Tipping, this came up in one of the other forums...

[Soarin_04]

Table or buffet, unless the service is really horrible, I always tip between 15 - 20%. I've had friends who worked both and neither make minimum wage because the powers that be automatically assume they're making enough in tips.

 

[dzorn]

Because this link is to CNN.com, quoting Emily Post, Miss Manner's competition...

http://money.cnn.com/pf/features/lists/tipping/

I was looking at this one also...

http://www.itipping.com/tip-guide-restaurant.htm

and for buffets it says nothing necessary for fast food (When's the last time anyone saw a KFC buffet????) so does that mean for the places where you pull your own cup out of a cafeteria-style cart and fill your own drink? $1-2pp for if they bring you drinks and check on you, and up to 20% for a "high-end hotel buffet brunch"-- so maybe that's where CP falls????

I'm still going to book my parents separately (so we're 4 and 2) and tip what feels right based on the service we get that day (not saying it WON'T be 18% or better... I once tipped 100%... but there was a reason, and it wasn't a $300 buffet...)

If you are at the same table you will be charged the 18% automatically. It does not matter if you make it as a 4 and 2 you will be considered a party of 6.

We usually tip between 15-18 % at Disney buffets. The waiters clear your accumilated dishes, take photos, get your drinks. Though they do not bring out your food the things they do do take up more time than a regular TS waiter.

Denise in MI

 

[disneysnowflake]

When the 3 of us go to WDW, and we eat at a buffet, I'll tip $20.

Only once did I tip absolutely nothing at WDW. That was in early Dec 2004 at Liberty Tree Tavern when our waiter took our drink order, 20 minutes later came back with drinks and our food, and then disappeared. He only spoke to use long enough to take our drink order. Not even a hello. His entire section was left hanging, and we had no idea why. After waiting a long time for our check, I went out to the lobby to ask for it. Only then did this guy come back. I asked why he never came back, but he didn't even speak. He glared. I put the exact cash in the folder and left. I never thought to speak to a manager or anything. If the waiter would have explained when I asked him (and I did so very nicely), I probably would have left some sort of tip. Everyone has a bad night, but that guy was downright rude. What a waste of almost 90 minutes of our vacation time. We didn't eat at LTT for 3 years after that night.

Every other time we've ever eaten at WDW, the wait staff has been friendly, refilled drinks, cleared dishes, asked how our meal is, etc. They all got tips.

 

[ilovemk76]

Buffet - minimum is 10% but we usually tip 15%.
Restaurant - minimum is 15% but we usually tip 20%

We also use the total with tax so the tip is slightly higher.

Im not going to lie here, I will never, under any circumstances pay a 20% tip on a meal in Disney. We ate at CM once and our bill was $170. It was a buffet. I don't think our waitress deserved $34 for bring us a few drinks for one hour. I did tip her $20 but not because I wanted to, I just felt "pressured". It wont be that way for me next time. Money is tighter.

If I'm at a buffet and am paying to eat and fix my own plate, that waiter/waitress will get between 5% and 10% from me. Just how it is. I understand they need money too, but so do I. I think that amount is VERY fair for someone walks by and see's your glass empty then brings a pitcher back to fill it.

If Im at a restaurant where I am totally waited on and catered to, its a whole other story of course. They are working for me at that point and deserve more.

Call me a tight wad, flame me, but Im just not going to pay someone an inflated tip "just because society tells me to".

My money comes in too hard for others to tell me how to spend it.

If you cannot afford a proper tip then you cannot afford to eat there. Find a place you can afford.

 

[chris31997]

We tip according to the level of service. Buffet restraunts will get a little less than a sit down. But it all depends on the level of service. We have tipped a penny for bad service. We read somewhere to tip at least that so that they know that you tip. But now I am just rude/rotten enough to complain about bad service. Thankfully, we have not been in that situation

Wait staff/pizza delievery people sometimes are paid less than min wage. They are paid wait staff min and it is assumed that they will recieve enough tips to make it up to min wage. They also have to declare said tips accordingly Been there in college, and not going back if I can help it

 

[Acklander]

Because this link is to CNN.com, quoting Emily Post, Miss Manner's competition...

http://money.cnn.com/pf/features/lists/tipping/

I was looking at this one also...

http://www.itipping.com/tip-guide-restaurant.htm

and for buffets it says nothing necessary for fast food (When's the last time anyone saw a KFC buffet????) so does that mean for the places where you pull your own cup out of a cafeteria-style cart and fill your own drink? $1-2pp for if they bring you drinks and check on you, and up to 20% for a "high-end hotel buffet brunch"-- so maybe that's where CP falls????

I'm still going to book my parents separately (so we're 4 and 2) and tip what feels right based on the service we get that day (not saying it WON'T be 18% or better... I once tipped 100%... but there was a reason, and it wasn't a $300 buffet...)

But then you'd have to sit at a different table than your parents - would you really want to split up your family just so you won't have to pay 18% (though you might)??? If you don't get good service, you can have the auto tip adjusted down.
That being said, I tip the same at buffets as I do at regular restaurants.

 

[Acklander]

Im not going to lie here, I will never, under any circumstances pay a 20% tip on a meal in Disney. We ate at CM once and our bill was $170. It was a buffet. I don't think our waitress deserved $34 for bring us a few drinks for one hour. I did tip her $20 but not because I wanted to, I just felt "pressured". It wont be that way for me next time. Money is tighter.

If I'm at a buffet and am paying to eat and fix my own plate, that waiter/waitress will get between 5% and 10% from me. Just how it is. I understand they need money too, but so do I. I think that amount is VERY fair for someone walks by and see's your glass empty then brings a pitcher back to fill it.

If Im at a restaurant where I am totally waited on and catered to, its a whole other story of course. They are working for me at that point and deserve more.

Call me a tight wad, flame me, but Im just not going to pay someone an inflated tip "just because society tells me to".

My money comes in too hard for others to tell me how to spend it.

You'd probably be better off going to counter service instead of table service restaurant -then you won't have to worry about it.

 

[Disneyliscious]

If you cannot afford a proper tip then you cannot afford to eat there. Find a place you can afford.

My choice of the amount I tip has nothing to do with what I can afford. There is no law that states I must tip a certain amount. I am free to tip what I want and what I see as necessary, which is what I do. I avoid restaurants with mandatory gratuities like the plague.

What is proper to you, may not be proper to me. Until society does my job for me, I will not let it dictate how much of my earnings I spend on a tip. I use to be a waitress. I know what its like. But I never once "expected" a certain amount. I am their to earn the customers tip and make sure they are provided for. If all I do is seat them and bring out drinks, Im not deserving of the same tip as a waitress who works at a Signature restaurant.

Take a Disney buffet for example. Lets round it off at $35 each for 4 people. Thats $140 before tax. My waitress seats us and brings us drinks. That is not deserving of a $28 tip for a few minutes work. Sorry.

If the same waitress seated us, brought our drinks, asked how we wanted our steaks cooked, asked what kinds of dressings we wanted for our salads, brought us fresh bread when we ran out, brought our food and made sure it was hot and presentable, asked if we wanted coffee or dessert, cleared our table, does all this in a timely manner, etc that is different.

I understand that some of you don't like the way I tip, but the amount I leave for a tip is not for you to decide.

And to the poster who asked about FL wait staff not making minimum wage, its the same here in TN. Wait Staff makes $2.13 per hour. When I worked at a steakhouse, if our weekly tips did not add up to make up the difference between $2.13 and minimum wage then we had to lie and say that it did. We had to enter our wages into our time clock each night for the hours we worked. If we got no tips, we still had to enter the amount that would be equal to minimum wage. Needless to say, about 8 years after I left that restaurant I received a notice about a class action lawsuit and was eventually given a $30 settlement for the way they made us falsely report our earnings. It was a chain restaurant too.

 

[*Seanaci*]

Country buffet (pay when you walk in, get your own food and drinks): I tip NOTHING! Sorry. Bussers are paid to clear the table. I shouldn't have to tip them for doing something they are hired to do.

Golden Corral (pay when you walk in, get own food, drink refills from "Server"): Rarely tip.

Disney: No matter where you eat at Disney (buffet or sit down with an actual server)...if you are a party of 6 or more, they automatically add the 18% gratuity to your bill.

 

[bumbershoot]

(I didn't know everything was all together on one plate so we had to ask for a plate without meat for the vegetarian in the group).

That's really good to know...

I thought Crystal palace is a Buffet? In fact that's the buffet I'm planning on going to. Is it TS?

Buffets at WDW are considered Table Service. So it's both.

Sure,, they don't bring out your food, but they bus tables a lot more than at a regular restaurant.

Oh dagnabit, now I've had to go and think about it differently. You're right, they do bus the table more often than if you had a normal simple meal.

Before planning our first WDW, I didn't tip at buffets, ever. Since I planned that trip and read so much about buffets and tipping, we tip, sometimes. When we went to Sweet Tomatoes and the lady went and got the container of soft-serve mix so that I could read the ingredients to see if it was safe for DS (nope), we were sure to tip.

But now..even that thought process has now been modified. Employees at Sweet Tomatoes (and Zoopa, same place but in WA) will thank you!

Anybody know if the servers at Disney make the standard $7.35/hr or do they get the $2.12 or whatever that servers in normal restaurants get? Just curious...

It's a question I've been asking off and on for ages and have never gotten an answer to. Florida allows a lower minimum wage for servers, BUT since they are CMs I've always wondered if that's done at WDW.

So in Florida, wait staff gets less than minimum wage? That's ridiculous. In my state wait staff gets minimum wage, so it doesn't come down to customers to determine the actual wage. A tip is a tip, not required to get the server up to a decent wage.

Until your post I figured it was the same in WA. I worked as a server once and got normal wages, but I figured it was just b/c of the specific place (they refused to take credit cards b/c they didn't want to know what we were being tipped...I figured they just had their heads in the sand and were making it easier for everyone), and I didn't realize that WA (and OR, it seems, among only 6 other states) just doesn't have a server minimum wage.

But you gotta know...MOST states do have a server-minimum. I think it's important that you know that. And the reality is, in those states, you ARE bringing them up to a minimum wage. If my understanding of taxes is correct, they are taxed* on their wage plus a certain percentage; the IRS assumes that you did indeed make at least that amount. (*not taxed, but that they don't allow you to show it as lower than wage+percentage)

YOu and I want to think that a tip is a tip, but it IS how the employee gets up to normal minimum, and, it seems, it is like that in most states.

My waitress seats us and brings us drinks. That is not deserving of a $28 tip for a few minutes work. Sorry.

If the same waitress seated us, brought our drinks, asked how we wanted our steaks cooked, asked what kinds of dressings we wanted for our salads, brought us fresh bread when we ran out, brought our food and made sure it was hot and presentable, asked if we wanted coffee or dessert, cleared our table, does all this in a timely manner, etc that is different.

If the server is only doing the bare minimum, talk to the manager! Don't just punish with a low tip... I think that sometimes servers make big assumptions about a table, and sadly that causes their tip to be lower, but they don't realize it was b/c of their inactions, but just think they were right. So unless your'e going to leave a note explaining what it is they did or did not do to warrant a low/no tip, I'd talk to the manager about it....

We got half our meal comped when hubby did that at Cafe Orleans at Disneyland (ON my birthday, wahhhh). The server had huge issues with what we ordered (DS only got a snacky type thing, DH and I shared a salad and entree *because that's what we WANTED, and we were leaving room for the special birthday beignets they were making during that time), and ignored us continually. It took something like 40 minutes to get the beignets, and that was at the END of the meal. I wanted to get out of there and asked for a go box as he served them...it took 20 minutes for that, and by that time we'd eaten them. Meanwhile he was hustling and bustling for the tables all around us, tables where entree and salad and drink had been ordered for each person. DH loves to tip, would have done well by the guy if he'd made my birthday special (as should have happened during Disney's birthday celebration year), and it was just sad sad sad. (plus we sat at the table for 2-3 times longer than we should have, so he was cheating himself out of more tips!)

My point is...you have to talk to the manager if the server isn't doing right by you. At a disney buffet they *are* supposed to be helping out, so you can have that expectation of them...

 

[lisaisanurse]

The one poster felt the need to make fun of people on the net? "size of the guests"? Someone has a low self esteem!

 

[marie1203]

We are not big on buffets, at least around here we are not. So I can't answer how much we tip at home. When we are in Disney we tip 15% in buffets and 20% TS unless we get really bad service. I have only not tip once because we got horrible service, they brought the wrong food, then they took forever to get the right food to us and it was cold, our drinks were never refilled even after we asked 5 times, we asked for a box instead he threw our food away, etc.

 

[Donaldswife]

Im not going to lie here, I will never, under any circumstances pay a 20% tip on a meal in Disney. We ate at CM once and our bill was $170. It was a buffet. I don't think our waitress deserved $34 for bring us a few drinks for one hour. I did tip her $20 but not because I wanted to, I just felt "pressured". It wont be that way for me next time. Money is tighter.

If I'm at a buffet and am paying to eat and fix my own plate, that waiter/waitress will get between 5% and 10% from me. Just how it is. I understand they need money too, but so do I. I think that amount is VERY fair for someone walks by and see's your glass empty then brings a pitcher back to fill it.

If Im at a restaurant where I am totally waited on and catered to, its a whole other story of course. They are working for me at that point and deserve more.

Call me a tight wad, flame me, but Im just not going to pay someone an inflated tip "just because society tells me to".

My money comes in too hard for others to tell me how to spend it.

I am certainly not going to call you names, and you are free to do whatever you please, but I do know that at most of the restaurants in Disney the servers have to "tip out" other members of the staff. Bussers, Hosts, etc. That tip out is approximately 7.5% of their sales, not what they were given in tips, but their actual recorded sales. If you only tip 5% then the server is actually paying money out of their own pocket to wait on you. Not saying I agree with the practice, but that is standard in a lot of establishments.

 

[kaytieeldr]

Take a Disney buffet for example. Lets round it off at $35 each for 4 people. Thats $140 before tax. My waitress seats us and brings us drinks. That is not deserving of a $28 tip for a few minutes work. Sorry.

That must have been one heck of a messy, unmagical dining experience! You had d
To drink around all those empty glasses, eat around all those empty plates, your waitress apparently didn't say a word to you to make you feel welcome...

For the record, nobody at Walt Disney World is telling you how much to tip unless (a) you're using your Tables in Wonderland discount or (b) your party consists of six or more people. The percentages on your WDW restaurant check are suggestions calculated for the guest's convenience.

 

[kaytieeldr]

Because this link is to CNN.com, quoting Emily Post, Miss Manner's competition...

http://money.cnn.com/pf/features/lists/tipping/

I was looking at this one also...

http://www.itipping.com/tip-guide-restaurant.htm

and for buffets it says nothing necessary for fast food (When's the last time anyone saw a KFC buffet????) so does that mean for the places where you pull your own cup out of a cafeteria-style cart and fill your own drink? $1-2pp for if they bring you drinks and check on you, and up to 20% for a "high-end hotel buffet brunch"-- so maybe that's where CP falls????

I'm still going to book my parents separately (so we're 4 and 2) and tip what feels right based on the service we get that day (not saying it WON'T be 18% or better... I once tipped 100%... but there was a reason, and it wasn't a $300 buffet...)

Maybe like Cici's Pizza?

As for making your parents a separate reservation, feel free. You may want to make them for (even slightly) a different time, using a different name, not associate with them in the waiting area, not ask to be seated near each other, and if you do end up seated in the same area and have the same server - 100% be sure to complete ignore each other and that your kids ignore them as well.

Otherwise, despite all your deceptive efforts to avoid WDW's mandatory large party service charge, you'll reveal yourself as such and each table will find the 18% s/c added to its respective check

 

[kaytieeldr]

Anybody know if the servers at Disney make the standard $7.35/hr or do they get the $2.12 or whatever that servers in normal restaurants get? Just curious...

Somewhere between. I don't know exactly, but toward the lower end.

 

[ICF]

And then someone mentioned that for parties of 6 or more, at Disney, 18% is automatically added *even for the buffets*. Is that right???? Exactly what would they be doing at our dinner buffet to warrant a $54 tip???? (especially considering we'll be there less than an hour, so that works out to a $1+/minute surcharge...)

Perhaps this has been covered, but either you've got one big party of people or your math is off.

An 18% that equals $54, would be a $300 bill....perahps your party is that big, but that wouldnt be normal.

As to your original question.....

We just went to Golden Corral for breakfast while on vacation last week. Our "waiter" asked if we wanted coffee -- "no", and took away dirty plates. We got our own milk / juice from the buffet and paid at the front counter. I think for the 4 of us (2 adults / 2 kids) I left $3. Other than those $1, our next smallest bill was a $10 and I wasnt leaving that much.

I would say typically we tip 15-20% on the pre-tax amount at a normal type place, but at a buffet (on the rare occasion we are at one) we usually do less since they arent taking orders or bringing drink refills and the like.

 

[kaytieeldr]

So in Florida, wait staff gets less than minimum wage? That's ridiculous. In my state wait staff gets minimum wage, so it doesn't come down to customers to determine the actual wage.

But one the majority of states - about 80% - that's not the case. Minimum wage for wait staff is between $2 and $4.50 or so.

A tip is a tip, not required to get the server up to a decent wage. Disney charges enough to pay their employees fairly. Here I tip very minimally at buffets, since they are serving me no more than the typical retail clerk, who I do not tip at all. Both of those jobs are untrained, entry level positions, so I don't see why one is more entitled to money above minimum wage than the other.

Interesting. Entry level, sure. Untrained? Really? Go walk into your local buffet restaurant, dress or jewelry shop, or big box store and start working

And, yes, I've worked at a bartender before, but it was in a very small town where people did not feel pressured to tip a certain percentage. Tips were all over the board, from nonexistent to excessive, and I did not vary my service depending on whether people tipped.

I've never known a bartender to be paid less than minimum wage; experienced/good ones make more. Tips are just gravy.

At a TS restaurant, I tip around 20%, rarely dependent on service quality. I just do it. I hate buffets, so I only go if someone else chooses the restaurant. I did not schedule any buffets into our Disney visit, so fortunately it will be a non issue there.

 

[kaytieeldr]

We tip according to the level of service. Buffet restraunts will get a little less than a sit down. But it all depends on the level of service. We have tipped a penny for bad service. We read somewhere to tip at least that so that they know that you tip. But now I am just rude/rotten enough to complain about bad service. Thankfully, we have not been in that situation

Tipping a penny is silly. Complaining about bad service isn't rude or rotten. It's smart. Doing it while you're experiencing the bad service - instead of waiting until the end of the meal or the check comes - is the smartest move of all. Why suffer in silence in thehope of maybe getting something knocked off your bill or not having to tip, when instead you can get the problem fixed on the spot??????

Wait staff/pizza delievery people sometimes are paid less than min wage. They are paid wait staff min and it is assumed that they will recieve enough tips to make it up to min wage. They also have to declare said tips accordingly Been there in college, and not going back if I can help it

That doesn't sound any more ethical than the other poster having to claim hours that she didn't work. You want me to check with someone I know who owns a pizza/sub shop?

 

[mwatson011]

Wow, lots of answers...here are mine...2A, 2C

The only buffet we eat at locally is our Chinese buffet. Servers get drinks and clear plates. We always do the same thing here. We each get one drink, no refills, and one dinner plate, and one dessert plate. So, our server brings 4 drinks and takes away 4 plates, then our 4 dessert plates and 4 glasses are left to be bussed, as in any restaurant. We get no conversation nor any special treatment, nor do we expect it. For that we leave $2.

My favorite upscale restaurant has a Mother's Day buffet brunch with a mandatory 18% already added. For that, we get conversation, drinks from the bar, refilled beverages, and everytime we return to the table, cleared plates and our cloth napkins refolded. The servers are attentive to the kiddos also, even bringing food to them if the ask. We usually add a few bucks to the automatic gratuity here. Our regular waiter and bartenders here get well over 20% because they make DH and I's date nights special.

Regular TS restaurants get a straight 15% unless the service totally deviated from reasonable expectations. It can go up or down. Usually on days we get horrible service, the manager can be found hanging out in a corner chatting with other employees, so pretty useless to complain to a manager who isn't doing their job either.

Disney, I digress. Since we go on the DP and that is a fixed amount, let me just say that my base tips are also a fixed amount, with room for fluctuations for exceptional/lousey service.