Following recent union negotiations, there was a rumor making the rounds that mandatory tips were on the way for certain parties at Walt Disney World restaurants. Previously an 18% mandatory tip was added for all groups of 8 or more diners. Rumors indicated that the 18% mandatory tip was being expanded to all guests utilizing the Disney Dining Experience card and groups of 6 or more. If information recently published is accurate, the mandatory tips may go much further than that.
According to an announcement sent out regarding changes to the DDE program, an 18% tip will be mandatory at all Walt Disney World restaurants. The information reads:
We would also like to inform you that the Walt Disney World® Resort will be implementing an across property policy change regarding gratuity at all food and beverage locations. Effective January 1, 2008, 18% gratuity will be added to all transactions, regardless of party size. Thank you for your continued support.
Taken at face value, this indicates tips will be automatically added at "all food and beverage locations." (We assume that this refers to Table Service locations only.)
Since this message was addressed specifically to Disney Dining Experience participants, it is possible that the information was catered specifically for that audience. In other words, those paying cash for non-discounted meals may not be subject to the mandatory 18%. However, with all of the speculation that servers would be negatively impacted by the removal of the tip from the 2008 Magic Your Way Dining Plans, across-the-board mandatory gratuities would not come as a complete surprise.
