Dining Plan-Tipping-STRESS!!!

[InnerStrength]

We will be using the dining plan during our next trip and I think it's great that a tip of 15% is included. Unless we order something that is not included, or the service is exceptional, I do not plan on adding any additional gratuity. If I get a beaut who points and me or gives me or my DH a dirty look, you can bet that I will be talking with the manager of that establishment prior to leaving so that her/his tip may be adjusted accordingly.

The dirty look and "finger pointing" from the waitress at H&V was way out of line, and after that behavior, she deserved nothing, IMO. Is she kidding? What did she do for you - provide a few drinks and perhaps clean the table of soiled plates if you decided to get another serving of food ??? I believe 15% is more than adequate at any buffet when the patrons basically serve themselves.

HA, maybe she "expected" you to tip her extra based on the cost of the drinks - that were part of the plan anyhow. Afterall, that is what she actually brought to your table. She sounds like a bad apple and the incident would have left a sour taste in my mouth as well.


Question for all you tippers out there .... Do you tip on the total bill including the meal tax, or do you tip on the price of the food/drinks and not on the tax? I am never really sure what to do so I just tend to tip on the food/drink price and then round up to the nearest dollar. Whatever the general consensus is on this may cause me to rethink my tipping ways....

Thanks,

Lori

 

[BibbidyBobbidyBoo]

We were on the dining plan and I did tip extra at some places- because I was paying for some of the children's meals not on the dining plan and if I felt they deserved extra.

However, some places DID add 18% tip and some did 15%- so I know it can't be 15% across the board... it simply isn't.

I generally left 8% - 10% of the pretax meal amount in addition to the Dining plan tip. This got the tip into the typical 18%-20% range. I

If it's 15% automatic as you said- leaving an extra 8%-10% puts them in the range of 23%-25% tip actually. Which I think in normal terms is what MOST people reserve for fantastic service. Atleast I do. ?

I would have said something to mgmt about the treatment the OP received from the waittress. Not only was this a buffet where you serve yourself for the most part but the tip was already included. Be it 15% or 18% -to basically get in a tizzy because you didn't tip more is uncalled for. It's not MANDATED that you tip more than 15% (or 18% if that is what was automatic. Ours was different at each restaurant).

 

[BibbidyBobbidyBoo]

I am put off by automatically adding a tip on to a check and will NEVER leave extra, no matter what. I hate having a tip added to my check, it's wrong and shouldn't be done.

I agree.
I get turned off by tips already added to the check and don't add more on top of that when they do that. They only did that at Boma during our last stay - the rest of the restaurants left our tab (not the dining plan part-- our youngest child, extras we paid for) where we could leave a tip for that plus add extra on the automatic gratuity if we wanted. But Boma added the 18% tip to the extra tab also... so that's all she got.

 

[DISNEYFAMILYOFFOUR]

We are also using the dining plan. We will be adding additional tips when warranted.

 

[LoveWDW]

Question for all you tippers out there .... Do you tip on the total bill including the meal tax, or do you tip on the price of the food/drinks and not on the tax? I am never really sure what to do so I just tend to tip on the food/drink price and then round up to the nearest dollar. Whatever the general consensus is on this may cause me to rethink my tipping ways....

Thanks,

Lori

Don't tip on the tax. Tip on the total food and drink amount, before tax.

 

[CATMANDO]

We are on the Dining Plan for our upcoming trip. I will not be tipping extra, so I guess all the servers will be giving me dirty looks.

I AM WITH YOU NO EXTRA TIP FROM ME EITHER!!!

 

[Suzanne74]

The point is - this waitress was WAY out of line, whether only the 15% tip was left or if it was someone walking in not on the dining plan and only tip 10% - she can not be unprofessional about it and I would have asked to speak with a manager - no doubt. I would have been furious that a CM was trying to demean me in front of another CM by pointing me out

I am going on the dining plan and most part of it was that it included tip and taxes. I think the appeal to it, is that you don't have to worry about cash - like an all inclusive. To now have to worry about a tip on top of a tip - is a little much.

So to me - someone working an overpriced buffet such as H&V with constant tables filled and only having to go fill drinks and get fresh plates she be VERY VERY happy she is getting 15% - if they are annoyed they are not getting paid except for every 2 weeks - well talk to Disney - it isn't my problem.

I personally will probably not leave any extra tips for buffet but if I do get a good waiter at a sit down such as 50's Prime Time, Narccossee's etc.. and they go above and beyond for out party - well I most certainly will tip extra - not a ton, but at least to make it 20% total. I personally don't believe that tipping should be over that, unless it was an unforgettable experience and if anything I am afraid automatic tipping will make for some forgettable experiences

I think the waitstaff is getting much more in tips during this dining plan - full restaurants from opening till closed, higher end meals, drinks, desserts etc... and a guaranteed 15%, maybe more - every other waiter in America would want that

 

[aubriee]

Don't tip on the tax. Tip on the total food and drink amount, before tax.

I was traveling solo in WDW in May. I really wanted to try some sit down restaraunts that my picky eaters refused to try while we were there in January, so I made alot of PS. I then felt funny tying up a waitress's table for a solo diner, so made a point of tipping extra. (I'm really pretty easy to please--keep my water glass full and you'll get a good tip.) Anyway I used my DDE card. As you know with DDE you get two bills--one prior to the 20%discount and one showing the DDE total. I just paid the full amount (prior to DDE) doubling the difference (the DDE dicount x2). I know that gave the waitress a 40% tip, but I felt like I was taking up a table that at least two people would have normally dined at, so it was the right thing to do.

I'm going back with my son and D-I-L in Sept using the free dining (and the DDE card for any extras). We've already looked at the menus of all the places we are going to eat and so have an idea of what the cost would be. I've already told my son that we will have envelopes with $1.00s and $5.00s to supplement the tips. To me if you normally tip 20% or more, why would you not tip enough with the free dining to bring the tip up to the amount you would usually tip. Granted good waiters should get higher tips, but I can't see using the free dining plan as an excuse to get out of making sure the waiter gets his usual 20% (or more depending on service). Just my .02.

 

[jeast]

I was disappointed to hear the details of the tipping policy of disney. Now I feel like I should supplement a little @ meals. One thing I considered was to buy a bunch of lottery tickets and leave them as extra tips just for fun. I don't know why, just that it is something different. Of course, then I have to carry them around!

 

[danalee]

I waited tables for many years, and here's my take.....
For every person that does tip 15%-20% or more, there are 10 who dont~
I think they are getting a good deal and once they get use to it as a "pay" every 2 weeks or so and not everyday, they will be happy.
just my .02

 

[LongIslandCouple]

Question for all you tippers out there .... Do you tip on the total bill including the meal tax, or do you tip on the price of the food/drinks and not on the tax? I am never really sure what to do so I just tend to tip on the food/drink price and then round up to the nearest dollar. Whatever the general consensus is on this may cause me to rethink my tipping ways....

Thanks,

Lori

Lori,

If tax is 8.5% and your include a 20% tip on that tax you would be adding at most 1.65% to your bill. Considering you round up to the next $$, the majority of times, it would be a nominal difference.

Let's say your bill comes to $55 with tax (or pretax of $50.93). 20% tip would be $10.18 on the pretax portion or $11 on the taxed portion. Considering you round up to the nearest $$, you would pay $66 either way...

 

[Disneyrsh]

Can you even call it a tip if it's added to your bill automatically?

Shouldn't it be called the Mandatory Service Reward? MSN, heh heh.

If your server gives you miserable service, can you have it removed from your bill?

It just really bugs me that the option to tip is being taken out of my hands because Disney thinks I'm an idiot and can't make the decision to tip properly on my own.

This was why we took a pass on the DDE, it looked great to us until we got to that part and then it was like, well, forget that!

I decide how good my server is, not Disney!

 

[Texan Mouseketeer]

We were on the dining plan and I did tip extra at some places- because I was paying for some of the children's meals not on the dining plan and if I felt they deserved extra.

However, some places DID add 18% tip and some did 15%- so I know it can't be 15% across the board... it simply isn't.

You're right. When we went in June, we did 7 TS restaurants and it was like 4 did 15% and 3 did 18%. Also, when we paid separately for our child's meal, some places automatically put the tip on there and some didn't, so we were really paying attention and noticing the differences among restaurants. It was not due to how many were in our group since there were only three dining customers and an infant.

 

[theostwalts]

Just back from our trip and here's what I found......

The tip is based on what is ordered, so the servers will encourage you to order everything you can, even if you only take a few bites. It affects their take home pay.

With that in mind, I spoke to a friend of mine who went to WDW aboout two months ago with her sister and nephews. She said that many of the restaurants did not make her nephews order from the kids menu and let them order what ever they wanted. Has anyone else experianced this?

 

[robinb]

Just back from our trip and here's what I found......

The amount that goes to the server is 15% (not 18%. The new contract is for 18% but all Disney Dining is grandfathered in @ 15% until next year).

The amount does not go directly to the server. It is paid via the normal paycheck cycle (every two weeks or twice monthly), with all taxes deducted. The net to the server is more like 10%-11.5%.

How much do they servers receive when someone not on the Dining Plan leaves a tip on their credit card or room charge? My guess is that Disney handles all these cases the same by processing the tip and including it in the employee's paycheck. So, I fail to see the difference between the automatic tip and tipping 15% on your room charge.

It just really bugs me that the option to tip is being taken out of my hands because Disney thinks I'm an idiot and can't make the decision to tip properly on my own.

I don't see it that way at all! I think it's an advantage ... a 15% DISCOUNT off of expensive food prices. Heck, it's a 21% discount since taxes are included too. I expect that you could request that a server receive a smaller tip if you get lousy service. It would have to be really lousy for me to tip less than 15% and I don't recall ever having service that bad at WDW. Since we usually tip 20% and we will usually have a drink with dinner that is not included, I intend to tip a bit extra to bring the 15-18% up to my standard 20% if the service is good.

 

[*NikkiBell*]

We have only tipped extra twice, but knew we did not have to. They receive more than necessary so to worry about tipping extra is just silly.

 

[Cannot_Wait_4Disney]

15% at a buffet? What did she do give you a pedicure while you eat.? It better be service close to that if anyone at Hollywood and Vine expects over 15%.

Does anyone know if Mickey gets part of the tip at a place like chef Mickey's? I can see the 15% or even over there if he does.

 

[Sollenberger]

We were not on the dining plan, but since we were a large party (ususally 13, never less than 9) 18% was already factored in the bill - is this handled the same as the dining plan, where they dont get it right away? I never even thought to tip extra - a gratuity is a gratuity and if they tell me its included (as the bill indicated each time), then it is done - right??? I never got any dirty looks and actually had some very friendly people waiting on us - several who went above and beyond the call, even after the check was paid - doesnt it cease to be a gratuity, when it is forced????

 

[Juligan]

Tipping, IMHO, is considered a TIP for good service. It is not and should not be considered an automatic...

AMEN!

 

[Lewisc]

We're only hearing one side of the story. I could understand the waitress being disappointed IF she got you a lot of drink refills, cleared a lot of dirty plates, one of your kids left a big mess, she charged you for a child's buffet for a child over the age or you stayed for a very long time. Otherwise a 15% gratuity is more than fair for a buffet.

When you asked if the gratuity was included she told you yes. You thought the smile was phony, probably was, but I'm not sure how can word a complaint. She smiled but I know she didn't mean it? She shouldn't have said anything loud enough for you to over hear but I'm not sure her conduct is worth a complaint.