Surprised! 6mos old considered 6th person re: tip

[LBelle]

Was at Disney April 30th-May 7th. Used to go yearly but haven't been in almost 5 years. Some great new things, some...not so magical.

We were a party of 4 adults, one 4yr old and one infant. On dining plan.

Was a little surprised to find out that the 6month old in a stroller was considered the 6th diner and therefore had the automatic 18% gratuity added to our bill!

Also wasnt thrilled to see that, on the bill, they had the subtotal, then the amount of the 18% tip and THEN the entire bill was taxed.

From someone who has worked in the business for years, I have never heard of taxing a tip. Just a heads up to folks about this stuff.

Everything else was pure Disney heaven!

 

[Leveretttltl]

As a former server, then restaurant manger, I would have never included or allowed my staff to include a 6 month old when factoring the number of guests. That's crazy!

 

[supersnoop]

From a quick search, I can see this discussed back in 2008, so it's not new. Disney has always counted heads; it's not just how many are eating, but how many they have to clean up after, and how many they can allow in per fire code.

But, for the tax, be sure you calculate it out yourself. The tax should be 6.5% of the subtotal without the tip. It might be listed after the tip, but it shouldn't include the tip.

 

[BigAlsGal]

Was at Disney April 30th-May 7th. Used to go yearly but haven't been in almost 5 years. Some great new things, some...not so magical.

We were a party of 4 adults, one 4yr old and one infant. On dining plan.

Was a little surprised to find out that the 6month old in a stroller was considered the 6th diner and therefore had the automatic 18% gratuity added to our bill!

Also wasnt thrilled to see that, on the bill, they had the subtotal, then the amount of the 18% tip and THEN the entire bill was taxed.

From someone who has worked in the business for years, I have never heard of taxing a tip. Just a heads up to folks about this stuff.

Everything else was pure Disney heaven!

Agreed. Rediculous to count a baby as a 6th person. That being said whether or not you had five or six people you should always leave a good tip. The only thing I disapprove of when including a tip on the bill is when they don't tell you it's already been added in. It's completely shady.

 

[POOHsie]

The baby won't make a tip cost more, since he/she won't have a meal charge. I assure you both the tip and the tax are based on the subtotal. The receipt doesn't spell it out for you line-by-line, but I've checked the math for myself. Take one of your receipts and check the numbers.

The baby is included in the seat count because of fire code limiting room occupancy. Disney restaurants are usually full, so a count of occupants is important. If you didn't include your infant on your reservation, yet you needed a space for their stroller or a high chair, you might need a bigger table than what was planned for your party. In that case you might have a delay getting seated, or some other party would lose the table they had reserved, in order to accommodate your party.

 

[maxiesmom]

As a former server, then restaurant manger, I would have never included or allowed my staff to include a 6 month old when factoring the number of guests. That's crazy!

It has been that way at WDW for many many years. It is not new.

 

[LilyWDW]

It has been that way at WDW for many many years. It is not new.

And I have seen it outside of Disney so it's not all that odd in my opinion. In fact, I can't contemplate why people would think otherwise.

 

[mom2of2]

It's not hidden, in fact it is printed on every single TS menu

 

[nugov2]

I would be surprised if you paid tax on the tip. Like others have stated it is probably just listed that way. It personally wouldn't bother me to have a tip added on to bill at any time and unless you had horrible service I don't understand why people get upset by the gratuity being added on. If it was bad I would just speak with the manager.

 

[thebutlerdidit]

On Mothers Day we ate at Hollywood and Vine and I asked the server why the 2 y/o was added to make the tip automatic. Her answer was if they take up a seat they count. It is company policy.

 

[6disneykids]

As a family of 8, we ALWAYS get the 6+ automatic gratuity, at many restaurants in our hometown, not just at Disney. We even got that when we were just a family of 6 with a child under the age of one. Some restaurants look as though the tax on the amount with the automatic gratuity, but we usually do the math to ensure that we weren't taxed on the tip, and we haven't been

 

[Globalfootprint]

Was at Disney April 30th-May 7th. Used to go yearly but haven't been in almost 5 years. Some great new things, some...not so magical.

We were a party of 4 adults, one 4yr old and one infant. On dining plan.

Was a little surprised to find out that the 6month old in a stroller was considered the 6th diner and therefore had the automatic 18% gratuity added to our bill!

Oh my goodness...

I would of been outraged.. I think that is absurd.

 

[maxiesmom]

Oh my goodness...

I would of been outraged.. I think that is absurd.

Being outraged would do no good. That has been the rule for quite some time.

Globalfootprint I think from this, and other posts from you, you need to do a lot more research on your trip. I would hate for it to be ruined because you were unaware of charges, or of how things work in general.

 

[Disneyaddictz]

We always intend on leaving 18% at LEAST so automatic or not doesn't bother us, if you have less then stellar service you can always speak to a manager about overriding the service charge....

 

[ericstac]

why do yall say 6 or more? We were charged gratuity for 4 adults and a child. I figured this was the norm.. also since I was checking my receipts I calculated ours because the way it is printed it does look like its tip then taxed but it isn't.. its tip on sub, tax on sub, then added all together..

but the gratuity thing has me confused...

 

[ericstac]

nevermind, just searched and found the almight tipping thread

http://www.www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2300858

I'm a TIW so I automatically get gratuity included.. bummer for the server.

 

[mom2of2]

nevermind, just searched and found the almight tipping thread

http://www.www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2300858

I'm a TIW so I automatically get gratuity included.. bummer for the server.

just out of courisity...why bummer for the server?

 

[purple figment]

Oh my goodness...

I would of been outraged.. I think that is absurd.

I see you are from Australia where tipping is less common. There is a tipping sticky on the Restaurants forum that might help you understand the basics of tipping and gratuities in DW. If you have additional questions about tips you can ask on that thread which is linked in the post just above this one.

 

[catra121]

just out of courisity...why bummer for the server?

Not the person you were quoting...but for me it would be bummer for the server because I typically tip 20% so 18% is less. If service is outstanding I still add more...but if it was just okay I leave it as is even though I would normally do 20%. But I know enough to know that in the grand scheme of things they are probably making out better overall because a lot of people tip just 15% or even less.

 

[GillianP1301]

I find it a bit odd that an infant would be included in the head count for gratuity, but it wouldn't outrage me. At the end of the day, I'm going to leave a tip whether it's automatically added or not and the 18% is calculated on the meals ordered so the infant would have $0 allocated to them anyway, so it's a wash in the end. If the service wasn't up to par and something I wouldn't leave 18% for and I was a party of 6+, then I would take it up with the Manager at that point.