New gratuity policy

[agnes!]

Yep, same here. I'm asked by the server at the start of the evening if I am using the DDE or DDP. Can't exactly say no, and then produce the card, can I?

I know when DDE first started it was such a mess I ended up not buying it for the second year. I'm back to using it now, but surely do NOT want to get into heated discussions like those of the first year.

You know what.... I just got back from WDW and I can't remember if restaurants/servers specifically asked if we were DDE. (Do you suppose a third cup of coffee might help my brain cells fire up?) I *do* remember them asking "are you on any dining plans?".

agnes!

 

[RickinNYC]

Rick.. I think that would have made me upset, I am such a principle person. You should not have been automatically charged the 18%, you were paying out of pocket and were not on the DDP....

You are a better person than I am, I would have had to say something. What's right is right.

Too much time spend on the Restaurant Board for me, I need to broaden my horizon.

Rest assured, if the service I received warranted less than the 18% that was included, I would have made an isssue. But because the waitstaff on both occassions were fantastic, I didn't feel like getting embroiled in semantics since I'd have tipped that much or more anyway.

 

[bubie2.5]

This is good to know, I usually feel obligated to tip 20% even when the service is bad (although I might do a little complaining), a little more if it's good, and a LOT if it's great (yes Amir, I'm talking about you in Marrakesh).
That means a 2% savings.

 

[agnes!]

From now on, whenever we use our DDE, I won't be leaving any extra. If that is what Disney has decided their servers are worth, I certainly won't leave any *more* that their now-mandatory 18% service charge. (I've seen the speculation, but I wonder what was so magical about 18? Why not 15% or 20%?)

Another wrinkle that I think it will be interesting is when diners get a nice bottle of wine with their dinner. Many folks won't want to pay 18% of the bottle's cost when the bottle is say, $60+. Some tip $5-$10 for the wine and whatever(18/20/even 25%) for the rest of the check.

agnes!

 

[Kycha]

If there is such a problem with servers being tipped fairly at WDW, why don't they do away with tipping on Disney property altogether. Just add the tip into the meal cost and pay the servers a higher wage.

 

[kaytieeldr]

(I've seen the speculation, but I wonder what was so magical about 18? Why not 15% or 20%?)

Most diners tip fifteen percent or twenty percent.
Disney took the average of these two amounts - 17.5%.
They then (for convenience?) rounded to the nearest whole number.
When the decimal number is five or higher, you round up.
Voila! Eighteen percent.

Kycha - there is much discussion about that very issue on the 'main' 18% thread (on the Restaurants board).
There is no reasonable cause for Disney to 'buck the system'.
Servers in MOST states earn about 1/3 the Federal Minimum Wage - generally $2.13 an hour.

While it's great to suggest that Disney pay servers better, why would Disney do that when restaurants throughout the country - including the Orlando area - don't? Paying a higher wage would result in much higher food prices - and with people complaining NOW about how much it costs to eat there, who's going to be happy when that steak goes up 25%?