2008 DDP - why tip 18% OOP ?

[Nancyg56]

Disney is an expensive place to vacation, but the server's shouldn't be punished because we've spent more than we expected, or more than we could afford.

A reasonable tip is an integral part of the cost of a meal. If you can't afford to eat at an expensive restaurant, that's fine -- just eat at a less expensive restaurant.

 

[paulh]

Links to the 2008 borchure have been posted. The 18% gratuity will be added to parties of 6 or more (DDP or not). The brochure would have indicated if an automatic 18% was going to be added to all DDP guests.

People should eat where they can afford including a normal tip for normal service.

reason why i think it will be 18%,is when we have ordered alcohol on the plan in past,they have always added in 18% and we were a party of 4.I see no reason for them to change from this.But I dont think when its an automatic 18% there is no leway for offering less for bad service,
Paulh

 

[just another guy]

The issue with buffet tipping at WDW is 1. even if it is a buffet if the party is 6 or larger in 2008 then an automatice 18% will be added. 2.At WDW buffets are not like your local buffet joint where the wait staff gets your drink order and you rarely see them again. They help with photos , answer questions, strike up conversations with your kids, help find a character they may have missed before you leave, take care of refills, clear plates, set up any special occasion things like birthday cards and cupcakes, grab your final refill in a to go cup so you can enjoy it in the park. I have never had a WDW server at a buffet that didn't earn the 18-25% tip I have left.

THANK YOU!!!! I can't believe the number of people who think a disney buffet is the same as golden corral.

Call us cheap if you want to. I don't see our percentages going up anytime soon. The way I see it, if the server wants to be paid more then they need to do their job better.

They don't need a better paying job, just guests with a bit more class.

 

[lynninpa]

At WDW buffets are not like your local buffet joint where the wait staff gets your drink order and you rarely see them again. They help with photos , answer questions, strike up conversations with your kids, help find a character they may have missed before you leave, take care of refills, clear plates, set up any special occasion things like birthday cards and cupcakes, grab your final refill in a to go cup so you can enjoy it in the park...

Excellent point, patsal!

 

[dansamy]

I tip based on what the tip is actually intended: a reflection of my opinion of the service I received. If the service was horrible, but the kids are tired and I don't have time to have a discussion with the manager, they get a complaint card and that's it. (I prefer to have a talk with the manager and usually my entire meal is comped, plus a certificate/coupon for my next visit to boot.) If the service is bare-bones, so is the tip. If I get EXCELLENT service, I have been known to leave 30-50%. Most service is average. And my tip, accordingly, is average: 15-20%. I do not look at 15% to be the bare minimum tip for any kind of service I get. I can say that service quality, overall, has declined over the last 15 years or so. The college crowd (most younger servers are college students) today seems less inclined to make the customer their #1 priority.

 

[bluslag]

We normally tip very well when we have a good waiter. We are going to WDW this year and we will have a party of 6. This means we will be charged 18% regardless of service. I tend to think we will still get good service but it would be nice to decide what you leave. Last year the 6 of us were on the DDP and there were many times that we left an additional tip because we had great waiters. There was only one time we didn't feel our waiter should not have gotten the 18%. Listening to the waiter it seem that the restaurant did not like the DDP so we did not get very good service from this restaurant or that waiter. We got over it though because we were on vacation. Can't wait until next year. Not sure if we will use the plan again.

 

[JimMIA]

reason why i think it will be 18%,is when we have ordered alcohol on the plan in past,they have always added in 18% and we were a party of 4.I see no reason for them to change from this.But I dont think when its an automatic 18% there is no leway for offering less for bad service,
Paulh

Disney's policy (for a while) has been to add 18% to any checks for add-ons to DDP checks. That's for alcohol, extra desserts, whatever. That policy will continue.

I think you are mixing up automatic gratuities and what were formerly included gratuities. Effective 1/1/2008, NO gratuities are included in the price of DDP. We will each be responsible for paying ALL gratuities out of our own pockets.

The gratuity policy for DDE and all groups of six or more has been posted, repeatedly explained, and it's really quite clear and understandable. Those gratuities are also our out of pocket expenses.

Those gratuities are a condition of service, and if we don't agree with them, we shouldn't eat in those restaurants. That's not to say we couldn't (or shouldn't) complain if the service stinks, but it is expected that we will pay that gratuity just like any other component of the bill.

 

[paulh]

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[Luv'sTink]

THANK YOU!!!! I can't believe the number of people who think a disney buffet is the same as golden corral.



They don't need a better paying job, just guests with a bit more class.

Yeah, that's the way to get people to see servers side, NOT!

Servers sense of entitlement is sickening. If you want a tip then this attitude isn't going to get you much.

 

[i3utterfli82]

I think these days 15% is the very low end of "normal" when it comes to tipping in a Table Service restaurant.

I Agree

 

[nicolbw]

They don't need a better paying job, just guests with a bit more class.

I never said they needed a better paying job. I said they needed to do their job better. If we get great service then we tip well. If they don't do their job then we don't tip well. I'm just being honest about how we tip, if that means we don't have class then so be it.

 

[i3utterfli82]

I never said they needed a better paying job. I said they needed to do their job better. If we get great service then we tip well. If they don't do their job then we don't tip well. I'm just being honest about how we tip, if that means we don't have class then so be it.

But at the same time there are people who just don't tip at all, no matter what the service...

 

[dansamy]

But at the same time there are people who just don't tip at all, no matter what the service...

You won't change those people either. They will just be that way no matter what you tell them. Their viewpoint seems to be that the restaurant is charging $xx.xx for a dinner and, as such, should pay the servers at least a fair wage.

 

[i3utterfli82]

You won't change those people either. They will just be that way no matter what you tell them. Their viewpoint seems to be that the restaurant is charging $xx.xx for a dinner and, as such, should pay the servers at least a fair wage.

I do realize this, and it is sad that these people have this mentality. I was a server all through college and I could spot this type of person as soon as they sat down. I am actually for the added 18% gratuity added to parties of 6 or more.

 

[Peter Pirate 2]

Disney is an expensive place to vacation, but the server's shouldn't be punished because we've spent more than we expected, or more than we could afford.

A reasonable tip is an integral part of the cost of a meal. If you can't afford to eat at an expensive restaurant, that's fine -- just eat at a less expensive restaurant.

VERY, VERY GOOD.

 

[bicker]

Those gratuities are a condition of service, and if we don't agree with them, we shouldn't eat in those restaurants. That's not to say we couldn't (or shouldn't) complain if the service stinks, but it is expected that we will pay that gratuity just like any other component of the bill.

Yes, very true. I think people make the mistake of thinking gratuities are "optional" -- they're not. Gratuities are discretionary. BIG difference. You can choose how much to tip -- you don't choose whether or not to tip.

 

[Pooh Bear Hugs]

Yes, very true. I think people make the mistake of thinking gratuities are "optional" -- they're not. Gratuities are discretionary. BIG difference. You can choose how much to tip -- you don't choose whether or not to tip.

That still leaves the option to tip 0%. I don't think servers can spot the people who won't tip are always right either, sometime they cause the problem themselves.Some servers develop an attitude to certain guests, the guests pick up the vibes and tip less. Being British can also be a problem as servers assume we don't understand how to tip.

 

[bicker]

Absolutely, it leave the option to tip 0%, if that's what the quality of service warrants. However, it is typically (though not always) only rationalization that defends at tip of 0%. Typically, the level of service received even when the service is poor is worth 10% or 5%.

 

[NMW]

We always tip 20% buffet or not. Truthfully, the only buffets we ever eat at ARE in Disney World. We eat out all the time, and I have no idea if any buffet places are located near me. I know we don't have this Golden Corral thing people talk about on the Dis. Even when we go to Myrtle Beach, we avoid buffet places like the plauge. At WDW, there are several we like.

I don't understand not tipping the same at say Cape May Cafe clambake, that you would at Kona. At the clambake, the servers remove A LOT of plates, bring us pitchers of beer, sodas for my kids, extra napkins, etc. Why would I tip them less than the server at Kona?

If service is really horrible, which we have never had at Disney, we would lower the tip to 15%.

 

[dqpowell]

THANK YOU!!!! I can't believe the number of people who think a disney buffet is the same as golden corral.

The "Golden Corral" argument is no more valid here than it has been on any of the other tipping threads it's been used on. Disney buffet servers already earn 2-3X the tip of Golden Corral servers just by virtue of the Disney buffets costing 2-3X as much in the first place. Doubling the tip percentage as well is overkill. I appreciate that Disney buffet servers might do more to earn their tips than Golden Corral servers (though this is not a given). But they're already earning a premium tip on the premium cost of the meal.

They don't need a better paying job, just guests with a bit more class.

So guests than can do simple math have no class?

Golden Corral dinner bill for five guests: $55. 10% tip = $5.50.
Biergarten dinner bill for five guests: $130. 10% tip = $13.00. 15% tip = $19.50. 20% tip = $26.

I'm sorry, but nobody is going to convince me that it's somehow wrong to tip "only" 10% at a Disney buffet.

David