for those on DDP, do you TIP the server or not?

[tuckerkeys]

while reading the rules, i noticed it said for those on the plan, it includes gratuity......SO do we tip 15-20% after the meal for what it would have been if not on the plan or do we just get our bill, swipe the credits & leave????? i noticed last year servers were asking us before we ordered if we were on the plan. i was wondering if this was for ordering information or if they wanted to know so they wouldn't have to work hard for a tip that wasn't coming..... even if gratuity is included, do you still leave something, and if so how much?!

 

[ReneeA]

When you get your bill, it will show a total WITH the tip the server gets. Then they swipe your card, the total goes to zero, and the appropriate amount of credits come off the banked total. You do not have to leave any tip, as it is included in the plan.

However, when we were there last year for free dining, the tip was only 15%. We typically leave 20-25%. In all but one restaurant, I left an extra $5-$10 to bring the tip up to normal for us. WDW has since upped the tip to 18% since then.

 

[Alicnwondrln]

the tip is all set but we got such great service last dec we left extra $ at kona and le cellier

 

[newholidayx2]

Yes I believe the OP knows the tip is on the food covered by the dining plan. But what about anything else ordered thats not on the plan? Is it normal to tip on that? (I would think so)

 

[Lewisc]

Check you bill carefully, generally the server/restaurant will add an 18% gratuity for any item that isn't including on the dining plan. You don't want to unintentionally double tip.

 

[BirdsOfPreyDave]

The dining plan gives the server an 18% tip. If you generally tip more than that, or felt you got exceptional service, you can always leave a little extra.

Asking whether you're on the plan up front is probably more to guide you through what you can and can't do on the dining plan. I would hope there aren't servers who snub tables on the plan. (If you find one, instead of affecting the tip, you can still offer "incentive" by asking to speak with a manager.)

For the mostpart, having your server know you're on the plan up front can actually work out for you. As they also have a horse in the race (their tip is based on your total bill), they'll be more likely to help you get everything you're entitled to get on the plan.

 

[BeckWhy]

After reading what many have said... about bad service and the like... I discussed it with my boyfriend, and we agreed that if the service is deserving we will tip an extra $5.

My assumption is that if people tip an extra amount due to good service, then it might get the wait staff out of doing this "oh, I get tipped anyway, so I'm not gonna give you good service..." or whatever type of deal.

 

[musicmama]

When we went last Christmas on the DP, we left $5 - $10 cash if the service was worth it, based on the total food bill. Looking over my receipts and notes, we did that at Whispering Canyon, CRT breakfast, CP breakfast and Le Cellier dinner. We also ate dinner at CRT where DD and I had the slipper (ordered in advance, paid for separately at dinner time) and we had the best waiter/CM ever (and I do mean ever). The slipper bill did not have a gratuity already calculated, which surprised me, so I just added $ 25. as a tip. We felt he was worth the extra - he made our Christmas dinner a great experience and the DP was only giving 15% then.

A couple of places were not so great service-wise and we didn't leave anything extra.

 

[WDWCommandos]

Last year my DH and I went to Disney with free DDP. All was great at the restaurants until we ate at the San Angel Inn. My DH made a comment to our waiter about how the staff must love the free dining promo., bringing in more business for them, more tips for them.
Well, his answer to us is that they had the same amount of business and that they didn't like the DDP. DDP reservations we taking up the space of the regular paying people reservations and that Epcot's restaurants are not actually a part of Disney and that they only get like 50% of the bill reimbursed from Disney. So that affects their tips. So, if we spent $80.00 on our meal,under DDP, Disney would reimburse them $40.00. And the waiter would only get a $4.00 tip instead of an $8.00 tip if we had paid the whole bill ourselves. (Did all that make sense? I was also using average numbers, so you can do the math!) This man was in no way rude about it. I guess it had been bothering him and he wanted to vent!
I don't know if this is true but what he said made us feel a little guilty as we are good tippers normally. So we left him an additional $5.00. And continued to leave additional money for the rest of our trip!
Can anyone else here confirm or deny this??
I would like to know if it's true!

 

[JimMIA]

Last year my DH and I went to Disney with free DDP. All was great at the restaurants until we ate at the San Angel Inn. My DH made a comment to our waiter about how the staff must love the free dining promo., bringing in more business for them, more tips for them.
Well, his answer to us is that they had the same amount of business and that they didn't like the DDP. DDP reservations we taking up the space of the regular paying people reservations and that Epcot's restaurants are not actually a part of Disney and that they only get like 50% of the bill reimbursed from Disney. So that affects their tips. So, if we spent $80.00 on our meal,under DDP, Disney would reimburse them $40.00. And the waiter would only get a $4.00 tip instead of an $8.00 tip if we had paid the whole bill ourselves. (Did all that make sense? I was also using average numbers, so you can do the math!) This man was in no way rude about it. I guess it had been bothering him and he wanted to vent!
I don't know if this is true but what he said made us feel a little guilty as we are good tippers normally. So we left him an additional $5.00. And continued to leave additional money for the rest of our trip!
Can anyone else here confirm or deny this??
I would like to know if it's true!

I think that may be true in a few DTD restaurants, but not Epcot. I've heard that some places at DTD only gave their CMs 18% of the $22 Disney paid them for the food.

When we dined at Epcot, all of the dollar amounts of the tips were shown (on the first bill, as mentioned above) and they were 18% of the food & bev bill. If they are showing us 18% and giving the CM less, thats pretty sleezy. Also pretty criminal, I'd bet. I doubt if that's actually happening.

 

[JimMIA]

We did not notice any decrease in service in our May trip. If anything, we found the waitstaff to be very cordial and eager to decipher the DDP for us as it applied at their restaurant.

We usually tip 20%, and that posed a little problem for us. 2% of a $100 food bill is only $2.00, and when you pull those two dollar bills out of your pocket, it really seems like a cheezy tip. So we usually left an additional $5, and in one case $10. I know we over-tipped, but none of the CMs seemed offended.

 

[DiszyDean]

I only add an additional tip if I order something OOP that is not part of the dining plan.

This is how I think of it. The food at Disney is generally overpriced. That is the premium you pay for eating at Disney. Thats fine.

Eating at a good Disney resteraunt, a family of 4 can easily rack up a bill of $200. The wait staff also benefits from the premium price of the food within their tip. At 18% for a $200 check, the waiter or waitress is bringing in $36 in tips. Not too shabby for a guaranteed tip for a hour to hour and a half of work for one table. And I have never seen a waiter or waitress with just one table at Disney. I think that amount is sufficient for even good service.

At home, where prices are a little more reasonable and the wait staff does not realize that premium, I will tip extra for excellent service. At Disney, I expect excellent service for what they are already being offered.

Then again, I could be a cheapskate..

 

[Lewisc]

It may have changed in 2006 but in 2005 the non-Disney restaurants, not sure about Le-Cellier, didn't even give us a bill that showed the total amount of the bill or the tip. I'm very sure that restaurants like Chefs De France based the tip on what Disney was paying the restaurant.

THIS DOESN'T APPLY TO DISNEY OWNED RESTAURANTS LIKE CORAL REEF.

I think that may be true in a few DTD restaurants, but not Epcot. I've heard that some places at DTD only gave their CMs 18% of the $22 Disney paid them for the food.

When we dined at Epcot, all of the dollar amounts of the tips were shown (on the first bill, as mentioned above) and they were 18% of the food & bev bill. If they are showing us 18% and giving the CM less, thats pretty sleezy. Also pretty criminal, I'd bet. I doubt if that's actually happening.

 

[beattyfamily]

Depending on the service, I do leave a bit more cash on the table before I leave.

 

[The Sweetness]

Why would they auto-add an extra tip on additional things I order to pay OOP? What if I dont feel the server deserves it? (slow, inattentive etc...)

 

[PortieOwner]

I tipped extra every place we ate on the dining plan except LeCellier where the service was not so great. One of the servers was surprised I left $5 extra at a character meal and came after me to tell me they already got a gratuity from the plan.

 

[salmoneous]

At 18% for a $200 check, the waiter or waitress is bringing in $36 in tips. Not too shabby for a guaranteed tip for a hour to hour and a half of work for one table. And I have never seen a waiter or waitress with just one table at Disney. I think that amount is sufficient for even good service.

Remember that the waitstaff doesn't keep the whole tip. It has to be shared with all the non-tipped staff, busboys, etc.

 

[LandBoatRide]

Yes, depending on the restaurant, a server may have to tip out a busser, food runner and/or bartender.

Tipping extra when using the dining plan is in no way required or even expected. However, a couple bucks extra (no more than $4-$5) tells the server thanks for great service even though you knew it was already included. Again, not necessary.

Just to reiterate, my experience is that CM's would ask about the plan to make sure the guest is using it properly (ensure the guest knows that this is a table service restaurant, that they get appetizer, entree, dessert, and drink etc. etc).

Last point - sometimes a server will present the check with no gratuity included, even if they know you are on the dining plan. This is not to trick you into thinking it isnt included. Rather, the server is waiting to make sure the check does not have to be split (say you were a party of 6 and had 3 people covered on each hotel room card - check would need to be split into 2 separate checks to run both cards). A server cannot easily split a check once gratuity is included (must track down a manager to first remove the gratuity before they can split the check).

 

[AuroraBorealis]

We just got back from WDW where we were on the dining plan.

We did leave extra several times because we had exceptional service (Le Celliar) or experiences (Chefs, WCC) or both (Jiko) but we did not leave extra when we had sub-par service (Boma) because of the included gratuity. In fact, the included gratuity at Boma was more than we would have left if we paid OOP. Our waitress was beyond horrible!

At all but one place we ate at, anything we ordered off the DDP (wine) came with an 18% gratuity added on the the bill. The only place it didn't was WCC and I don't know if this is up to each individual waiter or what. Regardless, we always tipped extra because we were so impressed (except for Boma.)

We always tip 20 to 25% anyway and felt 18% was a bit low. I think we were also inspired to leave a bit extra because we felt we were getting such a great deal on the dining plan. (I don't know if that is true or not, but it is how we felt. I'm still adding up numbers to see how great a deal we got.) We also left extra because waiters depend on their tips. I have a friend from Florida and she told me waiters got paid less than minimum wage because their tips were supposed to cover the rest. Somebody please correct me if I am wrong about this.

Bottom line: tip for things not included on the dining plan and feel free to leave extra if you had an exceptional server to let them know they did a great job.