How do you tip at WDW?

[Cheryl]

Hi All

Maybe this is a strange question to be posting but I just have to ask. I was talking to a friend of mine while we were at dinner. When adding the bill up, I added 25% gratuity to the bill for out waitress who was very attentive and gave her a high praise to the manager of the restaurant. My friend nearly freaked out. He asked what our "normal procedure" for tipping was and I said 20% if it's good service and more if it's even better. I think the lowest tip I've ever left was about 18%. He was astonished and when I asked, he stated that he leaves about 10% to 12% typically and less if it's not good service at all.

How do you all tip when dining at WDW? And, also, do you have a protocol when dining at a Character Dining buffet like Chef Mickeys? I'm very curious about this. Obviously, if it's a buffet, you'd be serving yourself, other than drinks/refills and removing the plates.

Thanks much for any input. Hopefuly I don't "offend" anyone asking about tipping procedures.

 

[Robfasto]

Most of the time I tip 15% for a normal sit down restaurant and the tip goes up or down from there, if I have to ask for anything then it goes down some. If the wait person is on the ball and almost seems to be reading our minds then it goes up.

Most of the time for a buffet I only tip $1.00 per person at the table, tops.

For Disney Buffet's most of the time is is about 10%

 

[Woody13]

I go along with you. I have a standard tip of 20% but if the service is really great, I go up to 25% or 30%. If the service is not so great I go down to 10% or less. If I'm in a really expensive Disney restaurant, I just take out the plastic cockroach, put it on the plate and scream very loud! Then, the meal is free.

 

[Nansafan]

18-20% at sit-down then $1.00 per person at buffet. Generally tip $5.00 a day to the Mousekeeping staff at the resort as well. This tip goes up depending on how many people are in the room. We've stayed at Deluxe's with 5 in the room so we tipped more.

 

[hrmom26]

i always tip 20 % more if it was great service the lowest tip i ever gave was 10% because it was bad service. the people at disney are all so great i can't imagine giving less than 20% there.

 

[Scooter]

Towncar Service.........................................................$10.00
Sit Down meals (Normal Service)......................................15%
Sit Down meals (Bad Service)...........................................5%
Buffets........................................................................10%
Sit Down meals (Great Service).....................................20+%
Bell Hops/Luggage Handlers (< than 5 bags).....................$5.00
Bell Hops/Luggage Handlers (> than 5 bags).....................$1.00 Per bag
Housekeeping.............................................................$5.00Per night

 

[Pumbas Nakasak]

Speaking as a tight fisted Scot I still follow advice I was given years ago, look at the Tax round it up and tip that.

I have a little chuckle as some CMs add the old 15% charge as 1 they hope you dont notice and tip further, 2 think we Brits are not accustomed to tipping and wont give one.

However on the 3 ocassions when this has happened the service has been outstanding and I would have given a bigger tip any way so theyve actually lost out.


I must confess that tipping is a culture change, especially to that level.

 

[jcat2312]

Towncar Service.........................................................$10.00
Sit Down meals (Normal Service)......................................15%
Sit Down meals (Bad Service)...........................................5%
Buffets........................................................................10%
Sit Down meals (Great Service).....................................20+%
Bell Hops/Luggage Handlers (< than 5 bags).....................$5.00
Bell Hops/Luggage Handlers (> than 5 bags).....................$1.00 Per bag
Housekeeping.............................................................$5.00Per night

That is a good table to go by. We are going to have our dd start making special MouseKeeper envelopes to put the tips in.....

 

[Scooter]

That is a good table to go by. We are going to have our dd start making special MouseKeeper envelopes to put the tips in.....

The Mousekeeping envelopes are great!
My wife makes them before every trip and really gets a kick out of it.
It's Pre-Disney vacation therapy for her. :lol:

I'm sure the Disney Housekeeping staff gets a kick out of the tip envelopes as well.

I could be wrong, but my service seemed to get better when I started leaving the tips in Mousekeeping envelopes. It's like they want to show their appreciation. I get notes now from Housekeepers saying thanks all the time now.


It's a win win situation! :sohappy:

 

[Robfasto]

My biggest pet peeve would be going to places that don't give a total, it doesn't happen as much as it used to due to the comptuer ordering system but it still does. Those are the cases when the tip goes down to what ever I think they should get and not by a percentage.

 

[tigsmom]

I'm another 20% person with adjustments made for service. We usually leave about a 10% tip for buffet service.

I'm with TAC about the "do you need change" question, that just bothers me. When asked I say "yes" even if I don't because, personally I just think that question is rude.

Always take care of the mousekeepers and valets too! :wave:

 

[jcat2312]

Wow--we should rethink how we tip people. I can't think of a time where weren't asked if we needed change.....It is annoying. It seems like they are almost begging for a tip

 

[bgraham34]

I dont cause I never remember except for the BellBoys.... But I will try to remember the house keepers I will I promise.

 

[righttrack]

OK. My door-to-door policy.

$20 - Limo to airport (we have lots of bags!)
$5 - Valet Parking
$1 per bag - Bellperson
$2-5 to any miscellaneous person who comes to my room to bring me something (pillows/iron, etc)
$2 per person per day - Mousekeeping.
15-20% - Buffet waitstaff
20+% - Sit down restaurants waitstaff
$5-20 - special handling of any kind, someone giving something special to my children, tourguide, etc. Mousekeeper who greeted my children each day, stopped and helped them carry their gear to the pool and re-arranged her schedule to come to our room when we were out got $20.
$1-2 - getting my car out of valet, as well as return valet trips.


There have been times when there is an unresolved problem, that I have attempted to resolve with waitstaff, maitre'd etc and I have left little or no tip. I can count those times on one hand, and it was not ever at Disney. If you have a problem that would cause you to not leave a good tip, why not make things better. Complain, resolve and you can go back to enjoying yourself, instead of stewing for the rest of the meal! Sending a "message" via a poor tip rarely accomplishes anything and it does not bring you any further satisfaction.

I have rewarded extremely exceptional service with large tips. I have given as much as 100% on one occasion. I believe in being generous. I reward people who work for me in the workplace, so why not on vacation. Its really nice to make someone's day.

 

[tigsmom]

Wow--we should rethink how we tip people. I can't think of a time where weren't asked if we needed change.....It is annoying. It seems like they are almost begging for a tip

We received a bill (not at WDW) for about $35. All my DH had was a $100, the waiter opened the folder and then asked if we wanted change?!

 

[Raven66]

When we went to Toon Town we stopped and had my daughter's face painted. The girl that did it, did a wonderful job. I tried to tip her, but she told me that couldn't accept tips. I really wanted her to have it, but she just wouldn't take it. I wish I would have looked at her name tag. My dd got tons of comments when people saw her.

 

[Kadee]

$5 a day for mousekeeping?????? Wow! That's alot!!! Just think, if every room they cleaned (what?...about 100?) left $5/day, that is $500/day JUST IN TIPS!!!! And they do get a salary, you know! I am so not trying to be mean or rude but that adds up to a really good salary. For 5 days work that is $2500 in tips alone! That is WAY more than I make with a college degree! Even if less than half of the people left a tip, that is still about $1000 a week in tips.....STILL more than I make!

Now, I am not one of those people who just leave stuff laying around. Basically, all they have to do in my room is vacuum and leave clean towels (they don't change the sheets everyday, anyway....only about once per each party's stay or once a week). I clean up after myself and my family. I think $2/day is more than enough considering it takes them about 10 minutes in our room at the most!

Maybe I should quit teaching and get a job at mousekeeping!

 

[Cheryl]

housekeeping

We're DVC members and lately when we've stayed in our room, I've seen an envelope saying that "Your room is being cleaned by So-and-So and if you need anything, please call House Keeping." Well, being that we're DVC members, we only have one cleaning day and one trash pick up day per week so I'm thinking that the $5/day would be a little outrageous for our stay. The one time that I did call, when our shower leaked and there was water everwhere on the floor, I asked if they could bring some extra towels up, they said that they charged $5 per towel. :hammer: I think if we were staying somewhere without our DVC membership, it would be different. :wave:

 

[AEfx]

I tend to be a decent tipper for meals, since I know so many people who work waitstaff. I tip 20% for good, friendly service - 15% for decent service with nothing to stand out. To be honest, a smile is often the difference between 15 and 20% for me.

I also tend to tip well for "extras". For example, last time I went to the Brown Derby I did the Fantasmic! package, and the person with me ordered a mixed drink. So I included my DDE card with the check, expecting to get a dollar or two off the drink. Imagine my surprise when she took 20% off...the WHOLE bill. I know that offically they don't do that, but that girl got a $23 tip on what was originally an $85 bill before the DDE discount (about a 25% tip). If I'd had more cash on me I would have left $25. It was just above and beyond for her to do, plus she was sweet as pie.

I tend to be a bit stiffer when it comes to mousekeeping. I'm like Kadee - I'm a very clean person, don't make messes, don't leave anything lying around, so mousekeeping doesn't need to do much for me but bring clean towles and make the bed (which I actually do sometimes myself). I tend to tip $2/day, unless I leave a note to ask for something, then I might leave $3 or possibly $4.

AEfx

 

[LUV4Goofy]

What about tipping for Mousekeeping at a Value Resort?? Should we?