Disney Cancels Cast Members's 20% Dining Discount

[mousermerf]

Edit to protect the innocent, but scheduling is stupid.

People try to tell them they'll not be coming in, but Disney shoots themself in the foot and understaffs.

 

[PSU_Princess]

Now, I'm not knocking you.. But, this really doesn't help cast morale, or retain staff. Try lowering the cost of meals in our cafeteria (as well as increasing the quality) give us all a $2.00 an hour raise and get rid of all the layers of crap we have to go thru to get requested day off. THAT would do wonders for morale and retention.

For example, did you know that at one of the large local hotels off I-Drive the staff meals there cost $1.00 per item? That's say, $3.00 for a drink, entree and desert. $3.00 bucks. This is also TOP quality food (steaks, pork chops, etc)

Now, lets check out the Airmark cast cafe.. $3.00 hmm. That might get you some fries and a drink... that's about it.

I have worked in a lot of different hospitals and I can say that employees never got a discount on food in the cafeteria. It was either deal with the prices or bring your own food. They were also not always open so if you are working all day and all night you might be stuck with vending machine food if you didn't catch the cafeteria at the right time.

 

[kal1484]

I have worked in a lot of different hospitals and I can say that employees never got a discount on food in the cafeteria. It was either deal with the prices or bring your own food. They were also not always open so if you are working all day and all night you might be stuck with vending machine food if you didn't catch the cafeteria at the right time.

But at least there, you could possibly leave the property. At disney you can't really go anywhere on your break.

 

[tirian]

I would guess, after this promotion ends, and the dust settles, WDW will determine whether or not the promotion is worth having again. I would guess the original thought of Management was "If they don't have to spend money on food, they'll spend it elsewhere," and their eyes lit up with visions of all that Disney merch, some of it marked up to ridiculous extremes-flying off shelves, thus also making room for more "limited edition" merch.

However, one of the harsh truths of our economic climate is that not everyone can afford a Disney vacation. Politics aside, it's no secret that wages are not keeping up with inflation, the minimum wage hasn't been increased for far too long, and the price of a Disney vacation usually doesn't get cheaper. I would bet many visitors-not all, but not just a few, either-would not have been able to afford a Disney vacation any other way. Even with the promotion, they're scrimping to make it a reality. I know; I have relatives like this. They intend to spend as much on soveneirs as they usually do, because that's all they can spend. They don't look at the money saved on the free dining plan as "found money," and would not have gone at all were it not for the promotion.

Meanwhile, you also have a good chunk of families who are occasional visitors. WDW isn't a yearly thing, but it's not a once-in-a-lifetime thing either. They might normally have to visit on a stricter budget, but suddenly they are able to visit for a much more affordable price. SOME people might opt to spend that money on souveneirs. But SOME people might opt to spend that money...on a longer vacation, with more free dining. I mean, I like a ridiculously expensive Disney sweatshirt as much as the next cat, but if I had a choice between spending upwards of 40 to 50 bucks for each member of my family to get a sweatshirt, OR using that money for one more night in a resort, I'd be tempted to say memories will be more important than things. And still others might be tempted to just take those savings...and keep it.

As I said, if the promotion worked out for WDW, we'll know because they'll do it again. But if it's the last time we ever see the promotion, we'll know that it may have been a great perk for the visitors, but a bust for the company.

I completely agree with you. My previous comment was an observation, not a biased opinion. :wave:

As a matter of fact, two families that I personally know were able to spend more time here because of the dining plan promotion. This is a fantastic opportunity for Guests because they can save money and eat well. However, don't think that the resorts make up for the revenue lost on food. The profit is already split too many ways for that.

Regarding the dining discount, most of us CMs really don't care. It's only a few weeks, and it makes things better for Guests. At least Disney isn't doing this during a time when we really need the discount, from October through February (for holiday events).

 

[mousermerf]

And a note..

There's a whole department of reservations CM's who are getting paid more for having made both the room ressies/package ressies and also each individual dining reservation.

No, it's not a direct comission, but they are paid an "incentive" based on how much they sell. It goes up as the bookings go up.

It all tends to even out.

 

[gjpjtj]

Wow this really stinks!!

 

[IWorkWTeeth]

I just hope people will know this so they can leave a tip for the CMs.

Why would I leave an additional tip if it is already included in my meal plan? Does that make up for your loosing your 20% dining discount? I leave tips for the housekeeping, but I don't leave additional tips when it is already included.

 

[IWorkWTeeth]

For me, 7 days is about a max. This trip we are taking full advantage and staying for 11 days because of free dining. We will buy at least 1 or more meals per day. Plus we can't go to the parks for 11 full days of fun. So I'm sure we'll use the boats, prob golf, and are thinking of adding the water parks too. So they'll be getting their money from us. Besides, souviners last about 2-3 days before the kids get bored and they want new ones. So over 11 days, they will get at least 1-2 more gifts each from us. More $$$ for Disney. It also is bringing in my parents for 13 days. They are APs and will be making the extra long trip because we are there. They usually only stay 6 days. SO Disney gets 2 more reservations for 2X as long as we usually stay. So essentially 4 regular trips from us just for offering free dining that they would not have gotten. Great for them.

We usually go 2x or more per year but never bought the dining plan until February '06. We loved it!! When I was checking for reservations this year, we were originally planning on coming in December, but when our travel agent told us about the free dining, we changed our plans completely to go over the summer. I'll be looking for it next summer also!

Do they have a limit as to how many days you can stay on the free dining? We usually do a 2 weeker in the summer and would like to try that for next year!

 

[bhg469]

Why would I leave an additional tip if it is already included in my meal plan? Does that make up for your loosing your 20% dining discount? I leave tips for the housekeeping, but I don't leave additional tips when it is already included.

Because the person serving you may deserve more than that. The server gets 18% tip that is typical of what i would leave for standard service. If someone WOWs me i will leave more. those extra few dollars mean alot to someone who works hard.

 

[JimboJones123]

It has been limited to 10 days. I wish it were more!

 

[JimboJones123]

"It also helps them retain staff better. If hours are cut in down times, and they are pushing cast to their limits in peak, it is really difficult. So if they can balance out the downtimes, it helps cast morale"

Now, I'm not knocking you.. But, this really doesn't help cast morale, or retain staff. Try lowering the cost of meals in our cafeteria (as well as increasing the quality) give us all a $2.00 an hour raise and get rid of all the layers of crap we have to go thru to get requested day off. THAT would do wonders for morale and retention.

For example, did you know that at one of the large local hotels off I-Drive the staff meals there cost $1.00 per item? That's say, $3.00 for a drink, entree and desert. $3.00 bucks. This is also TOP quality food (steaks, pork chops, etc)

Now, lets check out the Airmark cast cafe.. $3.00 hmm. That might get you some fries and a drink... that's about it.

Disney doesn't "have to" provide anything. I heard they have a few fast food places there. $3.50 for Subway, the same price that every Average Joe pays for a sandwich if they spend the gas money to trive to Subway on their lunch break isn't so bad. They at least are saving you from having to go off site. Working in the service industry isn't about serving yourself. Nobody is forcing you to work for Disney. I have found that at every job that I have worked at, there are 2 kinds of employees. The ones that buy into the companies philosophy, and those that don't. The ones that do are much happier. Disney's philosophy is TOP NOTCH SERVICE TO IT'S CUSTOMERS. If you don't buy into that, you don't have to work there. I have worked at places where I didn't see eye to eye with the company, so I quit. Every job requires some sacrifices. My wife was a teacher at a lower income school. The kids couldn't always afford supplies, but her school gave teacher $0.00 budget for supplies each year. She spent about a week to two weeks pay a year on supplies for the class. She didn't have to, but she wanted to. To help the company. She also bought breakfast one day a week. For a lot of the kids, that and the free lunch was about all they ate all week. Personally, I have had to drive my car places for work and have never been compensated for gas. I have also had to provide supplies when the supplies weren't there. At least Disney doesn't ask you to bring in Windex. I know it sucks, but it is also benefiting a greater cause. As far as scheduling goes, If you have people being shifted 55-60 hours a week (Disney isn't afraid to do this) for the whole summer, then they cut it off because school is back in. They then offer you only 25-30 hours, that doesn't make people happy. When employees see a 60% cut in pay, it does hurt morale. I'm sorry that you haven't taken that management class before going into the CP, but there are more important things to most employees than saving a dime on tacos. Disney could pay everybody an extra $4.00 an hour. Then you would lose 20% of your staff and NOBODY would get overtime because they couldn't afford it. Again, if you don't want to work for Disney, then simply DON'T.

 

[LilRoo714]

I don't know if this has occurred to anyone else, but Disney's been known to slowly back off on benefits to its cast members, and to me it seems like adding another black out period for the dining discount is part of a slippery slope which will lead to its cancellation all together. Not to be negative, just observing that perhaps they're easing the cast slowly into losing the discount all together. :lookaroun

 

[CJR]

I have mixed feeling on this. I will be hopefully working there in 2008 and hope I'll get that 20% discount while I'm there. From what I've heard CM's only make a little over $6 an hour. That being said, a 20% discount could be very useful when the charge what they charge. I mean think about it, you spend the same price for a hotdog that you could use to buy a pack of hotdogs from Wal-Mart. That's not counting the fact the someone is STILL making profit. CM's get benefits and to an extent, they need them. However, with it only being for a short period of time, I'm cool. I just hope this doesn't become a trend for them.

 

[JimboJones123]

Nobody makes a CM eat a $50 meal though.

 

[typhoonguy]

It seems to me that most of the whining and crying about this policy is from non- CMs. I don't know a single one of my co-workers or friends that give a hoot, me included. The guest comes first and that's just part of working at Disney. That's WHY I work for Disney.

 

[JimboJones123]

It seems to me that most of the whining and crying about this policy is from non- CMs. I don't know a single one of my co-workers or friends that give a hoot, me included. The guest comes first and that's just part of working at Disney. That's WHY I work for Disney.

THANK YOU! That's why I wouldn't mind working for Disney! Because their rentless efforts for satisfaction of the customer.

 

[CrashNet]

THANK YOU! That's why I wouldn't mind working for Disney! Because their rentless efforts for satisfaction of the customer.

Guest my friend. Guest. You'll be on your way to being a CM in no time.

 

[Kronos]

It seems to me that most of the whining and crying about this policy is from non- CMs. I don't know a single one of my co-workers or friends that give a hoot, me included. The guest comes first and that's just part of working at Disney. That's WHY I work for Disney.

Well, a large part of the non-crying comes from the fact that the blackout dates were announced quite some time ago... it's really not a surprise to any of us who actually read the official announcements and newsletters.

 

[typhoonguy]

Well, a large part of the non-crying comes from the fact that the blackout dates were announced quite some time ago... it's really not a surprise to any of us who actually read the official announcements and newsletters.

I agree, it's been on the portal for quite some time. I believe since end of June when the DRC surpassed their free dining goal.

 

[VillanovaBlue]

CM's don't eat in the parks for their regular meals or anything! No one is going to starve! At work we eat backstage and on our own time we actually have kitchens! The dining discount is just one of the many perks Disney offers and it's only a slight inconvienance for us to not recieve it for 6 weeks.

What?!? You have a kitchen? You mean you don't all live on property, and eat disney food, and wash with disney soap, and watch disney tv, and bow before the statue of Walt every morning? Wow...I didn't realize that... ;-)