Guesstimates on tip cost for 8 days of DDP?

[Happyjen27]

I was just reading the "How much do you usually spend at Disney" thread and realized that I haven't developed any guess for how much we're going to spend in tips. HELP!!

We are going to be on DDP for 8 nights, here are our restaurants:

Chef Mickey
Tusker House
'Ohana
Whispering Canyon
Via Napoli
CRT
Hollywood and Vine
1900 Park Fare

(yes, that adds up to more than 8 and we're OOP)

Anyway, roughly what would I pay in tips at the 18-22% range. I've never been to the World, and short of looking up each menu and guessing what we would get (although it would be fun to do, and then see how right I am, LOL) I'd love a rough guess.

And, definately NOT to stir up controversy, but at what rate does one tip a buffet in the World?

 

[At World's End]

It depends on how many people are in your group, will you be ordering alcohol, etc. are you doing TS for lunch or dinner?

 

[Happyjen27]

LOL, okay, better details:

2 adults, 2 kids. The odd alcohol here and there for DH at dinner.

CM: dinner
TH: breakfast
'Ohana: dinner
WCC: lunch
VNapoli: lunch
CRT: lunch (Oooh, is this where the tip is included? )
H&V: bfast
1900 PF: Bfast

 

[goofyredraider]

What I did last trip was just guesstimate $25-30 per meal (we are a family of 5). Some were more, some were less (depending), but that figure worked well for us (13 days on on the DP).

 

[DisneyFansInLINY]

I actually just checked menus and guessed what we would order and then added 18% gratuity as that is what will be added to our bill when we use our Tables in Wonderland card. I did this to make sure I purchased enough discounted Disney gift cards to cover everything. The average tip was like the PP wrote; $25-$30. We are 2 adults and DD 5, DS 1. DH and I both order alcoholic beverages. And my estimates also included an appetizer each and dessert each plus for the kids. Will all of us order apps and desserts? Probably not and DS might even share off DD's plate. But I just wanted to estimate the highest possible price for each meal. Also, the buffets are a set price so it is much easier to figure out those tips without guessing what everyone will order.

 

[ekatiel]

We are 2A and 2K, also. The last time we were there was Dec. 2010, so my estimate may be a teeny bit low, but we seemed to average $20-$25 per meal. We did not order anything extra (no alcholic drinks, etc), just the regular DDP. --Katie

 

[Keishag]

I've been curious about this too. Or got how much we budgeted last time.

 

[MomofKatie]

It should be pretty easy to figure tips- almost all of your meals are buffets/family style restaurants. Those type of restaurants are one set price- you only add on any alcoholc beverages. Look on any of the Disney planning sites and get the prices from the menus. Estimate your "normal" tip amount (we almost always tip around 18-20% at home and do the same at WDW).

Based on your choices, you should expect to pay the following for tips:

CM dinner- $21-27, depending on addition of alcoholic beverage
TH b'fast- $17- 21
'Ohana dinner- $20-25, depending on addition of alcoholic beverage
WCC lunch- $12-18, depending on whether you get appetizers, dessert, etc
Via Napoli lunch- $15-20, depending on whether you get appetizers, dessert, etc
CRT- tip included already, nothing extra.
H&V b'fast- $16-19
1900 PF b'fast- $14-17

I'd figure on about $150- most likely you will spend a little less than that.

 

[comicguy]

I always figure just about 25 dollars per sit down meal for the three of us (3 adults)

 

[merbobear]

What I do is look at the menus of the restaurants we will have our ADR's at. I have used http://allears.net/menu/menus.htm in the past, but I'm sure there are other sites out there with menus/prices.

Just figure out what you will be spending on meals at each restaurant (buffets are easy, for plated entree restaurants you will have to guess what you most likely will eat). Then figure out your tip. At WDW the checks list a suggested tip of 18%, but you are free to leave more or less (unless you have a larger party in which cause they do the auto gratuity).

I actually take it a step further, and I make a spreadsheet with all of our ADR times, confirmation #s, dates, prices & projected tip amount.

 

[Happyjen27]

Thank you everyone!!

 

[debidigidelights]

Oh my just looked over my budget plans and forgot to add a line for tips.. Shame on me. So glad I ran across this thread. Went to Disney for 25th anniversary and made up tip envelopes for dinners and for room service and cleaning, included in each was the tip and also a gift from New Orleans, something special because of our anniversary. Going again to WDW in February will be our 35th Anniversary, but this time taking D, SIL and GD 12. So will be staying a little closer to budget.. So still time to plan ahead... adding my tip line to my spreadsheet now.

 

[Alesia]

Oh my just looked over my budget plans and forgot to add a line for tips.. Shame on me. So glad I ran across this thread. Went to Disney for 25th anniversary and made up tip envelopes for dinners and for room service and cleaning, included in each was the tip and also a gift from New Orleans, something special because of our anniversary. Going again to WDW in February will be our 35th Anniversary, but this time taking D, SIL and GD 12. So will be staying a little closer to budget.. So still time to plan ahead... adding my tip line to my spreadsheet now.

Please don't give servers tips in envelopes. They tend to get thrown away.

 

[KiKi Mouse]

We just got back from the World.

Factor in approximately $20/TS meal.

We are a family of five.