Suggested tip

[Mendelson]

I noticed that on many (if not all) of our checks included on the bottom was "suggested tip" with a calculation for what 18 percent and 20 percent would be (I think these were the percentages).

I wonder if they started doing this after the dining plan started because maybe people were not tipping appropriately? I know people (my father, for one) who, if he did not have to pay for a meal, would be inclined to just throw down $5 on a $100 check. I wonder if waitstaff were complaining about this after the intro of the meal plan.

Just curious.

[DisneyBabies]

I am not sure when the tip suggestions started, but I do know that the DDP originally included tip, so I don't see why servers would complain that they weren't getting an appropriate tip. I never noticed this on our reciepts from 2007, but I didn't really look too hard since I knew the tip was already included and I didn't have to tip anything on my own. This may have started last year after they removed the tip inclusion from the dining plan.

I have a question for others, what do you think of them including this info on the check? Should they leave the info off and let guests decide for themselves what the server deserves? And as an extension of this, should they automatically add the 18% tip for parties of 6 or more? Should everyone be allowed to leave the tip they think is appropriate?

[princessesmom]

We are always a party of 6 or more since we have 4 children and will be traveling with my parents as well. And they do always include an 18% tip. I'm fine with this as long as the service is okay. If we had bad service I would speak to management about a more appropriate tip.

[TysMomTink]

I think the suggested tip is a subtle reminder to the many international guests that visit WDW who don't know the guidelines we use here in the U.S. Frankly, there are also tons of Americans who could use a reminder. LOL.

[marylynne95]

Could also be another why to remind people that the tip is no longer included with the dining plan.

[LudwigVonDrake]

I don't mind them having the "reminder" on the bottom of the bill. If it helps the server get a tip they may not get (but deserve) then good for them.

[dlpmikki]

Just out of interest when did the suggested tip go up from 15% to 18% minimum? I know it's quite a few years since we first visited the states but this seems to have crept up.

[Strmchsr]

Mikki,

I think that's a Disney thing, not an American thing. In general, I think the rule here in the USA is still 10% at lunch, 20% at dinner. Some folks go more (and some less) but I believe that's still the proper etiquette. I need to re-check my Emily Post. :D

[ThanxForNoticin]

I have a question for others, what do you think of them including this info on the check? Should they leave the info off and let guests decide for themselves what the server deserves? And as an extension of this, should they automatically add the 18% tip for parties of 6 or more? Should everyone be allowed to leave the tip they think is appropriate?

I don't have a problem with suggested amounts being shown at the bottom of a bill. Some people need a reminder that the tip isn't included. Also, in this age of computers and calculators, I find some people have some issues manually calculating 15% or 18% or 20%. What is on the check is just a guideline.

But a gratuity is always at the discretion of the person receiving the service - even if they automatically include 18% on the bill. I've never had an problem, but if I was ever in a situation where the service did not warrant that much of an 'included' gratuity, I would not feel under any official obligation to have to pay it. It's not part of the bill - it's in addition to the bill.

[PETE FROM NYC]

I am an ex-bartender,so is my DS.My Niece is a waitress.We know how to tip,and I feel that reminders are not necessary .I tip well for good service and I tip less for bad service.I will rarely return to any place that automatically adds a gratuity to my bill regardless of party size.
I have already had arguements with managers when the tip was added to my bill and the service was lousy.

[greengeen]

Mikki,

I think that's a Disney thing, not an American thing. In general, I think the rule here in the USA is still 10% at lunch, 20% at dinner. Some folks go more (and some less) but I believe that's still the proper etiquette. I need to re-check my Emily Post. :D

I have to say, I've been dining out in Florida for 40 years and never heard that "rule"! I have always gone with 15% at breakfast, 15% at lunch, 15% at dinner. A 10% tip is never enough regardless of the time of day, IMO.

[bob6572]

What I did not like is that they want you to put thr tip on the bill before you give it to them to charge. It made it uncomfortable when they were waiting to take it until after you left a gratuity. A lot can happen from when the bill arrives and you finalize your tip. I just left cash tips from then on as it made us feel uncomfortable.

[JavaDuck]

I have seen the suggested tip amount (usually 15% and 20%) at restaurants that I visit on a regular basis at home (I'm near Seattle). I think it is just a new way to help customers quickly figure out the tip amount. The one thing I do not like about the suggested tip amount is that it is based on the cost of food plus tax. I think a tip should be based just on the amount of the food I ordered without tax.

[PetefromRI]

I remember years ago being told that the tip is on the amount not including alcohol and tax.15% was always the norm.I know alot of people that rely on tips and I always leave 20%,especially since they have to pay taxes on those tips.Alot of Europeans are used to having the tip included in the price and don't realize that over here it doesn't work that way.I think that the suggested tip at the bottom is a reminder for those that don't tip and actually my mind is a little fuzzier as I get older and I like the math help.

[VWL Mom]

Just out of interest when did the suggested tip go up from 15% to 18% minimum? I know it's quite a few years since we first visited the states but this seems to have crept up.

In NJ the 18% has become more popular since mid 2007. There was never a 15 - 16 - 17 - 18 type of thing, it just went from 15% to 18%.

[jonahbear2006]

I have to say, I've been dining out in Florida for 40 years and never heard that "rule"! I have always gone with 15% at breakfast, 15% at lunch, 15% at dinner. A 10% tip is never enough regardless of the time of day, IMO.
Agreed.
15% IS what a tip should be. My husband has been a waiter for 13 yrs as an extra job; it gets us to disney so we don't mind it but we used to rely on it as a job that got him through college with kids. You have to tip out 10% of your food costs at the end of the night, or you get audited, so if people don't give you more than 10%,(some restaurants make you tip out 12%) basically you made $3.00-$4.00 an hr to wait on them. If you tip less than 10%, guess what, he still has to tip out 10% to the government so he just paid to wait on you, regardles of what kind of service you got. Eating at a sit down restaurant, anywhere, it is part of your bill to pay the tip. This pays the server who otherwise would not have that job. 10% is an insult. 15% is decent service. 20% is excellent service.

[jonahbear2006]

I am an ex-bartender,so is my DS.My Niece is a waitress.We know how to tip,and I feel that reminders are not necessary .I tip well for good service and I tip less for bad service.I will rarely return to any place that automatically adds a gratuity to my bill regardless of party size.
I have already had arguements with managers when the tip was added to my bill and the service was lousy.

I also agree with this. Disney waiters expect it and we had a waitress that didnt show up to our table till we were done eating to give us our orange juice, at chef mickey's, she was extremely rude, and then said she would not take the ddp card until we paid her the 18% tip. We waited to see a manager and never got one. We gave in and paid her for the sake of saving our day. I did make sure to tell Disney and to give them her name. You cant work a waiting job and just assume you can go hang out in the back and not do your job and still make your tips.

[TheRustyScupper]

1) The above guesses are good speculation.
2) But, just speculation.
3) The suggested tip was added as a union negotiation.
4) When DDP stopped tips, servers' pay dropped.
5) So, the union filed a grievance.
6) The result was the suggested tip amount.

NOTE: I specifically tell my server that if the wording is on the bill, there will be NO tip. I will not be bullied or shamed into a tip. If they forget and print the bill with the tip (yes, it can be eliminated), they better scratch through it.

[DisneyBabies]

But a gratuity is always at the discretion of the person receiving the service - even if they automatically include 18% on the bill. I've never had an problem, but if I was ever in a situation where the service did not warrant that much of an 'included' gratuity, I would not feel under any official obligation to have to pay it. It's not part of the bill - it's in addition to the bill.

I think the guest should be able to leave what they want as well, no matter how many people are in their party, so there should NOT be an automatic gratuity added on. The guest should not have to speak to a manager to be able to leave the tip they determine is correct.


What I did not like is that they want you to put thr tip on the bill before you give it to them to charge. It made it uncomfortable when they were waiting to take it until after you left a gratuity. A lot can happen from when the bill arrives and you finalize your tip. I just left cash tips from then on as it made us feel uncomfortable.

I had heard of this happening from some other threads, and I will make sure I pay all our tips in cash. And I'll tell them up front that they will be getting their tip this way and not by them charging anything on my KTTWC when they use my DDP to pay for our meals. I've also heard some servers had put the tip on a guests KTTWC and the guest left a cash tip, not realizing that they were double tipping, so I will keep a close eye on my KTTWC spending and also write on the bill that I am leaving a cash tip so if I have a dispute, I can get it fixed.


NOTE: I specifically tell my server that if the wording is on the bill, there will be NO tip. I will not be bullied or shamed into a tip. If they forget and print the bill with the tip (yes, it can be eliminated), they better scratch through it.

First, I've gottta say I LOVE your style of posting! Second, I love this idea and I may use it on our trip in a few weeks.

[Kidsmom]

We just got back and traveled each night with groups of 8-14 (mostly 12-14 people at dinner) We had 2 families on DDP and 1 not. We always added wine and appet. so at the end the bills were crazy. 2 bills for the families on DDP, one for the cash family and one bill for each family splitting the wine and appet.

Also in this group we had at least 8 kids some where adults (11 yo and eating off of kids menus and others were kids splitting adult meals).

We had the BEST service! They were patient and attentive. Now granted we were eating almost every night at a signuature restaurant (2x cal grill, jiko, hoop de doo)

We added to the tip each night to make sure they received 23% for dealing with our craziness.

Now the one bad service and meal we had was very disappointing as I have tried soooo many times to go, was Le Celliur (sp?). New server who should NEVER have been let out on the floor alone. She was very nice but horrible! For her we just left the added tip.

Besides this one night (out of 8) we had excellent service. I commented so many times that I think the service has gotten so much better since they did away with the tip in the DDP.

[spoiledraf]

I have a problem with an automatic 18% tip on an already overpriced meal. I don't think they work any harder than the girl that serves me at my local dining sites and the prices are half what they are at Disney. Why should they get double the tip just because Disney charges double the price for their food. And since appetizer and dessert are included in the deluxe dining plan, you end up ordering them and run up the bill, and the tip even more.

I've had some horrible service at Disney but I'm not the type to complain to management. But with a party of nine going this trip, that may change if there is a problem.

[MickeyMousse]

I personally found that the suggested tip was helpful to my DH who always seems to have a problem calculating how much to leave. However, very few times did our service deserve what they suggested and my DH shaved off a few $'s to reflect 15%.

[irish1967]

Personally, I appreciate the fact that the calculations are made for me. After a long day in the parks, any help I get is appreciated :thumbsup:

But, I also am intelligent enough to be able to determine an appropriate tip based on the service I received.

I don't really have a problem with the added gratuity for larger parties. I know people who have taken large parties to restaurants, worked the tail off a server and decided that $20 would be an appropriate tip for a $400+ bill. That isn't fair either.

That said, if a server did a poor job and did not deserve the automatic tip, I would not leave the restaurant until I met with a manager. If the server isn't getting a manager for you - ask a bus boy, another server, or the hostess. They want to turn over the table - they won't let you sit there for very long...

In recent memory, I can only think of one server at Disney that didn't meet my expectations. And since we were only 3 people, her tip equaled the service we received.

[Seasonscraps]

Personally, I appreciate the fact that the calculations are made for me. After a long day in the parks, any help I get is appreciated :thumbsup:

But, I also am intelligent enough to be able to determine an appropriate tip based on the service I received.

I don't really have a problem with the added gratuity for larger parties. I know people who have taken large parties to restaurants, worked the tail off a server and decided that $20 would be an appropriate tip for a $400+ bill. That isn't fair either.

That said, if a server did a poor job and did not deserve the automatic tip, I would not leave the restaurant until I met with a manager. If the server isn't getting a manager for you - ask a bus boy, another server, or the hostess. They want to turn over the table - they won't let you sit there for very long...

In recent memory, I can only think of one server at Disney that didn't meet my expectations. And since we were only 3 people, her tip equaled the service we received.

I agree with everything you just said here!

I like the tip calculations. Locally, I double the tax and round up a bit since the tax rate here is a little over 8% but that doesn't work in Florida since the tax rate is in the 6% range. The calculations confirms I am in the right ball park.

Plus, I am not going to get all worked up over what is programmed to be printed on dining receipt. I know stepping foot in the restaurant that a tip is customary so I am not going to make a big deal about something like that and take it out on the server.

[TysMomTink]

JonahBear is exactly right. The server has to claim 10-12 percent of his/her sales for the night to Uncle Sam. Plus he/she has to tip out bartender, bussers, (sometimes hostess) on that amount. Tipping, whether we like the practice or not, is part of the package when going out. One poster mentioned tipping on an "already overpriced meal." If you have issue with the cost of the meal to the extent you will take it out on the server, perhaps you should dine elsewhere.

If you think the service does not merit even the baseline 15%, then you should have already spoken to the manager before the point the check even reached your table.

[TheVBs]

We've been in the uncomfortable situation of having the server wait while we wrote the tip. Only once or twice, thank goodness! One other suggestion I would make, if you don't want to tip in cash, would be to just ask the server to give you a couple of minutes and come back.

[rain]

Okay, I haven't been in about three years and I have never been on DDP. If you are on DDP how do they automatically bill you for the tip? Do you get a bill that is just the amount of the tip? BTW, we are not drinkers and probably would not be ordering appetizers. Our bill otherwise would be covered by DDP. I had planned on our June trip to leave cash tips. Also, I saw the holiday premium and wonder how that affects the price of DDP, or does it?

BTW...we will be a party of 6

[rain]

What is KTTWC? It's not in abbreviations on info central. Remember, I am new to DDP but will be using it in June.

[DisneyBabies]

Rain-
A holiday premium will not affect you as long as you are using the DDP. The only reason you would worry about it is if you were planning to pay OOP for a meal to save your DDP credit for something else. Also, you are more than welcome to leave cash tips and don't let any server tell you otherwise. As several intercotee's have noted on here, some servers are telling guests they have to pay the 18% tip, but that is not required (not even if you have 6 or more in your party if you want to get right down to it). You leave what you feel is fair in any way you want (cash, KTTWC, credit card, etc.). And lastly, KTTWC = Key To The World Card. Since you had to book a package to get the DDP, your room key, park tickets, and dining plan info are all on this one card so it is in essence . . . your Key To The (Disney) World card :D!

Hope this helps!