Toddlers in "Party of 6" for tipping??

[rellabee]

We are a family of 6 going to WDW in June. There are 2 adults, 1 Disney adult (young teenager), 2 "kids" and 1 baby/toddler. For DDP purposes, we have 3 adults and 2 kids.

I read somewhere that parties of 6 or more will be automatically charged an 18% gratuity. Does anyone have any idea if I will be auto-charged for 18% when 1 of my party is a baby?? For dining reservation purposes, I have to reserve space for 6 since the baby has a seat, but for "payment" purposes, there are only 5 of us.

I normally tip well and if my non-paying baby causes the server extra work I will tip accordingly......BUT........Disney is surcharging us $4 per person for the pleasure of serving ourselves at buffets in the busy month of June already, and then if you tack on an automatic 18% for a meal that is not full-service, I may need to totally rethink my dining reservation strategy. I just don't want to be charged 18% for the server to bring us a drink once, point to the buffet, and never come back -- I want the option of tipping well or tipping "ok". If for my family size I have to pay an 18% tip no matter the level of service, then it might as well be at full-service restaurants rather than buffets.

So....anyone out there know if a children under 3 count toward the "party of six" tipping requirements??

 

[BuffaloGal]

We are a family of 6 going to WDW in June. There are 2 adults, 1 Disney adult (young teenager), 2 "kids" and 1 baby/toddler. For DDP purposes, we have 3 adults and 2 kids.

I read somewhere that parties of 6 or more will be automatically charged an 18% gratuity. Does anyone have any idea if I will be auto-charged for 18% when 1 of my party is a baby?? For dining reservation purposes, I have to reserve space for 6 since the baby has a seat, but for "payment" purposes, there are only 5 of us.

I normally tip well and if my non-paying baby causes the server extra work I will tip accordingly......BUT........Disney is surcharging us $4 per person for the pleasure of serving ourselves at buffets in the busy month of June already, and then if you tack on an automatic 18% for a meal that is not full-service, I may need to totally rethink my dining reservation strategy. I just don't want to be charged 18% for the server to bring us a drink once, point to the buffet, and never come back -- I want the option of tipping well or tipping "ok". If for my family size I have to pay an 18% tip no matter the level of service, then it might as well be at full-service restaurants rather than buffets.

So....anyone out there know if a children under 3 count toward the "party of six" tipping requirements??

The baby counts. Literally, if it's a breathing human being.... he/she counts. Keep in mind, though, that at buffets, your baby eats whatever she wants for free. At table service (hard menu) restaurants, she will have have to share or you will have to order for her, so it probably balances out.

 

[DCDisney]

There were reports this week that yes babies count as well as anyone not eating but sitting at the table. There have also been reports that people asked to speak to the manager to have the automatic tip removed to let them decide and that the manager did it with no problem.

Yvonne

 

[becca011906]

I read somewhere on here yesterday that it's the table size regardless of who's eating and who's not... if you make res and are at a table for 6 people trip will get added...

 

[Colleen27]

We were told the same thing. Any warm body at the table counts, regardless of age, whether or not they are eating. I called to ask about our December trip, since it'll be my mother, DH & I, DS9, DD6, and Dbaby. I can't say that I'm thrilled that a 4 month old counts towards the party size, but oh well.

 

[rellabee]

Thanks for everyone's help on this one. Between the auto-tip and the $4 buffet surcharge in June, I might as well be fully waited on at a full-service venue since the overall prices (with the auto-tip) are now about the same.

After my original post....I saw all of the other posts out there. I wasn't trying to restart what was been a hot topic......I just like to choose the amount of tip myself, especially considering that I have been to Disney character buffets where we have never seen our server after the first set of drinks again....until it was time to pay for the bill that I had to hunt down. An auto-18% tip when we haven't seen the server in over an hour doesn't seem right. On the other hand, we've had fantastic servers to whom we've tipped 25% or more.

Maybe I'll even be able to eat a meal myself rather than "serving" all of my kids from the buffet!!

 

[n2mm]

Thanks for everyone's help on this one. Between the auto-tip and the $4 buffet surcharge in June, I might as well be fully waited on at a full-service venue since the overall prices (with the auto-tip) are now about the same.

After my original post....I saw all of the other posts out there. I wasn't trying to restart what was been a hot topic......I just like to choose the amount of tip myself, especially considering that I have been to Disney character buffets where we have never seen our server after the first set of drinks again....until it was time to pay for the bill that I had to hunt down. An auto-18% tip when we haven't seen the server in over an hour doesn't seem right. On the other hand, we've had fantastic servers to whom we've tipped 25% or more.

Maybe I'll even be able to eat a meal myself rather than "serving" all of my kids from the buffet!!

You sound like my SIL. He and his wife and their 7 kids went to WDW in September during the Free dining promotion. I helped them with their ADRs. It included 3 buffets and 4 TS. My SIL told us after returning that he will never do another buffet in WDW again. He said it was too much work when you have kids. I absolutely agree, I would rather sit and let someone bring me my food than do the work. He said by the time he and DIL got everyone's plate they never had time to enjoy themselves. This was their first trip and the free ddp saved them a ton of money.

BTW -- in regard to auto-tip. Yes any party of 6 will be auto-tipped. We know for a fact. We travel with our kids and our last trip with them in August 2007 we were a party of 9 which included 6 adults, 1 junior and 2 infants and only the 7 people were eating. Then it was a party of 8 or more got the auto tip, so we were always auto-tipped even though only 7 ate.

 

[SnoWhiteRabbit]

Thanks for everyone's help on this one. Between the auto-tip and the $4 buffet surcharge in June, I might as well be fully waited on at a full-service venue since the overall prices (with the auto-tip) are now about the same.

Sit down vs buffet with kids is one story...(mom of three here, I know what you mean...) And, I'm not familiar with the $4 surcharge, but one thing to factor in, if you haven't already is that the toddler eats for free at a buffet and family style sit down meals. At a non-family style sit down, if you need to order a kids' meal for your toddler, you will have to pay for it. Perhaps family style sit down meals are one of your best bets, $$$ wise.

Hope that helps!

 

[caroline1851]

What's this $4 buffet surcharge? I've never heard of this. So, are you saying you pay for a $20 buffet pp and now it's going to be $24?

 

[n2mm]

What's this $4 buffet surcharge? I've never heard of this. So, are you saying you pay for a $20 buffet pp and now it's going to be $24?

If you check the boards, Disney is now charging a higher rate for buffets during busy times of the year: weeks surrounding Christmas, weeks surrounding Easter, and summer season. (Most of us thought that was strange....whatever). Looks like the OP is traveling during June.

This is from another thread on the new policy -- posted by a moderator! tks.

It has been reported that WDW will be charging a $4-5 "surcharge" on buffet and all-you-can-eat TS meals during these peak periods:

Nov 18 - 24, 2007
Dec 16, 2007 - Jan 5, 2008
Mar 16-29, 2008
May 25 - July 5, 2008

The holiday menus on wdwinfo.com show that the increase is applied to each meal ordered (the prices just go up during these periods).

Since most, if not all, WDW character meals are served as buffets or all-you-can-eat, their prices will be raised.

If you are on the dining plan, or you don't go to buffet meals, you'll escape paying extra under this policy