Tipping question

[CynJ]

I always tip housekeeping daily when I travel, WDW or not. Generally $5 a day.

It's either my husband and I or my mom and I together when I travel. We're not slobs so our housekeeping needs are pretty basic, but I feel that housekeeping is not an easy job as a rule and that anyone who works that hard deserves a thank you.

When Mom and I stayed at the ASMov in 2002 we had the same housekeeper most of our trip (lol we're late risers and met her often in the corridor). She was really nice and had even gone out of her way to fold a paper towel and carefully leave a little silver stud earring on it that I had lost and she had found on the floor. I like to think that even if she didn't need that extra $5 a day we left for her, that maybe it let her do something special with her family.

 

[Port Orleans fan]

Too many people are worried about tipping....it's crazy. Take a quick look at arrival day.

1) tip Magical express driver (you haven't even been to WDW for more than a few moments and you are already handing out money)

2) tip the bell hop (if you happen to be in the room of course)

3) Go out for dinner at a sit down restaurant and leave a customary tip (what is it 20%)

4) Mousekeeping....do leave a tip right away? Do you wait until service is provided?


With just these 3 or 4 examples, you spent $30-$50. And you're just beginning your vacation!? I wonder how much Day 2 is going to cost you? After all, it all adds up ($$$).


My advice: Allow Disney Cast members to do their jobs. If they go above and beyond for you.....tip until your heart content. But to tip someone for doing their job description/responsibility is foolish and costly.

However, if you enjoy giving your money away, I can suggest a few charities that could use that money.

1) Heat and Stroke Foundation
2) Cancer Society
3) Humane Society
4) Your local community center

 

[Judyfun]

I tip my Mousekeepers daily, and this last trip I had taken my Great Niece for her first Disney trip, so before hand I had her make up 'Thank You' cards in my scrapbook room and she got to be the person to leave them out.

She spent much time on designing the cards and deciding which one to leave out each day.

Judy

 

[apainterxx44]

I was a waitress and made $2.50 an hour, and honestly I do not think anything better could be done with the $30-$55 in tips I'm spending. I don't go out to eat, stay at hotels or expect someone to take my bags unless I have money for tip. It's a hard job and someone has to do it. That being said, I do believe tipping everyday of the stay is the best since you may have different people everyday. I usually just budget $2-3 a day for mousekeeping.

 

[LilyWDW]

I tip because I WANT to. I WANT to thank the person who does these things for me that I appreciate. I don't do it because anyone has told me I have to do it or I am a horrible person. It is all on me.

To make it seem like people are "crazy" for tipping is a bit uncalled for. "Foolish"? Really? I am a highly educated person and I think I can decide what I believe is important for me to spend my money on.

Oh, and I DO already give to multiple charities. Including some of the ones you posted.

As for the original question, I do tip housekeeping and I leave it daily. Usually $2 per person, per day.

Too many people are worried about tipping....it's crazy. Take a quick look at arrival day.

1) tip Magical express driver (you haven't even been to WDW for more than a few moments and you are already handing out money)

2) tip the bell hop (if you happen to be in the room of course)

3) Go out for dinner at a sit down restaurant and leave a customary tip (what is it 20%)

4) Mousekeeping....do leave a tip right away? Do you wait until service is provided?


With just these 3 or 4 examples, you spent $30-$50. And you're just beginning your vacation!? I wonder how much Day 2 is going to cost you? After all, it all adds up ($$$).


My advice: Allow Disney Cast members to do their jobs. If they go above and beyond for you.....tip until your heart content. But to tip someone for doing their job description/responsibility is foolish and costly.

However, if you enjoy giving your money away, I can suggest a few charities that could use that money.

1) Heat and Stroke Foundation
2) Cancer Society
3) Humane Society
4) Your local community center

 

[mom2my3kids]

I tip because I WANT to. I WANT to thank the person who does these things for me that I appreciate. I don't do it because anyone has told me I have to do it or I am a horrible person. It is all on me.

To make it seem like people are "crazy" for tipping is a bit uncalled for. "Foolish"? Really? I am a highly educated person and I think I can decide what I believe is important for me to spend my money on.

Oh, and I DO already give to multiple charities. Including some of the ones you posted.

As for the original question, I do tip housekeeping and I leave it daily. Usually $2 per person, per day.

 

[kaytieeldr]

Too many people are worried about tipping....it's crazy. Take a quick look at arrival day.

1) tip Magical express driver (you haven't even been to WDW for more than a few moments and you are already handing out money)

2) tip the bell hop (if you happen to be in the room of course)

3) Go out for dinner at a sit down restaurant and leave a customary tip (what is it 20%)

4) Mousekeeping....do leave a tip right away? Do you wait until service is provided?


With just these 3 or 4 examples, you spent $30-$50. And you're just beginning your vacation!? I wonder how much Day 2 is going to cost you? After all, it all adds up ($$$).


My advice: Allow Disney Cast members to do their jobs. If they go above and beyond for you.....tip until your heart content. But to tip someone for doing their job description/responsibility is foolish and costly.

However, if you enjoy giving your money away, I can suggest a few charities that could use that money.

1) Heat and Stroke Foundation
2) Cancer Society
3) Humane Society
4) Your local community center

Interesting outlook.

1. Guests who bring luggage on Magical Express that requires driver assistance = customary tipping situation.

2. Disney tips its Cast Members for delivering Magical Express-delivered luggage to the rooms; non-Magical Express luggage requires someone in the room toaccept it and yes, it's customary anywhere to tip for this service.

3. Red herring. Tipping is customary anywhere/anytime somebody dines in a restaurant with service. Doesn't matter if they're on vacation or home. The necessity to tip can easily be avoided by dining at a counter service restaurant.

4. Another red herring, given that the room is already clean and ready for occupancy on this first day. No housekeeping required, no tip necessary/expected.

 

[CynJ]

Too many people are worried about tipping....it's crazy. Take a quick look at arrival day.

1) tip Magical express driver (you haven't even been to WDW for more than a few moments and you are already handing out money)

2) tip the bell hop (if you happen to be in the room of course)

3) Go out for dinner at a sit down restaurant and leave a customary tip (what is it 20%)

4) Mousekeeping....do leave a tip right away? Do you wait until service is provided?


With just these 3 or 4 examples, you spent $30-$50. And you're just beginning your vacation!? I wonder how much Day 2 is going to cost you? After all, it all adds up ($$$).

Your items #1 and 2 really are social convention regardless of where you vacation. It is standard practice to tip whenever someone handles your bags (e.g. bellhops, shuttle drivers, redcaps, et cetera). No one is saying this needs to be some extravagant measure but a couple of dollars is customary.

#3 is again a social norm at full-service restaurants regardless of location. Do you not tip when you go out to sit-down restaurants at home?

And as far as #4 goes- why would you tip housekeeping upon arrival? That isn't logical. The next day certainly is- after you sleep in the bed that needs making and leave the wet towels on the floor in the bathroom.

I get that you aren't keen on tipping - but the rest of us that do tip aren't "crazy" - there's nothing wrong with following widely accepted societal norms.

 

[Nancyg56]

My advice: Allow Disney Cast members to do their jobs. If they go above and beyond for you.....tip until your heart content. But to tip someone for doing their job description/responsibility is foolish and costly.

However, if you enjoy giving your money away, I can suggest a few charities that could use that money.

1) Heat and Stroke Foundation
2) Cancer Society
3) Humane Society
4) Your local community center

Perhaps you think that tipping someone for assisting me is foolish, and that is your right. I would never criticize you for not tipping, and clearly, we have differing opinions on what is an appropriate practice.


As to your unsolicited advice, thank you for telling me how you think I should spend my money. Somehow I have managed to be generous to the service staff whose actions enhance my vacation experience, donate to several of the charities that you have deemed not foolish, volunteered countless hours to said charities, supported my Church as well as the local Emergency Aid department in our town.

In my younger days, I supported my family by waiting on tables and one of those restaurants was attached to a motel. Those housekeepers worked incredibly hard, and even at my age, I was thanking God that I did not have to do that job. It was backbreaking. Some of those other tipped positions you mention are also very hard jobs. I recognize that jobs that pay above minimum wage are really not living wages because I worked with those people and I was those people.

I know how to budget money for a vacation, and I know how to allocate my funds to include gratuities while I vacation, so while I am sure you feel that our expenditures are the only appropriate ones, I believe that mine work just fine.

I must say that I am a little perturbed that you were so critical about other folks tipping habits. So far, we have all managed to discuss our habits without telling others that they are wrong.

 

[Lynne M]

Since yet another tipping thread has descended into yet another pointless argument, I think we're going to have to consider a no-debate FAQ for this topic.

This thread is closed.