Horrible Weekend with Disney

Though I'm not quite sure what happened with the whole tip thing, if a
waitress adds an extra tip without authorization, she is not getting
ANY tip from me. I would demand the 18% be taken off as well. If it
needed to be escalated to a manager, I would demand a discount on the
food as well for wasting my time. But again, I'm not exactly sure if
that what you were saying happened.

Good thing you caught it (the tip) in time. I would have been quite
miffed about that myself. You are right, she should have just let you
know upfront. I've had that explained to me upfront and it's very
appreciated rather than finding out later.

I havent been to Disney in a while, but I'm sure that the standard of
adding a gratuity would be added there just like most other
restaurants.
if it is listed on the menu then you really don't have a leg to stand
on, (still a little cunfused on the total amount) but if it isnt said
than I would have spoken with the manager on duty.
The last time i was there was in highschool and I cut my leg getting
into a ride. It was nothing big, was barely bleeding, but as soon as a
WDW staffer saw, there were people on it so fast. I even got a
personal visit from Mickey and Minnie.
I think that had you allerted them to the problems while you were
there, you would have seen Disney the good.

I went on my honeymoon to WDW last year--my sixth trip down. For the
first time ever, we had some pretty significant problems. The
transportation system was down frequently, another guest threatened us
and the security was really low (they don't really check incoming
bags!), and worst of all, a park worker was extremely rude to a
Hispanic family, (ie, asking "Can't you read English? You're ruining
everything. You're slowing down this line," etc). The thing is, I
emailed Disney and about 6 weeks later I was contacted by a really,
really nice person who listened to my concerns and told me that they
were being forwarded to various VPs. THEN she sent us 2 free passes to
Disney. It was so nice--it completely made up for any inconvenience
and made me feel like I was really valued. Needless to say we are
going back!

I guess my point is that even Disney World has bad days (weeks?)
sometimes but they're really good about listening to you and making
things right. Also, based on my experience as a manager in retail, I'd
also like to suggest that ANYWHERE you are--Disney, a restaurant, a
store--you just ask to speak to the manager on duty. Usually we are
willing to put things right for you right then and there.

It's not the DD's fault. It's the waitress's.
If I were a waiter at a place where gratuity is included, and somebody
tried to tip me a large amount on top of the already included amount,
I would definitely point it out to them. It's an ethical thing to do.

If your daughter didn't read the menu to see that an 18% tip is
included then I see it as her problem. When we ate at the Crystal
Palace it was clearly marked. If there is an issue with this, why
didn't your daughter take care of it herself?

Why should this waitress be better trained? Was the service poor?

People need to assume responsibility for their own actions, and stop
playing the blame game.

As far as the broken ECV, you are due a reimbursement from Disney.

I really doubt that letting your Annual Pass expire will put Disney in
the poor house.

I was confused about the tip. First you say your sister didn't
realize the 18% was included and added a $30 tip, and then when
dealing with the server you found a $30 tip had been added. Do you
mean the server added $30 to the replacement bill beore handing it to
you, the same amount your sister had originally added?

I'm sorry, I couldn't follow that part and conclude the server had
added her own tip (which would be clearly inappropriate).

I can't believe the waiter added an extra tip. That's horrible. As for
the ECV incident: next time remember your cell phone, that way you can
communicate with your family (or borrow one of theirs), that said,
they shouldn't have told you it was on the way when it wasn't. I think
you're due a discount or something on that. As for the wheelchair I
can't believe they charged you or that your daughter paid. If you go
back I would ask about taking the complimentary wheelchair all the way
to the rental place.

The previous two comments are the only ones which will be allowed to
deal with the letter writer's use of abbreviations. Any others past
this point that refer to the abbreviations will be removed. The
reason these two are allowed is they raise a good point and they were
here first.

We welcome your comments which discuss the issues raised by the letter
writer.

I would just like to suggest that you not use abbreviations -- I had
trouble at first knowing what you were saying sometimes. "dd" = dear
daughter? Why not just type "daughter." There were other
abbreviations as well that probably should have been spelled out.

NOt saying your complaints aren't valid, just that it is distracting
to have to pause while reading to wonder what some letters stand for.

I think the waitress who added her own tip in should be fired and/or
prosecuted. That sort of stuff makes my blood boil. It's theft, if
not credit card fraud.

It sounds like there are a few real issues and I'm sure Disney will
apologize for the tip confusion and will make it up to you regarding
the ECV problems. As you know, they place a high priority on customer
service.

As an aside, I'm impressed by all the abbreviations in your letter.
No offense, but I did have a little enjoyment, as a Disney fan, trying
to decipher the Disney-related ones (TTC = Ticket and Transportation
Center, MK = Magic Kingdom, AP = Annual Pass). I even got "dd" and
"dh" (I'd hate to be someone's daughter that wasn't "dear"). But I
got stuck on "gs." What does that stand for?