2008 Ddp Plans For Dvc Members?

[JimMIA]

As far as planning 180 days out....there are reasons why people can't do that.

I am a nurse and work for the federal gov. The union rules for requesting vacation are ....for 2008, all requests are due by Oct 31 2007. The manager has until Nov 30 of 2007 to approve vacation requests. There are 30 of us vying for vacation weeks. The most senior nurse gets first dibs...and on down, and only 2 nurses are permitted to take vacation any particular week.

I would think that I am not alone with difficulty in getting time off.

Sure, there are lots of legitimate reasons why someone can't make concrete plans 6 months in advance. I'm sure your difficulty in scheduling vacations also affects your use of your DVC membership -- if you can't make ressies in your 11 month window, you have no home resort, and that's certainly not ideal.

However, many people in those situations just go ahead and make their ressies and ADR's when they need to, and then cancel or modify them if things don't pan out.

I am sorry, but I disagree about having enough TS restaurants in WDW. If you follow the ADR cancellation threads all year long, there are many families unable to get ADR's. I loved Tuskerhouse as a counter service and ate there every time I was at AK. I hope it will be the same quality. Service at the new TS in AK will be limited due to the shorter hours ar AK.

I didn't say there were enough. I have no idea whether there are enough TS restaurants in WDW. Apparently Disney doesn't think so, because they are building more. That was the point of my post; they're not just sitting there doing nothing.

FWIW, a lot of people share your feelings about the Tusker House change.

 

[JimMIA]

Oh, brother, now that takes the cake! How does someone even think of this? Are you sure someone could even do that? Get free dining by renting a campsite for a bunch of people, and then staying off property, I mean. And someone actually came on this board and discussed it??? That is really pathetic.

Yep, it's real! "Disney guests will never let you down!"

People also book value rooms to get free dining for a few days, but really stay offsite. And come on the DIS and brag about it. These are the same folks who will be stiffing the servers on free DDP next year (if they offer it).

 

[JimMIA]

I doubt it was the servers that wanted the gratuity removed...

It was NOT the servers' idea! It was a "non-negotiable" demand from Disney, and the servers originally voted the contract down because of that change. The contract was only approved after Disney sweetened the pot in other areas.

I think the changers were designed to prevent Disney being from being perceived as raising the DDP price to cover the tip.

I don't think it is that complicated.

Previously, Disney was paying 18% of the menu price to the servers -- part of it coming from DDP, and the rest coming from the restaurants themselves. Starting 1/1/2008, they will be paying zero. That's just "found money" for Disney...at the expense of the diners. And it's a TON of found money!

Some families will still find DDP beneficial, but that change made it no longer worthwhile for us.

 

[gracelrm]

For JimMIA and others who go offsite to eat:

We also always have a car while at WDW, but I don't think we've ever driven off site to eat in the last 5 years. Do you feel like it takes up an awful lot of vacation time to leave the property and go offsite to eat? I guess that's one reason why we've always eaten at WDW restaurants. We thought it would take a while to get there, a while to wait for a table and then time to get back. We're still a family with kids and spend a great deal of time in the parks. We also have always assumed the wait time at local restaurants would be tremendous due to the number of people that are visiting the Orlando area. I'd love to hear that eating off site is not going to eat up too much time for a family that spends hours in the parks!

 

[Mike]

For JimMIA and others who go offsite to eat:

We also always have a car while at WDW, but I don't think we've ever driven off site to eat in the last 5 years. Do you feel like it takes up an awful lot of vacation time to leave the property and go offsite to eat? I guess that's one reason why we've always eaten at WDW restaurants. We thought it would take a while to get there, a while to wait for a table and then time to get back. We're still a family with kids and spend a great deal of time in the parks. We also have always assumed the wait time at local restaurants would be tremendous due to the number of people that are visiting the Orlando area. I'd love to hear that eating off site is not going to eat up too much time for a family that spends hours in the parks!

Gracelrm - while it is true that there are a lot of tourists there are also a TON of restaurants. We had zero wait at all of the offsite restaurants we visited. Even though we had ADRs we sometimes waited 15-20 mins at the onsite places.

If you have a car, it takes no time at all. Just go out the gate by DowntownDisney over by CrossRoads and there are many restaurants right there. IMHO, time is not an issue.

 

[sssteele]

Automatically adding an 18% gratuity to DDE tabs will actually lower my dining costs. I tip 20% when dining at WDW, and if I'm paying cash and don't have the exact amount for the tip, I'll tip up to whatever cash amount I have (within reason). Am I to understand that except for parties of 6 or more, gratuity will not be charged with the DDP? If that's the case, wait staff will be at the mercy of cheapskates who will try to recoup the loss of appetizer by undertipping or not tipping at all.

 

[CarolA]

Automatically adding an 18% gratuity to DDE tabs will actually lower my dining costs. I tip 20% when dining at WDW, and if I'm paying cash and don't have the exact amount for the tip, I'll tip up to whatever cash amount I have (within reason). Am I to understand that except for parties of 6 or more, gratuity will not be charged with the DDP? If that's the case, wait staff will be at the mercy of cheapskates who will try to recoup the loss of appetizer by undertipping or not tipping at all.

Or the cheapskates who figure "Disney probably paid this place $20 for this meal"

I think there is going to be a huge risk in using the DDP. If too many of the users "stiff" the waitstaff you are going to be presumed guilty..... meaning that folks who are paying cash for thier meal may be getting better service while you sit.

For those of you going offsite for meals. A few other suggestions besides Crossroads (I have never been overly impressed with that place LOL!)

Celebration has some great resturants and it's a nice place to visit for a break from the park

If you like seafood Shells in Kissimee used to be a great deal, good food at a good price. I haven't been there in years so maybe someone else can post.

Also, some new resturants are opening over by the Premium Outlet malls, mainly chains, but still good options.

 

[JimMIA]

Automatically adding an 18% gratuity to DDE tabs will actually lower my dining costs.

Um...not exactly. If they had lowered the price correspondingly, then you might have saved money by tipping less than 18%. But they didn't do that. They are still charging you virtually the same price ($1 per day less), and now you are responsible for the tip.

Unless you are extremely frugal in your tips (i.e. $1 tip per person!) , you will be paying considerably more in 2008.

Am I to understand that except for parties of 6 or more, gratuity will not be charged with the DDP? If that's the case, wait staff will be at the mercy of cheapskates who will try to recoup the loss of appetizer by undertipping or not tipping at all.

Yes, that's almost correct.

ALL DDE checks (regardless of party size) and ALL parties of 6 or more (no matter how they're paying for the meal), will now be charged an automatic 18% gratuity on each TS meal. That's 18% out of your pocket, not Disney's.

Hopefully, those of us who aren't on DDE and have small parties will not take advantage of the waitstaff, but I think it is a very good bet that many will.

 

[JimMIA]

For JimMIA and others who go offsite to eat:

We also always have a car while at WDW, but I don't think we've ever driven off site to eat in the last 5 years. Do you feel like it takes up an awful lot of vacation time to leave the property and go offsite to eat? I guess that's one reason why we've always eaten at WDW restaurants. We thought it would take a while to get there, a while to wait for a table and then time to get back. We're still a family with kids and spend a great deal of time in the parks. We also have always assumed the wait time at local restaurants would be tremendous due to the number of people that are visiting the Orlando area. I'd love to hear that eating off site is not going to eat up too much time for a family that spends hours in the parks!

Grace, I think the answer to that depends on each family's normal pattern. For people who want to spend every possible moment in the parks, offsite dining probably will not work well.

Our normal pattern is we go to the parks in the morning until mid-afternoon. Then we head back to the resort for pool/nap time. Then, in the evening, we drive to dinner, and dinner is the activity for the evening for us. DD5-going-on-25 is still afraid of fireworks, and we've had enough rides by that time, so when we go back out, it's to eat. Where we eat doesn't matter to us. Onsite, offsite, doesn't matter -- it's still a short drive and a meal. If anything, offsite will be easier to get to than most Disney venues.

With regard to the waits, we usually make reservations for dinners whether we're dining onsite or offsite. We're certainly not going to go somewhere and hang out for two hours waiting for a table. We wouldn't eat at a restaurant that didn't take (and honor) reservations unless we knew there would be just a very short wait.

 

[veenstra56]

I think there is another potential danger in regards to the gratuity element of the new DDP.

Many of the servers at the TS restaurants are true professionals. They offer superb service, and elite servers like these must be in great demand in a city like Orlando. I wonder how long it will take many of these servers to look elsewhere in the area for work after constantly getting shortchanged (or even stiffed, which I think will happen far too often) because patrons feel that they "already paid enough" for the Dining Plans.

I worry that the level of service could very well suffer at the TS restaurants because servers will grow tired of getting "burned" by the plan or, worse yet, that the staff will get younger and less experienced from the professional waiters and waitresses leaving to work for other fine dining establishments around town.

I will be the first to admit that I could be wrong about this, but one has to wonder.

 

[DebbieB]

Um...not exactly. If they had lowered the price correspondingly, then you might have saved money by tipping less than 18%. But they didn't do that. They are still charging you virtually the same price ($1 per day less), and now you are responsible for the tip.

Unless you are extremely frugal in your tips (i.e. $1 tip per person!) , you will be paying considerably more in 2008.Yes, that's almost correct.

ALL DDE checks (regardless of party size) and ALL parties of 6 or more (no matter how they're paying for the meal), will now be charged an automatic 18% gratuity on each TS meal. That's 18% out of your pocket, not Disney's.

Hopefully, those of us who aren't on DDE and have small parties will not take advantage of the waitstaff, but I think it is a very good bet that many will.

The poster was talking about DDE not DDP. Tips were never included on DDE, it's a flat 20% off. The poster was saying he/she usually tips 20% but now they will automatically add 18%, saving 2% if he doesn't leave extra.

It's a slippery slope for servers. If they assume non-DDP guests will undertip and don't give good service, they risk offending the people who would leave 20%. I know I would be and would lessen the tip accordingly.

 

[JimMIA]

The poster was talking about DDE not DDP. Tips were never included on DDE, it's a flat 20% off. The poster was saying he/she usually tips 20% but now they will automatically add 18%, saving 2% if he doesn't leave extra.

It's a slippery slope for servers. If they assume non-DDP guests will undertip and don't give good service, they risk offending the people who would leave 20%. I know I would be and would lessen the tip accordingly.

Ooops, you're right! My bad.