Tipping with Dining Plan

[autigger]

My family and I are headed to Disney World on Sunday and we will be on the dining plan.:sohappy:

I understand that tips are included on the dining plan, but I am curious as to how much tip is included. Also, is it customary to tip beyond what the dining plan provides for good service?:veryconfu

 

[JimboJones123]

Nobody makes a server be a server. There are good days when you can pull in $200. Some days you make $18. If you don't like it, don't do it. I didn't like it when I did it, so I quit. 2 good days and 3 bad days average out to 5 sub-marginal days. Not good enough for me. So, I moved on. Expecting a tip is stupid and only causes pain to yourself as a server. I realize that of the 25 tables I had a day, only 4-5 would give 15% +. Until servers realize this, they are only making themselves upset. It is just the way the world turns in serverville. If you think you "expect" something, you are only setting yourself up for disappointment.

 

[sbkline]

I hope you dont have any photos of yourself in the albums on this site.....cause if I were a CM at WDW, I would print it out and give it to every CM wait person I knew....with a copy of what you posted....

Good thing you're not a CM then.

Seriously, WDW has millions of people come through each year. The CM's see millions of faces. Do you really think that they are going to remember a face from a picture months from now when I come in to eat, amid the millions of faces they've seen in the meantime? I really don't think so. Unless they are so pathetic that they sit at home every night and study that picture.

Y'all are probably right, that I should give more than $2. Perhaps I should give $4 or $5. But like someone else said, I'm not sure I agree with the logic that it should be based on how much you spent. That waitress is working just as hard if I order the $7 dollar salad or the $27.50 steak. Either way, he/she is writing down the order and bringing it out to the table. So I'm not sure what difference it makes how much the meal is. Now, should I pay more than $2? Probably and perhaps I will in the future. But I still prefer a flat dollar amount as opposed to a percentage of the bill.

 

[musketeer]

If you choose to be a server, you have to take the good with the bad, that is the nature of the job. If you aren't comfortable with receiving the poor tips along with the good, it is time to find another job, otherwise don't complain.

 

[AliciaLuvzDizne]

The tip is automatically 18% but your servers are not getting it all in their paychecks so please please please tip them a little extra!!

 

[Nemo14]

I have never had the patience required to work in a job as a server... It's a difficult job, very demanding, with few rewards save for good tips. It's too bad that this job is paid in the manner that it is (relying on tips) and that servers don't get base pay that is reasonable... but it is what it is... I always consider the difficulty of the person's job when I am tipping... I generally leave between 15 and 20%... I do leave less if the service is HORRIBLE... once I actually left nothing... but I spoke to the manager about the service (this was at breakfast at a Friendly's restaurant in CT) becaue it took us over 2 hours to get our food...and nobody in my party got the right order the first two times... we were in a hurry...and had just met some friends for a quick breaqfast while we were passing through CT on a way to a wedding in RI...and the get together was completely ruined by the servers' ineptidtude... But that was an extreme case...

If I have great service...I will leave more than 18%... If I have not so good service...I'll leave between 10 and 15%... usually I still leave 15%...

An we fully recognize the difference between a server who is trying very hard to do their job well...yet the kitchen staff is backed up...or the food is sub par...

We had REALLY bad service at another Friendly's just yesterday, as it turned out... it was bad form start to finish--from being told the wrong wait time for a table... to there being tons of confusion... to them bringing the wrong food... and to there being no communication from the wait staff for 30 minutes at a time... which stinks when you've been brought the wrong food! And the kicker? The BLT I waited an hour for had ONE piece of bacon in the entire sandwich.... A half a piece for each half of the sandwich! I guess it was the Weight Watcher's version. lol... I had them take that off the bill... I wasn't paying $6 for a limp piece of bacon, two pieces of toast....some shredded lettuce and 3 small slices of tomato... The server still got a tip, though... even though her service was not so great--I could see that this location on this day was being poorly managed over-all... it was chaos in that place!

We totally avoid Friendly's for exactly those reasons. It used to be an OK place to eat - a step up from fast food, but not anymore.... at least around here.

 

[Lucky]

A few comments from an ex-waiter:

1. I agree with one comment above that the service at WDW restaurants is generally as good or better than the restaurants I go to back home.

2. I thought the 18% on the dining plan was about right. I never felt we were being a server was ignoring us because his/her tip was guaranteed.

3. I have long believed, as Jimbo comments, that the whole fixed percentage thing is overrated. If your bill is only a few bucks but a server returns to refill your coffee 5 times, you probably should tip 100%. Conversely, if a server does very little work in bringing you a few vastly overpriced items, 18 or even 15% may be excessive. Why should one waiter earn three times as much as another, without working any harder, simply because prices at his/her restaurant are absurdly high? Personally, I tend to avoid the ridiculously overpriced places, and always tip 15% or more unless the service is poor. If they're terrible but at least trying, I still tip at least 10%. But I don't recall ever experiencing terrible service at WDW.

 

[Dwarful]

Oh I love these threads. I tried to get a reasonable answer to why, we as Americans tip food service industry workers based on the total of our ticket, but then we tip hotel staff the same..whether we are staying at All Star Movies or the Grand Floridian. The wait staff generally brings the food (except at buffets), fills drinks and clears the table (hopefully) but they get tipped on the cost of your meal..so if you have more money to spend then you have more money to tip. The housekeeping comes in makes the beds, cleans the bathroom, vacuums the carpets, leaves fresh towels & soaps etc., The housekeepers get tips generally on the # of people in the room no matter what resort you stay at...$59 or $400 a night. So where exactly is the logic in the tipping? No wonder our foreign guests don't get it...I don't get it....and always hope we are doing "the right thing" when it comes time to leave the tip.
btw: the only bad experience we had at WDW was as a group of 12 at a buffet dinner and we were completely ignored, set our empty plates on a nearby empty table, one drink refill...then had that 20% tip added on automatically....that was one instance where such a large tip had not been earned and we did not hesitate to let management know.

 

[PSU_Princess]

Since we have already wandered off the original topic I think I'll just continue the downward spiral

So I can see the point of why should someone be tipped more because you ordered an expensive steak or a salad (same amount of work and all). I guess I usually figured that if I was at a more expensive place I would expect better service. So how about if 2 people are at the same place....one orders just a dinner while the other orders an appetizer, dinner, and a dessert. Obviously the second person would have spent more...so using the amount of work logic--for the second diner the waitress would have had to submit multiple orders, bring multiple orders to the table, check more times, and you would have occupied that table for a longer period of time--say maybe the time of 2 seperate groups who only order dinner--so does this justify more of a tip?


(I keep reading over this and I'm not sure if it makes sense :lookaroun so I hope someone out there is able to follow along with me)

 

[sbkline]

Since we have already wandered off the original topic I think I'll just continue the downward spiral

So I can see the point of why should someone be tipped more because you ordered an expensive steak or a salad (same amount of work and all). I guess I usually figured that if I was at a more expensive place I would expect better service. So how about if 2 people are at the same place....one orders just a dinner while the other orders an appetizer, dinner, and a dessert. Obviously the second person would have spent more...so using the amount of work logic--for the second diner the waitress would have had to submit multiple orders, bring multiple orders to the table, check more times, and you would have occupied that table for a longer period of time--say maybe the time of 2 seperate groups who only order dinner--so does this justify more of a tip?

I'm not sure if there is much extra work involved in person #2, who orders an appetizer and dessert. But assumming there is, that still doesn't explain the logic of a person at this table ordering the $14.95 entree and the person accross the room ordering the $27.95 entree and the latter being expected to give more of a tip because he paid more. In both cases, the waitress wrote down the order, presented it to the kitchen crew and delivered it to the table. Same amount of work. I don't think she is entitled to a heftier tip from the one person just because his food cost more.

 

[TikiBeckie]

Good thing you're not a CM then.

Seriously, WDW has millions of people come through each year. The CM's see millions of faces. Do you really think that they are going to remember a face from a picture months from now when I come in to eat, amid the millions of faces they've seen in the meantime? I really don't think so. Unless they are so pathetic that they sit at home every night and study that picture.

Y'all are probably right, that I should give more than $2. Perhaps I should give $4 or $5. But like someone else said, I'm not sure I agree with the logic that it should be based on how much you spent. That waitress is working just as hard if I order the $7 dollar salad or the $27.50 steak. Either way, he/she is writing down the order and bringing it out to the table. So I'm not sure what difference it makes how much the meal is. Now, should I pay more than $2? Probably and perhaps I will in the future. But I still prefer a flat dollar amount as opposed to a percentage of the bill.

$2...even $4 or $5...unless it's breakfast, possibly lunch, it's rude. You know that the standard is at least 15%, don't be so cheap! Order our for crying out loud if you don't want to give tips! I agree that someone who orders something more expensive should not be "penalized" but you know that when you order something...don't order a $40 meal if you only want to leave $2.

 

[AndyMagic]

No one is saying the system we have for tipping in America is perfect. However, it is a system that we all have to live by. Why? Because restaurants ASSUME that you will tip accordingly at their places and thus, they pay their staff very little and keep base prices down. If you don't like the system I would recommend venturing over to Europe where I spent a good three months during a semester abroad. In London, Prague, and Ireland, tipping in restaurants is almost never done and the waiters get a flat rate. The result, the staff has no incentive to work harder for YOU. Things that seem absurd here, like say, a good 20 minute wait before your server even comes to your table to take your order, are common place. I understand the flaw in logic of tipping a large amount just because you got an expensive meal. It might interest you all to know that books on tipping often dictate that one should tip 15 to 20 percent (assuming good service was given) based not on the check total alone but on the average cost of a meal at that restaurant. In other words, a person who ordered a cheap salad and a coffee would round up to the average meal on the menu and the person who ordered the Salmon on a bed of baby greens and truffles would round down and then take a percentage. Appetizers, deserts, and rounds of drinks are added to the total as normal because it requires extra work and attention from the server. Now I'm not saying you all should sit there with calculators and go through all this trouble. Just use your judgement based on the "average cost of meal" strategy and both you and your server won't feel cheated. :wave:

 

[campdisney]

We leave the standard 15% for dining, more if the service was exceptional, less if it was not. I would think an 18% included gratuity with the dining plan is more than enough unless the service is particularly outstanding.

Tipping amounts are generational too. It would kill my father to leave a 15% tip. He always leaves a buck per diner no matter what the bill is -- granted this isn't fine dining were talking about with him either. When he treats us to dinner out, we always volunteer to leave the tip because of it.

I never really traveled much before my adult years. I was surprised to learn that its standard now to tip Housekeepers. When we went to Vegas, a gratuity envelope was left in our room specifically for the housekeepers tip. So we did leave a tip. We didn't know what the "correct" rate was so we just guessed. But after thinking about it, I'm not sure if I should have left one at all. I'm tipping them to make beds and vacuum the room. This is what their job is and they earn an regular hourly wage for it -- not a reduced wage like wait staff do. And its not like WDW Mousekeeping where they put the extra effort into cute towel animals and arranging the kids toys in little vignettes. (I never have a problem leaving a little extra for a Mousekeeper.) What makes the service a Vegas housekeeper performs any more valuable than the lady at my local Shopko helping me find the right sized tablecloth? Should I tip the sales lady too because she's doing me a service?

Sorry, just musing here I guess. Trying to not to let my cheap streak surface too much (guess where I inheritated THAT from!). :lol:

 

[Dwarful]

I get how it works..and tip accordingly, I just don't get why it works the way it does....thats why I compared it to the hotel tips. The restaurants justify a bigger tip based on the total of the meal (it does not cost any more to bring a chicken salad that it does to bring a porterhouse), the hotel service industry does not..so those who stay in suites and 2 bedroom villas tip the same as the family of four staying in one room at the all stars...that comparison is where I lose the logic in our tip practices. Not complaining really, I just never understood how we got to this particular point and no one has really been able to explain it.

btw: I'd just stick with the 18% unless we received service above and beyond. Esp. if I paid for the meal plan.

 

[ele]

we tip generally 15%, but if the service was good we tip more alot more at times.

but if the service was horrible we leave loose change and a souvenier dollar with a tip written on it "ur service sucked".

we weren't pleases with the service in dine in drive in resturant. maybe its because I only got the chili and nopt a big platter i dont know but the waitress was rude and were not happy with it we had better service at friendlys

 

[Lanipie]

The problem is that I didn't choose a job where I work directly with the public. Waiters and waitresses choose that job because they know they can make more with tips. But they have to earn it. And they have to realize that there are two sides to that. They should expect a proper tip if they give good service, but thay can't possibly expect a good tip if they don't give good service.

Part of the choice of working in the service industry is that sometimes you might not get what you think you should get, that is life. You can't complain about not getting steady tips if you chose that job, you knew what was involved going in.

And yes, I have worked in the service industry with the general public. I know people can be awful at times. But that is how it goes, you learn to live with it and move on. Just because you deal with real jerks doesn't mean you are entitled to extra pay.

I completely agree. I generally leave a 20% tip at restaurants. But that tip is based on GOOD service. not "just because you're supposed too."

I am not in charge of what career path these people choose (and yes I've worked in the industry too). It is called the "service" industry for a reason. Because they are providing people a service. A tip reflects the service that was given. If the service is poor, less tip is left. if the service is outstanding, more tip is left. It's a way of rewarding the service you have recieved. If everything was slow, our drinks were not kept full, the server was rude, etc etc, then that is poor service. I have been known to leave slim pickins' for someone who doesn't know how to be a good server. And AMAZING tips for people who went out of their way to make experience great.

Now, with that being said, I do try to take into account what type of night the server is having. We're all human. If the server has like 12 tables and you can tell that they are doing the absolute best that they can, but they are unable to keep your drink topped off and stuff like that, I don't hold it against them. That's not their fault, it's management for not scheduling enough people for the night.

I know it may sound harsh, but it is not my job to pay a person's yearly salary. That is the job of the employer. But, I am more than willing to amply add to their income if the service was good.

 

[sbkline]

$2...even $4 or $5...unless it's breakfast, possibly lunch, it's rude. You know that the standard is at least 15%, don't be so cheap! Order our for crying out loud if you don't want to give tips! I agree that someone who orders something more expensive should not be "penalized" but you know that when you order something...don't order a $40 meal if you only want to leave $2.

If it makes you feel any better, ordinarilly when we eat out, it's to places like Ryan's or Cracker Barrell, where the total for the two of us comes to around $18 or so. So 15% of that would be $2.70. So if I leave only $2, I'm only shorting them 70 cents....if you go by that 15% rule. So it ain't as bad as it sounds. Besides, at a buffet place like Ryans, I'm not sure why a high tip should be expected when all the server does is bring your rolls and your drink. They don't even take your order or deliver your food.

But on the occasions that we eat at a place like Outback or Olive Garden, I still only usually leave 2 bucks, although sometimes I splurge and leave 3. But we don't go to places like that very often.

 

[Lucky]

I waited tables for a couple of years, and I knew when I had provided good service and when I had provided poor service. Even when the poor service was because of events beyond my control, I understood the customer generally had no way of knowing that, and didn't feel I was being cheated by a sub-15% tip. That's the line of work I chose, and overall it paid far better than just about anything else I was qualified to do at the time.

 

[Computer Magic]

The tip is automatically 18% but your servers are not getting it all in their paychecks so please please please tip them a little extra!!

what are you saying? Is it split between others? Surely you are not saying Disney keeps a part for themselves...are you

 

[Lanipie]

If it makes you feel any better, ordinarilly when we eat out, it's to places like Ryan's or Cracker Barrell, where the total for the two of us comes to around $18 or so. So 15% of that would be $2.70. So if I leave only $2, I'm only shorting them 70 cents....if you go by that 15% rule. So it ain't as bad as it sounds.

But on the occasions that we eat at a place like Outback or Olive Garden, I still only usually leave 2 bucks, although sometimes I splurge and leave 3. But we don't go to places like that very often.

That doesn't make it any better at all. It doesn't matter what type of restaurant it is. You should tip on a scale of Service + meal total.

These people, if they are doing a good job, do not deserve to be shorted, just because you're cheap and don't feel like leaving more than $2.

Leaving $2 or $3 at Olive Garden or Outback??? Unless your Server was the scum of the Earth, then that is just RUDE. I would request to never be your server again. they should post a picture of your face in the kitchen, warning each other so that they don't waste their time going out of their way to give you good service that you clearly don't deserve.

 

[sbkline]

That doesn't make it any better at all. It doesn't matter what type of restaurant it is. You should tip on a scale of Service + meal total.

These people, if they are doing a good job, do not deserve to be shorted, just because you're cheap and don't feel like leaving more than $2.

Leaving $2 or $3 at Olive Garden or Outback??? Unless your Server was the scum of the Earth, then that is just RUDE. I would request to never be your server again. they should post a picture of your face in the kitchen, warning each other so that they don't waste their time going out of their way to give you good service that you clearly don't deserve.

My picture in the kitchen? That would make me feel pretty important!