Gratuity to be removed from DDP!!

[KKB]

I agree that if you don't get good food you should complain, but sometimes that just doesn't work.

We went out to eat yesterday and I don't know if our waiter was new or just a bad waiter. I ordered a salad with dressing on the side - the salad came with the dressing already mixed in with everything and it wasn't the dressing I ordered. When I quizzed the waiter about it he just offered to bring me the dressing I ordered - not the fix I expected. By the time I got to speak with the manager everyone else had finished their meal and my son had eaten the salad that I left. The manager did give me a coupon for a free salad on another visit.

Maybe I need to be a little more assertive - I didn't order this, take it back and bring me what I ordered.

YOU are the one paying the bill---you should get what you ordered!
ALWAYS be direct, tactful & specific about what it is you want.

My folks had an issue at IHOP a while back...the waiter messed up & didn't want to change it, so my folks didn't press the issue. I was so upset with them!

As a waitress, it was my resposiblity to get you what you ordered, and fix it if I didn't! And in the many years I was a server, only ONCE did I have a customer send something back "because we just don't care for it..." There does seem to be an unwritten rule (that I think we as customers understand), that it is reasonable to send food back if it isn't prepared to your specifics. BUT just cuz it isn't to your taste...well, read your menu carefully.

 

[Forevryoung]

Well if this is true then Disney has just made another mistake and I'm sure there are going to be other people in our situation (as other threads have mentioned)-

We can stay at the Swan or Dolphin for a total of $60 more than POFQ. I know I will now have to factor in an additional $100 for car fare to and from MCO but that's it! Deluxe hotel, great transportation, close to the boardwalk. Plust we will get starwood points for our stay. I will get my tickets from a broker for cheaper than Disney and be done with it.

I would have NEVER considered staying "offsite" if this change wasn't going to take place for our January 2008 trip. I hope Disney knows what they are doing...

 

[jillyjoey]

DDP + gratuity = convenience + value

DDP - gratuity = -convenience -value


I'd have to seriously rethink getting the DDP without tip included. Thank goodness we will have Dec 2006 trip under our belt. Adding 20% to cost of DDP takes it out of the good value category. We will probably ending up staying offsite at our timeshare instead, eating 2 meals per day at the condo rather than onsite.

 

[jjohnson]

Hmm...I was on the fence whether to do the DP next year. The kids will all be over 10. If this is indeed true, I know we will opt not to do the plan. I'm close to breaking even for our June trip.

 

[speakupjc]

We will start using the DDE card instead of the DDP as it will be cheaper. Even with the gratuity included it is very close ($150 or less difference between the two).

 

[Lewisc]

It was posted that one of the changes is the 18% automatic gratuity will be applied to parties of 6 or more. Not only isn't the gratuity included but for a lot of families/groups the minimum gratuity isn't even optional.

 

[Colleen27]

This is just a really sneaky way to raise the price of the DDP, IMO. Please would notice right away if they upped the price in 2008 by 20%...but doing it this way means it will slip by some people...and then they will have a nasty surprise when they get to WDW and find tip isn't included anymore.

And this isn't really a 20% increase. It is much more than that, because you tip on what you order, not on what you paid for the dining plan. And I think that's another aspect that is likely to screw the servers - people tipping on the DDP cost rather than on the actual cost of their order.

 

[Colleen27]

here is another thing to consider. How much cash do you carry around with you in the parks? We hardly carry any. We use our room card or credit card so we dont have to worry about losing cash. If most people are like us than this will not sit well at all. I dont want to start carrying around wads of cash just to make sure I have enough to add the gratuity. I imagine that they can add it to your room card after you use you ddp credits but i'm not sure.

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.

 

[starbox]

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.

 

[CarKey]

Who can we call? Who can we write?

 

[Becky2005]

Would this be the case with all the plans then? Even the Premium & Platinum?

I just know one main reason we got the premium plan the first time around was because all you had to do was hand over the card and not worry about carrying extra cash for it.

 

[Jenniww]

I read in a post that the DDP is changing next year. What are the rumors and is there anything that is for sure?

 

[Disneyof3]

This is not good news for us too. If they remove the gratuity then we also won't be using the DDP anymore either. This March we got to use it for the first time and it saved us almost $200.00. That would go out the door for gratuity for the week. It was worth it but not now with the new propose offer. This sucks and we will not use it and will stick with CS for everything and only 1 TS for now on. It will be worth it then for us and WDW will lose us not buying it and seem like alot of other people too. Let's hope WDW people are watching and reading this disboard like they did with the kids desserts and JELLO.

 

[rentayenta]

When this was first up for discussion about a week ago, I still thought it would be a great deal. I have since done a little math:


Disney Dining without grat for DH and I (one day)- $80


Dinner at Coral Reef:

Apps-
Shrimp Cocktail- $10
Creamy Lobster Soup- $7

Entrees-
Pan seared Ahi- $27
NY Strip- $32

Desserts-
Chocolate Wave- $8
Pineapple Upside down Cake- $8

$102 without tip
Add the tip and it takes at least $20 off of the value making it $82

Only $2 less than the price of the plan but that's not including the value of the 2 CS and 2 SC per day.


Interesting

 

[Sammie]

Our union rep. at Disney informed us of these changes.
We were told that gratuity will be removed, but that there would be no lowering of the price for the guests.

What was the reason given for this change?

 

[Rustysmom]

The DDP would not be worth it for us without the tip included. If this happens, then we will not buy the plan and will make very few TS reservations. We'll mostly eat CS or offsite.

 

[kandb]

We stayed at POFQ and got the ddp in Feb/march and loved it, so when we booked AKL for December we signed up again for the ddp. If they drop the tip included, I would definetely not get the ddp because it would not be a good value for us and we just won't go to as many sit down restaurants and we'll eat off site more often. Linda

 

[La2kw]

Count me out of the DP in future....we loved it for ease of use and not having to carry cash .
We'll just eat offsite...cheaper all round.

We never carry cash- even without the DDP. We just charge everything to the room.

 

[Huff]

The value of the DDP is why we have been staying on sight the last couple times. If this change goes through we will go back to staying offsite and do most of our dining offsite as well. It's much cheaper. The current DDP made it affordable for us to stay and eat onsite.

 

[TripTime]

My wife tried to get me to do this for the last two years. I was finally going to give in this January after seeing the dining reviews. If this change goes through, I will not be able to justify the cost. Looks like we'll be back to breakfast in rooms and snacks from fanny packs.