We LOVE Disney and have bought the Vacation Club and have enjoyed many visits to both land and sea. We have cruised on the Magic several times before. This time we noticed some changes I thought I would note. I agree wholeheartedly with the travel agent who reviewed before me. But some of the changes have not resulted in an improved customer experience.

Disney has added the gratuity to all bills relating to liquor consumption. I think I used to pay more out in tips than I did with the new system. However, the mandatory gratuity has made the wait staff less motivated. The "additional gratuity" which you could add over the one that is on the bill is what motivates the staff. Unfortunately, that gets super pricey, especially when paying in USD and being a Canadian lol. I learned late in the cruise that the additional gratuity is split between the staff working your area (usually two). The mandatory gratuity is split between all staff working that day. I really like the idea of the mandatory gratuity as some people are cheap and wouldn't tip, but this doesn't motivate staff to be their best. It was noticeable in the dining and pool bar areas.

The other significant change we noticed was the menus. We used to struggle to decide because every option was outstanding and that was not the case this time. If you are a "plain" eater or pretty mainstream, it was difficult to find an item that didn't have some elaborate description with sauces and spices. On one day for example, three of four items had raspberries or dill. This limited choices for people who didn't like those things. The quality of the food was good but we weren't excited to see the menu each day. We did speak to the head chef about this. We had a 21 year old with us who ended up ordering from the childrens menu most times as there were descriptions of food we were unsure of. The goal of having more elaborate menus takes away from the family dining experience we had come to know and love. Read more