Tipping Info Thread for Disney Dining

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Pumbaa_

>Hakuna Matata!<
Moderator
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Jan 7, 2001
New tipping thread policy​

Time for a fresh start to the tipping thread. Same rules, same info, just a new start :)

Tipping threads here on the Restaurant Boards have consistently turned into debate threads with lots of arguments. They all tend to get closed in the end once they cross the line.

The Restaurant Board mods are willing to create one thread where tipping questions can be asked and answered. HOWEVER, this is NOT the debate board.


Here are the basic guidelines
1. No fighting, name calling or debate on people's personal tipping habits. This includes but not limited to:
• I will not tip my server more than I tithe the Lord
• I will not give a server more than I make an hour
• Everyone knows servers make 100k a year, why should I tip them
• Servers should be paid a living wage and not have to depend on tips to support themselves. hence tipping should be abolished.
2. No flaming anyone for any reason.

3. Any post deemed off topic or in anyway against the posting guidelines will be deleted without comment and the poster will receive an infraction.

4. Any other thread started on the restaurant board for the "tipping" topic will be closed with a note to see this thread (This includes DDP board).

5. No personal tipping habits are to be discussed. Generally speaking, what you tip at Disney is entirely up to you. To figure out what your meal will run, check out the menus here on the DIS. This will give you an idea of the meal cost. Disney does provide 18% and 20% calculations on the dining receipt. What you actually tip, is up to you with the exceptions below.

The exceptions to this are those using the Tables in Wonderland (TiW) Discount Card and parties of 6 or more. If you are in either one of these categories, you will have an auto gratuity of 18% added to your bill. Adjustments to this would need to be discussed with a manager.

Parties of 6 include everyone at the table, including children under 3 and infants. If you are dining with another group and paying separate, you are still subject to the 18% gratuity added to the bill. Each group at the table can get their own bill with their portion of the gratuity split out.

Please note – Disney does not differentiate between types of Table Service – buffets, all you care to eat and menu ordering locations are all treated equal and subject to the same guidelines by Disney.

There is always concern expressed about a set gratuity and service. Your option is to talk to the manager at the time of the incident. The only adjustment possible is done by the restaurant manager. Better to speak to the manager early on and receive improved service than to complain at the end to request redeuced gratuity

6. You may pay the gratuity in many different forms. You may use:
  • Disney Dollars
  • Disney Visa (or any credit card)
  • Disney gift cards and Disney Reward cards
  • Disney room charge (KTTW card)
  • Cash (Just write cash on the tip line and leave the $$ in the folder)
  • Magic Bands


7. The gratuity is included (on DDP and OOP) in the dinner shows Hoop Dee Doo Review, Spirit of Aloha and at Cinderella’s Royal Table. You can always leave additional.
(For Dining Plan guests it is also included for Private In-Room Dining and Pizza Delivery when using Dining Plan Credits to pay for your meals)

8. No tip is accepted at the Wishes dessert parties.
I asked 3 different people in April (2010), including the head person and was told that tipping was not allowed. I really wanted to, but I went by their word.

Please abide by these guidelines - and everyone can get the info they need for planning their magical Disney vacations.

If this does not work, we will ban this topic from the restaurant boards. Any new posts started will be closed

Thank you and we appreciate your cooperation,
The Restaurant Board Mods
 
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I would like to add two comments.

One is that if you are dining at Victoria and Albert's either with TiW or a group of six or more the automatic gratuity is 20% and not 18%.

The other is that there is no prohibition against adding an additional amount to the automatic gratuity.
 
thank you, you answered two questions for me.... our sixth member in june was a baby and we were charged the 18% at buffets. i dont agree with either but it certainly didnt break the bank and was not worth ticking someone off about.:)
 
I'm not really sure if this is the place to ask this or not, but I am trying to be Ms. Organization and put all of our tips in their respective envelopes (with a 2 year old, the less I have to do at the table, the better!). But anyway, we are a party of 9 (including my 2 year old), so I know we will atleast need to pay the 18% - and we will have 3 seperate checks. I think I read that she gets a free kids drink, but will eat off our plate. So, when I do my figuring, do I add in her drink amount, our entree and drink amount, and our desert amount (we have free dining)? Also, how much is tax, because I add tax in before I figure out the 18% gratuity right?

I hope this isn't confusing and if this is in the wrong place, feel free to move it or let me know and I will. Thanks!
 


I'm not really sure if this is the place to ask this or not, but I am trying to be Ms. Organization and put all of our tips in their respective envelopes (with a 2 year old, the less I have to do at the table, the better!). But anyway, we are a party of 9 (including my 2 year old), so I know we will atleast need to pay the 18% - and we will have 3 seperate checks. I think I read that she gets a free kids drink, but will eat off our plate. So, when I do my figuring, do I add in her drink amount, our entree and drink amount, and our desert amount (we have free dining)? Also, how much is tax, because I add tax in before I figure out the 18% gratuity right?

I hope this isn't confusing and if this is in the wrong place, feel free to move it or let me know and I will. Thanks!

You tip on the amount before taxes.

If you want to put the money for tips in envelopes, please make sure to take it out of the envelope before giving it to the server. They handle a lot of pieces of paper throughout the night and there is a good chance that it will get thrown away.
 
I'm not really sure if this is the place to ask this or not, but I am trying to be Ms. Organization and put all of our tips in their respective envelopes (with a 2 year old, the less I have to do at the table, the better!). But anyway, we are a party of 9 (including my 2 year old), so I know we will atleast need to pay the 18% - and we will have 3 seperate checks. I think I read that she gets a free kids drink, but will eat off our plate. So, when I do my figuring, do I add in her drink amount, our entree and drink amount, and our desert amount (we have free dining)? Also, how much is tax, because I add tax in before I figure out the 18% gratuity right?

I hope this isn't confusing and if this is in the wrong place, feel free to move it or let me know and I will. Thanks!
i must have missed something, 18% of what? how do you know what your bill will be before you get there? also, even though 3 cks, or three dining plans, you will still get the tip added to the ck.
 


I have read several posts about tipping when using the Disney Dining Plan and I read several different answers. Please help me out here with a definate answer, I would gratefully appreciate it.

Let's say I'm dining at Biergarten for dinner. I plan on using my table service credits for that meal and I would like to charge the tip back to my room. When finished eating, what exactly is the course of actions I should take with my server to ensure that everything goes well?
I have heard rumors of servers double tipping and that I should cross off the tip amount?

Thank you very much for your time. I cannot wait to start using the dining plan and trying out new foods I wouldn't normally try!
 
I have read several posts about tipping when using the Disney Dining Plan and I read several different answers. Please help me out here with a definate answer, I would gratefully appreciate it.

Let's say I'm dining at Biergarten for dinner. I plan on using my table service credits for that meal and I would like to charge the tip back to my room. When finished eating, what exactly is the course of actions I should take with my server to ensure that everything goes well?
I have heard rumors of servers double tipping and that I should cross off the tip amount?

Thank you very much for your time. I cannot wait to start using the dining plan and trying out new foods I wouldn't normally try!

I just got back last week and was on the dining plan. When they bring you the bill,unless you are a party of 8 or more I believe, they will bring you a bill for the total of your meal and there is a spot on the check that gives you a recommended tip amount ( if I am not mistaken it shows 18% and 20%) this is just a suggestion. there is then a spot for you to writ in the tip amount. They will take the check back after you put your room card in the sleeve and fill out the tip amount. They will bring you the final copies of your receipt one for the room charge and one for the tip amount. You sign both of them and look over them to make sure all charges are correct. If you have any doubt about weather a tip has been added, check the original receipt for added grituity. It is really easy and if you ever have any questions you can always ask the server they are very understanding about the confusion behind understanding the charges on the dinning plan. Don't fret, I have never been double charged for my tip. if it happens I would assume it was an oversight by not reading the check closely. Have a great trip and enjoy.
 
Are the servers at WPE and Pepper Market allowed accept tips? I tried to tip a REALLY helpful CM at Sunshine Seasons who helped DD when someone knocked her over and she dropped her salad. The CM said they were not allowed to accept tips. :sad1: I just dont want to embarrass anyone so thought it may be a good idea to check first. Usually you don't have that consideration at a CS, with the exception of the few.
 
Employees at WPE are allowed to accept tips. Pepper Market adds a 10% gratuity to your bill, you are allowed to leave more if you choose.
 
Are the servers at WPE and Pepper Market allowed accept tips?

Yes, I think they expect it.
I went there not knowing and and I do not carry cash for the most part.
I got excellent service but did not have anything for a tip.
I did go back the next night and give him a tip though.
He was really good and he really appreciated my coming back.

BTW, I saw several instances (well twice, but that is a lot IMO) of servers finding people that did not leave tips and asking them what the problem was. Luckily that did not happen to me at WPE.
 
I'm traveling with a party of 8. On some of our ADR's it states that we may be seated at different tables. That's not a huge problem for us. My question is whether the mandatory 18% will apply if we are seated at different tables?
 
I'm traveling with a party of 8. On some of our ADR's it states that we may be seated at different tables. That's not a huge problem for us. My question is whether the mandatory 18% will apply if we are seated at different tables?

If you are seated with the same server it will. If you have different servers it won't.
 
There will be 3 adults in our party. We are all getting the DDP but all of our cards will be linked to different credit cards (if this is allowed). Am I going to have any problems just using my room card at restaurants, both for DDP credits and for tips? Also, if I choose to charge tips to the room card, I still get to choose the amount and it is not automatically 18% since we are a party of 4, correct?
 
There will be 3 adults in our party. We are all getting the DDP but all of our cards will be linked to different credit cards (if this is allowed). Am I going to have any problems just using my room card at restaurants, both for DDP credits and for tips? Also, if I choose to charge tips to the room card, I still get to choose the amount and it is not automatically 18% since we are a party of 4, correct?

Jody's beautiful FAQ in the first post covers both questions :goodvibes. Point 5 and Point 6 address the party size vs gratuity amount, and different ways you can pay for your tip.

The only issue that you will have is that as far as I know you can't link different CCs to different room cards within a room. You may want to double check over on the Resorts board about that, or even call Disney directly.
 
OK, I'm traveling with a party of 8 on the DDP. We have 5 TS meals on the plan that we plan to redeem (plus HDDR, which includes the gratuity already). Our TS restaurants are:

California Grill
Le Cellier
Ohana
Rose & Crown
Teppan Edo

I'm sure that they'll be adding the 18% for all of our meals, so my question is what do you think is a reasonable per meal "budget" amount? Should I expect that each meall will be a $200 meal, so budget $36, or are they more likely to be $300 - $400 (I guess CG will be more like $400).
 
Go to all ears and look at the menus. That will give you an idea of what stuff cost.
 
Does anybody have a copy of a dining receipt that they can show us? I have never used DDP before and this time it will be my first. Will the receipt list the prices of each entree? Or will it have only the recommended tip amount and the number of TS credits?

Any help would be appreciated!:surfweb:
 
A quick question. Is the 18 and 20% suggested amounts on the check calculated on the before or after tax totals of the check?
 
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