Dining Plan and tipping

[KSS]

If the gratuity has been removed from the dining plan... then if my family of 6 goes to a TS dinner and do not order any extra's...do we just get a bill for the tip at the end of the meal???

[jszczur5]

Yes, you will get a bill for a mandated gratuity of 18%, instead of having the discretion of leaving a tip which is commensurate with the service provided.

[Mrs Bus Driver]

What if I would rather leave a tip based on the service I receive? Sometimes I tip more then 18% if the service is really good, however I tip less if the service deserves it.:confused:

[Speedy1998]

What if I would rather leave a tip based on the service I receive? Sometimes I tip more then 18% if the service is really good, however I tip less if the service deserves it.:confused:

You can tip more, but you can not tip less. If you are on DDP just tell them how you are planning on paying for the tip.

[gerald72]

Is it 18% of the full price of the meal or 18% of the cost of the dining plan?

[KylesMom]

As far as the last question, generally speaking, you would tip 18% based on the total meal price, not the cost of the DDP.

If you are a group of 6 or more and feel your service has been poor, you'll need to speak with a manager and try to have the gratuity either reduced or omitted.

[TheRustyScupper]

1) DDP does not have a mandatory tip percentage.
2) WDW recommends 18%.
3) For larger parties, they automatically add a tip, but it is negotiable.
4) I usually tip
. . . 12%-15% for average service
. . . 15%-18% for very good service
. . . 19%-20% for exceptional service

NOTE: DDE has a mandatory 18% tip for service.

[Mickey91]

Thanks Rusty! That clears things up a bit! :mickey:

[Natazu]

Yes, you should not by any means feel as though you have to pay 18% on your large party's bill if the service was lousy. Get a manager involved. While most of the servers at Disney are beyond excellent, we as the customer have to take issue with the few bad ones or they'll just go on ruining other's dining experience and there's nothing that will ruin a night quicker than lousy service at a $200 meal.

If for some reason, the manager won't help you (this happened to my MIL), bill it to your room and go talk to a manager at your resort front desk. They'll take it right off.

[Going2HeavenRU]

This is our first time going with the DDP and we are having a hard time budgeting for the tips. If there are only 2 of us, and we are going to pay with cash, will we also get a bill for the tip or will we get to use our own judgement and leave what we want on the table?

[minnie2002]

How does it work if you are a party of eight, but that is two seperate familys with DDP? Some places we are seated at two tables so we could find and opening for that reservation and at other times we are all sitting together. Has anyone had any experience with this yet. Can you tell the server you are two seperate parties? I don't mind tipping at all. But I was trying to figure out how to be fair for each family with the tips.

[wendy*darling]

Parties of any size will be given a bill so you will be able to leave a tip at the end of the meal.
You can pay with cash, credit card or room key.

If you have 2 families at the table- ask for separate checks. It's not a problem.

[DANAM]

This is our first time going with the DDP and we are having a hard time budgeting for the tips. If there are only 2 of us, and we are going to pay with cash, will we also get a bill for the tip or will we get to use our own judgement and leave what we want on the table?

This is what I did. We are a party of 4, 2 adults and 2 kids. First I called Disney and got the price for all the buttets we where eating at and I also went online and got a rough average of that a meal would cost at the other table servies we picked. I also save receipt year to year so I had an idea what the normal tip had been with the dinning plan when it was included.
I figured out 15% 18% and 20% for tips. I went to the bank and cash the money I thought we will be spending to 10's, 5's, and 1's. I also picked up 8 bank envelopes. Now this is where I get crazy organized and you could completly skip this, but I print out labels to stick on the bank envelopes that have
The Date
Restaraunt Name and Location
Time of reservation and the Comfirmation #
Also my est. for cost of dinner
Then my tip amount in the envelope
I like to do this so every morning I just grab the envelope from the in-room safe for each day. And everything you need is on the envelope so you don't have all these papers with numbers written on them. Just my way of staying crazy organized and on budget.

We averabe about $20 for table service and $15 for buffets. Just for referance!

I should add this little note. I am not like this in real life. ONLY AT DISNEY!!!! My husband has been trying to get me on a budget for 8 years and I just can't do it. So

[Going2HeavenRU]

What a great idea!! Thank you for the suggestion. It is so nice to know that I am not the only person who does things like this to keep organized!

[DANAM]

I am so glad to see someone else is as on top of it as me. Everyone tells me I am crazy and everyone at my work thought I was nuts with all these 10's 5's and 1's but we are trying to start going twice a year and my husband wants to see if we could go on half of what we normally take. Like I say, I can never budget but I am going to sure try. He gave me x amount and after I split it all up (tips, mugs, extra meals, hotel on the way, ect.) and I gave each of the kids $100, I was left with $200 bucks. If I wouldn't have sorted it all out I would have went way over. So now if I want more money I have to save it. Hard to do with 30 day left but if I go over that's less for next trip. Hope you have a wonderful trip :mickey: