Ah...the Disney Dining Plan (or DDP as it is known in Disneyphile circles). Seems people either love it or hate it, although lately the 'hate' camp seems to be growing by leaps and bounds. The downside is that it seems people are taking their revenge out on the serving staff, which is only hurting some of the most poorly paid Disney employees!Initially the DDP was an add-on to the accomodation/ticket packages, consisting of:
- 1 snack (drinks, popcorn, icecream bars, that sort of thing).
- 1 counter service meal (think Disney fastfood, included a combo meal, drink and desert).
- 1 table service meal (1 appetizer, 1 main, 1 desert and a non-alcoholic beverage)**
**(per person, per night of the package)
When my DH and I honeymooned at Disney in 2006, we had the DDP and loved it -- primarily because we didn't have to think about how much our meals cost. We ate like a king and queen, for about half of what it would have cost us if we had paid standard rates for what we ordered!We ate what we wanted, added extra tip if we felt it was warranted and essentially enjoyed ourselves completely.
At that stage in the game, it seemed the biggest complaint about the DDP was either the fact that kids were limited to kids meals or that there was too much food or the fact that gratuity was included regardless of the service.
Yes, it was alot of food, but people had ingenius ways of dealing with that -- my favourite solution was to order one of the appetizers and deserts for your table, then give the extras to another table nearby -- essentially sharing the 'pixie dust' with others. A lovely solution in my opinion! Limited kids meals...well, parents traded with the kids or paid the difference. Included gratuity, well...no way around that really, but in the end I (at least) didn't see it as a huge problem. Would I have purchased the DDP again, you bet!
Alas...things have changed and the DDP has morphed in what is really a small way, although to hear some people talk, it is as if the sky has fallen on the DDP program.
The changes: Appetizers have been removed from the table service meal AND gratuity is no longer included...and the price has gone up slightly.
Oh heaven forbid! THAT is a tragedy!! *insert a heavy dose of sarcasm here*
First people complain that there is too much food, especially at the table service meals. Fine, the appetizer is removed.
The price increase is easily understood in light of the current economy and the fact that when the DDP took off (partly due to Disney's 'Free DDP' promotions in August and September) table service restaurants in the parks became harder to get into as they were always booke
Then people complained about the included gratuity even if the server was terrible. Okay, that too is history. Yet now people are raising hell over the gratuity issue.
At the moment people are taking their anger out on THE SERVERS by stiffing them on tips. Now really, what is that going to accomplish other than penalizing some of the poorer paid Disney employees for a decision made by Disney corporate? If you dislike the decision to remove gratuity from the price of the dining plan, take it up with the manager, Guest Relations/Services, and even Disney Parks corporate -- don't take it out on the servers who have absolutely no control over things.
Aside from this, when gratuity was included, people thought it was unfair because service dropped. Possible reasons for this drop in the quality of service are (1) the sheer number of people dining at the parks and resorts thanks to the DDP (so servers were run off their feet with really too many tables to handle), and (2) gratuity was already included so it didn't really matter if the customer was unhappy. I concede those two things as I wasn't happy about point 2 either. HOWEVER, that raises the question as to why all the anger now that it has been removed.
The answer most often coming back from the irate people is "Disney didn't inform us".
Hmmm... when booking a Disney vacation package, regardless of whether it is booked through Disney or a travel agent, customers are given a whole slew of information ranging from park maps to brochures relating to...the DDP. On page one of the current DDP brochure it clearly states:
Gratuities are not included unless otherwise indicated.
An 18% gratuity will be addedautomatically for parties of 6 or more. A gratuity
may also be added automatically forordered items that are not included in the
Disney Dining Plan (e.g. alcoholic beverages).
Seems pretty clear cut to me, which suggests that the people who are claiming that they weren't told, were in fact, too lazy to read the information they were given and should place blame where it is due -- with themselves! So stop blaming the servers already and give them what is due to them, a fair tip for the service provided.
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