To Tip or Not To Tip (long)

[Rosanne]

I tip for good service... whatever it may be. As far as mousekeeping goes... I happily tip if they are doing a nice job. For one thing, I think it must be kind of hard to see people spending tons of money on vacations while I am working hard to squeak by. I always figure the lift it can give someone to receive a few dollars that recognizes and appreciates great effort is a bargain.

 

[kimbac3]

The thing I have trouble tipping with is dinner shows and stuff like the candlelight processional. When there is entertainment tacked on with the food. What do you tip on? The whole price of the dinner show? That's seems crazy high! And those servers DO ask for tips, at least they did at the shows I did.

I tipped Mousekeeping because it just seemed like the thing to do. I guess I never really thought to much into it. When we stay somewhere for one night I don't tip.

I tip well at buffets - especially Disney ones. We have had some of the BEST servers at buffets! Funny, interactive and helpful.

 

[FlightlessDuck]

Well - I suppose you SHOULD change your underwear....I always tell the kids to make sure their underwear is CLEAN. I mean....You never know when you'll be in a Traffic Accident....

Although after an accident, those clean undies won't be clean anymore!

 

[DisneyWisher]

To Op I have a question why do you tip a bartender but someone making your coffee? They are both making you a drink. Is it only because one is alcohol? Just curious as to the difference.

For me I tip housekeeping, they do alot in the room, take trash, scrub toilets, wipe down shower, vacuum, make beds, organize and clean sink(they always put our toothbrushes in a glass with a washcloth fanned out, and arrange deodorant, toothpaste, brush on clean washcloth, etc... The ond that gets me is I tip the guy that takes my luggage put of my car and then tip a different guy to take it to my room. We usually bring 4 bags so I give $10 but it's $20 because of 2 different people. Recently we just park and take our things ourselves. Mostly cause I hate waiting for bellservices. Also if you stay at a Value they don't want you tipping luggage services. What I like about the Value is they will drop off your luggage even if you aren't there. Not like Mods and Deluxes that wait for you to request your luggage.

 

[wisnieea]

I'm fairly new to the board, so this is my first chance to join the fray on this subject...

I tip only based on the service I receive. It is not automatic, just because of the hourly wage of the person or the job they have chosen. MouseKeeping, Servers, ME drivers, all the same. I don't know what base pay they make, but if they truly go above and beyond to make us feel at home, they get some cash for helping out. None of those is automatic IMO, especially at a restaurant. It is a service related position, and if my water glass is empty to the point that I am eating without a drink, bye-bye tip.

DW and I went on a Royal Caribbean cruise awhile back, and the ship personnel were not paid any wages, only the tips they received at the end of the week. The service we got was spectacular, and I tipped accordingly. I don't expect a song and dance everytime I sit down for a meal, but good attentive service deserves some recognition. Marginal or poor service get's nothing.

My rule has always been, that if you want a person or business to really listen to you, you have to speak through your wallet....

I completely agree. My argument was against the comment that it doesnt take skill to be a good server. A tip is a tip, an extra for excellence in service.

 

[Carl Fredricksen]

I completely agree. My argument was against the comment that it doesnt take skill to be a good server. A tip is a tip, an extra for excellence in service.

I fully support that as well. To say it is not a skill set to balance that many orders and put up with people like me who are very demanding, is just not a true statement. The skill is in being able to shrug off the bad, and still make people happy during you shift. To me, that is something special, and something that cannot be taught in a school....

 

[bwilcox]

If most folks would "mind their manners" on here....they wouldn't be eating their weight in popcorn!

 

[lllGurulll]

I love threads like these. Gives me a good idea on where I stand on the issue.

 

[mitchfishguard]

I've been a server. I've known and been friends with/dated servers. I know they make crappy base pay.

I should probably have specified that I am referring more to disney servers, not real world ones. If we go to Crystal Palace and get out 45 minutes later- I feel silly that I have to leave somebody $20 for it to be an average tip. There is just no reason in my mind that it makes sense for that server to be being left $80-100/hour just because they are waiting tables in a vacation spot. I know, they might tip people out, I know that location might report a certain % to the IRS, but those issues are restaurant specific so you can't assume that every server is really only making min. wage when you know their tips there are CRAZY.

Regardless of where, % doesn't seem like a good system for judging what your server was worth to you.

We go out to breakfast on Sundays, the check is usually around $15 but I start our tip at $5, then go up if it is unusually good. My ordering oatmeal does not somehow mean my server is worth less than if I ordered an omelette, and I tip for what the person does for me. My breakfast servers at home do more work than the ones at our disney buffets so I almost feel like I am betraying the girls at home by leaving 4x as much for their tip because the food prices are inflated.[/QUOTE)

 

[gr8tdame]

We leave a tip for mousekeeping in our room when we leave for the parks.
We got a few towel animals when we stayed at the Poly years ago and then Kast year we received a towel animal after the first night and thanked the mousekeeper and gave her a larger tip. Well we created an animal making monster.... swans, birds monkeys, mickeys etc.
Every day there would be more towel animals ... sitting in champagne glasses ,wearing leis and some with mardi gra beads. Towel animals everyday, every where.
I think our Mousekeeper instead of cleaning our room was busy making animals. We would return from the parks and no towels ... trash not emptied .
Surfaces not wiped.
We stopped tipping but the towel animals kept coming...I thanked mousekeeping and said please no more animals. By the end of our stay we had over 30 towel animal in our room.
Sometimes having a long stay and tipping well can create an unatural disaster.
I will never wish for a towel animal again. Maybe I should leave a note with my tip stating ..clean room... no animals please.

 

[mitchfishguard]

I've been a server. I've known and been friends with/dated servers. I know they make crappy base pay.

I should probably have specified that I am referring more to disney servers, not real world ones. If we go to Crystal Palace and get out 45 minutes later- I feel silly that I have to leave somebody $20 for it to be an average tip. There is just no reason in my mind that it makes sense for that server to be being left $80-100/hour just because they are waiting tables in a vacation spot. I know, they might tip people out, I know that location might report a certain % to the IRS, but those issues are restaurant specific so you can't assume that every server is really only making min. wage when you know their tips there are CRAZY.

Regardless of where, % doesn't seem like a good system for judging what your server was worth to you.

We go out to breakfast on Sundays, the check is usually around $15 but I start our tip at $5, then go up if it is unusually good. My ordering oatmeal does not somehow mean my server is worth less than if I ordered an omelette, and I tip for what the person does for me. My breakfast servers at home do more work than the ones at our disney buffets so I almost feel like I am betraying the girls at home by leaving 4x as much for their tip because the food prices are inflated.

if you wait long enough, youll always a find a post that makes perfect sense to people who feel forced to tip by the thought -police. this is one of those posts. thank you

 

[steph73]

I think the real problem is that servers make under minimum wage. The restaurants expect the patrons to pay their server's salaries, as it is. I personally would prefer to see servers paid fairly for their work, and tips be true gratuities for great service - not something that is just expected no matter what.

There was a news story recently about a bar that had patrons arrested for not leaving a tip. Yes, arrested. I read another story about a restaurant that had barred a woman from their establishment because as a regular, they learned she was a poor tipper. If it's required, make it a "mandatory service charge" or pay your employees fairly... raise prices slightly across the board if you must. But "tips" and "gratuities" are supposed to be a little extra something for service above and beyond. They've morphed into something that is expected, period. I do have a problem with that.

That said, I do always tip. I tip more for great service, and I tip less at a buffet than at a full service restaurant. Even though I strongly feel that servers are underpaid on purpose for this reason, I still tip because it just feels like the right thing to do.

I am puzzled though that whenever there is a tipping discussion (here or elsewhere), I frequently see servers or ex-servers pointing out how little salary they make and how they depend on tips. While that may be true, I never see anyone complain about the restaurant's decisions to pay such a measly salary, and how that decision puts them at the whim of of a good or bad tippper.

 

[wisnieea]

I am puzzled though that whenever there is a tipping discussion (here or elsewhere), I frequently see servers or ex-servers pointing out how little salary they make and how they depend on tips. While that may be true, I never see anyone complain about the restaurant's decisions to pay such a measly salary, and how that decision puts them at the whim of of a good or bad tippper.

While I understand your point, there is no way to know how much each individual restaurant owner pays their employees. I work in a chain restaurant now and make "server minimum wage". My mom works in a privately ownd restaurant and makes more in wages than I do.

Do I think servers should make more? In Canada anyway, not really. The fact is that we make way more in tips than we do in wages. If our wages increased there wouldnt be a change in how people tip, we would just be making more. I guess what I am trying to say it that the two are seperate from each other. If you go to a restaurant and somehow knew your server was paid 11.00 an hour, would you tip less because of it??

Personally, I tip based on the quality of service compared to the work neccessary. I will tip more if im in a large group than i would if I just pop into a restaurant for a drink and a couple appetizers because the amount of work it quadrupled. I have "a minimum" percentage that I tip a "good server".

To actually respond to the OP's post (which I never did in all my ranting) the only people I tip in Disney are servers/bartenders and housekeeping. That being said, we never use bell services. I tip housekeeping but I have never really considered why I do. I will have to think about that one.

 

[DaniB]

thank you!! I cannot figure out, for the life of me, why this subject goes round and round and round over and over and over again!

If a particular subject comes up again and again, it would seem that people WANT to discuss it!

Personally I'm glad the OP brought this up! Our family has NEVER been on vacation before. I have been longing to ask what positions are normally tipped or not, and why, and how much.

For those of you who have nothing better to do than make snide comments - if the topic does not interest you, DON'T reply! Simple as that.

To everyone else - thanks for your view points! I loved reading this topic and it will certainly help me with our vacation plans.

 

[goofy4tink]

The Magic Express drivers have a sign posted above them that says tipping is appropriate for great service. If Disney allows them to advertise this, I would expect that Disney also assumes they will be receiving tips to supplement their wage.

Restaurant workers may be some of the MOST HARD WORKING folks ever. I've done it and I hated it. No, it did not require education, but it did require that I run my booty off for 8 hour with few and short breaks. Not to mention that the tips they receive are shared with the bussers, dishwashers, bartenders and cooks!

'IF' the bus driver touches a bag of yours, then yes, they can expect a tip. But if they do nothing other than drive the bus, then no, they aren't entitled to a tip. I have had drivers that drove the bus, kept us all in stitches due to their witty banter and informative tidbits along the way, but never touched a bag of mine...those drivers got a tip from me. They went out of their way to make our ride a nicer one. On the other hand, I've had a bag with me, that needed to be stowed under the bus. But, that driver never said a word to me...not one single word. I gave him my bag, he took it (wordlessly), I got on the bus, made the trip to the resorts, whereupon at each stop that driver mentioned that gratuities are always gratefully accepted. For what??? Driving the bus?? Those were the only words out of his mouth. I got my bag and kept my money in my pocket...that money that I had put there in order to have it handy for tipping.

I definitely see Mousekeeping as tip deserving. I do leave a "clean" room before I leave, but we still spit in sink and not everything in the sink and shower gets washed down the drain. I appreciate that someone is willing to clean up after me.

It seems that bus drivers, unless they help with luggage or big packages, would not be a tipped position.

At WDW, housekeeping is not considered a tippable position. I have doublechecked at most of the resort front desks, and been told this on every occasion. They are paid over $10 an hour. Some of you say that you leave the room messy and that the housekeepers pick up your trash and clean the bathrooms for you.....well, that's their job!! They're supposed to do that. Yes, sometimes I leave a tip, but more often don't. If a housekeeper has done something out of the ordinary for me or just been overly pleasant, then a small tip will be forthcoming from me. But it certainly isn't a 'given'. Towel animals?? I've had them left with and without tips being left.
And don't get me started on the buffet tipping. Those servers actually do more work than the regular servers. Well...the good servers do. I have had buffet servers who ran themselves ragged making sure our used dishes were removed and our glasses were kept refilled. I see more of my buffet server than I do at a regular restaurant. So, I still tip at my regular amount.

Tipping is just part of the expense of travel, especially to someplace like WDW. It's just a fact of life...one you do have to budget for.

 

[Art 1]

My wife tips housekeeping each day when we travel. Usually beforehand if she can catch them. Bellhops and the doorman as well, you would be surprised how fast a doorman can get you a cab.

 

[nyisles84]

Why tip someone for a job I'm capable of doing myself? I can deliver food. I can drive a taxi. I can and do cut my own hair. I did however tip my urologist, because, I am unable to pulverise my own kidney stones.

-dwight schrute

 

[Disneyadore]

yup.

And that makes me number ten. Who likes a slice of pizza?

 

[LaurenT]

I also don't like the giant cup at the counter in dunkin donuts...but I'll throw my change in there if the girl was friendly - what other criteria is there? She didn't even have to come around the counter to bring the donut to my table...and why should she get one when the girl at the drive through window doesn't?
Housekeeping...I am DVC - our room gets trash and towels on day four...our last trip she actually made the beds and tidied up..we left her $15 for her trouble. They sent a man from mousekeeping with hazardous waste bags to completely change out my 7 yr olds bed when she woke at 4 am having had a bloody nose EVERYWHERE!! We tipped him $10 (and of course I helped him clean the mess.)
I am overly generous in general for the normal tipping positions - I'll usually just double the first or the first 2 numbers on a restaurant bill to figure the tip, so a $10 bill gets a $2 tip and a $100 gets 20 - I know that it's more than 20% because I'm tipping the tax, but I don't want to short anyone and I can't really be bothered doing the math, I'm also not poor, so it's no big deal to be generous.
However, if I have a really nasty waitperson, I will not hesitate to leave them 5%...I'm not talking about a new person who is struggling to get it right, I'm talking about the waiter that tries to make you feel like you're beneath him...what is that treatment worth?

 

[tink22]

I've been a server. I've known and been friends with/dated servers. I know they make crappy base pay.

I should probably have specified that I am referring more to disney servers, not real world ones. If we go to Crystal Palace and get out 45 minutes later- I feel silly that I have to leave somebody $20 for it to be an average tip. There is just no reason in my mind that it makes sense for that server to be being left $80-100/hour just because they are waiting tables in a vacation spot. I know, they might tip people out, I know that location might report a certain % to the IRS, but those issues are restaurant specific so you can't assume that every server is really only making min. wage when you know their tips there are CRAZY.

I have nothing to add to the tip discussion. I tip the way I see fit, no matter the job. These threads never influence my decisions.

I just wanted to point out your post with your statement that serving in a Disney restaurant is somehow different than serving in the 'real world'. They work hard and do still make whatever minimum wage is for servers. If you choose to eat out in a 'vacation destination' you should tip accordingly. If you don't think it's fair to tip the average, eat counter service. Very simple.

Oh and LOTS of Disney servers actually get stiffed due to many Guests coming from other countries who don't know about tipping or Guests who have spent too much money on vacation and refuse to tip to pinch a penny. So don't always be so sure they are making CRAZY tips on every table they wait on.