Tipping in 2008

[kimsuenew]

So, you are saying if I am on the dining plan, I can't charge the tip. I can't put it on my KTTK card and I can't even tip with my own CC? That is crazy. I don't bring cash with me. I don't mind tipping, but why can't I charge it? If I paid normally they would let me charge the tip portion. Don't they realize that servers are now not going to get tips?

Hi! We do not carry cash either, that was why (when I wrote with my list of questions via the WDW website"contact") I ask this. Perhaps the person that replied was incorrect, however it is exactly what was replied to me. I would encourage you to write via that method and inquire, I am curious as to what response others get! I am hoping that they do end up allowing it to be charged on our KTTW cards! I guess that until the plan is used in 2008 we will not know for sure, all I have to base my disappointment on is the reply I received! If you do write, please let us know the response you received!

 

[HeidiGW]

I doubt that circling your choice option will fly. I can't even imagine that being an option!! I will decide what to tip, or will not tip at all. Tips are not required except on parties of 6 or more, and we are 5. A tip has to be earned, period!!

Are saying that you don't/shouldn't tip for parties less than six? (You most certainly should tip as even a solo diner!)
Or are you saying waitstaff can't just add an automatic gratuity on for party size?

Our system of tipping is flawed...but if the restaurant added the cost of paying your server a living wage your meal would be much more expensive.

As a former single mother who lived on tips, please don't be cheap! My feeling is even a corpse that brings my food deserves 10 percent and it goes up from there!

 

[musical2]

We are a family of six and will be forced to pay the 18% for our TS meals. When I called Dining Services they said I could just charge the tip to our room via the room key card or our credit or debit card or even a Disney Gift Card. It seems we just get different answers from CMs depending on whom we ask. I can only assume Disney is smart enough to allow charging the tips. All they care about is the money, not the form in which it comes. You could actually go to a Disney Store, get a gift card, load it up with dollars, take it to WDW and use it at most places there instead of carrying cash.

 

[Jenniww]

That depends on how you look at it. Let's look at it another way. You dine at Narcoossees for dinner on the DDP. Your total bill for 2 adults, 2 children without alcohol, comes to $175. Your tip per the 2007 DDP would be 31.50 which is 18%. Multiply that times 5 tables = 157.50

Now lets say that you worked at Narcoossees for all of 2007 and now you are going to stay there for 2008. In 2008, you will get $50 in tips.

I'm not going to argue that waiters deserve more or less than 50 in tips, or more or less than 160 in tips an hour.

My point is that say you are used to making 160 in tips, you life, your condo, your car, your expenses revolve around receiving a "typical" amount of tips per day on top of your hourly wage.

Now that the 2008 DDP has changed, your "paycheck" could be drastically less.

If someone told me today that I was suddenly going to be getting paid only 70% of what I got paid last year, I'd be in HUGE trouble. I am used to living on a certain amount (regardless of it being a fair wage or reasonable). I am sure that most people budget their lives around their "standard pay".

If I am used to working with the DDP tips included, I might take a HUGE hit in 2008 and that would be really tough to handle.

I can totally see people not tipping 18% on the DDP, but tipping maybe 5% instead. It's gonna be a real eye opener for the staff.

I just want to add most servers in finner restaurants only work three table sections. Not five.... I know you were just talking hypothetical I just felt the need to share that info....
You are so right- on the fact that they are going to be doing the same work for LE$$ money!
It's a shame for them and a shame for us that it isn't included anymore. I personal would have rather seen the price go up a little and kept the plan the same.....

 

[THERESA522]

I personal would have rather seen the price go up a little and kept the plan the same.....

I completely agree!

 

[Praying Colonel]

The fact that there's so much confusion over how this is going to work shows that this was a bad decision to remove the tip from the 08 version of the DDP.

Well, a bad decision for us guests, and the wait staff. WDW will increase their bottom line, which I guess is all they were worried about.

 

[RACHELSMOM1]

Are saying that you don't/shouldn't tip for parties less than six? (You most certainly should tip as even a solo diner!)
Or are you saying waitstaff can't just add an automatic gratuity on for party size?

Our system of tipping is flawed...but if the restaurant added the cost of paying your server a living wage your meal would be much more expensive.

As a former single mother who lived on tips, please don't be cheap! My feeling is even a corpse that brings my food deserves 10 percent and it goes up from there!

Of course I will tip, but I resent anyone giving me a Bill for a tip - I want to choose the amount, and no I am not cheap. But don't tell me I have to give a server a certain amount, regardless of the quality of service.

 

[adisneynut]

Thank you for contacting the Walt Disney World Resort.

It will be up to you what form of payment you wish to use.
Also the amount added by you, except for parties of normally 8 or more,
that might be different in some restaurants. Then gratuities would be
automatically added at 18%

Have a wonderful visit!I asked if we were to use our room key or cash and above is the reply I got.

 

[RACHELSMOM1]

Are saying that you don't/shouldn't tip for parties less than six? (You most certainly should tip as even a solo diner!)
Or are you saying waitstaff can't just add an automatic gratuity on for party size?

Our system of tipping is flawed...but if the restaurant added the cost of paying your server a living wage your meal would be much more expensive.

As a former single mother who lived on tips, please don't be cheap! My feeling is even a corpse that brings my food deserves 10 percent and it goes up from there!

Forgot to add to my earlier response, if a corpse brought my food to the table , I would take my kids and run as fast and as far away as I could!!! And the corpse surely wouldn't get 10% of my money for a tip!!

The same goes for a "server" who acts like a corpse!!! A tip is given in return for a service. That not only includes bringing my food to the table, it also includes refilling drinks, etc.... If I don't see the server again after he/she brings the food, I don't feel he/she deserves a tip. If, however, my family is well-served we usually leave 20% or more. So, please don't refer to me as "cheap", because I am not!!!

If I get a bill for a tip of 18% (party of 6 or not) I often feel that the server is the one who suffers, because if we get good service, we tip more than 18%, but not if we get a bill for 18%. It is like a slap in the face to tell me I "owe" the server the tip whether I like the service or not!!! So, even with good service the server only gets the 18% I am "required" to tip. I don't understand why this is so hard to understand, so I am explaining it in detail for those who were offended by my earlier post.

 

[onelugnut]

ditto on all of this, i think it stinks for customers and servers.
shame on Disney,
if they wanted more $ they should have just raised the price and not taken it from their amazing staff. (IMO)

by the way, i mentioned this on another thread similar to this one.
maybe this can throw a monkey wrench into your discussion.

what do you pay for a buffet? especially a character one.
that bill is going to be hefty, do you still tip 20%?

what if there are 6 people at the mary poppins, floridian breakfast buffet,
do they automatically tag on a $30 tip for bringing 6 coffees?

i have a feeling those people are going to get stiffed the worst.

then it will be hard to get decent people to be servers.
service will get worse,
the plan has gone awry.

come to think of it, if you figure out a buffet, work one out for family style too.
not sure a family style breakfast at ohannas was a full service worth a full 18% tip either.

just a few thoughts,

 

[smidgy]

I think I'm gonna go without the DDP.

me too. I always leave 20 percent at any restaurant, from the get go, and it goes down if service is bad. so the new DDP is not good for us, I'd rather let go of the dessert.

(but then again, that's because I always "wanted to be an architect:!!! ) check out hubby Nebo's 3 trip reports; you'll LOVE his humor!!!

 

[smidgy]

What's wrong with tipping $10 bucks for a table service meal? Does it have to be a percentage of the bill? If a server waits 5 tables for an hour and everyone tips $10 or more, that's $50 per hour. In my book, that's a pretty good hourly wage.

sorry, can'tstandja.. doesn't work that way. the tables are staggered. you don't get X amount of tables per hour; wish that it were.... that is the way customers are guaranteed prime service in upscale restauarants. the server only has a few tables. plus, he/she has to "tip out" the bartender/hostess/bus boys, etc. at the local IHOP, your waitress may be rushed with 8 tables (only way the poor girl is going to make any money). if you are dining at the Cal. grill, there is a reason you have her full attention... she doesn't have 8 other tables to attend to. (let alone that table of 5 elderly after chuch couples who insist on seperate checks, cause that one person has tea instead of coffee. )
and.. .there is the "scale" . I certainly hope that someone can not just "walk into" the coral reef with no experience! in our business, you need to pay your dues and have experience, just like in any other business . I have been in the bartending/serving business most of my adult life. when I am in an upscale restaurant such as Le cellier, or contemporary steakhouse, I expect to have a professional server. and I will leave that server 20 percent, if warranted.
(I will leave the Denny's server 20 percent, and hope someday she can work at an upscale restaurant)

 

[just another guy]

Thank you for contacting the Walt Disney World Resort.

It will be up to you what form of payment you wish to use.
Also the amount added by you, except for parties of normally 8 or more,
that might be different in some restaurants. Then gratuities would be
automatically added at 18%

Have a wonderful visit!I asked if we were to use our room key or cash and above is the reply I got.

Just goes to show even the people answering emails for disney don't know the new policies. Grat will be included for parties of 6+, not 8+

If I get a bill for a tip of 18% (party of 6 or not) I often feel that the server is the one who suffers, because if we get good service, we tip more than 18%, but not if we get a bill for 18%.

I'm being honest here, can you explain that to me?

If s disney's server JOB to add the grat for specific reasons. They can and will lose their job if they don't. No where does it say you have to pay 18%, and not a penny more. If you want to leave an extra $5, go ahead. People do it all the time. I know disney servers that get a couple bucks here and there on top of the 18% every night.

So you're saying that you are gonna punish the server buy leaving a smaller tip because they gave you such good service, and decided to follow the rules of the company? Explain to me how that makes sense.

 

[FayeW]

Correct me if I'm wrong but hasn't the Dining Plan only been available for about 3 yrs, 4 or most? Do you think that nobody ever tipped before the dining plan??? These restaurants have been operating for years, and I will assume, their waitstaff has been tipped appropriately during that time. Not only that, but millions of guests visit WDW each year who do not participate in the dining plan at all. Are none of those guests tipping the waitstaff?

Why do so many people seem to think that we are all a bunch of Neanderthals who can't figure out how to tip a server unless it is already included on the bill? I'm sure most of them tip everywhere else they eat.

 

[DVC Sadie]

Correct me if I'm wrong but hasn't the Dining Plan only been available for about 3 yrs, 4 or most? Do you think that nobody ever tipped before the dining plan??? These restaurants have been operating for years, and I will assume, their waitstaff has been tipped appropriately during that time. Not only that, but millions of guests visit WDW each year who do not participate in the dining plan at all. Are none of those guests tipping the waitstaff?

Why do so many people seem to think that we are all a bunch of Neanderthals who can't figure out how to tip a server unless it is already included on the bill? I'm sure most of them tip everywhere else they eat.

ITA!

I just can't fathom how people can justify "not" tipping 15% to 20% whether they are on the dining plan or not.

Sure, the tip use to be included but since it no longer will be part of the dining plan then people need to decide if the DP is right for them or not.

 

[stefffe]

if you have ever been a server ever in your life..then you will understand. if not..then you wont. Folks do NOT know how to tip...not generally...and to assume that 5 or 10 dollars is okay on a 150$ meal is just stupid. or uninformed.

the serves at disney are going to suffer because of this..the gravy train is coming to an end. now they will have to hope that people who have just spent 3 or 5K on a vacation have money left over for them. and im betting that most will NOT tip accordingly. folks from abroad dont tip well at all as a rule...and the old DDP was a great way to keep servers happy and guests happy as well. why Disney would pull this is beyond me....its a lose lose situation for everyone involved. And it amazes me that all of you think that the service will actually improve....it will do the exact opposite. after a long day of 10% tippers and screaming kids and crumbled crakers under the table....would you like to serve anyone?....because i would not. this is going to backfire on disney. and it will take a long time to repair.

personally.....i will eat offsite now. Other than ohana and CP....there are very few restuarants onsite that i thought were good enough to spend OOP on. i can go to Red lobster or Fridays offsite and have a great meal i can count on without all the extra "disney" pricing. and i will tip 20-30%.....simply because i know how to tip.

please keep in mind that servers work their butts off...... the tips are what they live on...pay daycare with...and feed their families with....dont act like you are better than them.....either tip or eat somewhere that doesnt assume you will.....

 

[RACHELSMOM1]

Just goes to show even the people answering emails for disney don't know the new policies. Grat will be included for parties of 6+, not 8+



I'm being honest here, can you explain that to me?

If s disney's server JOB to add the grat for specific reasons. They can and will lose their job if they don't. No where does it say you have to pay 18%, and not a penny more. If you want to leave an extra $5, go ahead. People do it all the time. I know disney servers that get a couple bucks here and there on top of the 18% every night.

So you're saying that you are gonna punish the server buy leaving a smaller tip because they gave you such good service, and decided to follow the rules of the company? Explain to me how that makes sense.

I already explained it in previous posts, not gonna argue with anyone here.

 

[Spork]

I dont know about fl but I know here in Ga Servers only make 2-5 dollars an hour (except and really high end restaurants) They Live off shared tips. of the tip you leave the receive sometimes less than 50% of that after the cooks, busboys and others

 

[Uncleromulus]

Couldn't have said it much beter than Stefffe. To which I'd only add "calculated mean" to those folks who are uninformed about tipping. Lots of folks out there who actually ENJOY stiffing wait staff out of any tips.
"Who cares? I'll never see them again"

 

[Linus Van Pelt]

Couldn't have said it much beter than Stefffe. To which I'd only add "calculated mean" to those folks who are uninformed about tipping. Lots of folks out there who actually ENJOY stiffing wait staff out of any tips.
"Who cares? I'll never see them again"

Absolutely. I have a friend who's been a server many times, at many different types of restaurants, and whenever someone stiffed him (not often, thank goodness), he just assumed the people we're either cheapskates or forgetful. In my opinion, the only effective way to communicate your dissatisfaction with a given server is to let a manager know about it. Period.

As to the issue of possibly (but, especially after reading adisneynut's post, not likely) not being able to charge the tip to your KTTW, you could always order a modest add on, such as a side of sauteed mushrooms, or a mixed drink, and then include the tip with that bill. At least, I think that would be doable, not 100% certain, as I haven't yet done the DDP.