The Disney Tipping Info Thread *Updated 9.1.09*

[honeymo78]

I understand they will expect the 18%, but if we do not give the 18%, are they allowed to charge it to the KTTW without our signature?

That I don't know, but since they have your room information from charging the DDP I wouldn't be surprised if there wasn't something noted at the hotel. Not paying the included grat would be considering skipping out on part of the bill. I have no idea what disney's policy is on people who leave without paying the bill.

 

[Tricia1972]

Unless a manager agrees to a reduced amount, then you are expected to pay the balance of your bill (which would include the 18% gratuity) Skipping out on a portion does usually result in the balance being charged back to your room.

As the PP said, addressing the problem with management as its occurring generally results in rectification of the problem.

 

[imthatgirl]

Can you put cash on your KTTW card instead of a credit card? We have gone through some financial hardship and do not have any credit cards at this time. We'd rather NOT carry cash if at all possible. Anyone know if this is possible?

in order to be able to charge with the room key you need to give the resort a credit card. but you can pay it off in cash the day before you leave and nothing will be charged to the card.

 

[ajsmommy1129]

Unless a manager agrees to a reduced amount, then you are expected to pay the balance of your bill (which would include the 18% gratuity) Skipping out on a portion does usually result in the balance being charged back to your room.

As the PP said, addressing the problem with management as its occurring generally results in rectification of the problem.

We would obviously address with management, as we have before. If a manager does not agree, this is something we would then dispute with MasterCard (since our KTTW is paid w/our MC). We do not have any trouble with tipping when service is good, but we have had 2 servers who were just horrible. I really hope we don't have that problem again, but better to be aware of how to handle the situation. I don't consider not tipping 18% for bad service "skipping out" of the bill, BTW.

 

[honeymo78]

Under normal circumstances not tipping 18% isn't skipping out on a bill. However, when dining at disney (or any other location) that requires a mandatory tip based on party size - that tip is indeed part of your bill and will be considered skipping out on the bill. At home (NOT at disney), we have seen patrons detained and security called once when a party refused to pay a mandatory. I doubt disney would immediately jump to that extreme, but I'm sure they have methods of enforcing payment of a bill. Again the tip for parties of 6 or more isn't optional without prior management approval. If you do not agree with that particular rule, then I would recommend splitting your party up into groups of less than 6 (including children and infants).

 

[DuckFace]

This has likely been answered before on here - but, does anyone know if during Free Dining you can pay the tip with a credit or debit card? Thanks!

 

[Tricia1972]

This has likely been answered before on here - but, does anyone know if during Free Dining you can pay the tip with a credit or debit card? Thanks!

Yes you can.

 

[firsttimerw2]

My family and I (group of 10) will be going back to "The World" this May and are planning on doing the Disney dinning plan because we loved it last time..I have been reading everyones post all day trying to get more information on the tipping, but i am still lost. We are a group over 6 so i get that we will automatically be charged the tip amount, however if we book seperate reservations and not sit together can we get around that. If we cant will our tip be off of a total combined amount of all of us or seperate per resort room, we are divided into 3 rooms??? If you mark cash on your receipt as everyone is saying to what is keeping you leaving whatever you think is appropriate after the meal??? It sounds depressing thinking we are going to be paying 700 - 800 on tips---i know it was in the amount before but i guess it is just seeing it outright...... Please help us out with any information that you have or any TIPS you can give me !

 

[Tricia1972]

My family and I (group of 10) will be going back to "The World" this May and are planning on doing the Disney dinning plan because we loved it last time..I have been reading everyones post all day trying to get more information on the tipping, but i am still lost. We are a group over 6 so i get that we will automatically be charged the tip amount, however if we book seperate reservations and not sit together can we get around that. If we cant will our tip be off of a total combined amount of all of us or seperate per resort room, we are divided into 3 rooms??? If you mark cash on your receipt as everyone is saying to what is keeping you leaving whatever you think is appropriate after the meal??? It sounds depressing thinking we are going to be paying 700 - 800 on tips---i know it was in the amount before but i guess it is just seeing it outright...... Please help us out with any information that you have or any TIPS you can give me !

Your bill will have a balance due for your 18% gratuity. Let's pretend that your bill (for your part/portion alone) is $100. You will have a balance due of $18.

If you are paying cash for tip while using the DDP, you will be expected to give that cash at the time you give your KTTW card to use credits for your meal.

If you are paying cash for the tip and charging the rest to a credit card, you will be expected to pay the cash at the time you give the credit card to pay for your meal.

If you are paying cash for the whole meal you will be expected to pay for the entire balance at the time you give the cash to your server to pay for the meal.

It's not too bad, having the auto gratuity, anyway. Over the course of your trip if you were to pay a 15% tip and your total would be $700-$800 in tips - your total increase it $21-$24 for the whole trip (paying 18%).

If the service is bad, as it's been mentioned before, please talk to a manager as you are receiving the bad service. You can get tips reduced down if you're receiving bad service and deal with it at the time by talking to a manager.

 

[imthatgirl]

My family and I (group of 10) will be going back to "The World" this May and are planning on doing the Disney dinning plan because we loved it last time..I have been reading everyones post all day trying to get more information on the tipping, but i am still lost. We are a group over 6 so i get that we will automatically be charged the tip amount, however if we book seperate reservations and not sit together can we get around that. If we cant will our tip be off of a total combined amount of all of us or seperate per resort room, we are divided into 3 rooms??? If you mark cash on your receipt as everyone is saying to what is keeping you leaving whatever you think is appropriate after the meal??? It sounds depressing thinking we are going to be paying 700 - 800 on tips---i know it was in the amount before but i guess it is just seeing it outright...... Please help us out with any information that you have or any TIPS you can give me !

if you have 3 seperate room reservations then you will be presented with 3 seperate bills, just let the waiter know whos who ahead of time. each of those 3 bills will have 18% added to it for just that bill.
sure you can make 3 seperate reservations, but you wont all be sat at the same time, so if you choose to stay together after dinner itll be a lot of time wasted waiting for each other.
im a little confused why you wouldnt want to leave 18%. do you normally tip? if so how much? i alwasy tip 20% when i go out. so the auto gratuity actually saved me money. i tip 20% on the total after tax, but they calculate the 18% before tax. so i lucked out.
of course if you receive poor service it should be taken up with the management.

 

[CoasterBill]

I was just wondering if the reward dollars I have can be used to pay off tips. We are going in December and we are going with the Disney Meal Plan so we were wanting to use these dollars to may much of our tips. Has anyone done this or is that not something you can use this for. Thanks so much for your help with this questions!

 

[Tricia1972]

I was just wondering if the reward dollars I have can be used to pay off tips. We are going in December and we are going with the Disney Meal Plan so we were wanting to use these dollars to may much of our tips. Has anyone done this or is that not something you can use this for. Thanks so much for your help with this questions!

I used my Disney Reward Dollars from Visa to pay off my tips in October 2007. It worked great!

 

[Picabo]

Out of curiosity....I know in many other countries it's not customary to tip all that much...many just 10%. What do they do at Disney with the angry international travelers who are not used to paying such high tips? (Not trying to be difficult, just curious...)

 

[Tricia1972]

Out of curiosity....I know in many other countries it's not customary to tip all that much...many just 10%. What do they do at Disney with the angry international travelers who are not used to paying such high tips? (Not trying to be difficult, just curious...)

I know you're just curious, but we also need to be careful that this does not turn into a tipping debate.

Every party of 6 or more is notified that there is an auto gratuity when they are seated and it's also printed on the menu. Anyone who is upset with the policy has the option of not dining there. Should they choose to dine there they are subject to the 18% gratuity. It's part of their bill and any concerns with service can be directed to management.

 

[Picabo]

I know you're just curious, but we also need to be careful that this does not turn into a tipping debate.

Every party of 6 or more is notified that there is an auto gratuity when they are seated and it's also printed on the menu. Anyone who is upset with the policy has the option of not dining there. Should they choose to dine there they are subject to the 18% gratuity. It's part of their bill and any concerns with service can be directed to management.

Fair enough...makes total sense to me.

Is it appropriate or necessary to tip EXTRA for the servers who do give the toddlers free drinks?

 

[dsnygrl07]

At charactor meals do you tip 18-20% of the total price or the food price (total- $5 entertainment fee)?

What does this mean - $5 entertainment fee? I read over this whole thread ( thought) and only saw Bicker's response, but it didn't make any sense to me.

Sorry

Where is this added? Why are you minus-ing it?

 

[TDC Nala]

I remember that if there were parties at character meals where a person at the table was not intending to order any food, they'd be charged a $5 "entertainment fee."

I don't believe this is done any longer. All character meals are buffets or all-you-can-eat meals and anyone sitting at the table will be charged for the full buffet or meal, whether they eat it or not.

I don't get subtracting the entertainment fee regarding the tip though. The fee, where it existed, wasn't intended to be a tip.

 

[TDC Nala]

Fair enough...makes total sense to me.

Is it appropriate or necessary to tip EXTRA for the servers who do give the toddlers free drinks?

You may always tip extra if you wish to.

 

[Tricia1972]

Fair enough...makes total sense to me.

Is it appropriate or necessary to tip EXTRA for the servers who do give the toddlers free drinks?

I recognized you too!!

You wouldn't need to, but I bet that you would anyway. 'Cause you're cool like that.

 

[dsnygrl07]

I remember that if there were parties at character meals where a person at the table was not intending to order any food, they'd be charged a $5 "entertainment fee."

OK that makes sense. Thankyou