Disney increases prices by 18% at table service restaurants

[dbriggsq]

Well - not strictly - but that's what in effect Disney have done by adding the service charge to DDE bookings. How would the general public react if they did actually increase their prices by 18%. I don't mind leaving a tip but I prefer it to be voluntary rather than compulsary.

 

[sdzman]

Then dont use DDP or DDE.

 

[dbriggsq]

Well we've already paid for the priveledge of using it so what do you recommend we do - write off the price we've paid?

 

[mom2my3kids]

Just go in with a good attitude, if you get HORRIBLE service them complain. I am sure you will get good service, and hey you would of tipped that much anyway right?

 

[Tissa]

I always tipped the 20% anyway so it's saving me 2%.

 

[dbriggsq]

Well we will be a party of 10 for our next trip in August for our 30th anniverary and are planning to eat mainly at buffet restaurants - the average priced of which is $28 - so we will have approx $50 added to our bill no matter what the level of service is and at buffet restaurants this will amount to bringing drinks and clearing plates.

 

[kaytieeldr]

Two questions, with absolutely no sarcasm intended:
First, the prices are only effectively raised if you did not plan to tip; this isn't true, is it?
And second, while it's true it appears all the server does is bring drinks and clear plates, would you prefer they NOT do that?
Okay, three questions - are your calculations based on the menu price of the buffet, or the discounted price?

If it's the base price, your actual cost per meal is $22.40, times ten meals is $224.00, plus 18%/$50.40, for a total check of $274.40. Compare this to the non-discounted total of $280, plus, let's say you were going to leave a 10% tip for a total check of $308.

If $28 is the discounted price, this means the base price is $35.
Now, your discounted check totals that $308, but compare that to the minimum $385 you would have paid at full price.

 

[Island Mouse]

All they did was add the 18% tip. The meal is still discounted and assuming you were going to leave a tip, then there isn't much of a problem except not being able to control how much you get to tip. If service is bad, inform management. If on the other hand you weren't going to leave a tip, then they did "increase" the price for you. Hopefully that is not the case.

 

[TBDave]

Well we will be a party of 10 for our next trip in August for our 30th anniverary and are planning to eat mainly at buffet restaurants - the average priced of which is $28 - so we will have approx $50 added to our bill no matter what the level of service is and at buffet restaurants this will amount to bringing drinks and clearing plates.

Actually, with a party of 10, you would have been charged an 18% gratuity anyways (even without the DDE card). I think it's any party over 6 people. It's a fairly common practice for restaurants to charge an automatic gratuity for large parties (not just a Disney thing).

Personally, I'm not crazy that they automatically add the 18% gratuity to all DDE meals. But I usually tip 18%-20% anyways. I don't think I've ever refused to leave a tip at a restaurant, or tipped less than 15%. So it's not a big deal to me.

 

[Cass]

I always tipped the 20% anyway so it's saving me 2%.

Me too It's a bargain now LOL

 

[chaospearl]

I'm actually one of the few people happy about the change...

I travel solo and I eat very little, so it's unfortunate that most waitstaff at restaurants do not care for people like me and we're not always provided with stellar service. It doesn't help that I look very young. My poor waitress sees someone who appears to be a teenaged girl come in and order a Coke and a small salad, and there's an automatic (and natural) assumption that the tip is going to be very poor. Now, I'm a New Yawker and I've also spent my fair share of pre-disabled days waitressing, and it's anathama to me to leave less than 20% or $5 on the table, whichever is higher. If my check was less than ten dollars to begin with, my server would ordinarily end up with a buck and change as a tip and I don't think that's fair considering he or she had to bring me the same bread basket and the same drink and the same dish and stop by the table the same number of times as somebody who'd ordered the lobster and a bottle of '89 Stags Leap merlot. So I don't necessarily base my tip on a percentage of the total amount, not if that total is insanely low. That being said, the server has absolutely no way to know this about me. I do not blame anyone the slightest bit for seeing a teen girl come in and wincing, with the assumption that I'm going order everything on the side, drink glass after glass of free ice water with lemon, send you back to the kitchen eight times for ketchup or clarified butter, and then leave two dollars on the table because my check was $12. As I said, I've been a waitress before and I know that 9 times out of 10, that's what happens when somebody who looks like me and eats the way I do is seated in your section. Most servers will grin and bear it, and this is especially true at Disney where everybody is smiling and helpful regardless of the customer's estimated tipping potential, but there are always going to be bad experiences with servers who immediately write me off as a loss and can't be bothered to come to the table without acting like I'm some kind of cheap n'er-do-well who is a big waste of time. Even if that never happened, it still makes me feel bad to know darn well that my poor server is going out of her way to bring me the extra sauce when she "knows" her tip won't even be enough to cover the tax on a meal. I sit there and I want to tap her on the shoulder and say, "Don't worry, I know how much your job bites, I'm not going to leave you hanging!" Only I can't do that, obviously, so she gets to spend a depressing hour waiting on me and only discover at the very end when I leave the table that it was worth it. Now, a nice surprise is always a fun thing, but personally I don't think it makes up for the disappointment that inevitably comes when the hostess seats a party of teenage girls in your section.

Maybe it's just me. In any case, the fact that my server knows he or she is getting at least that 18% cuts down on my guilt factor, and also increases my enjoyment of the meal because I'm not worried about sending something back to the kitchen if it's unsatisfactory, or requesting extra honey mustard, or getting the evil eye when I order that ice water and lemon. I can do those things without the constant self-conscious fear that my server thinks I'm a high-maintenance pain in the posterior who won't tip.

This is probably a unique point of view, mind you!

 

[Cass]

Great post, chaospearl



.

 

[DSTPDISNEY]

this thread confuses me... I thought that the DDP did NOT include the tip currently, has this changed? Have a trip coming in September have the DDP paid for it and are you telling me that I will now have to pay an additional 18% or are you telling me that I will still have to tip in addition to purchasing the DDP??? Tip included in dinning plan or not???

 

[Pumbaa_]

the tip is not included in the 2008 DDP

 

[NC State]

this thread confuses me... I thought that the DDP did NOT include the tip currently, has this changed? Have a trip coming in September have the DDP paid for it and are you telling me that I will now have to pay an additional 18% or are you telling me that I will still have to tip in addition to purchasing the DDP??? Tip included in dinning plan or not???

Tip not include but a party of 6 or more then 18% will be added to your bill.

 

[disnut8]

this thread confuses me... I thought that the DDP did NOT include the tip currently, has this changed? Have a trip coming in September have the DDP paid for it and are you telling me that I will now have to pay an additional 18% or are you telling me that I will still have to tip in addition to purchasing the DDP??? Tip included in dinning plan or not???

The original poster was referring to the Disney Dining Experience,not the Disney Dining Plan. Which is why I refrain from using abbreviations as much as I can.

The opposition of the 18% gratuity really confuses me. Does no one tip anymore? I understand if you get really horrible service but how many times has it been so bad that you don't want to leave anything? And if the service was that bad, why wouldn't you have contacted a manager in the middle of your meal to complain about it? If you don't leave a tip or leave a small one for bad service, the server is just going to think you forgot or you miscalculated. Their behavior will continue because they didn't get corrected when the mistake or poor service happened.

The other thing I don't understand is just because the tip is calculated at 18%, why would anyone think that "saves" you anything? If the service was worthy of 20%, why not leave more?

Chaospearl - loved your post too. How many times has someone gone in for a Denny's breakfast that cost $6 and only leave coins because 10% was just 60 cents. But that same server could be at dinner and working just as hard but the bill would come to $12 so he/she would get $1.20.

It's just me husband and me, no dining plan, no experience. I'd love for the tip to be included so we don't have to calculate it. And we'd round up anyway.

Easy solution - pay the servers at least minimum wage and get rid of tipping all together.

 

[sandisuze]

like the posts Disnut8 and chaospearl

18% is nothing for good service- we get our discount with the DDE and so we have to tip 18%
without the DDE we'd be paying the regular amount..plus a tip maybe not 18%
but even at a 15 % tip adding another 3% isn't all that much.

if your server is that bad then call for a mgr. if the service is that bad they will remove the tip from the bill

it's Disney- I hope it is magical and fun while dining. I hope my server will ask us if we are having fun, if everything is ok, are we enjoying our day, talk to the kids,ask them if they have seen Mickey... be personable , friendly and polite- this is more important to my family than if all they do is clear our table.
personable & friendly will get even more of a tip from us. Our Waitess at the Garden Grill was busy -But when Pluto tried to lick her nose she stopped for a second and fussed at him- our DD was thrilled! when tigger tried to take our servers tray she told him to back off and it was great- it's the 3 second little things that make it fun for us! and we left more than 18% for those little things.
I just had to put in my 2 cents....

 

[PatsMom]

We don't mind the 18% gratuity - we normally tip 20% and I have been known to leave a few extra bucks in cash if the service was truly outstanding. I suppose if I ever got what I considered to be truly abysmal service I woud find a manager and ask to have the gratuity removed. I definitely disagree with considering it an 18% price increase since it would only be an increase if you didn't plan to tip.

 

[Mister Disney]

It just infuriates me that people would even bring this up.

Disney is not "raising" the cost of anything, I look at it that they are insuring that their employees make a decent wage for a decent days work.

If you had no intention of tipping, then yes, you are now being forced to.

If you really don't want to tip for anything, then try the food courts at the hotels.

 

[BriarRosie]

I was also confused by this post, because I would be curious to know how much the original poster did tip before the mandatory 18%.

Would it be a percentage off the original total, or a percentage off the discounted amount? That makes a huge difference, because if it's the latter, the servers are getting less than a normal tip.

If my bill came to $100, and I wanted to tip back the 20%, I'd just add the $20 back to the total and call it a wash. If someone else thought it was ok to tip $16 on the $80 discounted amount, they were, in essence, thinking they were paying a 20% tip while only giving a 16% tip.

I think this way is better, because it doesn't short-change the decent servers, by far in the majority as far as I'm concerned.

Oh, and as for buffets, I think the servers there have an equal time of it, especially if you make a lot of trips and accumulate a lot of plates. If the servers weren't hustling to keep the plates off the table and drinks refilled, it would be an unholy mess. I say they earn their tips at buffets, too.