Not so magical experience!
When I read this, I was astonished and outraged! While I do understand large groups do take more work and understand that gratuities are almost always added to parties of six or more, I do not agree the 18% should be added to “all” transactions, regardless of party size.
Gratuity has always been given based on the service provided. Anyone with any decency or manners is aware of that fact. My husband and I have always left 15 to 20 percent, or more gratuities for good service. Normally we leave at least 15 percent even if the service was not great. It is however, a rare occasions we have ever had to leave less that our usual amount.
A good example would have been while vacationing at WDW in mid September of this year. We ate at Rose and Crown in Epcot. Our service was horrible. The entire dining experience at that night was deplorable and frustrating. While our server was adorable, I have no idea what happened to her memory because she constantly forgot to bring drinks, rolls, etc. Sad thing was, the restaurant was less than half-full when we arrived and it never did fill up. There was plenty of staff on hand. We did say something to the manager, but were basically blown off! A staff member later said we should write to the President of Epcot and tell him about our experience. I am sorry to say, I never did that due to my hectic work schedule.
My husband and I look forward to our annual vacation at WDW all year. This year was anything but a “magical” experience and we will not be going back in 2008. We normally spend ten days and there were so many mistakes during our vacation that it left us wishing we had not gone at all. Let alone for our usual ten days. It was horrible for us.
Disney has always been about SERVICE. Other companies model themselves after they way Disney does customer service. That said, I believe if WDW is adamant about initiating this new policy, service will suffer drastically. There will be nothing to motivate the servers because they know they will be getting their 18 percent no matter what. BIG MISTAKE WDW!!!
K Hund