What does everone else budget for tips on dining plan

[mickeyluvsjess]

Hi. This year we are trying to do a "budget trip". I am in school and DH has been slow with his business this year. We downgraded from a deluxe to a moderate but we still upgraded to the DXDP. The thing is the main reason we like that plan is that when we were too tired to eat we ordered room service (where gratuity is included) but at POR there is none He won't go for spending less on the package doing the regular DP and paying OOP for other meals because he likes to think that most things are prepaid and there is no arguing the point with him. Now he is saying we spend too much while we are there (I am the Disney lover not him) My question is normally we are very good tippers but for some reason it seems as though every meal at a TS dining local ends up with a $300 bill for our family of 5 so we spend a LOT tipping. I know without staying at a deluxe resort there will be less CMs to tip as far as bell services and such but how much does the average family set aside for tips on their WDW vacation?

 

[Leash]

I go on allears.net and figure out what we are likely to order at each TS and then total it up and figure out the tip (plus a little extra in case the prices aren't up to date or we get above and beyond service that we would tip extra for). Once I have the tips figured out I just include that in how much we need to budget for food, including any "adult beverages" or anything we would have to pay OOP for.

 

[Marionnette]

It would depend on how many tableservice meals we planned to do. With the DxDP you could be doing up to 3 per day. That's a lot of tipping! Plus, you get an appetizer AND dessert with the adults' meals, which will escalate the bill further.

On average, we spend around $5-$8 per person per tableservice meal. Much more if it is a signature restaurant with wine or specialty drinks.

 

[patsal]

I budget $1 for each of our suitcases for each person who touches them, so I know $5 X 2 on the way there and back so $20.

I do not tip housekeeping as it is not a tipped position.

I usually tip 18% on food total--not the total of the bill after tax, but the food, bevergae total--for us that ends up being about $18 per meal so I budget $20 for regular TS and $40 for Signature.

I don't get the DDP or DXDP because in the end it isn't cost effective for me and my family. I still went to allears to check menus and prices to get an idea of what to work into my budget. When I ran the numbers for DxDDP for a 12 night vacation I found my tips would have been around $1000 for three all over the age of 10. I could not see ordering food we wouldn't want or eat and paying tips on it, so it just reinfoced to pay OOP as we went along.

I'm not sure how DXDDP fits into a tight budget because there are so many variables--to keep the tips down you might choose not to order things, but then where is the value of the savings of using a DDP--it becomes a giant Catch 22.

 

[OhMari]

I usually tip $2.00 a bag.
$5.00 a day for room cleaning. Or $2.00 a person.


Now for the Dining Plan.
Each receipt will have a 18% or 20% amount for you, so you don't have to figure it out.
If you want to go 15%.

This is how I figure out a 15% tip.

Say your bill is $64.
Times the bill by 10%, it is $6.40
now divide that by 1/2=$3.20, which is the 5%

Add the 2 together $9.60 for a 15% tip.

10% tip if you have really lousy service.
I will always tip, no matter how bad the service is.
I figured people can have really bad days.

 

[cassandrap83]

I would always go to www.allears.net/com/whatever & pick the most expensive entrees x2 and then 2 kids entrees & then budget 20% of that. (we always tip 20%)

At buffets, we tip 10%, and I would do the same.

 

[tzolkin]

We were a party of 7 last trip (my parents came along) so we usually just paid the automatic 18% tip at all of our TS meals.

We were staying in two rooms and usually our tips for both groups were about the same for each meal (one bill for 3 adults, one bill for 2 adults/2 kids). I believe they were all in the $17-20 range per room, so a little under $40 for each meal for our whole party.

 

[cam&phoebsmom]

It will totally depend on how many adults vs. kids are going, and also where you eat. I agree with the PP to go to allears and get a rough idea.

I also think that if you are concerned about spending money cutting the deluxe dining plan down to the regular one is an easy thing to do. If he is concerned about pre-payment you can always get a Disney gift card to take with you and use that so it is pre-paid and use that for any extras you may want to add (such as mixed drinks or an apetizer or two).

I have been getting the disney gift cards here and there to use for our incidentals so we do not come home with a big bill when we leave. You can take the difference you would spend between the 2 plans and get a gift card so you know you have it and it is pre-paid, and you can use it for more than just food. Plus if you decide to charge things back to the room (like the tips and any purchases) you can pay it off with the disney gift card so the money that you have already budgeted (by buying a gift card) will cover the tips as well.