Three small Disney 'money' questions...

[Duckiedee]

Mousekeeping.

What do you normally tip each day? We are a family of 3.

Is there anyone else you normally tip besides waitstaff?

Bellhop? DME driver? Disney bus drivers? If so, how much? I belive the standard for bellhop is $1/bag?


Pressed pennies.

How many do you normally make per trip? Any idea if Canadian pennies/quarters work?

Laundry onsite.

Do the machines take quarters or dollar bills or both?

Thank you!!

 

[Justsyd2]

We tip $1 per person + $1 per day = 2 people - $3 per day

We tip the ME driver if they handle our luggage = $1 per bag + $1, Bartenders 10-15%, and Bellmen = $1 per bag + $1.

We don't do pressed pennies.

Laundry machines take bills and coins.

 

[Terrie..]

Whenever we used the washing machines at Disney (multiple resorts), they only took coins. Is taking bills something new?

 

[Halbleib1]

Whenever we used the washing machines at Disney (multiple resorts), they only took coins. Is taking bills something new?

Pop Century had a seperate change machine but as you said the machines themselves only take coins.

 

[kjs1976]

We do not tip mousekeeping. On the last two trips they cleaned our room after 2PM when we were there, so all we did was get fresh towels and empty the garbage can. I don't get the whole needing to tip for what you pay for in your room price anyway. I was a hotel maid in highschool and although excited when I got them, never counted on them.

If you use/need a bellhop, yes I'd tip per bag. Not for the busses. Yes, for the waitstaff, usually 15% is standard, more for exceptional service, less for less than.

There is a change machine in the laundry rooms and the game rooms if you need change. They take American coins only.

 

[splash5]

I think that tipping the mousekeeping and bell staff is appropriate. Those people probably don't make much and the tipping shows that you are empathetic. I'm sure that they don't count on it, but I bet it's a nice surprise when they get tipped. We got more towel animals in our room when we tipped.

 

[Zoesmama03]

When I was mouskeeping at the All Stars most that tipped seemed to do in the $3-5 range so the suggestions above sound about right. Some did 10-20 at the end but remember you may not(probably wont) have the same mousekeeper everyday.

They paid more than minimum wage when I was working there in 1998 but not much more, the union did get us a raise that year and no we didn't count on tips. It sure was nice though as it usually took care of my gas as I did work about 45 minutes away. Some of them worked up to 2 hours away and I can imagine any little bit helped with the trip. Two I know that lived in Daytona carpooled in. I just couldn't imagine traveling that far 5 days a week.

 

[Worfiedoodles]

We tip mousekeeping $5/day for a family of 3. We tip the bell person who delivers the bags to our room -- usually $5, unless we have a ton of stuff, then we add a bit.

We generally tip 20% for a sitdown meal -- more for breakfast, since it is generally pretty inexpensive.

Maria

 

[mom of princessx2]

We generally tip 20% for a sitdown meal -- more for breakfast, since it is generally pretty inexpensive.

Maria

Why would you tip more if your meal is less expensive?


As pp stated washers and dryers only take coins but there are machines to exchange.

We take a roll of quarters so that allows each dd to make up to 20 pressed pennies. I didn't realize how many of those machines there really are. I found a website with them all listed and will be sure to print it out for our next trip. My dd's love the pressed pennies!

 

[gillenkl]

we tip 15% - and leave $5 for mousekeeping per day.

Washers cost $2.00 per regular sized load (not a large washer). Dryers are $2.00 per cycle and often take several cycles to completely dry your clothes. Laundry soap is available in vending machines for $1.00 per single use box.

 

[klacey1]

Wow, we never really tipped mousekeeping that highly-- last trip we were there for 5 nights and left $10 for the two of us (we left it the last day, not everyday). We probably would have left more, but the mousekeeper came into our room without knocking at 10:00 am and forced us out of our room on our last day. Thank goodness we were dressed/packed/ready, but I was still angry and didn't want to leave much.
We tip waitstaff very highly-- usually 25%. Since we went during FD, we were extra generous. Our Coral Reef waiter got 50%.
We didn't tip our ME driver on the way into Disney because we did ME and the driver did not need to take our bags out of the bus. However, when returning to MCO, since Delta pulled DBF's bag for a security check + we couldn't check it at our resort, we tipped our driver $2 for taking the one, smallish suitcase out of the bus.
We don't do pressed pennies, but if we did, I guess I'd budget 20 quarters and 10 pennies-- enough to do 10 pennies.

 

[Worfiedoodles]

Why would you tip more if your meal is less expensive?

Because the server is working just as hard at breakfast, sometimes harder. It doesn't seem right to me to penalize someone because they got the morning shift. If our breakfast is $15, I will not leave a $3 tip, I'd round that to $5 unless the service was atrocious. I guess that probably seems overly generous to some, but it feels right for us. That $2 might not mean that much to me, but it might really make the server's day.

Maria

 

[JCMHutch]

We just got back and tipped our mousekeeping $4 per day for two adults. We are not messy people, but we got new shampoo & soap every day - a great souvenier that I love to take home! - and she kept the room really clean for us.

For meals we tipped 18% for our daily sit down meal. The service was good and the staff at the different restaurants were all great (especially at the Crystal Palace on the 4th - it was a madhouse).

We were at the Pop having a drink at the bar and people kept asking for change for the washers - something the bartenders couldn't do. Definitely bring a roll of quarters with you.

 

[nortney]

We generally tip well but on our last visit had a "tipping war" where mousekeeping made a lot of money!

We had two connecting rooms. One held me (Mom), my 10 year old daughter and my 18 year old son. The other held my oldest who was 29, her daughter (my granddaughter) and my other daughter who was 25. It started out simply with a small tip ($5.00) and a towel animal for my 10 year old. Then my oldest daughter left a ($10.00) tip and a note saying her daughter was jealous and a towel animal appeared. Then my 10 year old got competative and the whole thing became a game.

By the time we left after 8 days we were leaving around $20.00 a day (each room) and the little ones were running home to see what towel animals they got. Our window was lined with them......lol.

Now before you flame me I realize you can't "buy" towel animals. We didn't try to.....we would have been fine if they weren't there. We got excellent service and appreciated it. Our family just got a little competative and felt the more appreciative we were the better our odds were to get a towel animal. We never saw mousekeeping and other than that first note to try to get a second one we never requested one. However, they kept popping up and we kept trying to out do each other's room. We ended up with wreaths, birds, mickeys, etc. They brought the little kids lots of enjoyment and the big kids and I had a lot of fun trying to leave bigger tips in hope of getting something new AND not letting the other one know how much we'd left. We'd search each other's room trying to scope out the tip. Then we'd leave for the park and hope we got a towel animal and that our mousekeeper was more talented....lol.

We've been to Disney many, many times over the years but even now I look back and think about this and smile. It was a lot of fun and since both my daughters have been in hospitality and restaurant jobs before we knew it went for a good cause and to someone who worked hard for their money.

Just wanted to share.

 

[Dismom55]

I make tip envelopes for Mousekeeping and put $1 for each person staying in the room per night of stay. I prepare them at home before we even leave.

For table service restaurants I also prepare an envelope, I figure a guess about what the meal will most likely cost, put that much in a decorated envelope based on 18%, leave the envelope unsealed and then either add or subtract based on the actual bill.

I have never used ME, so am not familiar with the average.

We get a roll of pennies from the bank and several rolls of quarters before leaving, if I have not managed to save enough will in the planning stage, these are for the penny machines and of course the laundry. I also purchase or get sample pkg of laundry needs so I do not have to pay higher prices while at Disney. This way I know I have my brand as I have allergies to most laundry items.

Hope I helped at least a little.

 

[ThreeBeans]

We generally tip well but on our last visit had a "tipping war" where mousekeeping made a lot of money!

We had two connecting rooms. One held me (Mom), my 10 year old daughter and my 18 year old son. The other held my oldest who was 29, her daughter (my granddaughter) and my other daughter who was 25. It started out simply with a small tip ($5.00) and a towel animal for my 10 year old. Then my oldest daughter left a ($10.00) tip and a note saying her daughter was jealous and a towel animal appeared. Then my 10 year old got competative and the whole thing became a game.

By the time we left after 8 days we were leaving around $20.00 a day (each room) and the little ones were running home to see what towel animals they got. Our window was lined with them......lol.

Now before you flame me I realize you can't "buy" towel animals. We didn't try to.....we would have been fine if they weren't there. We got excellent service and appreciated it. Our family just got a little competative and felt the more appreciative we were the better our odds were to get a towel animal. We never saw mousekeeping and other than that first note to try to get a second one we never requested one. However, they kept popping up and we kept trying to out do each other's room. We ended up with wreaths, birds, mickeys, etc. They brought the little kids lots of enjoyment and the big kids and I had a lot of fun trying to leave bigger tips in hope of getting something new AND not letting the other one know how much we'd left. We'd search each other's room trying to scope out the tip. Then we'd leave for the park and hope we got a towel animal and that our mousekeeper was more talented....lol.

We've been to Disney many, many times over the years but even now I look back and think about this and smile. It was a lot of fun and since both my daughters have been in hospitality and restaurant jobs before we knew it went for a good cause and to someone who worked hard for their money.

Just wanted to share.

I thought this was a really sweet story. You probably made housekeepings' week

 

[stmize]

We usually tip $5.00 per day for mousekeeping and I make cute envelopes to leave it in each day.

I make envelopes for servers also and usually tip 18-20% sometimes more if we get a really great server.

I pre fill the envelopes so that those tips do not come out of my spending money unless I want to add to it once we get there.

 

[Duckiedee]

Thanks all - I really appreciate the insights.

 

[DaniB]

We probably would have left more, but the mousekeeper came into our room without knocking at 10:00 am and forced us out of our room on our last day. Thank goodness we were dressed/packed/ready, but I was still angry and didn't want to leave much.

I'm curious about this. What time do people have to leave the room at? Is that why she was making you leave at 10am? Did she expect you gone already?

For our last day, I would kind of like to sleep in and take our time packing, etc since we will not have time to go anywhere.

 

[3girlsfun]

When I read on this board that people are tipping their Mousekeepers I was shocked. The reason I say this, is after working in a 5 star resort, where no one ever left tips for our housekeepers (and we had lots of famous people stay there, as well as a few royal people from different countries), I couldn't believe people were leaving tips in a "value" resort. I mean, tipping for changing out the shampoos, and emptying the trash and making a bed. That is pretty minimal. Now, I guess if I were extra messy, I might be inclined to leave a tip.

This is not to say that they don't deserve it, or appreciate it, but, at the same time...I am on the side of the fence that says, that is what I am paying for.

I tip bellman, people who handle my luggage, bus driver, and servers.