Gratuity to be removed from DDP!!

[bsmcneil]

i'm one more who can't really see paying an extra 200-300+ for tips, the inconvience, etc. i do think, however, that the underlying problem here is whether people on the DDP will tip appropriately. will servers be expected to claim 10% of their receipts as tips (that's how it was when i waited tables at a non-WDW place). well what happens when people continue to rack up 100-200 dollar bills and people tip 5 dollars. the servers get absolutely raked over the coals. i paid for it, on this coming trip, and i thought 40 dollars a day was appropriate - but given that it's 40 a day for every day for every person, it added a considerable cost to our trip - but at least it's easy (especially for folks like me who's taking family and asking them not to pay for anything. splitting up would be hard - i'd have to give an allowance to my grandparents!).

 

[skater]

I'm sure they'll allow guests to charge a tip to the room. We usually order drinks with dinner, and it has never been a problem to use the DDP for the meal and charge the drinks and additional tip to the room. I can't imagine Disney would change that, since the cash-free room charging privledges are a big perk of staying on site.

After reading about the few guests who have had meals that should have been covered by the dining plan charged to their room, there is no way I will have room charging priveleges placed on my key card.

 

[Flagondry]

It's too bad. The only reason we decided to stay onsite was the DDP. We would normally never order so much food, nor would we do a TS each day. The DDP drew us in with the total plan because it looked like a fun treat. We lucked out with FD and had planned to buy the DDP for our trip.

With the increase we would opt to rent a house, eat a big BF at home and make or buy dinner on I-drive. The most I'd buy at DIS would be some candy or ice cream While I enjoy WDW, it was the DDP that dh loved and really made him want to stay onsite at WDW. I guess we'll just go and really enjoy this year.

 

[tnmomof4]

The reason we love the DDP is because it is fun and a great value. Everyone gets to order an appetizer, an entree, a drink and dessert. Without the DDP we never could afford to order all this. The DDP is fun for the kids. They get to try new things. They get to eat at character meals every day. Disney is the one place they get dessert for two meals. The fact that the gratuity is included is what makes the DDP a value. I have a 10 year old who gets to order adult meals this year and he is very excited about it. I will have to save my receipts from all our meals and snacks and see how much the gratuity is. I am interested in knowing how much gratuity I would be paying if it wasn't included. Paying OOP I would never spend $250 for a TS meal every day. So I probably would not get the plan if gratuity is not included.

 

[bookgirl2632]

Okay. I saved my receipts from our trip last September. We were four adults on the meal plan. I recalculated our TS meals without the tip and then totaled them along with our CS meals and a rough estimate of our snacks. I then added what the 18% gratuity would be for our TS meals. I still came out about $200 ahead.

Now, is that $200 enough to make me still want to get the DDP? I'm not sure. I will say that the next time we go, I'll be figuring out approximate check totals to see how far ahead we come out. If we come out ahead, we'll probably still get it. The fact is that the convenience is still key. Yes, we'll have to have extra cash or charge a tip on a credit card (I'm not big on room charging). But we sometimes get a drink with our meal anyway, so even then we have to charge something.

Like I said, I don't know. I would miss all the TS meals. If we weren't on the DDP, we wouldn't eat nearly as many TS meals, nor would we be able to order anything we wanted. If this turns out to be a fact, I'll have to seriously look over all the numbers and then decide. Either that or I'll have to look into an AP and the DDE.

 

[travelgirl06]

Wow,

I agree with the many previous posters over the fear that servers are going to get stiffed out of tips. People aren't going to want to tip on a huge bill that they are paying for with credits, and the servers' tips will unfortinately relfect that.

On the other hand, it is good that servers will have to "earn" their tips, and that in theory superior service will be rewarded with superior tips. But, it seems like Disney could do this another way, e.g. have an option on DDP to tip for good (15%), very good (18%) or excellent (20%) service, with the idea that most people's tips should average out to about 18%, but that superior service would be rewarded.

I am staying on-site for the first time this year, because of free dining and the convenience of DDP; however, if gratuities were not included I don't think if I would consider paying for DDP in the future (when they are included, DDP sounds like a good deal).

I think Disney (and their servers) would be better off increasing the price of DDP 20% (to about $48, I believe) and keeping the pre-paid gratuities.

 

[just another guy]

I imagine some have found the same w/ DDP. I'm sure a few WDW servers have fallen into the "well, I get the 18% no matter how hard I work...." mantra.
While we do NOT like the extra expense, it should help improve service!

I seriously doubt it will increase service. Lets say a server gets stiff by a family of 5 on the DDP. An hour later you come in on the DDP, while that server had 3 other tables, all NOT on the DDP. Guess who that server is going to focus on. Its called playing the odds.

What was the reason given for this change?

The company will do whatever is can to cut cost, even if it includes screwing over its CMs. I've seen it many times. This is just the latest.

 

[bicker]

Who can we call? Who can we write?

Well, no one until it is actually announced, if it ever is. This is still just inside information, unvalidated by Disney itself. You cannot complain about something when the folks you'd be complaining to about it haven't even heard about it yet!

Once it is announced, the only significantly effective way for a guest to complain about it is to do without. Just don't add the Dining Plan to your reservation. That's the most powerful vote you can possibly have. Everything else is just noise.

 

[bicker]

The rumor is that the price will stay the same, but will no longer include gratuities. No one who knows for sure is allowed to say so until Disney announces the 2008 Dining Plan, which will be sometime in June.

 

[Pixiedust34]

I'm already wondering if there will be a free dining offer next September. This year's offers went to more select groups such as UK residents and bounce-backers in addition to the Disney Visa cardholders. The general public offer had a shorter timeframe this year. I'm hoping free dining will be offered next year when I can take advantage of it.

If I ever do buy the dining plan (doubtful, but I'm just saying.....), I wouldn't mind adding the tip myself. I know it's an extra 20% or so per ts meal, but it's a tip and I don't mind leaving it. Now, if we come across the dining plan for FREE, then I super-duper don't mind leaving a tip! : )

BTW, we're missing free dining by a few weeks this year because we cannot change our travel dates. We have a room-only reservation and are paying OOP for our food. Last year we enjoyed the dining plan for free.

 

[chr1972]

I don't think we would to the DDP if tips were not included. We may not even stay on property. For us, the DDP was a deal and due to it, we have stayed on property so we could get this deal. With tips not included, it's not such a good deal. I could stay off-property in a nicer hotel for less money and save a lot of money eatting off-property and even eating some meals in the parks. I would much rather see them increase the price of the DDP. The convience of it the way it is now is what make it sure a good value too!

 

[patsal]

Unless you are a family that would order one appetizer per person, one entree per person, one dessert per person, and soda at every meal , the fact that the gratuity is included is the only thing that makes the DDP a value.

Without an included gratuity, servers are going to get a horrible deal since all the "extras" on the DDP inflates bills. I bet most people will tip 5-10$ max. and not 25-35$. As a former waitress, I am religious about tipping 20-% or more (yes, we always leave additional tips with the plan). Paying OOP - I'd never run up a 200-250$ bill at each dinner meal - without the plan we usually spend 75-100 at dinner max for a family of 4.

There is no way I'll get the plan if gratuity is not included.

Exactly what I was thinking. We don't "max" the plan and we often only order what we will consume--sometimes the kids waste a dessert because their eyes were bigger than thier tummies, but overall we just order what we will eat so the value then drops dramatically. We will cook in the Villa more and I might entertain the idea of the DDE again--though the cost is a bit prohibitive and I expect they will increase that price again.

 

[Flametamr]

For me its as much about convienence as it is value. I scheduled a trip to Disney again this year just because of free dining. But if Disney is going to backdoor price increases this way I'll just go elsewhere. And if I do return to Disney I'll stay offsite and eat more economically. I enjoyed the chance to try new things while on the DDP. I would never consider paying over 200 bucks for dinner otherwise. Disney has made a very bad decision if all this is true.....

 

[canda]

I doubt the servers are getting 18% tip now with the DDP.
WDW is probally guessing (at the most) $25 per TS credit. THat leaves $4.50 for the server.

 

[The Sweetness]

I dont think I would have paid for the DDP, if the tip wasnt inc. Maybe I'm crazy

 

[erikthewise]

I guess I'm a "disinterested observer" -- we always stay on site but have never been interested in the dining plan since it wouldn't save us money.

bicker said it well but it bears repeating. So far this is all based on one person's post. No official announcement yet! Even if the rumor is accurate it is possible they will yet change their minds.

WDW pulled this same trick with the Candlelight Processional dinner package last year. No price increase but gratuity no longer included made it effectively a 15% increase. Because of this we did not purchase this package last year and will not do it this year either, but I suspect enough people did that they considered this move a success.

I'm not sure how Disney thinks this will benefit them in the long run. Apparently they are tired of using dining to attract people to stay at their resorts. Perhaps the dining plan was costing them more than they care to spend for that.

Clearly participation in the dining plan will decrease as a result, but that is not necessarily a disaster. Somehow life went on before the dining plan, and it would go on even if the dining plan were to be dropped completely.

 

[The Sweetness]

i think the servers are getting their 18% at WDW owned TS. And by looking at the prices at A La cart places, thats quite a bit for 2A Not to mention the 2C and anything extra ordered such as beer or wine

 

[disneybound5]

What about people like me that will be going for christmas and staying through the new year- say January 4th or so? Will I have to tip part of the time and not the other part?

 

[Bellybee]

We sadly wont be back to disney for quite some time as we are considering starting a family.
If we did return we would probably still get the DDP but I know that the servers would lose out the most we would tip would be $10 and that would be at all restaurants, buffets and everything.
I would never ever tip more than £5 over here so wouldn't really consider more than $10 at disney.
Also it would bugger up our spending budget, my husband and me have a set budget per day each for souvineers which is around $25 a day each.
If we have to pay tip out of that we have less spending money.
I think Disney should just leave the DDP alone or scrap it altogether.
It is quite a difficult thing to get your head around the DDP and they shouldnt keep changing it.

 

[Janet Hill]

I guess we will be getting our final DDP when we are at BCV this August. I was trying to decide DDP vs DDE and it was the tip that was making me lean toward the DDP. If the tip is not included, I think DDE will definately be the better deal for us.

Taking the tip out of the DDP really is a significant price increase.