Splitsville DVC Member Night Surprise...

[kristenrice]

As a meticulous planner who makes sure that my trip is budgeted and paid for before I leave the house, I was caught off guard at the DVC Member Event at Splitsville when our server presented me with our "bill". The event was pre-paid at the time of booking and she was very good about explaining every item that was included in what we had already paid for so I was a bit confused when I received a "bill". Well, guess what? Unlike every other pre-paid dining experience I have ever booked at WDW, the gratuity was NOT included. I was a bit miffed, to say the least. I had a whopping $20 cash with me and my "emergency" credit card. This was not an emergency so my only option was to charge a tip to my Magic Band and pay it down with my gift card, which contained my funds allotted for our dining. Well, a gratuity on $150 is equivalent to a CS meal for the three of us later in the week so, yeah, this was a bit of a hit to my budget. I was able to cover it but I wanted to make sure that my fellow DVC members are aware that if you decide to do the member night at Splitsville (which I HIGHLY recommend...it was a BLAST!), the gratuity is NOT INCLUDED.

 

[Hopefully]

As a meticulous planner who makes sure that my trip is budgeted and paid for before I leave the house, I was caught off guard at the DVC Member Event at Splitsville when our server presented me with our "bill". The event was pre-paid at the time of booking and she was very good about explaining every item that was included in what we had already paid for so I was a bit confused when I received a "bill". Well, guess what? Unlike every other pre-paid dining experience I have ever booked at WDW, the gratuity was NOT included. I was a bit miffed, to say the least. I had a whopping $20 cash with me and my "emergency" credit card. This was not an emergency so my only option was to charge a tip to my Magic Band and pay it down with my gift card, which contained my funds allotted for our dining. Well, a gratuity on $150 is equivalent to a CS meal for the three of us later in the week so, yeah, this was a bit of a hit to my budget. I was able to cover it but I wanted to make sure that my fellow DVC members are aware that if you decide to do the member night at Splitsville (which I HIGHLY recommend...it was a BLAST!), the gratuity is NOT INCLUDED.

Sorry you had this bump in your trip.
But to me, budgeting that tightly is just plain scary. I budget and pay in advance as well, but the equivalent of one CS meal would never cause me so much stress.
Hope the rest of you trip went smoothly.

 

[chalee94]

Thanks for the heads up!

 

[disneynutz]

My guess is that all paid DVC direct buy events require tips to be paid OOP.

Bill

 

[kristenrice]

Sorry you had this bump in your trip.
But to me, budgeting that tightly is just plain scary. I budget and pay in advance as well, but the equivalent of one CS meal would never cause me so much stress.
Hope the rest of you trip went smoothly.

Oh, I have a big "cushion"...I just didn't plan on using $30-$40 on a gratuity. I usually over-budget for our meals (i.e. pick the most expensive items and assume we will all eat an app, entree and dessert, order soda and maybe an alcoholic beverage, when in reality, we share an app and 2-3 entrees and 1 dessert, then drink water) so I usually have plenty of funds leftover on my dining gift card. Plus, I brought another $200 in "just in case" funds. So I had the money...it wasn't a burden...it was just an unexpected expense. Next time, I will plan for it and I wanted to make sure that if there are any other folks out there that plan and budget like I do, they would be prepared as well.

 

[Hopefully]

Oh, I have a big "cushion"...I just didn't plan on using $30-$40 on a gratuity. I usually over-budget for our meals (i.e. pick the most expensive items and assume we will all eat an app, entree and dessert, order soda and maybe an alcoholic beverage, when in reality, we share an app and 2-3 entrees and 1 dessert, then drink water) so I usually have plenty of funds leftover on my dining gift card. Plus, I brought another $200 in "just in case" funds. So I had the money...it wasn't a burden...it was just an unexpected expense. Next time, I will plan for it and I wanted to make sure that if there are any other folks out there that plan and budget like I do, they would be prepared as well.

Ok. I get it.
To me, your opening post sounded that you were really stressed and stretched thin by the unexpected gratuity.
I appreciate the heads up for the rest of us for what “ all inclusive “ really means.

 

[kristenrice]

My guess is that all paid DVC direct buy events require tips to be paid OOP.

Bill

Just curious....why would that be the case? Does DVC pay for a portion of the event or subsidize it somehow? I know we got a TON of food (way more than we would have ordered had we been paying OOP) and we got the free socks and the "prize", but at $45/person, was that any real discount compared to the cost of food and 2 hours of bowling? I honestly don't know what it would have cost for us to just bowl and eat like normal people.

 

[kristenrice]

Ok. I get it.
To me, your opening post sounded that you were really stressed and stretched thin by the unexpected gratuity.
I appreciate the heads up for the rest of us for what “ all inclusive “ really means.

Oh...no...not me...but someone else in my situation could have been caught off guard. I merely wanted to point out that the gratuity on the member night for 3-4 people is almost the equivalent to a counter-service meal so if you weren't planning on it, it's not pocket change.

 

[disneynutz]

Just curious....why would that be the case? Does DVC pay for a portion of the event or subsidize it somehow? I know we got a TON of food (way more than we would have ordered had we been paying OOP) and we got the free socks and the "prize", but at $45/person, was that any real discount compared to the cost of food and 2 hours of bowling? I honestly don't know what it would have cost for us to just bowl and eat like normal people.

These events are paid for by DVD and their marketing group, used to convince direct buyers how wonderful DVC is, resale buyers are not allowed to participate. We don't know if these pay and play events are making a profit for DVD/Disney but if you are being served by a CM, they expect to be tipped.

Bill

 

[DenLo]

Since you were dining at a restaurant and not at a DVC arranged event in a hotel or convention center, I would be surprised if you didn't pay gratuities. However, the gratuities should be based on the price of the food and drink, not the entertainment and gifts. I would write to DVC Member Satisfaction - dvcmembersatisfactionteam@disneyvacationclub.com. And see about getting some of the tip money back. However, I would price the cost of the food and drinks you were given before you write to make sure the tip was inaccurate.

 

[bwvBound]

Oh, I have a big "cushion"...I just didn't plan on using $30-$40 on a gratuity.

You are far more generous on your tipping than I am. If the *food* portion of your expense was $150 (not counting the activity portion of the pre-paid fees) ... then 20% is $30. While I might have offered 20% for a super exceptional experience ... I still stay closer to 18%. I would have been closely "figuring" what part of my pre-paid monies were for the bowling vs the food.

 

[mlayman7]

We did this 2nd week of December for our family of 9. While we had a blast, food was great, service spectacular, it ended up a lot more expensive than we were planning, mostly because of the high tip. We wouldn't do it again because of the cost but loved prepaying and being able to order what we wanted and bowl the length of time. Wish tip could be included as well making it more straightforward.