Gratuities and Tipping !

[TiggerDad3]

My question is simply this Is there anyone out there who does not believe in tipping?

I am not asking because I don't tip, but I was raised in a family who did not tip at all....ever.

I will say this.. I tip less when I am at Disney because I feel that I have already paid for the experience and when they put a premium price on the food in the parks, then I am not tipping based on percentages.

For example if my family of 4 eats somewhere like Chefs De France, and our bill is 160.00 on the deluxe dining plan... that is at $32.00 at 20%... NO WAY, I just can't afford that... now if I stay 14 nights on the DxDP and the total amount of food consumed by our family of 4 totals up to $5,000.. which it will at least be... at 18% that is $900.00, that is just insane.

I guess it is fine if this is something you can afford, but goodness.. we can't, and I know this is not something that the average person can justify either. Going to Disney alone is out of most peoples budget, and scraping the dollars together to take the big vacation is very hard.

I am sure this subject has been addressed before but I could not find it, so just wanted to get others thoughts and see if there were others who felt like me and don't tip the percentage at disney, or those who just don't believe in tipping?

 

[Luv2Roam]

Get your flame suit on.

Let the show begin.

 

[TiggerDad3]

Get your flame suit on.

Let the show begin.

Yes... I know, but I believe that is one of the most relevant issues that people face and feel pressured by.

I have worked as a server in a restauant .... so I am definately not suggesting that anyone go out and start stiffing or be cheaper than you need to be.

 

[Sysyphus]

Seems to me that anyone who can afford to take a family of four to WDW on the deluxe dining plan for two weeks shouldn't be too stretched to come up with a few hundred in tips over the course of that vacation

 

[Mackey Mouse]

No flaming from me.. and I hope not from anyone else..

Look, I think tipping is voluntary...if you cannot afford 20%, then do what you can afford or not.

I always tip 20%, but my Mom was a waitress her whole life.. she worked hard for the money, and I can afford to reward the server with 20% providing they have given me that kind of service. I have never not left a tip, but if it is bad, I have left 10%......which almost kills me to do considering my family background.

 

[TDC Nala]

It's voluntary, but etiquette-wise it's rotten to leave nothing unless the service was bottom-of-the barrel abysmal.

I am the first to say that if you don't feel you can afford the tips, I'd suggest not using the dining plan and eating in affordable places. But unless there are 6 or more people in the party the amount you tip at WDW is up to you.

 

[stan]

I know the meals are a bit pricey at WDW, but generally these prices do not get handed down to the staff on a proportional basis.

While I am tempted at times to pay a bit less than usual, I just factor in the cost of tipping along with the rest when I estimate my costs for TS. Also, when we go to WDW, about 3/4 of our meals are CS, which do not require tipping. On this trip we just came back from last weekend (4 people, 4 days) we did breakfast in the rooms and spent a total (including our breakfasts) of about $400-$500 on food. I would say at least $200-$300 of that was counter service which did not require tipping.

IMHO the CMs, waiters, and staff at Disney restaurants are the ones who really work with the customers and make the magic come true, so they deserve every tip they get. When I go out for a nice meal outside of Disney I assume I will be paying a pricey tip, and I just do the same when I am in WDW. They help give the magic to me - I just want to give a little back.

 

[deltachi8]

If you can't afford a 15%-20% tip, then yo can;t afford the meal, DDP or not.

Stick to conter service then.

 

[patsal]

I'd skip the DDP in any form before I would skip tipping. Since I know that tips are relied upon as part of the wage it is my responsibility as a patron to leave a fair tip--not the way I'd like to see it set up but the reality, so I deal with it.
I do not presume to tell others what they can and can not afford, and if you're already stretching your budget to the gills I can understand why you might be tempted to not incur the incidental charges associated with tipping, however, it is important to note that perhaps you'd be better served by not eating at places that would require a tip (CRT, HDDR, Luau, room service if yur staying deluxe). You posted this , I would hope because the idea of not tipping was bothering you and you were hoping to get responses that would either comfort you or push you into tipping . Either way I'd rethink the dining plan if I were not prepared to tip at least the minimum expected for good service.

 

[JimMIA]

I was brought up in a family which was relatively poor, but never cheap. You'll have to excuse me, but I never got over my upbringing.

For our family, the tip is part of the cost of the meal. If we can't afford the price of the meal with tip, we can't afford to eat there and we select another restaurant that we can afford.

If you can't afford Chefs, eat somewhere you can afford...pretty simple concept, really.

 

[TiggerDad3]

Just to clarify -

I posted this question and gave my oppinion on the matter to promote the conversation of a relevant issue that the majority of people deal with and ponder over.

I never cease to be amazed at how pretentious certain people can be!

I do however appreciate the productive converstation from some of the responses, that may be useful for all people reading this thread.

For now I will just sit back and enjoy the conversation.
Being rather new to these boards, I will at least know for the future, who can give an oppinion and participate in conversation without being pretentious toward the others in here and those who cannot!

 

[TDC Nala]

This is already getting pretty close to going the way of most of all the other tipping threads and it's not even 2 pages yet...be mindful of your posts, y'all, before you hit that post button.

 

[Mackey Mouse]

TiggerDad3, first let me say welcome to the Dis!!!!! I did not notice your post count until you informed us that you were new.

Second.....since you are new, I have to tell you this is one of the most touchy subjects on the Dining Board.....which you can already see by some of the responses here. I hope I did not seem to be pretentious, I was actually being very truthful in my response.

I did notice, and I was not on the Dining plan this past week, that whenever we charged our meals, which we did at all the restaurants, have to get those American Express points, it was clearly spelled out at the bottom of the charge slip what was suggested for tips... I believe there were choices of amounts.. I know it made it easy for us to figure the 20%, it was right there in clear print....

I have to say I thought that was a bit pretentious on the part of Disney, but then I would never punish the server for what Disney does. I guess they want to make sure their servers get tipped and I am sure they are not paid well salarywise and count on these tips...

 

[TiggerDad3]

TiggerDad3, first let me say welcome to the Dis!!!!! I did not notice your post count until you informed us that you were new.

Second.....since you are new, I have to tell you this is one of the most touchy subjects on the Dining Board.....which you can already see by some of the responses here. I hope I did not seem to be pretentious, I was actually being very truthful in my response.

I did notice, and I was not on the Dining plan this past week, that whenever we charged our meals, which we did at all the restaurants, have to get those American Express points, it was clearly spelled out at the bottom of the charge slip what was suggested for tips... I believe there were choices of amounts.. I know it made it easy for us to figure the 20%, it was right there in clear print....

I have to say I thought that was a bit pretentious on the part of Disney, but then I would never punish the server for what Disney does. I guess they want to make sure their servers get tipped and I am sure they are not paid well salarywise and count on these tips...

Thank you very much for the welcome, and to let you know, your comments have been very on topic and polite

 

[jennifer293]

My question is simply this Is there anyone out there who does not believe in tipping?

I am not asking because I don't tip, but I was raised in a family who did not tip at all....ever.

I will say this.. I tip less when I am at Disney because I feel that I have already paid for the experience and when they put a premium price on the food in the parks, then I am not tipping based on percentages.

For example if my family of 4 eats somewhere like Chefs De France, and our bill is 160.00 on the deluxe dining plan... that is at $32.00 at 20%... NO WAY, I just can't afford that... now if I stay 14 nights on the DxDP and the total amount of food consumed by our family of 4 totals up to $5,000.. which it will at least be... at 18% that is $900.00, that is just insane.

I guess it is fine if this is something you can afford, but goodness.. we can't, and I know this is not something that the average person can justify either. Going to Disney alone is out of most peoples budget, and scraping the dollars together to take the big vacation is very hard.

I am sure this subject has been addressed before but I could not find it, so just wanted to get others thoughts and see if there were others who felt like me and don't tip the percentage at disney, or those who just don't believe in tipping?

** Be careful....they may post pictures of you around in the kitchens where you have future ADR's and give you intentional bad service because you didn't tip 20%..

Just kidding.. I feel the same way you do. I don't think that the price of your meal should reflect how much a person is left. I do tip, and I tip based on the level of service that I get. Sometimes it is more than normal and sometimes it is way less, but never based on a percentage of the food I bought. Give what you are comfortable giving and have a magical day!!!

 

[TiggerDad3]

** Be careful....they may post pictures of you around in the kitchens where you have future ADR's and give you intentional bad service because you didn't tip 20%..

 

[ems_mom]

You were "raised in a family that did not tip....ever" ???

Hmm...

 

[TiggerDad3]

You were "raised in a family that did not tip....ever" ???

Hmm...

Yes, it was not easy, and it still is not.
So when the end of the meal comes no matter what I know who is getting the tip.
But that is OK... I Love my family

 

[patsal]

Welcome , and if I offended I certainly didn't mean to!

 

[annie1995]

I personally feel tips should be based on service first and foremost, then percentage of the meal.................If I have a excellent server I will most definately tip over the 20%. If my service is lacking, like having to chase them down for drink refills or BBQ sauce that was forgotten and reminded about and forgotten about again for my 9 year olds chicken nuggets I'll tip less, plain and simple .