Disney dining plan will NOT include grat in 2008

[Disneyserver]

Today The Union contract was passed , so the servers will Lose the auto 18% grat on prepaid dining plans, and it will make us have to solicite tips to regular guests who are veterans of the dining plan that already know the grat was included.. Also new items that were added, parties of 6 or more will now be automatic 18% instead a party of 8 , and The Disney Dining Experience 20% off food and drinks will Now include a 18% grat on the first total... Disney Told us that the removal of the Grat on the meal plans was a trial to permanent thing, depending if the guests Complain about it enough, So all of us servers and bartenders hope you will all call and complain , They are still charging the full price for the dining plan and there are rumors that they wanna totally get rid of the food plan...... Please help your cast members that you care for.

 

[DianeV]

That stinks and definitely makes the dining plan sound less interesting to me

 

[Purrrrfecta]

I was already deciding that the Dining plan would probably not be of benefit to me when my son becomes a junior next year, and with this 18% added on, I will not be purchasing the plan in 2008

 

[TheGoofster]

Today The Union contract was passed , so the servers will Lose the auto 18% grat on prepaid dining plans, and it will make us have to solicite tips to regular guests who are veterans of the dining plan that already know the grat was included.. Also new items that were added, parties of 6 or more will now be automatic 18% instead a party of 8 , and The Disney Dining Experience 20% off food and drinks will Now include a 18% grat on the first total... Disney Told us that the removal of the Grat on the meal plans was a trial to permanent thing, depending if the guests Complain about it enough, So I all us servers and bartenders hope you will all call and complain , They are still charging the full price for the dining plan and there are rumors that they wanna totally get rid of the food plan...... Please help your cast members that you care for.

Are you the same poster who only a couple of days ago was called DisneyImagineer, and had an interesting insider rumor to report about Expedition Everest (Again with only 1 post to your credit, yet some supposedly authentic, and fantastic insider news)?

 

[Disneyserver]

Call and complain , Its gonna be what we need, During the free DDP months when disney gives away the dining plan, the people are the rudest to us, so why should we have no grat included on the bullies we deal with, I have been a Fulltime server for 12 years for Disney, and guests are becoming more and more rude we get paid 3.65 hour as a server in the state of Florida, so we live off our tips, and if you order a drink from the bar we have to tip out 10% of the drinks cost to the bartender, and we have to tip out the food runners also, so we are not loaded as many guests think

 

[BillSears]

Call and complain , Its gonna be what we need, During the free DDP months when disney gives away the dining plan, the people are the rudest to us, so why should we have no grat included on the bullies we deal with, I have been a Fulltime server for 12 years for Disney, and guests are becoming more and more rude we get paid 3.65 hour as a server in the state of Florida, so we live off our tips, and if you order a drink from the bar we have to tip out 10% of the drinks cost to the bartender, and we have to tip out the food runners also, so we are not loaded as many guests think

If it helps any I always tip my servers well. Especially at WDW. You guys help bring the magic to the guests and I thank you for that.

 

[Disneyserver]

Nope, whats the news on everest?

 

[BCV23]

You guys help bring the magic to the guests and I thank you for that.

I so agree.

I'm sorry to hear of this. I will not add DDP to our January reservation. I can't imagine how servers won't be stiffed with this change. So many repeat guests will not even notice that gratuities have been removed. And from another angle, a guest's cost will increase 15-20% on average.

 

[keys2kingdom]

So let me get this straight: You will now have to tip over and above the price of the dining plan and parties of 6 or more will have 18% added automatically? Will the dining plan cost remain the same?

Also those using DDE will have 18% added before their bill is presented to them correct? Thus eliminating the need to figure the tip?

At this point DDE sounds more appealing.

 

[Disneyserver]

The DDP will be around 40-45 dollars a day for an adult 10 or older and 20-25 for a child under 10 and not Include a Tip, and if your a party of 6 they will present u a seperate check for the gratuity for the server, the DDE card u need to pay for that card, and it gets u 205 off for a year for under 80 dollars and will include 18% grat effective Jan 1st 2008 The DDE card is not valid on major Holidays ..

As you can see the cast members and the guests are getting screwed in disney's money making tactics.

Read your stock Numbers, Walt Disney World posts 7-8 billion dollars in profit each quarter, Walt disney himself would be shocked with what they have done to his dreams

 

[shellybaxter]

So let me get this straight: You will now have to tip over and above the price of the dining plan and parties of 6 or more will have 18% added automatically? Will the dining plan cost remain the same?

Also those using DDE will have 18% added before their bill is presented to them correct? Thus eliminating the need to figure the tip?

At this point DDE sounds more appealing.

DDE has always been my choice of dining plans. I have to say that I think the servers will get less in the way of tips with this new DDE policy. I always gave the amount of the 20% discount back to the server and I usually rounded it up to the next dollar, for great service I even added a couple of dollars to the amount. I will not go to the trouble of figuring out what 20 to 25% is and then figuring out how much has already been paid and adding the right amount. Now my servers will probalby just get the 18% , instead of the 20 to 25% I usually tip.

Only once have I tipped way less than 20% and that was because the server was horrible. She had friends at the table next to us and totally ignored us. She took my order incorrectly and had my steak prepared incorrectly, med rare instead of med well (she admited she did this) and it took me 10 plus minutes to get her attention to send it back. As I waited another 15 minutes for the steak to come back the rest of my party finished their meals. The waitress came over to our table and started clearing the plates. She then asked if we wanted to see a dessert menu. I, as politely as I could be, told her I'd like to eat my steak first. She looked blankly at me for a second and then said "Oh" and walked to the kitchen. She brought back the steak and mumbled an apoligy on the way to her friends table.

If I had recieved an automatic 18% gratuity on that bill I'm not sure what I would have done. I suppose I would ask for a manager, explain the situation (which I quietly did on my way out anyway) and asked for the gratuity to be removed. I hope that will be an option if service is really bad.

 

[Disneyserver]

You have to remember if you recieve great service and usually tip 20% if you get that service you should add extra to the 18% we as servers dont get to voice our opinions , and we can get fired if we dont add the 18% grat to large parties, and anything that requires auto grat... and the managers cannot do anything about the auto grat, its a company policy you have to remeber we are a union based company, the managers have to follow the union rules.. and also remeber the servers are a very small part of the voting in the contract so dont take out ur hard feelings with us, we all voted no for the removal of the 18% grat on the meal plans, and the 18% grat on the DDE cards, a good amount of the guests now who have the DDE card tip us the 20% they save on the card for our tip, and others who buy the card are just plain cheap and are always looking for a deal, But always remeber we make 3.65 an hour and the state of Florida regulates that.. all the other cast members get raises every year, and we stay the same unless the state changes it

 

[disneydance]

This is horrible i dont think we will you the ddp next year on our trip and give EXTRA tips on the trip we are takingi in 3 weeks and give and large tip next year since we wont use the ddp like $20 or so

 

[Snow_White]

Yikes, I see this as being a very bad thing for servers. Is Disney planning on lowering the cost of the dining plan to account for the loss of the value? I doubt it. That will piss people off and they will be apt to tip less I would imagine.

 

[Disneyserver]

Exactly snow white, just lets all get together and call guest relations and complain

 

[keys2kingdom]

The DDP will be around 40-45 dollars a day for an adult 10 or older and 20-25 for a child under 10 and not Include a Tip, and if your a party of 6 they will present u a seperate check for the gratuity for the server, the DDE card u need to pay for that card, and it gets u 205 off for a year for under 80 dollars and will include 18% grat effective Jan 1st 2008 The DDE card is not valid on major Holidays ..

As you can see the cast members and the guests are getting screwed in disney's money making tactics.

Read your stock Numbers, Walt Disney World posts 7-8 billion dollars in profit each quarter, Walt disney himself would be shocked with what they have done to his dreams

This could be the demise of DDP, I'm sticking with DDE. I liked it before and it just got more appealing in terms of convenience. I'm lazy and stupid and I enjoy having my tips calculated for me. Yippee! If I get great service I'll throw down a few extra bucks as I breeze out the door after getting my 20% discount on food AND ALCOHOL! DDP can't offer that!

 

[Disneyserver]

I also forgot to say the Tip cards will return in the check presenters, and on the bottom of everyones checks it will be printed a suggested 18% tip and 20% tip, so its totally soliciting , and will make all the servers very uncomfortable, as well as the guests

 

[keys2kingdom]

I also forgot to say the Tip cards will return in the check presenters, and on the bottom of everyones checks it will be printed a suggested 18% tip and 20% tip, so its totally soliciting , and will make all the servers very uncomfortable, as well as the guests

I wouldn't find that situation uncomfortable at all, that printed tip guide tells me that you haven't gotten your tip yet (without you having to actually verbally tell me, now that WOULD be uncomfortable) and that I'd better be on the ball and include it or have a good reason not to.

I do really see this DDP situation not working in servers favor though, they've already set a precedent by including tip for the last 3 years and now they drop it off, servers will suffer at the hands of unknowing or uncaring guests. Very unfortunate.

 

[allyphoe]

The union's summary of the new contract provisions can be found here: http://servicetradescouncil.org/stc2005/main/councilnews.html

 

[M4travels]

I also forgot to say the Tip cards will return in the check presenters, and on the bottom of everyones checks it will be printed a suggested 18% tip and 20% tip, so its totally soliciting , and will make all the servers very uncomfortable, as well as the guests

Why on earth would it make you uncomfortable? It's going to make me, a guest, uncomfortable? I don't think so.

We already have this on our checks in restaurants in CA. I see it and it makes for a quick add-on OR NOT! If I want to give 20% or more, I do. If I want to give 15%, I do. It's only a guide, a suggestion, a number. I have no difficulty or feeling of uncomfortableness with this at all.

Michael