information on tipping

[Tricia1972]

... Back when Disney considered age twelve to be the 'right' cut-off point for restaurant pricing, it would seem there were enough complaints about the discrepancy ("My eleven year old is a child according to your menu pricing, but an adult when it comes time to buy her park ticket?") that they chose to standardize this age cut.

I agree with this completely! It's actually a point that I have attempted to make on occasion in regards to the Jr Pricing Menu idea and (one reason) why I believe that it wouldn't work at Disney. I also believe that is why V&A's cuts off at 10 too. Disney needs to be consistent to avoid complaints.

Most likely, most people who complained were hoping Disney would raise the park ticket age cut to twelve; instead, they dropped the restaurant age to ten.

Once again proving, be careful what you wish for.

Same here.....it used to be 10....now it's eight at a lot of places. Disney is the only place that 6 is considered large.

For our area, Madison and Chicago I've always found this to be true where we dine too. I know this because we're usually a party of 6 or 7 by the time we get my family seated with us.

 

[TLSnell1981]

After the couple of comments that I've received from a couple of different posts, I think I will just tell the waiter or waitress that I have the gift card for their tip at the beginnning of the meal. Why make them wonder?! You can get these gift cards at any Disney Store; I bought mine at the one in the Walden Galleria in Buffalo and according to their staff we should be able to use them just about anywhere at Disney.

I am confused by your statement. I don't understand why the customer has to go out of it's way to make things so much easier for their server. They are servers......that is their job. If they do a good job most people will leave an ample gratuity. Period. Now, we are supposed to alert the server BEFORE our meal as to how the gratuity will be paid and how much?

 

[okiegirl]

We wrote cash on the ticket at the end of the meal and left the appropriate amount or what we felt they deserved. (Never left anything less than 18%) We had great service and never had any misunderstandings about the tips. We did end up with 9 extra CS meals at the end of our stay. Still haven't figured out what happened there.

 

[sorul82?]

Now, we are supposed to alert the server BEFORE our meal as to how the gratuity will be paid and how much?

If using the DDP, then yes, from what I have read, you have to do this at the beginning of the meal.

 

[disneydreamgirl]

Just to be clear, my main motivation on letting a server know at the beginning of a meal was also to avoid the annoyance of the question being asked by every server I encounter!

 

[disneydreamgirl]

Oh and I also won't be telling them how much I'll be tipping, just that I will be and on a gift card!

 

[Gubblebum]

What is considered the standard tipping percentage for the buffet-style meals like at Hollywood & Vine? We're doing a couple of dinners like this in a few weeks on the DDP and I'm trying to figure out how much to put aside for dining tips.

 

[Tess'smom]

If using the DDP, then yes, from what I have read, you have to do this at the beginning of the meal.

I can't imagine that you have to declare how you will be paying your tip at the beginning of the meal if you are on or off the dining plan. That doesn't seem right.

 

[sorul82?]

I can't imagine that you have to declare how you will be paying your tip at the beginning of the meal if you are on or off the dining plan. That doesn't seem right.

I know! It's really turning people off! I'll post some links of folks who have recently returned.....

 

[TLSnell1981]

If I am required to add my "gratuity" before dining....I guess I will tell the server....I am not a psychic and therefore will decline to leave a tip.

 

[okiegirl]

The only thing that is asked of you before you order is if you are on the dining plan or not. I notified them when the check was brought that I would be paying cash for the tip, then wrote cash on the tip line. We had no problems with confusion or mix-ups. The buffets also have the suggested 18% and 20% amounts on the tickets, I left the 18% most of the time, but we had outstanding service at the buffets. Never had to ask for refills, extras were brought to our table quickly and plates removed very fast. But by paying cash you choose the amount that you want.

 

[disneydreamgirl]

That's great to hear! We're pretty easy going, but a few of the stories we've heard have had me wondering. We leave in 15 days and are really looking forward to a great trip!

 

[SplashMountainMama]

We just returned and I am happy to report that I was stressed out about tipping for no reason. We had, what I thought would be, a complicated situation...10 people dining, 2 not on plan, 7 on plan and 1 infant. The 7 of us on the plan were 1 family split into 2 rooms. First of all, ASMovies made it really easy on us by making our KTTW cards state 3A 4C so that we didn't have to worry about paying with credits on 2 different rooms. That was already different from our 1st trip where we had to juggle credits between 2 rooms at each meal. Secondly, every server did throw in a reminder about tip, but nobody made a big deal about stressing the tip they just kind of threw in the reminder. Also, I expected that both bills would have auto grat since the reservations were for 10, but at some restaurants the server didn't add the auto grat to my parents' bill since they were only 2. Other restaurants did add it to theirs. It didn't bother them either way since they usually tip more than 18% anyways. After I was given the initial bill I just informed the server to charge the grat. to my room key and after that it was no big deal. It wasn't an issue of the server having to go back and forth as was reported so I think they've worked out some of the initial kinks. I had gone with the intention of paying cash for tips, but charging it to the room made it so much easier. This was the first time we have used the option of charging things to the room and boy is it dangerous!!!