WOW - What a week at WDW

[Disneylover69]

What a ridiculous thread.

OP needs to come back and clarify some thing lol

 

[JMcMahonEsq]

It is unreasonable to request someone to look up every single place they want to go to in advance to see what obscure hours they have are. This was not an issue until post-Covid when Disney severely restricted hours.
You are not a moron for thinking that a place located in’s theme park open until 10 or 11pm will be open past 7pm. You are on vacation and it’s not shear laziness for not wanting to pull out your phone and query through everything you want to do, especially when some items are not even listed in the app. You know the magic kingdom eggrolls? Can you find the hours of it in the app? The fantasmic hours? Oh yea those change regularly along with the actual park hours. PeoplE shouldn’t have to go around the park ahead of time to check the hours of every single place. The hours should be consistent. This regarding this issue I think Disney needs to hire more employees or increase current employees hours to better match park hours

Regarding the second issue, I see your point that OP says he normally tips 25% (which i find to be too high of a percentage for average service). Regarding your technique of splitting the reservation i think it must be mentioned that in that case the parties must sit apart otherwise you will have reservations of 5 and 5 asking to be sit together to attempt to go around the policy and just cause headaches for everyone involved. I agree that OP’s complaint on this issue is unreasonable, but my issue is the way that the manager handled it. We are still uncertain about how the OP ended up talking to the manager such as if he was complaining about this or something else. Regardless my biggest gripe on this issue is what the manager apparently said that the automatic gratitude doesn’t go to the waiter/waitress which I find to be false and a highly problematic statement.

Honestly how lazy or simple does someone have to be to fee like you shouldn't have to know what hours something is open before you go to use it/visit it/eat there? I mean seriously you think its just ok to assume, sure WDW is full of multiple shops/stores/rides/events/snack stands, each manned by different people, different departments, serve different items and different target audiences. Rather than actually look at the hours posted for something, just be brain dead and hope?

Sitting on a conference call, while eating lunch and reading this board, it took less than 30 seconds to open the MDE app and type in Gastons's and have it spit out the hours 9-5PM. Same thing for the Emporium or any other shop you might want to go visit. Fantasmic hours took 45 seconds (I had to actually speak on the call so it delayed me.) Disney gets to decide when things are open and when they close, just like every other business. And they get to decide what makes the most financial sense for hours of operations. Some restaurants might be more geared toward early sales, some later in day. Same of shops. It makes no sense to staff everything the same, for the full time of the park, when each offering has different sales trends. Its WDW's job/duty to its customers to make the times of its various offerings readily available, which they do I think a really good job at. If after 25 years you don't know that Gaston's isn't open until park close, and you are too lazy to read the signs and just simply look at the app...well no cinnamon bun deliciousness for you. And you are the one at fault.

Vacations don't need to be work, I can agree with that. Knowing when something is open and when it stops being offered is NOT work. Not when the information is available so easily.

 

[Disneylover69]

Honestly how lazy or simple does someone have to be to fee like you shouldn't have to know what hours something is open before you go to use it/visit it/eat there? I mean seriously you think its just ok to assume, sure WDW is full of multiple shops/stores/rides/events/snack stands, each manned by different people, different departments, serve different items and different target audiences. Rather than actually look at the hours posted for something, just be brain dead and hope?

Sitting on a conference call, while eating lunch and reading this board, it took less than 30 seconds to open the MDE app and type in Gastons's and have it spit out the hours 9-5PM. Same thing for the Emporium or any other shop you might want to go visit. Fantasmic hours took 45 seconds (I had to actually speak on the call so it delayed me.) Disney gets to decide when things are open and when they close, just like every other business. And they get to decide what makes the most financial sense for hours of operations. Some restaurants might be more geared toward early sales, some later in day. Same of shops. It makes no sense to staff everything the same, for the full time of the park, when each offering has different sales trends. Its WDW's job/duty to its customers to make the times of its various offerings readily available, which they do I think a really good job at. If after 25 years you don't know that Gaston's isn't open until park close, and you are too lazy to read the signs and just simply look at the app...well no cinnamon bun deliciousness for you. And you are the one at fault.

Vacations don't need to be work, I can agree with that. Knowing when something is open and when it stops being offered is NOT work. Not when the information is available so easily.

To find out the hours of items through the app you have to toggle through numerous different settings, dinning, entertainment, shows, etc. it isn’t that simple but it is time consuming to toggle through it. It’s unfair to request people in the parks to physically go to places to see what the hours are that takes a lot of time. Does Disney provide print outs of all the hours to view in an easy to view manner?

Oh interesting that Gaston’s is open 9-5 today, when OP went it was open 9-7 and tomorrow it’s open from 8-8 the 19th from 9-5 then the 21st from 9-8 then the 22 from 9-7 then the 23rd from 9-8 then the 24th 8-8 then the 25th 8am-9pm then the 26th 8-8 then finally has a little regularity until the 30th when it switches to 8-9 then the 31st 8am-10pm. So again the days are constantly changing day to day pretty much and it is completely unfair to pretty much force guests to constantly have to look this information up. Outside of Disney no restaurant’s have such varied times and if they did people would stop going to them.

Fantasmic hours keep changing so if you looked it up previously they might actually change!

knowing how frequently the hours of Gaston’s change now, does that change your conclusion? Because while it may be reasonable to know Gaston’s hours as a standard 9-7, does it become unreasonable to have to know Gaston’s hours every Single day of your trip when the changes are pretty varied with a 5 hours difference in closing times over just 2 weeks!

 

[JMcMahonEsq]

To find out the hours of items through the app you have to toggle through numerous different settings, dinning, entertainment, shows, etc. it isn’t that simple but it is time consuming to toggle through it. It’s unfair to request people in the parks to physically go to places to see what the hours are that takes a lot of time. Does Disney provide print outs of all the hours to view in an easy to view manner?

Oh interesting that Gaston’s is open 9-5 today, when OP went it was open 9-7 and tomorrow it’s open from 8-8 the 19th from 9-5 then the 21st from 9-8 then the 22 from 9-7 then the 23rd from 9-8 then the 24th 8-8 then the 25th 8am-9pm then the 26th 8-8 then finally has a little regularity until the 30th when it switches to 8-9 then the 31st 8am-10pm. So again the days are constantly changing day to day pretty much and it is completely unfair to pretty much force guests to constantly have to look this information up. Outside of Disney no restaurant’s have such varied times and if they did people would stop going to them.

Fantasmic hours keep changing so if you looked it up previously they might actually change!

knowing how frequently the hours of Gaston’s change now, does that change your conclusion? Because while it may be reasonable to know Gaston’s hours as a standard 9-7, does it become unreasonable to have to know Gaston’s hours every Single day of your trip when the changes are pretty varied with a 5 hours difference in closing times over just 2 weeks!

what app are you using? Because from what your describing either you have never used, or don't know how to use MDE.

For gastons for example (i timed it again took 20sec this time).

1) open MDE app.
2) hit search button
3) type Gaston
4.......nothing your done and there is the time.

Same thing for any other restaurant, show, store, ect. The app is not hard to use.

As to the times changing....things change. I don't frankly see any reason that all times need to be uniform because some people are too lazy to check a time. Your little exercise above showed just how easy it is for anyone to go online and get detailed information about times for when they are going to the park. No I don't think WDW should keep every store open for the exact same hours every day, despite budgeting/operating costs/sale/employee avaibility simply to keep it open in case some lazy person who didn't know it was going to be closing at 5, happens to stroll in at 7.

 

[Disneylover69]

what app are you using? Because from what your describing either you have never used, or don't know how to use MDE.

For gastons for example (i timed it again took 20sec this time).

1) open MDE app.
2) hit search button
3) type Gaston
4.......nothing your done and there is the time.

Same thing for any other restaurant, show, store, ect. The app is not hard to use.

As to the times changing....things change. I don't frankly see any reason that all times need to be uniform because some people are too lazy to check a time. Your little exercise above showed just how easy it is for anyone to go online and get detailed information about times for when they are going to the park. No I don't think WDW should keep every store open for the exact same hours every day, despite budgeting/operating costs/sale/employee avaibility simply to keep it open in case some lazy person who didn't know it was going to be closing at 5, happens to stroll in at 7.

Alright well I believe times should be more regular so one doesn’t have to sit there on their phone the entire vacation checking the ever changing hours. I think Disney should worry less on maximizing every single dollar by carefully crafting the most profit maximizing schedule possible.

 

[JMcMahonEsq]

I agree with most your comments here. fair play.



I'm from the UK so the gratuity stuff blows my mind lol its starting to find its way in over here with alot of things. i just dont know what servers earn these days to even say if they are on good wages or not. the UK have a standard minimum wage so its never really been a thing.

The tipping situation has gotten out of control to be sure. And I generally hate the idea of being "forced" to tip/gratuity.

Now that being said in the US market system there are some barriers to change. It unfortunately isn't just as simple as raising the wages of food service workers and cutting out all tipping. First you have the inherent momentum problem of trying to change a system that has been in place for so long.

Second to raise the pay of servers to match what they get with tips, is going to have a huge effect on businesses and costs being passed on to consumers. Right now the pay differential that servers get from Tips as opposed to hourly wages are a direct dollar for dollar allocation. If the server is averaging an additional $10 per hour in tips, they are getting that 10 bucks. There isn't an additional $10 cost to the owner that is being passed on to customers.

Now if that 10 dollars had to come from wages, it is going to have a significant impact on operations, far and above 10 dollars. You are going to have payroll taxes, insurance fees, and other business costs all based on wages that the the restaurant is going to experience. So not only is the server not getting the whole 10 added per hours (they will have all the same deductions taken out of that pay as the rest of their hourly wages), but now the entire customer base is going to have to pay for MORE than 10 per hour to cover the added taxes WC fees, and other related costs.

 

[bwr827]

What’s clear re: Gaston’s is you’re good to go in the morning. That’s what we knew on our recent trip, along with an understanding that later in the day would be less reliable.

 

[Hockey89]

I don't know how some of you function in society..... Good lord....

 

[Disneylover69]

The tipping situation has gotten out of control to be sure. And I generally hate the idea of being "forced" to tip/gratuity.

Now that being said in the US market system there are some barriers to change. It unfortunately isn't just as simple as raising the wages of food service workers and cutting out all tipping. First you have the inherent momentum problem of trying to change a system that has been in place for so long.

Second to raise the pay of servers to match what they get with tips, is going to have a huge effect on businesses and costs being passed on to consumers. Right now the pay differential that servers get from Tips as opposed to hourly wages are a direct dollar for dollar allocation. If the server is averaging an additional $10 per hour in tips, they are getting that 10 bucks. There isn't an additional $10 cost to the owner that is being passed on to customers.

Now if that 10 dollars had to come from wages, it is going to have a significant impact on operations, far and above 10 dollars. You are going to have payroll taxes, insurance fees, and other business costs all based on wages that the the restaurant is going to experience. So not only is the server not getting the whole 10 added per hours (they will have all the same deductions taken out of that pay as the rest of their hourly wages), but now the entire customer base is going to have to pay for MORE than 10 per hour to cover the added taxes WC fees, and other related costs.

hey at least we agree on something. I’m just waiting for the day Disney implements tipping at all quick service restaurants. The whole iPad flipping is so ridiculous.

The biggest barrier to the tipping system change are the waiter and waitress because they make MORE money the way it is. Most of them are performing what is generally considered unskilled labor and making lots and lots of cash. Just look at one of the character dinning places at Disney and if you have a table of ten adults with each getting two drinks the waiter will get at least $20 a person so $200 in total for 1-2 hours of them being there. Plus any other tables they are taking care of. They will never get an hourly wage that high.

What is interesting is that the mandatory 18% gratuity is technically not considered a tip, thus under this whole don’t tax tips stuff trump has been talking about, it may result in less of the mandatory stuff since I assume they will want it to be classified as a tip which it isn’t if it’s mandatory.