more than half the restaurants we visited.

We only had one server point out to us that tip wasn't included. It was at CP and the server was very agressive about the tip. We tipped over 20% everywhere except CP (including other more expensive buffets) but we only tipped him 15% which is our minimum. I think they get upset when you aren't charging the tip because they think they are going to get totally stiffed. Once they run the charge they can't charge anything back to the room. At Akershus the server accidently ran the card before bringing us the tip slip. She was very apologetic and just told us to forget about the tip that there was nothing she could do. Luckily we found a $20 I had tucked away but we weren't normally carrying any cash. I would guess they are having some of these every night where they lose money in some cases due to people saying they were going to leave cash but then realizing they didn't have the cash with them, etc. We did find service to be better than on DDP 2007 but it wasn't bad enough in 2007 to warrant wanting to tip myself

 

[englishrose47]

I found the service to be great this time but as I was solo do not know if that was a factor as compared to last year there were 5 of us including kids. As i deliberately did not add charging to my card I always tipped cash and had noproblems. Many restaurants showed how much the tip should bewhich I thought was interesting!! Only once did I see guests getting upset about tip not being included and they were insisting that as they booked in2007 it was included !! But all of this will pass !!

 

[Pumbaa_]

We considered doing the DxDP in September for our 25th anniversary trip. I did the math and we will do better using the DDE card. The DDP is not an option, prefer appys to desserts and will be doing some signatures.

The best thing to do when you are considering the plans is to calculate the costs for what you will actually order.

 

[IHEARTNY]

That was my biggest annoyance on the DDP that gratuity was included which meant that is wasn't earned. And for some servers that made no difference but other servers knew it and some of them were terrible. I found that at least 5 of the 14 TS restaurants we went to my drinks weren't refilled within a minute of running out and THAT'S A BIG ONE for me.
I've been a server and I have also been highly requested at the restaurant I served at because I knew I had to earn my tips and would basically kiss the *** of my customers. Not only did they never run out of drink, I would back myself up and get them water also so that if they EVER ran out of soda, which was extremely rare, they'd never run out of something to wet the whistle.
Plus, it doesn't help that I love talking to people and am pretty darn cute...
But spending 45 minutes actually eating at a restaurant that I have been sitting at for 2 hours was an overall theme.
Hopefully the service in general will be better when we go back in August and October.

 

[RACHELSMOM1]

That was my biggest annoyance on the DDP that gratuity was included which meant that is wasn't earned. And for some servers that made no difference but other servers knew it and some of them were terrible. I found that at least 5 of the 14 TS restaurants we went to my drinks weren't refilled within a minute of running out and THAT'S A BIG ONE for me.
I've been a server and I have also been highly requested at the restaurant I served at because I knew I had to earn my tips and would basically kiss the *** of my customers. Not only did they never run out of drink, I would back myself up and get them water also so that if they EVER ran out of soda, which was extremely rare, they'd never run out of something to wet the whistle.
Plus, it doesn't help that I love talking to people and am pretty darn cute...
But spending 45 minutes actually eating at a restaurant that I have been sitting at for 2 hours was an overall theme.
Hopefully the service in general will be better when we go back in August and October.

I was just wondring, does this mean you are happy to now have to add the tip, as opposed to the past when it was included in the cost of the DP? I have never been thrilled to have to pay more money, but now I have no choice.

 

[englishrose47]

I was just wondring, does this mean you are happy to now have to add the tip, as opposed to the past when it was included in the cost of the DP? I have never been thrilled to have to pay more money, but now I have no choice.

I think she means we will get better service as the wait staff have to earn their tip as opposed to it being automatic. I have to agree I think service was better, not that I had bad service before but I think they were more attentive but I was solo so this could also be a factor!! Tip is definately a huge added expense for a family I figure it will add at least $300 TO OUR TRIP WITH THE FAMILY!!

 

[Nancyg56]

I was just wondring, does this mean you are happy to now have to add the tip, as opposed to the past when it was included in the cost of the DP? I have never been thrilled to have to pay more money, but now I have no choice.

That was my first thought as well. I never had any issues with the service whether I was using the DDP or not so I was surprised to see that so many people worried about it. My concern now that the tip is not included on the DDP is that in the event DDP users get a reputation of stiffing servers the service will indeed take a turn for the worse. We'll see. For now I know that I need to budget more money into my trip.

 

[apostolic4life]

That was my first thought as well. I never had any issues with the service whether I was using the DDP or not so I was surprised to see that so many people worried about it. My concern now that the tip is not included on the DDP is that in the event DDP users get a reputation of stiffing servers the service will indeed take a turn for the worse. We'll see. For now I know that I need to budget more money into my trip.

I do not believe the frequency of people "stiffing" a server will be any higher on the DDP than it is without. If someone is a good, decent, and respectable person they will leave a tip; if they are of the opposite disposition, they would be hard pressed to leave a tip in any situation. If you receive poor service just because you are using the DDP, then your server is the one with the surly, less than respectable attitude. Use of the DDP is not going to turn the majority of people into non-tipping slobs, but servers with preconceived notions of DDP users could result in bad service which may earn them poor tips.

 

[Tricia1972]

I do not believe the frequency of people "stiffing" a server will be any higher on the DDP than it is without. If someone is a good, decent, and respectable person they will leave a tip; if they are of the opposite disposition, they would be hard pressed to leave a tip in any situation. If you receive poor service just because you are using the DDP, then your server is the one with the surly, less than respectable attitude. Use of the DDP is not going to turn the majority of people into non-tipping slobs, but servers with preconceived notions of DDP users could result in bad service which may earn them poor tips.

I agree

It will not make tippers non-tippers so thus shouldn't change the view servers have of DDP patrons.

 

[MomofCKJ]

This thread is so big I just can't get through it all!

We are on the regular DDP in 3 weeks. For the tip and any appys we choose to get, can we have them just put that on our room card?

Let me add another question. We are a party of 6, me and my 3 kids and my parents. Me and the kids have our own room/reservation, my parents their own. We are eating all our TS together. Being 6 I know they will add on the 18% tip for us to pay. If they take my card for my 4 people's credits, and my Mom's for their 2 credits, can we then just use one of our cards to pay the whole tip if we choose? Can we use a Disney Visa Rewards card if we wanted to?

Allyson

 

[Nicsmom]

I cannot find the price for the Deluxe Dining Program. I found the hotel/ticket/dining price but no price for just the Deluxe Dining Program. I am a DVC member and have APs. I've bought the regular Dining Program before and have no trouble finding the price for this program. Is it available without one of the packages? Thanks

 

[apostolic4life]

I cannot find the price for the Deluxe Dining Program. I found the hotel/ticket/dining price but no price for just the Deluxe Dining Program. I am a DVC member and have APs. I've bought the regular Dining Program before and have no trouble finding the price for this program. Is it available without one of the packages? Thanks

I think it is $69 per night per person.

 

[Nicsmom]

I think it is $69 per night per person.

Thank you!

 

[Tricia1972]

This thread is so big I just can't get through it all!

We are on the regular DDP in 3 weeks. For the tip and any appys we choose to get, can we have them just put that on our room card?

Let me add another question. We are a party of 6, me and my 3 kids and my parents. Me and the kids have our own room/reservation, my parents their own. We are eating all our TS together. Being 6 I know they will add on the 18% tip for us to pay. If they take my card for my 4 people's credits, and my Mom's for their 2 credits, can we then just use one of our cards to pay the whole tip if we choose? Can we use a Disney Visa Rewards card if we wanted to?

Allyson

Yes you can charge your tip and appetizers to your room.

I don't know about splitting the tip, my understanding that auto gratuity is part of your bill - similar to appetizers and desserts for one party. I believe that you would have a harder time doing that, but I am not positive.

 

[Tricia1972]

I think it is $69 per night per person.

He is 100% right 69.99/night for adults and 19.99/night for children.

 

[Nancyg56]

I agree

It will not make tippers non-tippers so thus shouldn't change the view servers have of DDP patrons.

I believe it will reinforce the non tippers, not make non tippers out of tippers. I hope there are enough of the tippers to minimize any downside.