Questions re AP and DDE

[ConnieB]

It's been a few months since I've been here.....and last time there was big time discussions about the upcoming changes to the Dining Plan. Well, I won't be staying on site anymore, so the DP or whatever reincarnation of itself there is, won't be for me.

BUT>.....I have an AP voucher.....so what discounts can you get on food or merchandise with just a basic AP (not the water parks one)?

How about with the DDE? I know back when the DP was being rumored to be changed there was talk by the cast members that the DDE for 2008 was going to REQUIRE a 15 or 20 perecent gratuity on it, regardless of the size of your party (my family would be a family of 3 max). Did this come about?

I'm trying to decide if just the food discount with the plain AP would be better for my family or not. The DDE seems odd to me that they'd give you a 20% discount on food and then take that away by adding in a required gratuity. Don't get me wrong, I leave a tip, but it's not automatically 20%....poor service may get nothing but a talking to the manager, mediocre service may only get 10-15%, good service may get better than that 20%.....I pay by the service I receive. I'm not real fond of forced gratuity because I find most server get lax if they know they don't have to work for their tip (talking off site here but from the discussions, it's not different onsite).

So what's the scoop on 2008 DDE? We're going in late January, so if I'm going to get the DDE I need to order it in the next 30 days or so.

Thanks!
ConnieB

 

[tkd lisa]

I have the DDE. There is no required tip on that. And no restrictions on how you use it, other than if the restaurant itself takes it. For example, we often split meals in my family, and we've gotten 20% off off a double hamburger and chicken strips at Pop Century's food court (food for 3). We've also gotten 20% off of 10 buffet meals at Crystal Palace, with no required gratuity even with that large of a group.

Deb's allears.net has a good listing of the different discounts. The last time I checked, with your AP you could get 10% off at many of the EPCOT table service restaurants, and a few of the Downtown Disney restaurants. About 2 years ago, I ran the numbers of DDE vs. AP discount, and I saved the price of the DDE card in that trip, just using it for 3 TS meals with a family of not very big eaters. If you typically order an alcoholic beverage, DDE takes 20% off that too, so that can add up quickly.

Hope this helps. It's obviously a very individual decision.

 

[bradk]

TS locations are 20% off with DDE for parties up to 10 people.

some CS locations accept it where there is no TS (such as value resorts, POFQ and previously DAK)

 

[Dan Murphy]

good info here......



http://www.allearsnet.com/din/dde.htm

I have had DDE for several years now, just used earlier this month, no mandatory tipping.

 

[miste76]

If you typically order an alcoholic beverage, DDE takes 20% off that too, so that can add up quickly.

Did I understand this correctly? For those of us that drink alcohol... it's discounted with the DDE?

 

[silverarrowknits]

some CS locations accept it where there is no TS (such as value resorts, POFQ and previously DAK)

Have things officially changed at DAK yet or is everything changing once Tusker House reopens?

 

[tjmw2727]

Did I understand this correctly? For those of us that drink alcohol... it's discounted with the DDE?

Yes

I have an AP and DDE and find the savings great - but we take 1-3 vacations per DDE year. The cost of the DDE right now is $65 for AP holders so you have to budget out your ADR's and possible other uses to see if it will save you $$

Last trip we stayed at POFQ and had groceries delivered by wegoshop. Even with breakfast in the room we saved well over the $65.00 cost because POFQ dosen't have a TS they take the DDE at the food court. So with one TS meal, food court and a few nights for DH and I at the bar we did well

Now I have a trip starting Friday (woo hoo) and another in March and the same DDE card will still be valid.

To date I haven't heard first hand about a mandatory gratuity but I always tip based on the bill prior to the discount so it won't bother me. Having been in the restaurant business lots of folks tip based on the bill after discount and the server suffers ~ jmho

TJ

 

[ConnieB]

Starting in 2008, there is supposedly going to be a tip added to your bill (right now the tip is only added for large parties, like 6 or 8).

Those who use and save with the DDE right NOW...do you think that you will still use it for 2008 (or after yours expires will your renew it) if the mandatory gratutity is added?

Hmmm...and I wonder how that will work....what about the people who bought their DDE last spring...before it was announced about the gratuity.....can they change the terms of the card that drastically on those who bought it with the understanding that it didn't include that? Or...is the tip for those who BUY it in 2008 (which means I better be sure to get mine now???).

I sure with allears discussed the gratutity and how it would work. THey're usually so up on information, it makes me wonder why it doesn't say anything. Was the mandatory tip a rumor, or a fact? I thought someone posted a link at the beginning of summer when the cast members were all on here talking about their new union contracts that showed the actual contract and it showed the tip was no longer included in the 2008 dining plan and that a tip would be added to all DDE purchases. Wish I could find that now, but I've searched pages and pages....it was probably closed or deleted, many of them got rather mean and nasty.

How would I find out for sure...even WDW's page doesn't talk about it.

 

[tjmw2727]

Yes, I would still use the DDE if the tip were required. Its still a 20% savings since I usually tip 20% on the total bill before the discount anyway. I can only think of 2x in the past two years where I have left less because of poor service. So - so far it would have been a non-issue.

You also don't have to show the DDE until you pay the bill so IMHO it has little effect on the service since the server won't know he/she is guraranteed a tip. If the service were so bad that I didn't want to tip 20% I would approach the MGR and have the tip waived.

Again though - you have to cost out your meals/drinks and see how much more the savings is over the $65.00. If it is a significant amount then the added tip dosen't really factor in - if not then you need to weigh the options.

TJ

 

[marlynnp]

Yes, I would still use the DDE if the tip were required. Its still a 20% savings since I usually tip 20% on the total bill before the discount anyway.

You also don't have to show the DDE until you pay the bill so IMHO it has little effect on the service since the server won't know he/she is guraranteed a tip. If the service were so bad that I didn't want to tip 20% I would approach the MGR and have the tip waived.

TJ

Exactly my thoughts ~ I love the DDE card.

If you don't want to get the DDE card or it's not cost effective for you, your AP itself will you get you a 10% discount on a few places at lunch.

 

[bradk]

i dunno what the deal is with DAK.. if tusker house opening will change it... or if Y&Y will change it... or if and when Y&Y will open

 

[mickaholic4077]

Once the full service restaurants are actually open,the DDE probably will not be good to use at AK,since there will be 2 TS restaurants open.

 

[shellybaxter]

Starting in 2008, there is supposedly going to be a tip added to your bill (right now the tip is only added for large parties, like 6 or 8).

Those who use and save with the DDE right NOW...do you think that you will still use it for 2008 (or after yours expires will your renew it) if the mandatory gratutity is added?

Hmmm...and I wonder how that will work....what about the people who bought their DDE last spring...before it was announced about the gratuity.....can they change the terms of the card that drastically on those who bought it with the understanding that it didn't include that? Or...is the tip for those who BUY it in 2008 (which means I better be sure to get mine now???).

I sure with allears discussed the gratutity and how it would work. THey're usually so up on information, it makes me wonder why it doesn't say anything. Was the mandatory tip a rumor, or a fact? I thought someone posted a link at the beginning of summer when the cast members were all on here talking about their new union contracts that showed the actual contract and it showed the tip was no longer included in the 2008 dining plan and that a tip would be added to all DDE purchases. Wish I could find that now, but I've searched pages and pages....it was probably closed or deleted, many of them got rather mean and nasty.

How would I find out for sure...even WDW's page doesn't talk about it.

You will have to wait until they announce the changes for confirmation of a manditory tip. The servers say it was in their contract so I would imagine it will happen. Personally, if the only change in the DDE is the addition of a tip then I will happily continue to use it. If fact I will save money with the new tip. I always tip above 20% from the pre-discounted amount for good service, and that is 98% of the time. With the new tip added I will only tip that 18%. Sorry I'm not doing extra math on vacation to figure out how much I would have tipped and then how much extra is needed over the manditory; so in the end I will spend less.

If I have bad service, to the point where I would consider tipping less than 18%, then I would ask to speak to a manager (manditory tip or not) and discuss the problems. So I'm not to worried about how to handle bad service either way.

 

[Eganclan]

I thought that I read somewhere that in 2008 they are dropping the discount at all counter service meals did anyone else read that .

 

[theparsons]

You will have to wait until they announce the changes for confirmation of a manditory tip. The servers say it was in their contract so I would imagine it will happen.

Shouldn't they have announced it already? Obviously anyone buying the DDE right now would planning to use it in 2008 (I'm sure some people may only use it once, but most would use it multiple times over the course of the year). I'd not be a happy camper to buy it and then find that a month after purchase the terms had changed on it. I can't imagine they would do something like those purchased in 2007 follow 2007 rules and those purchased in 2008 follow 2008 rules....that would be difficult for the servers to deal with, if it were even possible, right? Plus I can just see two families getting together for dinner and finding out their cards that cost the same are actually very different terms.

Did anyone else read about counter service going away like the previous poster said? I don't recall that, but that would make a HUGE difference in my decision to get the DDE....we have rented a vacation house, so we'll be eating breakfast at the house (except for a few character meals), we'll do lunch in the park, but likely do dinner offsite, either at home or an off site restaurant. If the CS isn't included in the DDE it's not likely that I'll need it....we plan on a couple of TS, maybe for lunch instead of dinner, but probably not enough of them.

Normally when I have questions about policies I would go to the people making those policies....but we all know that to call one CM you get one set of rules, and then you call another and get another set. I'd love to have someone like DIS or allears use their contacts, which are probably more versed in accurate information, then to try to CM roulette.

 

[robinb]

How about with the DDE? I know back when the DP was being rumored to be changed there was talk by the cast members that the DDE for 2008 was going to REQUIRE a 15 or 20 perecent gratuity on it, regardless of the size of your party (my family would be a family of 3 max). Did this come about?

I have had an automatic 18% gratuity added to my bill when using the DDE card in the past. I usually tip 20%, so that was fine with me. I'll keep my 2%.