VIP tour tipping

[foodiddiedoo]

My DD was a VIP guide for years. She left during Covid. She was very good, had many repeat tours who requested her and ones who had been recommended by friends. Some of the families still kept in touch and she just went on a VIP tour as a guest with one of those families recently. So I can tell you from experience what happened.
First of all there is no gratuity required. The CM is super grateful for it but it’s not a requirement. Over the years she got anywhere from 0-$600. A celeb invited her into her villa for some home made cake and coffee post tour, a jewelry designer gave her several pieces and they keep in touch, a country singer invited her and 4 pals to a concert and to come back stage, a repeat celebrity gave two guides each a coach leather handbag and one who saw she ordered gluten free asked for her address and shipped a box of GF treats. Most people invited her to join the family for meal and gave around $100 cash in total. The amount you are talking is extremely generous and if it’s no burden then go ahead buy don’t go breaking the bank if you really can’t afford it. The CM will be just as happy to help you have the best experience either way!

Wow that sounds like some amazing experiences she had over the years!

 

[F.R.I.D.A.Y.]

I know some comments were made about tips genuinely not being expected, but having the perspective of knowing many guides, I have to say that's simply not the case. Yes, Disney doesn't mention tipping your guide and also doesn't make it easy to do so, but the vast majority of guests do tip and, right or wrong, guides do expect it. They are paid very little- think similarly to what other front line CMs make, and part of this is due to the fact that Disney knows generous guests will bridge the gap for them.

Whether you tip your guide well or an amount they find offensive, they should accept anything they are given graciously. It would be extremely unprofessional for them to do otherwise. However, I also have been told by some of the guides that I know that they won't host a family again if the tip is less than a certain amount. I'm not saying this approach is right but am simply sharing the reality of how some view things.

Amounts guides receive as tips vary enormously, but I've been told that post-pandemic tips have generally been better than they were pre-Covid. Again, though, there is a lot of variation. I know some guests don't tip their guides at all and then I'm also aware of times when guides have received tips of 50%+. Some guests choose to tip a percentage of the overall cost of the tour, an amount per person on the tour, or the cost of one hour, although other guests just choose to give a flat amount. Like I said, it's kind of all over the board.

I feel that stating a certain amount you should tip is a probably bit out of line, but if there's a question as to how much to give, I would err on the side of being generous. Doubly so if the guide is pushing a stroller, dealing with a wheelchair or ECV, staying out to watch kids while the rest of the group goes on rides, or if you extend beyond the 7 hour minimum. Yes, the tours are very expensive, and it may be hard to swallow the idea of tacking a large tip onto that, but, again, the guides don't get paid much by Disney and work hard to give your family a fantastic day.

I hope you have a great tour!

 

[snowwite]

Wow that sounds like some amazing experiences she had over the years!

Yeah she loved it but during the pandemic she was furloughed and needed income. The part time from home became full time and now she’s full time, manager and making more money so she can’t really go back.

 

[GoingSince1990]

However, I also have been told by some of the guides that I know that they won't host a family again if the tip is less than a certain amount.

I find it surprising that tour guides would be allowed to pick and choose between tour groups based upon the size of the tip they anticipate getting. Sort of like a waiter demanding not to be assigned to the table of someone that he thinks is a bad tipper. I expect that groups visiting from abroad would be at the bottom of the tour guides’ desirability list, as these people who are unfamiliar with the extreme American tipping culture would not even think of tipping for something where this option is never even hinted at, would not happen to be carrying hundreds of dollars in US currency, and would not have Venmo accounts (Venmo is only in the US).

 

[F.R.I.D.A.Y.]

I find it surprising that tour guides would be allowed to pick and choose between tour groups based upon the size of the tip they anticipate getting. Sort of like a waiter demanding not to be assigned to the table of someone that he thinks is a bad tipper. I expect that groups visiting from abroad would be at the bottom of the tour guides’ desirability list, as these people who are unfamiliar with the extreme American tipping culture would not even think of tipping for something where this option is never even hinted at, would not happen to be carrying hundreds of dollars in US currency, and would not have Venmo accounts (Venmo is only in the US).

Guides are allowed to tell their office that they would prefer not to host a particular group again, and some will decline to host a group in the future simply because they didn't feel the guests tipped them well enough on the previous tour. For groups that a guide has never hosted before, it becomes harder for the guide to make the case to not host that particular tour and have it assigned to someone else, so this is usually only a thing that occurs on repeat tours. You would be right in guessing that international guests are, generally speaking, much less likely to tip well, if at all.

 

[john7994]

We have had the same guide three years running for our annual January trip - we tip close to the equivalent of one hour of the hourly rate for the day. We have never requested the same guide - so whatever mechanism Disney uses in assignment - I am assuming is not random. The guide even mentioned that they actually worked a longer consecutive day week to be with our family for this last trip - indicating to me - they were aware of our plan well in advance.

Or, they wanted the same tip …

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

I think the only “special” requests we might make would be if there were any rides we could stay on without getting off since that always feels so special.

We had that ONE TIME on Splash Mountain, in fall of 2001, shortly after 9/11. The parks were empty. It was a low budget trip and in hindsight, I wish we stayed much longer than 5 days.

 

[foodiddiedoo]

We had that ONE TIME on Splash Mountain, in fall of 2001, shortly after 9/11. The parks were empty. It was a low budget trip and in hindsight, I wish we stayed much longer than 5 days.

I've been able to stay on Thunder Mountain multiple times towards the end of a park day. Once at Animal Kingdom we were allowed to loop around Everest 3x with a group of teen boys who kept cheering 'one more time'!

 

[MinnieMSue]

when we took my parents in wheelchairs I booked a das on Haunted mansion and genie plus at the same time. It is very hard to get my dad on the ride and we loaded in the exit and when we did I asked if we could stay on for both rides. The reason was his vision does not adjust to darkness well and also mobility. They said it depends on how many wheelchairs they have to load when we get back around to that spot. We were lucky and they let us loop it again. It was great for him because he could see much better the second time. It is not much to see. Just a carpeted hallway with the vehicles going through it. I honestly did not pay a lot of attention because I was so tired after getting him situated on the ride.