Gratuity Tax - how much??

pjulie75

Member
Original Poster
Hi, just wondered how much gratuity tax usually is at Disney restaurants? When we made our ADRs today they said that since there are 6 of us, 4 adults and 2 kids, they would add 18%, how much is it normally, I take it this is the tip? I am from Scotland and we tip as much as we want, it is usually formalised on a bill, thanks
 

DisneyJoe

Well-Known Member
Yes, Gratuity is a tip.
Many people suggest leave between 15% and 20%, with 18% the average.
You should adjust this based on the service you receive. Many places will automatically add the tip of 18% when a group reaches a certain size.

Sales Tax is separate and is a legal amount that each restaurant must add to the bill and is mandatory for you to pay.
 

Pioneer Hall

Well-Known Member
Just to clarify...gratuity is not a tax. You will pay sales tax on top of the meal, but that is because Disney has to hand that over to the government. Gratuity is the tip that your server gets to take home. As stated, in America, we usually give between 15-20% depending on the level of service. For larger groups most restaurants add 18% so the server gets a worthwhile tip for the amount of work they are doing.
 

epcotWSC

Well-Known Member
Just to clarify...gratuity is not a tax. You will pay sales tax on top of the meal, but that is because Disney has to hand that over to the government. Gratuity is the tip that your server gets to take home. As stated, in America, we usually give between 15-20% depending on the level of service. For larger groups most restaurants add 18% so the server gets a worthwhile tip for the amount of work they are doing.

I usually tip 18 - 20% unless the service is bad.
 

disneygirl76

Carey Poppins - Nanny and Disney Enthusiest
Hi, just wondered how much gratuity tax usually is at Disney restaurants? When we made our ADRs today they said that since there are 6 of us, 4 adults and 2 kids, they would add 18%, how much is it normally, I take it this is the tip? I am from Scotland and we tip as much as we want, it is usually formalised on a bill, thanks

Yes the tip is the same as the gratuity. It is very typical to find built in gratuity to larger parties here in the states. They are usual 18%. The average is between 15% and 20% here. So they just go with a standard average.

Have a fabulous trip!! Oh - and on my very best friends is from Paisley!:sohappy:
 

pjulie75

Member
Original Poster
So, how did you meet someone from Paisley??? We live in Milngavie, Glasgow which is about 20 min car drive, not far at all!!
 

disneygirl76

Carey Poppins - Nanny and Disney Enthusiest
So, how did you meet someone from Paisley??? We live in Milngavie, Glasgow which is about 20 min car drive, not far at all!!

She came over as an au pair and she met her husband - who is best friends with my husband and now we - well, we hit it off so well and I'm the God Mother tho their daughter!! Her mum and dad are here now visiting for 3 weeks. My friend lives in Michigan - where we are from. What a small world!! :wave:
 

Phonedave

Well-Known Member
For larger groups most restaurants add 18% so the server gets a worthwhile tip for the amount of work they are doing.


With me, a server looses out on the 18% automatic.

I normaly tip 20% and then round up to a whole dollar.

When 18% is added on, I just pay the bill

I guess it works out because some large groups do stiff them.

-dave
 

Pioneer Hall

Well-Known Member
With me, a server looses out on the 18% automatic.

I normaly tip 20% and then round up to a whole dollar.

When 18% is added on, I just pay the bill

I guess it works out because some large groups do stiff them.

-dave

Same with me unless the service is really terrible.
 

Daddymouse

Member
With me, a server looses out on the 18% automatic.

I normaly tip 20% and then round up to a whole dollar.

When 18% is added on, I just pay the bill

I guess it works out because some large groups do stiff them.

-dave

We also usually tip 20% but in a group when a gratuiy is added on to the bill we usually make up the difference. Unless the service was poor. I see no reason to punish the server for establishment policy.
 

materbuddy

Active Member
We now have TiW so this is no longer an issue for us, they automatically add 18% tip. This is how we used to determine. It depended on the service and if it is sit down or buffet.
15% for for Buffet.
15% for poor service
18% for good service
20% for excellent service.
I have also heard that you should just double the amount of tax to get how much to tip.
 

yankspy

Well-Known Member
We now have TiW so this is no longer an issue for us, they automatically add 18% tip. This is how we used to determine. It depended on the service and if it is sit down or buffet.
15% for for Buffet.
15% for poor service
18% for good service
20% for excellent service.
I have also heard that you should just double the amount of tax to get how much to tip.
Sales tax varies from state to state so you want to be careful with doubling the tax. It works in N.Y. because the sales tax is higher (8-9% if I'm not mistaken). Some states are as low as 4%. I'm not sure what Florida's is.:)
 

wdwjmp239

Well-Known Member
Sales tax varies from state to state so you want to be careful with doubling the tax. It works in N.Y. because the sales tax is higher (8-9% if I'm not mistaken). Some states are as low as 4%. I'm not sure what Florida's is.:)

Sales tax in Florida is 6%.

Tips are totally optional, but when you get to a certain number of people in your party, restaurant management reserves the right to add an 18% gratuity (tip) to your bill. So, a word of caution...when you get your bill - double check the line that says "GRATUITY" on the bill as to not "double tip" (adding an additional tip to the tip that's already on your bill).
 

wdwjmp239

Well-Known Member
We now have TiW so this is no longer an issue for us, they automatically add 18% tip. This is how we used to determine. It depended on the service and if it is sit down or buffet.
15% for for Buffet.
15% for poor service
18% for good service
20% for excellent service.
I have also heard that you should just double the amount of tax to get how much to tip.

You're pretty generous at buffets! I'm at the 12% mark for buffets. If it's poor service, they'll be lucky to get to 10%. If they totally ed me off or I'm talking to the manager, they'll get 0%. 18% is respectable for good service. If it's excellent or impeccable service - 35-40%.

Last year for Christmas, me, my wife, my kid brother, his girlfriend, and a few friends of ours from out of time went to The Cheesecake Factory in Naples. We have our regular server that we ask for and when the bill came - we gave him a 75% tip. =)
 

epcotWSC

Well-Known Member
We now have TiW so this is no longer an issue for us, they automatically add 18% tip. This is how we used to determine. It depended on the service and if it is sit down or buffet.
15% for for Buffet.
15% for poor service
18% for good service
20% for excellent service.
I have also heard that you should just double the amount of tax to get how much to tip.

Where I am (hour north of NYC) it's about 7.375% tax or slightly more depending on if you're in a city. NYC is 8.375%. So doubling it would bring it to close to 15 - 17%. Of course in other places that probably won't work.

I guess for mental math... The easiest way is just move the decimal and double. Then you have 20%.
75.46 = 7.55 * 2 = 15.10
15% then would be 7.55 / 2 = 3.28 + 7.55 = 10.83

For 18% it's a little tougher I guess, unless someone knows a trick. Closest I can think of is taking 20%, taking 15%, getting an average.

Otherwise possibly take 1%, .75 in this case, multiply by 9 then times 2 or if you're really good then by 18. Of course this takes a little more work and cuts off some change. Of course you could always just round up to the next dollar.
0.75 * 9 = 6.75 * 2 = 13.50 or 0.76 * 9 = 6.84 * 2 = 13.68
0.63 * 9 = 5.67 * 2 = 11.34
etc.
 

wdwjmp239

Well-Known Member
Where I am (hour north of NYC) it's about 7.375% tax or slightly more depending on if you're in a city. NYC is 8.375%. So doubling it would bring it to close to 15 - 17%. Of course in other places that probably won't work.

I guess for mental math... The easiest way is just move the decimal and double. Then you have 20%.
75.46 = 7.55 * 2 = 15.10
15% then would be 7.55 / 2 = 3.28 + 7.55 = 10.83

For 18% it's a little tougher I guess, unless someone knows a trick. Closest I can think of is taking 20%, taking 15%, getting an average.

Otherwise possibly take 1%, .75 in this case, multiply by 9 then times 2 or if you're really good then by 18. Of course this takes a little more work and cuts off some change. Of course you could always just round up to the next dollar.
0.75 * 9 = 6.75 * 2 = 13.50 or 0.76 * 9 = 6.84 * 2 = 13.68
0.63 * 9 = 5.67 * 2 = 11.34
etc.

Cat-OMG.jpg
:lol::lol::lol:
 

SoHkJerry

New Member
Ill post a Question here because this thread seems appropriate ?

Do you pay gratuity on the food only or on the whole bill ?
I have a habit of ordering fine wine now opening a bottle of wine and serving it is all the same in process cheap or expensive , should the server get paid more because I like drinking nice wine , he doesn't really do any additional work ? :shrug:

Just a question ...

Thx in advance .
 

yankspy

Well-Known Member
Ill post a Question here because this thread seems appropriate ?

Do you pay gratuity on the food only or on the whole bill ?
I have a habit of ordering fine wine now opening a bottle of wine and serving it is all the same in process cheap or expensive , should the server get paid more because I like drinking nice wine , he doesn't really do any additional work ? :shrug:

Just a question ...

Thx in advance .
Well, I look at it this way. A server must claim a certain percentage of their sales as tips regardless of whether they actually got tipped or not. So if a server has really high wine sales and does not get tipped on them they could essentially be paying out of pocket for it. I am not saying whether you are right or wrong because I do not want to judge you. These gratuity threads have a habit of getting ugly. I'm just offering a different perspective.:)
 

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