The Disney Tipping Info Thread *Updated 9.1.09*

[bicker]

Yes.

 

[HappyDznyCamper]

Hold on... since the children are both under the age of 3, they are not included on the Dining plan, but are allowed to eat free from adults plates... if this is the case do they still count toward gratuity?

Everyone at the table counts toward the group size whether they eat or not, your tip(automatic for parties of six or more)will be based on the food ordered. If you only order 4 meals your tip will be based on the cost of the 4 meals, but because you are a party of six it is not up to you to leave it or not, it is part of your bill(unless you have had a problem and discussed it with a manger and gotten the tip reduced......).

 

[dormouse72]

I am at 13 days and counting...hooray! And I am still surprised at how much there is to learn about all of this.

We are a very large group (12 people at our largerst) with most of us on the DDP. We are split up the following ways for dining payment/tipping purposes:

Family # 1 = 5 people (4 adult DDP, 1 child DDP)
Family #2 = 2 people (2 adult DDP)
Family #3 = 1 person (1 adult DDP)
Family #4 = 1 person (1 adult DDP)
Family #5 = 3 people (no DDP - pay cash)

It's comforting to know that Families # 4 and 5 can ask for a separate check and not have any hassles (especially since # 4 is my mother).

And now for the tricky part...

Families #1-3 are on two reservations (4 people per room) and we split those dining credits among us - as in xxxx01, xxxx02, xxxx03, and xxxx04 for one room and yyyy01, yyyy02, yyyy03, and yyyy04 for the other room. Now among these three families on two reservations, my children are split - two are listed on my reservation in "room x" and one is listed on the reservation for "room y". Would it just be easier for me to give one of the adults in "room y" money for her portion of the tip to keep track of the dining credits or can I have her meal put on one "Family # 1" bill and pay our portion of the tip together, even though her DDP credits are not attached to my room?

Our two rooms are linked by a Grand Gathering - does that make any difference where DDP credits are concerned?

I figure it's easier to think about this now rather than be sitting at dinner after a meal trying to will the blood back to my brain to work all of this out!

 

[Tricia1972]

I am at 13 days and counting...hooray! And I am still surprised at how much there is to learn about all of this.

We are a very large group (12 people at our largerst) with most of us on the DDP. We are split up the following ways for dining payment/tipping purposes:

Family # 1 = 5 people (4 adult DDP, 1 child DDP)
Family #2 = 2 people (2 adult DDP)
Family #3 = 1 person (1 adult DDP)
Family #4 = 1 person (1 adult DDP)
Family #5 = 3 people (no DDP - pay cash)

It's comforting to know that Families # 4 and 5 can ask for a separate check and not have any hassles (especially since # 4 is my mother).

And now for the tricky part...

Families #1-3 are on two reservations (4 people per room) and we split those dining credits among us - as in xxxx01, xxxx02, xxxx03, and xxxx04 for one room and yyyy01, yyyy02, yyyy03, and yyyy04 for the other room. Now among these three families on two reservations, my children are split - two are listed on my reservation in "room x" and one is listed on the reservation for "room y". Would it just be easier for me to give one of the adults in "room y" money for her portion of the tip to keep track of the dining credits or can I have her meal put on one "Family # 1" bill and pay our portion of the tip together, even though her DDP credits are not attached to my room?

Our two rooms are linked by a Grand Gathering - does that make any difference where DDP credits are concerned?

I figure it's easier to think about this now rather than be sitting at dinner after a meal trying to will the blood back to my brain to work all of this out!

First off Thank You for doing an excellent job of explaining such a potentially confusing situation. Though you have a mixed up bunch, I can tell that you're organized and I have a hunch that this will be a breeze for you.

Your daughter's meals costs are fixed - $7.59 ish for all of her meals. My advice would be to give the adult responsible for room Y the portion for her tip, which will be easy to calculate.

Your first instinct

Would it just be easier for me to give one of the adults in "room y" money for her portion of the tip to keep track of the dining credits

is dead on and what I would suggest as the simplest solution.

 

[dormouse72]

Thanks Tricia! Now I hope I can explain it as neatly to one of the adults in room y!!!

 

[jenseib]

I am at 13 days and counting...hooray! And I am still surprised at how much there is to learn about all of this.

We are a very large group (12 people at our largerst) with most of us on the DDP. We are split up the following ways for dining payment/tipping purposes:

Family # 1 = 5 people (4 adult DDP, 1 child DDP)
Family #2 = 2 people (2 adult DDP)
Family #3 = 1 person (1 adult DDP)
Family #4 = 1 person (1 adult DDP)
Family #5 = 3 people (no DDP - pay cash)

It's comforting to know that Families # 4 and 5 can ask for a separate check and not have any hassles (especially since # 4 is my mother).

And now for the tricky part...

Families #1-3 are on two reservations (4 people per room) and we split those dining credits among us - as in xxxx01, xxxx02, xxxx03, and xxxx04 for one room and yyyy01, yyyy02, yyyy03, and yyyy04 for the other room. Now among these three families on two reservations, my children are split - two are listed on my reservation in "room x" and one is listed on the reservation for "room y". Would it just be easier for me to give one of the adults in "room y" money for her portion of the tip to keep track of the dining credits or can I have her meal put on one "Family # 1" bill and pay our portion of the tip together, even though her DDP credits are not attached to my room?

Our two rooms are linked by a Grand Gathering - does that make any difference where DDP credits are concerned?

I figure it's easier to think about this now rather than be sitting at dinner after a meal trying to will the blood back to my brain to work all of this out!

Is your kids going to be at a different table or different restuarnt? You will need to not only give tip money but also give her KTTW card as well, as her credits will be on that and her bill will be rung up seperately than soneone of another room. Basically each room will be rang up seperately, the way I understand it. If you are all at the same restaurant at the same time they may consider you one large group, even though you are at different tables and add the tip on. Just so you are prepared in case they do that.

 

[Tricia1972]

Is your kids going to be at a different table or different restuarnt? You will need to not only give tip money but also give her KTTW card as well, as her credits will be on that and her bill will be rung up seperately than soneone of another room. Basically each room will be rang up seperately, the way I understand it. If you are all at the same restaurant at the same time they may consider you one large group, even though you are at different tables and add the tip on. Just so you are prepared in case they do that.

The OP's explanation of what to do with the KTTW card is perfect. They understood that they needed to keep their daughter tied with room Y, and just needed to pay the tip portion, because the rooms were billed separately. (Because the daughter is already in room Y, she'll be in the room Y pool of credits - no need to use another KTTW card for her) I think it might be what you're trying to say, but telling the OP no they're wrong, when they're right, is confusing. Though I may just confuse easily.

The advice about the 18% gratuity is dead on, but I don't think that she was questioning whether or not the auto gratuity applied to her, just how the gratuity would be billed out.

 

[jenseib]

The OP's explanation of what to do with the KTTW card is perfect. They understood that they needed to keep their daughter tied with room Y, and just needed to pay the tip portion, because the rooms were billed separately. (Because the daughter is already in room Y, she'll be in the room Y pool of credits - no need to use another KTTW card for her) I think it might be what you're trying to say, but telling the OP no they're wrong, when they're right, is confusing. Though I may just confuse easily.

The advice about the 18% gratuity is dead on, but I don't think that she was questioning whether or not the auto gratuity applied to her, just how the gratuity would be billed out.

I wassn't actually telling her no, just trying to understand what she wrote. LOL! I actually was confused by her post. And my writing was probably confusing too. LOL!

 

[dormouse72]

The only time I'd have to give her card to anyone would be if she went off with with someone in Family # 4 or # 5 (since they are in different rooms on different reservations). When she's with me (which she will be most of the time) I'll have to use her card to get her CS food since her credits won't be on my card, while I can just "pay" for my other two kids on my card. If she's with one of the other adults from Room Y, they can just charge her food on their card.

Thankfully we're all pretty much planning to be in the same parks at the same time, even if we aren't together as a large group. It won't be an issue for our TS meals (since those are all booked for us to eat at the same place at the same time). My question really had to do with how to group our checks at out TS meals both for tipping purposes and to prevent the CM brains from exploding regarding who was paying for what and how.

Still, it's a good point to bring up - it's got me thinking about how to do all of this, especially since she'll be spending a lot of time with Family # 5 (that's my SIL and niece - the girls are about the same age and they're excited about doing "everything" together and my SIL isn't big on theme parks herself; she's willing to just watch the littler ones while the rest of us go on rides). Since they're not on the dining plan, I'll probably put some money aside for snacks for her to make it easier when she goes with them. I don't know what I'd do if her card got lost somehow!

 

[Tweevil]

Hi guys,
How much do you budget for your tips?

We are going to:
Le Celliar
Whispering Canyon
Chef Mickeys
Kona
Tony's
Hollywood and Vine

5 adults - one TS each night how much would you put aside?

Thanks for your help

 

[Tricia1972]

Hi Tweevil! What your best bet will be for budgeting is to figure out what you'd order at those restaurants. Add up the total for an estimated bill and budget based upon a percentage of that. Chef Mickey's and Hollywood and Vine will be easiest to calculate since they're fixed price meals.

Below is a snippet from the tipping thread guidelines in the first post. The rest of the post gives a short explanation as to why the rules are the way they are.

5. No personal tipping habits are to be discussed. Generally speaking, what you tip at Disney is entirely up to you. To figure out what your meal will run, check out the menus here on the DIS at (insert link here). This will give you an idea of the meal cost. Disney does provide 18% and 20% calculations on the dining receipt. What you actually tip, is up to you with the exceptions below.

The exceptions to this are those using the Tables in Wonderland (TiW) Discount Card and parties of 6 or more. If you are in either one of these categories, you will have an auto gratuity of 18% added to your bill. Adjustments to this would need to be discussed with a manager.

Parties of 6 include everyone at the table, including children under 3 and infants. If you are dining with another group and paying separate, you are still subject to the 18% gratuity added to the bill. Each group at the table can get their own bill with their portion of the gratuity split out.

Please note – Disney does not differentiate between types of Table Service – buffets, all you care to eat and menu ordering locations are all treated equal and subject to the same guidelines by Disney.

There is always concern expressed about a set gratuity and service. Your option is to talk to the manager at the time of the incident. The only adjustment possible is done by the restaurant manager. Better to speak to the manager early on and receive improved service than to complain at the end to request redeuced gratuity

 

[ShhhQ]

Hi Tweevil! What your best bet will be for budgeting is to figure out what you'd order at those restaurants. Add up the total for an estimated bill and budget based upon a percentage of that. Chef Mickey's and Hollywood and Vine will be easiest to calculate since they're fixed price meals.

I was going to say the same thing.... but with one exception.... If you don't really know what everyone is going to order (and who does because people can be unpredictable at times), choose the most expensive item on the menu and plan for everyone getting that. In that way you will have planned for more than enough... or just right should everyone get the most expensive thing...lol

 

[Tweevil]

Hi Tweevil! What your best bet will be for budgeting is to figure out what you'd order at those restaurants. Add up the total for an estimated bill and budget based upon a percentage of that. Chef Mickey's and Hollywood and Vine will be easiest to calculate since they're fixed price meals.

Below is a snippet from the tipping thread guidelines in the first post. The rest of the post gives a short explanation as to why the rules are the way they are.

I was going to say the same thing.... but with one exception.... If you don't really know what everyone is going to order (and who does because people can be unpredictable at times), choose the most expensive item on the menu and plan for everyone getting that. In that way you will have planned for more than enough... or just right should everyone get the most expensive thing...lol

Gotcha!

Thanks guys, I am off to check out the menus now.

 

[mommy*RN]

I'm going to be lazy and ask this rather than page through threads to find it. With CRT is the tip included or not included? I apologize if this is a dumb question -- just not used to eating at *signature* dining locals.

 

[Alesia]

I'm going to be lazy and ask this rather than page through threads to find it. With CRT is the tip included or not included? I apologize if this is a dumb question -- just not used to eating at *signature* dining locals.

It is included.

 

[kaytieeldr]

But not because it's a Signature Restaurant! The tip and tax are included on ALL CRT meals, no matter what form of payment the Guest uses. Same for Hoop-De-Doo, the Luau, Mickey's Backyard Barbecue... "plain old" Signature Restaurants don't include the gratuity in the price for out-of-pocket Guests, so they therefore also do not include the gratuity in the price for DDP Guests.

 

[mommy*RN]

It is included.

But not because it's a Signature Restaurant! The tip and tax are included on ALL CRT meals, no matter what form of payment the Guest uses. Same for Hoop-De-Doo, the Luau, Mickey's Backyard Barbecue... "plain old" Signature Restaurants don't include the gratuity in the price for out-of-pocket Guests, so they therefore also do not include the gratuity in the price for DDP Guests.

Thank you guys. That is good to know. We are actually dining there twice on our upcoming trip. One time with the whole family before we partake in MNSSHP and then a second time is just my DD, youngest DS and me after my DD gets the royal treatment at BBB. YAY!

There is another good question since I'm on the tipping thread...do I tip at BBB?

Thanks again!

 

[HeatherBelle614]

I'm sure this is included in all of the pages somewhere, but I can't go through them all, so thank you to anyone offering advice to me!

How does the tipping work if we are on DDP and I want to tip with my Disney Visa? Will I just have the option of writing the tip amount on the receipt and then they run my card?

I wasn't sure how this worked since typically (when eating out) you add the tip on after they run your card, but we won't be doing that since we're using credits on all of our meals. (In case you can't tell, we're new to the DP.)

Again, TIA!

 

[Tricia1972]

Unless something has recently changed, you write in your tip amount. You then give the server your KTTW card to run the DDP credits at the same time you give them your Disney Visa to run the tip.

 

[raider97]

During the holiday season in 2009, if you are on the dining plan is the holiday surcharge added to the total. I am trying to figure out my tips, but I wasn't sure if my total would include the holiday surcharge or not. Does that make sense?

Thanks!

Stephanie