Disney No Longer Including Appetizers for Deluxe Dining Plan

sxeensweet

Love a little Disney every day!! ;)
i just got back and was talking to my mouse made simple representative and she DID VERIFY with Disney appetizers are gone from table service - This is sad for us becase we like sigature dining and did table service lunch and signature dinners and roughed it for breakfast. The desserts do appeal to us - right now we will get sorbet or something small and eat 1/2 at most - she cannot verify pricing for sure, but she thinks it did not go down. Quite honestly, Deluxe is the only plan that made any sense to us as we despise fast food, including our kid.
Pricing is online for Deluxe and went up about $2 a person per day. Here is the link that has the price charts for 2015 and 2016. :)

http://www.wdwinfo.com/disney-dining-plan.htm
 

Mouse_Trap

Well-Known Member
You're back pedaling like crazy since you got called out by 20 posters on your ridiculous attitude and opinion.

Need I remind you that you said:



Yet now, you tip for good service. Sure you do :rolleyes:

But of course, we're on the Internet- so you could never admit you have the wrong mindset. You'll just argue your opinion ad naseum and everyone will disagree with you- but of course, in your mind- the world is wrong and you're right. The sky is red, not blue. So save us the explanation and time :hungover:

I've never changed my mindset on this, check out my post history if you're in any doubt.

What I originally said is that I tip on the amount of the check, if you have DDP then that's a lot less than if you're paying OOP.
I have always tipped for good to great service no matter where I am, I refuse to tip top-rate for service I view as average, mediocre or downright bad.

Also, having just checked the Disney website on this, it is definitely marketed to us as an all-included dining plan. No mention is made of additional charges, no asterisk's or end notes etc: for instance -


Free dining for the entire family - save from £405 per adult




Stay at a Disney Deluxe Hotel or Villa and you'll receive a FREE Disney Dining Plan


Stay 2 weeks and you'll save £587 per adult! Great for both quick meals in the parks and dining in style with waiter service. Per guest, per night:

  • 1 Table-Service Meal
  • 1 Quick-Service Meal
  • 1 Snack
  • Refillable Mug
.......


Would you agree, that if you are marketing in a country which has differing norms and values on this issue, that if tips are expected on items which Disney tells you are free, this should be making that clear - if that is indeed their expectations.
 

asianway

Well-Known Member
https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/special-offers/stay-dine/
So, I guess they still do it, as of today. 6/25 ,booking by July 10th 2015.
...........
Get a Free dining plan when you purchase a non-discounted 6-night/7-day Magic Your Way package that includes a room at a select Disney Resort hotel and tickets with Park Hopper or Water Park Fun & More Option.
Book by July 10, 2015.

Offer valid at select Disney Resort hotels for the following arrival dates:
  • August 28 – October 2, 2015
  • October 25 – October 31, 2015
  • November 8 – November 19, 2015
  • December 15 – December 21, 2015
See the Dining Plans offered for select Disney Resort hotels within each Resort Category below.

Resort Category Dining Plan

Select Disney Deluxe Villa Resort Hotels
FREE Disney Dining Plan

Select Disney Deluxe Resort Hotels
FREE Disney Dining Plan

Select Disney Moderate Resort Hotels
FREE Disney Dining Plan

Select Disney Value Resort Hotels
FREE Disney Quick-Service Dining Plan

I have to say, it is the only thing that would get us back there now. Even then, no appetizers and tip not included really took away a lot of the fun of the plan, the no-brainer aspect of one card, not adding the tip, or figuring it out based on the server and how busy or inattentive they might be.
We are not huge dessert eaters. We don't go out to eat often, and when we do, appetizers are a true rarity, like never, so on a Disney Vacation, on the dining plan, the appetizers were a huge draw. We're at Disney, sit down, AND, we get appetizers..Woo Hooo!!!!!
Now, not so much.

Unless I am mistaken, the DDP servers used to get 18% tip. I only tip 15%, unless services warrant it, meaning we get some attention/refilled waters/ more than once asking how things are can I get you anything else.

I don't see how servers could have horror stories about DDP folks. I could see it now that the tip is not included, but when it was, what was to complain about?
(Here's the plan, you get X, but you don't get y. I can disappear once things are brought ( as happened at Whispering Canyon), and I still get my tip).
September is magic dining month...so you can get some great meals around Orlando for 30 bucks
 

wdisney9000

Truindenashendubapreser
Premium Member
So, if what people have heard from various agencies is correct, then the appetizers are indeed gone from the Deluxe plan and the price has not gone down, but up. Thats a pretty crumby deal. Even if they allow a dessert to be substituted, its still crumby because desserts at most places are the same with a little tweak here and there and Im sure they cost the company much less money than appetizers.

Another cut in quality with an increase in price and its spun by some people as a good thing.
(by "some people", Im mostly referring to the wannabe mommy bloggers that are here) Are there tryouts happening that we are not aware of?
 

BrerJon

Well-Known Member
Also, having just checked the Disney website on this, it is definitely marketed to us as an all-included dining plan. No mention is made of additional charges, no asterisk's or end notes etc: for instance -

I think that's a fair comment, international marketing really should stress things like that, especially when they're basically telling people 'don't worry, we've got it all covered!'. When you're deciding how much money to convert into US dollars - not everyone has large credit card limits they can use overseas, so many if not most guests will want to pay in cash - a party may well find they just don't have the dollars to tip once they get there if they've been led to believe it was all-inclusive.

While I don't agree with not tipping free dining, I definitely think the international operations should be less deceptive about what is essentially a hidden charge that many guests may not have the money to pay when they get there, which only ends up stiffing the servers and embarrassing the guests.

But they would probably sell less trips, so you can see why they don't mention it. Sneaky.
 

Victor Kelly

Well-Known Member
Wow, and Americans are called all sorts of names, yet when it is reversed the criticism cannot be taken. Amazing:rolleyes:

As to the Appetizers, good job Disney, now get rid of EMH, and the dining plan or a combination of the two and see how well you fill rooms.

I am in the initial planning stages for a 2016 trip. We have discussed Disney's moves at length in our house. If they subtract more or anything, we will say off property, pay the same for a room but get a better room. Probably get better parking where we stay. Eat cheaper than the dining plan allows.

My suggestion for the dining plan. Make a dining your way type of plan. Have options that families can pick what they want, how much they want. It would then allow people to customize dining to their needs and desires. If Disney would do this, it would certainly succeed because people love choices. Need 2 table services, a QC, 2 or 3 snacks, appetizers? Click the box next to the option and bam, sales and profits go up.
 

sxeensweet

Love a little Disney every day!! ;)
It's a typo. Double confirmation. Appetizers will be added back once they can get the PDF updated. Probably within the next week or so.
This is what I thought because why would they leave appitizers listed for in room dining. Now the wait begins to look out for the update. :)
 

ford91exploder

Resident Curmudgeon
They get paid at least minimum wage through a combination of tips and wages. If their tipped wage (which is lower in many states) and reported tips do not equal at least minimum wage, the employer is to make up the difference.

Not saying it's great pay, but just being clear. Tipped employees do not ever make less than minimum wage (whatever it is for that state).

Depends on the state, Some states have different minimum wages for tipped employees.
 

ford91exploder

Resident Curmudgeon
No- I wouldn't agree. The U.S. Wording is exactly the same. No mention of tipping. It falls on the international traveler to learn the customs of the country they are traveling to.
I thought it was we Americans who get a bad wrap for expecting everyone to cater for us. But when I travel internationally to a new country for the first time, I take it upon myself to learn their customs so that I don't make a donkey of myself or do anything insulting. I'm not going to high five people and give hugs if I'm really happy about something if I go to Japan ;)

Look- I understand it's not normal where you're from- and I can get where you're coming from because of that. But high end (or moderate) waitstaff in America is not compensated similarly as several other countries. Please trust me when I tell you that not tipping on a "free" dining plan is an insulting and jerk move here in the states.

In some countries its an insult to tip, But it's also incumbent upon the traveller to learn the local customs and behave accordingly ie the old 'While in Rome behave as the Romans do' is a good guide.
 

englanddg

One Little Spark...
Depends on the state, Some states have different minimum wages for tipped employees.
No. They do not. All states must comply with the federal tipped wage laws, at the minimum. All employees, regardless of lower tipped wage laws, must be paid at least the federal minimum wage if their tipped wage plus their reported tips to not at least meet or exceed the federal minimum wage.

Some states have different minimum wages for tipped and non-tipped employees, but the federal mandate on tipped employees is clear. If the tipped wage plus reported tips is less than the federal minimum wage, the employer MUST make up the difference. There is no "gray area" here.
 

ford91exploder

Resident Curmudgeon
No. They do not. All states must comply with the federal tipped wage laws, at the minimum. All employees, regardless of lower tipped wage laws, must be paid at least the federal minimum wage if their tipped wage plus their reported tips to not at least meet or exceed the federal minimum wage.

Some states have different minimum wages for tipped and non-tipped employees, but the federal mandate on tipped employees is clear. If the tipped wage plus reported tips is less than the federal minimum wage, the employer MUST make up the difference. There is no "gray area" here.

All True, However like most things the states (like mine) with split minimum wages it's usually a 'so sue me' type issue and since the tips are generally cash it's up to the employee to prove they did not make minimum wage.
 

englanddg

One Little Spark...
All True, However like most things the states (like mine) with split minimum wages it's usually a 'so sue me' type issue and since the tips are generally cash it's up to the employee to prove they did not make minimum wage.
I've covered this in length elsewhere. It is a two way street. Employers "assume" a tip rate based on sales (in some states that's allowed), but it's also because employees tend to underreport cash tips. As POS systems get more and more electronic, and more transactions are debit/credit, the playing field is starting to change.

I hear what your saying, and know it exists (as well as faulty tip practices, like tipping out non-tipped wage employees, and I've even heard stories where managers dip into a tip pool, all of which is HIGHLY illegal...

But, the law is as I stated. Getting into actual practice makes it really muddy that to fully understand one needs to manage a tipped wage establishment for a while (not just work as a server, work as a high level manager who has to deal with payroll, etc.)
 

englanddg

One Little Spark...
True because here in Louisiana they do not get minimum wage as servers. It's a lesser wage around $3 per hour. :)
No, false. Read what I wrote.

The LAW is that employers are allowed to pay a "tipped wage". In LA that may be $3 an hour (I think it's actually $3.15, but I won't bother checking, I don't work restaurants anymore and it's not pertinent to the point).

Lets say it's $3 an hour. And minimum wage is $7.50 an hour.

The employee, at the end of their shift, is to report their tips to their employer. If the employee makes, at the end of a pay period, less than minimum wage of the federal $7.25 (which I'm fairly sure is the wage that LA defers to), the employer is to make up the difference.

By law, a tipped wage employee should NEVER make less than minimum wage.
 

Register on WDWMAGIC. This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.

Back
Top Bottom