why do they ask?

[wilde_oscar]

Truth, you can’t handle the truth: I started posing questions about service on DDP and freeDDP on our return from WDW last year. And I have got the smack down that I am rude, lazy and a bad tipper because I ask questions similar to the OP. There is no one thing that you can cover with your thumb to say service is defective in DDP, but there are a lot of little things that if you are aware of them can make DDP more pleasurable. I come back to the same premise over and over… if you have two tables, one you will make 18% of the check no matter what, the other you have to work for the tip, where is your attention going to be?

One if by Land, Two if by Sea: Disney is stacking the deck in their favor, they always have and they always will. The reservations system is the first layer. They want to know if you are on DDP and your party size to begin stacking the deck. The system pushes parties of two to the very early and the very late hours because it is more profitable to have every seat full during the busy hours. Therefore, as has been mentioned in the DIS Unplugged podcast, ya might have to say you are a party of three or 4 to get a table at the time you wish. No harm, no foul… once bitten, twice shy… fool me once, etc. If you know how the system works, you can find better ways to use the system (after all, the DIS addicts to the boards are all looking for those advantages… is it rude, will the morality police rake me across the coals again and again, sure. Do I care, No! It is a dinner reservation, we are not talking about peace in the middle east. Why do I mention party size? Because it is both possible and probable that a similar process is used to space parties using DDP. Heck, if you want a Fantasmic! Dinner package it is a similar situation, you’ll be eating between 4 and 6.

Ya can’t always get what ya want, but ya get what ya need: In a different thread, just a couple days ago, a similar question was raised… actually it seems like this is one of those questions that keeps popping up. It is either more frequent, or I am noticing more often. But again, when I make mention that more people seem to be noticing a difference between DDP and OOP service, I draw harsh and immediate criticism that I am wrong. For some folks the answer to everything is to call a manager. Or that the patron’s attitude, a bad day, a busy night, etc. or that service at WDW in general is slipping. OK, fine… that may be. But more and more I notice posts with observations of the subtle ways that WDW is gaming the system to their advantage with DDP. What really is the point of having DDP attached to your reservation? To know how many people bought DDP, you would think that accounting could run a report and tell ya that based on how many people paid for DDP. Could it be to inform the server… why does the hostess and the server both ask? A call center as efficient as WDW-DINE is not asking for your DDP info to be polite, it is to game the system. It sets an expectation in the customer’s mind… you are DDP. That is not a negative connotation… just a preconditioning to the cruise ship, cattle car system that while fun and nice is still designed to separate you from your money. They can use the info, to space DDP and OOP in time, and set priority to those that are paying OOP because the better the experience, the better the tip? Nah, I don’t think the system is designed to get the server a better tip, could it be to provide a slight but increasingly perceivable advantage to those that pay OOP? I would buy the latter far sooner then the former.

Hop on POP: So what have I learned and how am I applying it to this year’s trip in Sept. during free DDP? We are a party of two; however our reservations show a party of 4. Ooops, the other couple we are traveling with changed their plans. Restaurant reservations are not linked to our room reservation, nor does it reflect we are on DPP. When asked at the restaurant, say no you don’t know what DDP is, act confused… when presented with the bill tell the server that you have meal vouchers attached to your room key. Act confused. Some consider it rude… so be it. The server then has to do more work with a re ring, etc.? Maybe, but you are gaming the system, just as WDW has gamed the system.

I come back once again to the simple premise… if you are a server with two tables, which will get more attention? The table where the 18% is a lock, or the table where the tip is dependent on your level of service? This does not mean that you provided poor service to the 18% table… just that the table where you earned the tip received a higher level of good service. Ya know, T.I.P.S. does stand for To Insure Prompt Service! Again I ask that half baked folks not attempt to put additional meaning to my opinion, or put words on the page that are not there. Everyone is permitted to form their own opinion, or offer advice. If you have had great service every time on DDP, good for you… shout it out loud and proud that DDP is the best thing ever. Some folks have a different experience, doesn’t make them wrong. Thousands of posts don’t make you an expert. Your mileage may very, shipped by weight not by volume, some settling occurs during shipping, this post should not be used in a manner inconsistent with included instructions.

 

[skater]

Wildeoscar - thank you for your open honest opinions.

 

[jcpuppy.com]

I totally understand the OP's questions. I've been on the DP twice and still wonder if it affects service. (I know that's not a popular opinion on these boards, but I'm just going by some of our own experiences). We had some bad service last year during free dining, and I just started wondering if free dining was the cause. At LTT, the server insisted (after asking if we were on the DP) that we order dessert at the same time as entree - and then he disappeared until it was time to bring the desserts. If he didn't know we were on the plan, maybe he wouldn't have insisted on the dessert order. I guess there's no scientific way to answer this question - maybe he's a bad server, but I still wonder. At least it gives me something else to think about when I'm obsessing about Disney .

There is one I found annoying!! Our server at the Concourse wanted to take my dessert order with my main meal. When I told her I wanted to wait until after dinner, she said this would make it easier for her..iue she wouldn't have to bring menus back etc... Most everyone in my group ordered dessert then, except me. By golly how do I know how hungry I will be after my main meal? If it is good and filling I may just want ice cream and if it wasnt so good I may need a cake. There was one other server that did that, but I can't recall which place. She wasn't as annoying as this one was.

 

[salmoneous]

I come back to the same premise over and over… if you have two tables, one you will make 18% of the check no matter what, the other you have to work for the tip, where is your attention going to be?

Me? I'm going to be focused on providing the best level of service I can to all my customers. But that's the kind of person I am. And that's also the kind of person Disney strives for in CM's. Through the resort there are CM trained to provide outstanding customer service to everyone. They are doing it because that's their job, not because they might get tipped at the end. I expect - and receive - nothing less from restaurant CMs.

If you go in gleefully rude, gleeful lying, gleeful gaming the system, gleefully expecting servers to only pay attention to you if you dangle a buck in front of their nose, then you'll probably get what you expect.

 

[Mom2Evie]

I will be on the DDP, but may want to pay for my 10 year old oop if she decides she wants the kids meal at that place so we can save her adult credit but we won't know that before looking at the menu so I guess when they ask I'll say Maybe.

You can easily do this. The CM will just have to create two tickets for you, that's all. The same thing can be done at counter service meals. It simply becomes two transactions instead of just one.

 

[jcpuppy.com]

Well, as I said 3 times and overall we have been pleased and only saw some possible minor issues that may be DDP related.

I will say tho if servers make the mistake thinking they are only getting the 18% they are wrong. Our 2nd trip we tipped servers who were doing their jobs well. One judgement was drink refills., if we had to ask they never got an extra tip. If they asked or brought to us they did. On our 2nd trip we tipped extra many servers we had..like almost every meal. The fellow at Crystal palace was outstanding as was the girl at Konas. They come to mind.
On our 3rd(past) trip I don't think we tipped anyone extra. We were willing but not one server was above the call of duty. We had a few good servers, but not one filled our drinks without us asking and some servers were just plain lazy.
I admit I never considered it the ddp, just luck of the draw and also it was a lot busier than when we normally go

 

[Mom2Evie]

Me? I'm going to be focused on providing the best level of service I can to all my customers. But that's the kind of person I am. And that's also the kind of person Disney strives for in CM's.

If you go in gleefully rude, gleeful lying, gleeful gaming the system, gleefully expecting servers to only pay attention to you if you dangle a buck in front of their nose, then you'll probably get what you expect.

Well said. I waited tables to put myself through college, both bachelor's & master's degrees. I was a server because I was good at it, the money was great and I enjoyed the job. I gave great service because I couldn't picture myself dooing less, even those repeat customers that you just KNEW weren't going to leave a tip, no matter how hard you worked.
Only on a few occassions did I have a customer SO RUDE that I just couldn't give them 100%. You don't want to set yourself up to be that guy.

We've done Disney with and without the DP. We've even paid out of pocket for meals when traveling with teh DP. We've never noticed a change in the level of service. I've also never had a CM insist that I order dessert at the beginning. I think I'd politely tell them I'd like to order later. My meal isn't about making things more convenient for them. It's about making sure I enjoy the experience that a meal at Disney is. They'll get their 18% from me regardless and a little extra if they do a great job.

 

[kaytieeldr]

Disney needs to be careful about this, though. I've made about 7 ressies for our upcoming trip, and I've been asked the same question, each and every time BEFORE we even being to work on my requests.

This question doesn't, in use, appear to be used to help the customer. It sounds like they have two tiers of reservations.

Okay, that's one way of looking at it...
Which would you consider preferable:
Guest: "Hello, I'd like to make dining reservations for my upcoming trip".
CM: "I'll be happy to help you. Are you using any dining plan?"
or
Guest: "Hello, I'd like to make dining reservations for my upcoming trip".
CM: "I'll be happy to help you. What would you like to reserve?"
Guest: "Le Cellier on August 1 at 6 PM."
CM: "Are you using any dining plan?"

;;;;

I suppose every experience is different, and someone who goes into a situation looking for the negative will find it. The only small-party reservations I have outside 'standard' dining hours are at my request. I had NO problem getting reservations for the 6 to 7 PM range.

Given that every Fantasmic! Dining Package reservation has to begin by a certain time, it appears that party size does not figure into that reservation at all.

Disney doesn't have to 'game' any situation, given that they own the business and set the rules, although I suppose if one goes into a situation with the intention of beating the system, and does, well, then, they consider they've "won", whatever that means.

Given, again, that the dining reservations CMs ask if the Guest is on ANY (not just the infamous Disney Dining) plan, it seems unlikely the question is designed to put any preconditioned expectation in the Guest's mind - other than, perhaps, the reservationist having and providing full knowledge of any and all dining plans. But then, I'm a glass-half-full kinda person...

What would the point be in spacing/reserving anything for a balance or predominance of one payment method over the other (the primary issues addressed in post # 21, vs. the more general 'who gets better service' issue often presented)?

A Guest using ANY dining plan to pay for the restaurant food ordered is 100% ensuring the server gets tipped, based on, in Disney-owned restaurants, the menu prices. A Guest paying for restaurant food using cash/credit/Disney Dollar/etc, provides the server no such guarantee. If the diner is not accustomed to tipping, or is forgetful, or is dissatisfied for any real or assumed reason, or even is just stingy, the server with the dining plan table gets tipped, and the server with the OOP table gets nothing.

Sure, Accounting can tell how many Guests' packages include a dining plan. Accounting can't tell at which specific meals each Guest's party will use those credits. The Host/ess would still ask each Guest if they are using a dining plan because, one would expect, that is part of their job. While it is then likely that they should convey that information to the server, if the server asks too it could be because, for example, the information wasn't transfered verbally; or the server wants to reconfirm whether the Guest is using a dining plan so they can provide information about any limitations.

Again, Disney does not need to 'game' any system; however, a Guest so concerned with service and tipping and who strategizes so intensively would surely ADD actual money to the automatic tip - if for no other reason than because the Guest is fully aware that such plotting DOES cause additional work for the server.

Ya know, T.I.P.S. does stand for To Insure Prompt Service!

Ya know, it doesn't.
Common sense: How does an anticipated-but-not-guaranteed 'reward' given by the diner AFTER the meal/service, ensure (not insure, grammatically, meaning it would be T.E.P.S, but that doesn't support the assumption) prompt service DURING the meal? Both the practice and the use of the word have a variety of explanations, but a pseudo-acronym applied long after the word came into use for this purpose is NOT one of them. If that were true, what would TIP stand for - To Insure Prompt? Prompt what? In addition, it seems the issue tip-concerned diners have is not with specifically the speed of the service - so 'prompt' is not applicable.

 

[Nancyg56]

Hop on POP: So what have I learned and how am I applying it to this year’s trip in Sept. during free DDP? We are a party of two; however our reservations show a party of 4. Ooops, the other couple we are traveling with changed their plans. Restaurant reservations are not linked to our room reservation, nor does it reflect we are on DPP. When asked at the restaurant, say no you don’t know what DDP is, act confused… when presented with the bill tell the server that you have meal vouchers attached to your room key. Act confused. Some consider it rude… so be it. The server then has to do more work with a re ring, etc.? Maybe, but you are gaming the system, just as WDW has gamed the system.

I come back once again to the simple premise… if you are a server with two tables, which will get more attention? The table where the 18% is a lock, or the table where the tip is dependent on your level of service? This does not mean that you provided poor service to the 18% table… just that the table where you earned the tip received a higher level of good service. Ya know, T.I.P.S. does stand for To Insure Prompt Service! Again I ask that half baked folks not attempt to put additional meaning to my opinion, or put words on the page that are not there. Everyone is permitted to form their own opinion, or offer advice. If you have had great service every time on DDP, good for you… shout it out loud and proud that DDP is the best thing ever. Some folks have a different experience, doesn’t make them wrong. Thousands of posts don’t make you an expert. Your mileage may very, shipped by weight not by volume, some settling occurs during shipping, this post should not be used in a manner inconsistent with included instructions.

You are going to do what you are comfortable doing. You may feel that you are more in control of your experience and of the CM's service. When the CM needs to rering your check you will justify the additional work because you feel that this is the best way to ensure excellent service. Too bad for the rest of the customers the CM is responsible for serving. If you are forced to wait longer for your bill, hopefully you will not hold that against your server.

Your method of ensuring customer service would not work for me. I am one of those who uses the DDP, has had for the most part excellent service, I pay for some meals OOP, sometimes I have guests who are not on the DDP join us and I inform my CM ahead of time. I have always had the CM assist me to utilize the plan to my advantage when this happens. I set myself up for a good meal with good service. I enter the restaurant expecting it and I treat the CM as though I know that I am in for a wonderful treat. I am seldom disappointed.

You are correct in that you are entitled to your opinion. I have also read posts that indicate the DDP is responsible for poor service. I have read many more that indicate that those people were satisfied with their level of service. Both POV have merit.

You seem to think that the CM's are satisfied with their 18% and do not work to boost their percentage. I have not seen that. My family seldom leaves the table without leaving additional money for our server. I read here that there are many others who leave more on the table. I think that most CM's work hard to provide service that will prompt their customers to thank them with an additional gratuity. Once again, you may think differently, but my experience is certainly not the one you are determined to avoid.

Me? I'm going to be focused on providing the best level of service I can to all my customers. But that's the kind of person I am. And that's also the kind of person Disney strives for in CM's. Through the resort there are CM trained to provide outstanding customer service to everyone. They are doing it because that's their job, not because they might get tipped at the end. I expect - and receive - nothing less from restaurant CMs.

If you go in gleefully rude, gleeful lying, gleeful gaming the system, gleefully expecting servers to only pay attention to you if you dangle a buck in front of their nose, then you'll probably get what you expect.

I waited table for many years to support my family. I tried to give my customers excellent service and treated everyone with respect. I will agree that there were some that came in and did all that they could to make me earn my tip. I did not ignore my courteous customers who simply came in to eat and expected me to do my job for those who thought that my character was so jaded that I would be bribed to work in a professional manner. I think the people who wait table in Disney have the same mindset. They are professional who work every day in the environment that they have chosen. They do the best that they can to enhance the magic. They also come across people who treat them in a manner less than respectful. I wonder if those people are the ones who come back here to complain about less than stellar service.

Well said. I waited tables to put myself through college, both bachelor's & master's degrees. I was a server because I was good at it, the money was great and I enjoyed the job. I gave great service because I couldn't picture myself dooing less, even those repeat customers that you just KNEW weren't going to leave a tip, no matter how hard you worked.
Only on a few occassions did I have a customer SO RUDE that I just couldn't give them 100%. You don't want to set yourself up to be that guy.

We've done Disney with and without the DP. We've even paid out of pocket for meals when traveling with teh DP. We've never noticed a change in the level of service. I've also never had a CM insist that I order dessert at the beginning. I think I'd politely tell them I'd like to order later. My meal isn't about making things more convenient for them. It's about making sure I enjoy the experience that a meal at Disney is. They'll get their 18% from me regardless and a little extra if they do a great job.

 

[JodyTG]

I hate to feel rushed when I eat at a table service restaurant. I'll order drinks and appetizers. Then, when the appetizers arrive I'll order the entree. I don't order a dessert until I finish the entree...if I even order one at all.

There's nothing worse then to be in the middle of the appetizer and have your entree arrive. One...tables aren't big enough to hold everything, and two...I hate cold food. I want to finish one course before I get the second one.

I'm sure it IS a lot easier for the server to just get the entire order at the beginning, but I'm not there to make someone's job easier. I'm there to have a nice meal. If you serve me with a smile and let ME decide how our food will be ordered and delivered you'll get a good tip. I have also been known to tip people above the norm, but you have to earn it.

So...in conclusion, don't rush me.

 

[theparsons]

IMO, the CMs ask before they take your reservation because many restaurants aren't on the DDP. We were going to make a reservation for Rainforest Cafe and because the CM was on top of things, she let us know that this restaurant was not on the DDP, and that we'd need to pay OOP. At our request, she guided us toward places that would accept our TS credits. It would be easier to make reservations blindly, but I believe that asking whether or not I'm on DDP is an effort to provide better, more complete service. I now know where to find information on the DDP (Thanks, DIS!! ), but I'm sure many people assume that all restaurants are on the plan. However, that would be WAY too easy!

Well, that would only make sense for places that ARE NOT on the plan to ask you...so they can be sure you know you're going to have to pay OOP. So Rainforest asking that makes sense...but Boma, Le Cellier, etc...that DO take the plan, don't need to be sure you know how you're going to pay.

I've been reading another board (oops, is that allowed? ) and the heated debate over having to pay tips in 2008 is at it's height sad2 but one guy, who claims to be a server but refuses to say where, said that in 2008 they'll take your card BEFORE you order and swipe it to be sure you have sufficient credits....but according to him that's the story they will tell people, the real reason is that there is a space to put comments and if you don't leave a tip (or a decent one), you'll be blacklisted on their computer and they'll know to snub you. That has people going even crazier as you might imagine!

I'm thinking it makes sense to ask you so if you order a speciality drink for example, they can remind you that you're going to have to pay for that OOP.....so there are no nasty surprises at the end of the meal. The argument that you thought it was included is a moot point since you were specifically told it wasn't. I've seen this done at several local restaurants that run specials (like one right now gives you a discount ON CERTAIN ITEMS when the temperature goes over 100 degrees.....they constantly remind you that's on the discount list, like I can't read, lol).

I'm guessing the service at WDW restaurants is much like at ANY restaurant....there are several around town that we simply don't go to anymore, because no matter what the service stinks.....there are others that it's hit and miss....and there are still others that we'll specifically tell the hostess don't seat us at this or that server's table, because we always have bad service from them. I've given up talking to management at some places, because nothing comes of it. So I speak up with my patronage, or with my special requests for seating. I've also learned (and yeah, I'm old)....that the pride in service doesn't seem to be in the up-and-coming workers as it was when I was working...and this goes for places other than food as well. Getting help in a store is neigh on impossible, so I've stopped looking for help...if I can't find a price, or there isn't an unopened box on the shelf, or I have questions and no one is around, I just take my business somewhere else. THe product lines seem to be everywhere now, so I can almost always get the same or very simlilar item elsewhere.

Ok...climbing down off this soapbox gently...if you feel something like an earthquake, well, you'll know I fell!

 

[wilde_oscar]

Me? I'm going to be focused on providing the best level of service I can to all my customers. But that's the kind of person I am. And that's also the kind of person Disney strives for in CM's. Through the resort there are CM trained to provide outstanding customer service to everyone. They are doing it because that's their job, not because they might get tipped at the end. I expect - and receive - nothing less from restaurant CMs.

If you go in gleefully rude, gleeful lying, gleeful gaming the system, gleefully expecting servers to only pay attention to you if you dangle a buck in front of their nose, then you'll probably get what you expect.

That is the kind of response I would expect form someone who doesn't live in the real world. I guess you don't want your tips, or your Christmas bonus? Everyone works as hard as they can to receive their slice of the good life? Socialism doesn't work. Hard work does not always get rewarded as well as smart work. So was the server that forced folks to order dessert with their entree not gaming the system? You can ignore human nature all ya want, and provide all the training you want... if you have two tables, one a fixed 18% and the other you are working for a tip… if you have any self interest, you are going to work the table where the tip is not a guarantee harder. Again, that does not mean that the 18% table got bad service, but that you worked the non guarantee table harder for the tip.

I don’t expect a server to pay attention only to me, never mentioned anything of the sort, you put words in my mouth, or are just reading what you want to hear. Dangle a buck in front of their nose? Um, we are a capitalist based economy. Pay is the reward for work. I don’t expect the service at Dennys to be the same as the service at Tavern on the Green, do you think that the server at Dennys should be compensated the same as the server at Taven? You must be great to cheat off of during tests, never being wrong at all.

 

[wilde_oscar]

Well said. I waited tables to put myself through college, both bachelor's & master's degrees. I was a server because I was good at it, the money was great and I enjoyed the job. I gave great service because I couldn't picture myself dooing less, even those repeat customers that you just KNEW weren't going to leave a tip, no matter how hard you worked.
Only on a few occassions did I have a customer SO RUDE that I just couldn't give them 100%. You don't want to set yourself up to be that guy.

We've done Disney with and without the DP. We've even paid out of pocket for meals when traveling with teh DP. We've never noticed a change in the level of service. I've also never had a CM insist that I order dessert at the beginning. I think I'd politely tell them I'd like to order later. My meal isn't about making things more convenient for them. It's about making sure I enjoy the experience that a meal at Disney is. They'll get their 18% from me regardless and a little extra if they do a great job.

This is what my comment is based around... great servers get great tips, lousy servers get lousy tips... there may be a correlation? But put a fixed 18% in front of a mediocre to lousy server, and they will game the system. What percentage of servers are working on their masters and exceptional? Vs. what percentage of servers are there to do the job and pay the bills?

 

[wilde_oscar]

I suppose every experience is different, and someone who goes into a situation looking for the negative will find it.

You just don't get it, it is not being negative to understand how the system works and build a plan around it. You read it as a negative. You take every comment that is outside your scope of understanding, or outside your point of view as being negative... I think that is called pessimism, but my spell check is on the fritz, can ya stick some red letters in there?

The only small-party reservations I have outside 'standard' dining hours are at my request. I had NO problem getting reservations for the 6 to 7 PM range.

Others have not had the same experience. I guess since it has not happened to you, those this has happened to are wrong, negative, or trying to cheat on their taxes?

Disney doesn't have to 'game' any situation, given that they own the business and set the rules, although I suppose if one goes into a situation with the intention of beating the system, and does, well, then, they consider they've "won", whatever that means.

“Game the system” does not imply winners or losers, nor beating the system… it is a euphemism for understanding of the rules of a system.

Disney Given, again, that the dining reservations CMs ask if the Guest is on ANY (not just the infamous Disney Dining) plan, it seems unlikely the question is designed to put any preconditioned expectation in the Guest's mind - other than, perhaps, the reservationist {editors note: reservationist is not a word} having and providing full knowledge of any and all dining plans. But then, I'm a glass-half-full kinda person...

You would need to have worked in a call center to understand quotas, call volume, and time with customer statistics. Disney is notorious for not imposing time limits on calls, which is why their call center folks can be so upbeat. But they do have scripted points of reference, and a question like are you on the dinning plan, when it is asked so frequently, is not there by random. Call center scripts are designed to set expectations, provide information, and move you though a scripted process so you receive a similar experience every time you call.

What would the point be in spacing/reserving anything for a balance or predominance of one payment method over the other (the primary issues addressed in post # 21, vs. the more general 'who gets better service' issue often presented)?

Profit. Profit Margin is lower on DDP tables then on OOP tables. The comments were intended to bring a broader understanding of the scope of the details of the system and better understand that one rule impacts other rules in the system. Based on your comment, it would seem either my point was lost or not well made.

A Guest using ANY dining plan to pay for the restaurant food ordered is 100% ensuring the server gets tipped, based on, in Disney-owned restaurants, the menu prices. A Guest paying for restaurant food using cash/credit/Disney Dollar/etc, provides the server no such guarantee. If the diner is not accustomed to tipping, or is forgetful, or is dissatisfied for any real or assumed reason, or even is just stingy, the server with the dining plan table gets tipped, and the server with the OOP table gets nothing.

I guess this is a long winded jab at me over my comments that if I get lousy service while using DDP my only recourse is to call a manager and waste more time over what is water already under the bridge, when not leaving a tip conveys the same message succinctly and with out taking time away from being in the parks?

Sure, Accounting can tell how many Guests' packages include a dining plan. Accounting can't tell at which specific meals each Guest's party will use those credits. The Host/ess would still ask each Guest if they are using a dining plan because, one would expect, that is part of their job. While it is then likely that they should convey that information to the server, if the server asks too it could be because, for example, the information wasn't transfered verbally; or the server wants to reconfirm whether the Guest is using a dining plan so they can provide information about any limitations.

Good service is part of the job as well, but that doesn’t always happen either… to other folks I mean, I know you always have excellent service… Didn’t you sit on the Malcolm Baldrige awards committee? I guess when your reservation is transferred, the server has to ask your party size once you are seated? While it is part of the job to ask the questions that you are trained to ask, again I comment why is that question part of the process at every step of the process? You may draw your own conclusions, I’m sure the conclusions of others that don’t agree with your are driving over the speed limit, or taking candy from babies.

Again, Disney does not need to 'game' any system; however, a Guest so concerned with service and tipping and who strategizes so intensively would surely ADD actual money to the automatic tip - if for no other reason than because the Guest is fully aware that such plotting DOES cause additional work for the server.

Um, have you considered running for office? I am pretty sure that GWB has used strategizes in a couple speeches, it wasn’t a word then either. As someone whose strategies are based on prior experience and the observed and reported observations of others… and have made comments and observations about my own experiences, you might want to stop reading the boards since you are always right, and others are always wrong. As I have stated in other posts, but you seem to ignore what is written and take away what ever story fits your view of others… I have no problem tipping, I have no problem over tipping, I do have a problem with being forced to tip when the server did a lousy job. That’s just my opinion you are free to disagree, in fact I encourage you to tip lousy service

Ya know, it doesn't.
Common sense: How does an anticipated-but-not-guaranteed 'reward' given by the diner AFTER the meal/service, ensure (not insure, grammatically, meaning it would be T.E.P.S, but that doesn't support the assumption) prompt service DURING the meal? Both the practice and the use of the word have a variety of explanations, but a pseudo-acronym applied long after the word came into use for this purpose is NOT one of them. If that were true, what would TIP stand for - To Insure Prompt? Prompt what? In addition, it seems the issue tip-concerned diners have is not with specifically the speed of the service - so 'prompt' is not applicable.

Ok, ya got me. I was using alliteration to make a point… I mean who hasn’t heard that story of what TIPS stands for and pulled it apart with a fine tooth comb and jumped all over the person that was trying to make the point that a tip is a reward for good service. Oh, I get it… you will take the term reward, and jump in with the band wagon of purists that say getting $500 for landing on Free Parking is not in the rules and therefore punishable by death? Ok then, the tip is the payment for good service. I know, let’s make tipping a government subsidy, like paying farmers to not grow crops but the opposite, if the tip is any less then some arbitrary number set by a panel of experts, then our tax dollars make up the difference!

Come on, lighten up a little… life is too short.

 

[wilde_oscar]

You seem to think that the CM's are satisfied with their 18% and do not work to boost their percentage. I have not seen that. My family seldom leaves the table without leaving additional money for our server. I read here that there are many others who leave more on the table. I think that most CM's work hard to provide service that will prompt their customers to thank them with an additional gratuity. Once again, you may think differently, but my experience is certainly not the one you are determined to avoid.

Not my point at all. Again... two tables, one 18% lock vs. tip dependent on level of service. It is human nature to work harder for the tip dependent table. This does not mean that 18% lock received bad service, just that under certain conditions, there will be a difference in service. This statement does not imply that all servers are bad, it does not imply that servers are lazy. Some servers are better then others. Excellent service leads to excellent tips.

I am going to do something things different on this trip. Maybe it will be different, maybe not. Isn't anyone at least a little curious?

 

[wilde_oscar]

in 2008 they'll take your card BEFORE you order and swipe it to be sure you have sufficient credits....but according to him that's the story they will tell people, the real reason is that there is a space to put comments and if you don't leave a tip (or a decent one), you'll be blacklisted on their computer and they'll know to snub you.

This would be an example of a server “gaming” the system and is indicative of human nature. It is the kind of behavior I would expect from a lousy server. So I guess in 2008 if the server asks for your card before the meal, you also know to ask for a different server?

I'm guessing the service at WDW restaurants is much like at ANY restaurant....there are several around town that we simply don't go to anymore, because no matter what the service stinks.....there are others that it's hit and miss....and there are still others that we'll specifically tell the hostess don't seat us at this or that server's table, because we always have bad service from them. I've given up talking to management at some places, because nothing comes of it. So I speak up with my patronage, or with my special requests for seating.

The reason to have this type of discourse on boards like this, is to provide a continuity of information similar to knowing the restaurants in your hometown. Since I am not in WDW everyday, and would like to have the best experience possible while on vacation… I read and I plan. When I return, I share my experience.

I've also learned (and yeah, I'm old)....that the pride in service doesn't seem to be in the up-and-coming workers as it was when I was working...and this goes for places other than food as well. Getting help in a store is neigh on impossible, so I've stopped looking for help...if I can't find a price, or there isn't an unopened box on the shelf, or I have questions and no one is around, I just take my business somewhere else. THe product lines seem to be everywhere now, so I can almost always get the same or very simlilar item elsewhere.

Ditto, vote with your feet and your dollars.

 

[kaytieeldr]

Well, that would only make sense for places that ARE NOT on the plan to ask you...so they can be sure you know you're going to have to pay OOP. So Rainforest asking that makes sense...but Boma, Le Cellier, etc...that DO take the plan, don't need to be sure you know how you're going to pay

But they DO need to tell you, in addition to all the standard information, how many DDP credits each Guest's meal will cost. That's 100% pointless for Guests not on the dining plan - but could well affect a DDP Guest's planning.

(like one right now gives you a discount ON CERTAIN ITEMS when the temperature goes over 100 degrees.....they constantly remind you that's on the discount list, like I can't read, lol).

Well, sure, YOU can - but not every adult can read.

So was the server that forced folks to order dessert with their entree not gaming the system?

Performing one's job for one's own convenience is 'gaming the system' how? There's no indication the server in any of the cases described demanded the dessert order at the same time as the meal order; in fact, at least one specifically told the Guest it was required so the server's job would be easier.

I don’t expect the service at Dennys to be the same as the service at Tavern on the Green, do you think that the server at Dennys should be compensated the same as the server at Taven?

The same amount? Of course not. At the same (standard/accepted) rate? Absolutely.

But put a fixed 18% in front of a mediocre to lousy server, and they will game the system.

Game the system? Mediocre service from a mediocre server is 'gaining the system' how?

{editors note: reservationist is not a word}

Editor's note: reservationist is a word, or all those dictionaries are wrong and travel industry businesses have been seeking to fill non-existent positions for ages.

Um, have you considered running for office? I am pretty sure that GWB has used strategizes in a couple speeches, it wasn’t a word then either.

Almost any verb's active form, including strategize - which has been in use for at least thirty years - is created by adding the letter 's'. I do, however, concede to having misspelled 'transferred'.

“Game the system” does not imply winners or losers, nor beating the system… it is a euphemism for understanding of the rules of a system.

"
Although some game theoretic analyses appear similar to decision theory, game theory studies decisions made in an environment in which players interact. In other words, game theory studies choice of optimal behavior when costs and benefits of each option depend upon the choices of other individuals. Applying game theory to procedures and organisation in real life is often called gaming the system. This has a negative connotation and usually implies disingenuous behaviour" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaming_the_system

 

[dreamn_Disney]

Never been on a dining plan, but I do think it's kind of bizarre that Dining
Reservations wants to know your plan BEFORE they even begin to work on finding a meal reservation for you.

This is so they can advise you on how many credits the meal will use or warn you if the restaurant isn't on the plan. When I booked my last ADR I forgot to check if one of my choices was on the DDP. The CM told me that this would be a meal I would have to pay for if I wanted it as it was not on the plan. I would have hated to get to the restaurant and realize it then.

 

[Nancyg56]

Not my point at all. Again... two tables, one 18% lock vs. tip dependent on level of service. It is human nature to work harder for the tip dependent table. This does not mean that 18% lock received bad service, just that under certain conditions, there will be a difference in service. This statement does not imply that all servers are bad, it does not imply that servers are lazy. Some servers are better then others. Excellent service leads to excellent tips.

I am going to do something things different on this trip. Maybe it will be different, maybe not. Isn't anyone at least a little curious?

I won't say that I am not curious, I just wonder how you can be sure that your method actually impacts the level of service you receive. While we all can speculate how the DDP may impact customer service, we really have no way of determining the reason service is the way it is. Service is personal and while you will have information, unless you ask each server you are not going to have any definitive answers. Just more speculation.

I saw your comment on call centers and you are correct IMO. Anyone who has had call center experience can hear the scripts and can see the CM "checking" that button. As a former QA analyst, I cannot understand the lack of consistency that just tosses first call resolution out the window and and the incredibly long calls . In an industry where seconds normally count I amazed that no one is crunching these numbers.

 

[lilyv]

This is so they can advise you on how many credits the meal will use or warn you if the restaurant isn't on the plan. When I booked my last ADR I forgot to check if one of my choices was on the DDP. The CM told me that this would be a meal I would have to pay for if I wanted it as it was not on the plan. I would have hated to get to the restaurant and realize it then.

I do understand this, now. BUT, if I called my favorite local restaurant for a reservation, and the first thing out of their mouth was, "Will you be using a coupon?", I'd certainly wonder why they asked, and what effect this will have on my receiving a reservation.

It's the same here. I think Disney should just give a reservation time (if available), and THEN ask the DDP question. Appearances do count. I'll always believe it's a far better business practice to sort visitors into Paying Cash/DDP AFTER the reservation, not before.