Tips with Dining Plan?

[jooleejul]

For those of you that have used the dining plan, how does it work with tips? Are they included with the plan, or are you expected to leave tips with your meals? Any advice is greatly appreciated, thanks

 

[k.hunter30]

Tips are included.

However... I would like to know if people still leave something...:shrug:

 

[Monty]

They include an 18% tip. If you really get good service, top that up! I do.

 

[LuLaSue]

If the service is good and it usually is we always top it off with something extra.

 

[Disneysue]

There is an 18% gratuity included with your dining plan. I was just there Feb 1-9 and used the dining plan (LOVED IT!! BEST idea they have ever had!). I ordered a glass of wine with my dinner (NOT included with DDP) and instead of tap water, I would get a bottled water to use the bev. part of the DDP table service. This way the server knew that they would be geting extra, and boy let me tell you that made the servers extra friendly! We would leave and extra $10-$20 even if we didnt order wine. Most of our servers would catch us on the way out and thank us personally for the extra tip! I absolutly recomend that you leave extra. They work VERY hard and deserve it!

 

[lilclerk]

We always left a few extra bucks, more if we got better service. But we always tip pretty well, IMO. I wouldn't want that job =\

 

[RiversideBunny]

Other than the monetary tips for the waiters, are there any 'tips' (suggestions) that you may have when using the dining plan?
The one about being sure to make ADR's is well known now but are there other tips?
Tks.

 

[ErickainPA]

not many other tips actually to include. We usually try to make the ADR's so they are not during busy times of the day. You will have a much more relaxed server if you can plan for before a dinner rush or a few hours after dinner rush.

 

[phichi17]

Other than the monetary tips for the waiters, are there any 'tips' (suggestions) that you may have when using the dining plan?
The one about being sure to make ADR's is well known now but are there other tips?
Tks.

Yes, definately use all of your credits, they expire on midnight of your check out day.

Also, peruse the various menus of the palces you want to eat and be sure you get your 38.99 daily price back. Table service is most advantageous at dinner, and you can usually get your money's worth from that alone. The counter service and snack credit will almost be a freebie! For example we are using a table service for the grand gathering b-fast, that alone is I believe 28.99 + tip. With 18% gratuity that comes to over 34.00 per person. Any counter service meal will cost over 6.00 with beverage, therefore you have money in the bank, so to speak.

 

[MPitzen]

This is from Mousesavers.com

Helpful Tips for Making the Most of the Dining Plan

• You can use the meal credits whenever you want during the vacation. If you want to eat two table service meals one day and three counter service meals the next day, no problem.

• If you have kids aged 9 and under, be aware that since October 2006, the kids' meals have changed (particularly at the counter service locations) and there have been a lot of complaints about this. It appears this is primarily a result of a misguided attempt on Disney's part to meet dietary guidelines for food that is marketed to children.The new kids' selections are supposed to be "healthier" but some people say their kids don't like them. See below for specifics on this issue at counter service and table service restaurants.

• If you don't want the drink that is included with your counter service meal, take a bottle of water to go.​

• Fresh fruit can be used as a dessert, so if you don't want dessert when eating a counter service meal, take a banana or apple to go and use it as a snack later in the day.​

• Any leftover snacks or counter-service meals can be used to pack a lunch for the trip home. Your resort's food court has packable food.​

• If you have snack credits left over at the end of your vacation, many of the counter service restaurants offer Mickey-shaped rice krispy treats on a stick that you can get with snack credits. These make cute gifts to take home for friends and family -- or you can eat 'em on the plane!
  

Getting the Most Value for Your Table Service Meal Credits

Children's Meal Selections

• Ask for alternatives. If your kids don't like anything on the kids' menu, ask the server if they can have a child-sized portion of something from the adult menu. Often this will be accommodated.
  ​
• Ask to see the chef if your child has an allergy or dietary issue (i.e. vegetarianism) that causes a problem with selecting from the standard kids' menu. Better yet, call Disney Dining at (407) WDW-DINE before your visit and have this noted on your reservations. Disney is very good about accommodating this sort of issue.
  ​

Which Table Service Locations Have the Most Expensive Meals?

The potential maximum cost for one adult meal including appetizer, entree, dessert, non-alcoholic beverage, tax and tip are listed below.
Of course if you don't like the food or atmosphere at a particular restaurant, an expensive meal is not a value for you! The list below reflects only the restaurants with the most expensive items -- not necessarily the best restaurants.
If you want to eat at a particular restaurant, don't hesitate to do so just because it's not on this list. Some that I especially like (including Brown Derby at Disney-MGM Studios, Boma and Jiko at Animal Kingdom Lodge, Citrico's at Grand Floridian Resort, Ohana at Polynesian Resort, Artist Point and Whispering Canyon at Wilderness Lodge) are not listed. Generally you will at least break even on any of the table service meals.
Prices are rounded and provided for reference only. Restaurants participating in the Dining Plan, menu items and prices are subject to change at any time.
Table Service Locations

• $69 - Wolfgang Puck Cafe at Downtown Disney
• $63 - Spoodles on the Boardwalk
• $61 - Le Cellier at Epcot's Canada
• $60 - Mitsukoshi Teppanyaki at Epcot's Japan
• $58 - Les Chefs de France at Epcot's France
• $58 - Coral Reef at Epcot
• $57 - Maya Grill at Coronado Springs Resort
• $56 - Mama Melrose's at Disney-MGM Studios
• $54 - Nine Dragons at Epcot's China
• $54 - Concourse Steakhouse at Contemporary Resort
• $54 - Shutters at Caribbean Beach Resort
• $53 - L'Originale Alfredo di Roma at Epcot's Italy
• $53 - Raglan Road at Downtown Disney
• $52 - Cap'n Jacks at Downtown Disney
• $52 - Kona Cafe at Polynesian Resort
• $51 - Big River Grille on the Boardwalk
• $51 - Tony's Town Square in the Magic Kingdom
• $50 - Restaurant Marrakesh at Epcot's Morocco

Signature Table Locations (require two table service options)

• $113 - Yachtsman Steakhouse at Yacht Club Resort
• $107 - Narcoossee's at Grand Floridian Resort
• $84 - California Grill at Contemporary Resort
• $82 - Flying Fish on the Boardwalk

Getting the Most Value for Your Counter Service Meal Credits

• MouseSavers.com reader Dawn from South Carolina offers this information: "we were enjoying Downtown Disney one pleasant Florida evening and were searching for a place to eat. We wanted to use a counter service meal if possible and we noticed Wolfgang Puck Express on the list of counter service restaurants. After checking out the menu, we couldn't believe it was counted as just a counter service. We asked the cashier and she said it was, with the exception of the meatloaf and ravioli. My family of five had a wonderful meal worth over $70 for just a counter service credit (drink and dessert included)! Great food too!"
• Disney's Value and Moderate resort food courts tend to have the greatest selection of high-end counter service food selections. Pop Century's Everything Pop Food Court and Coronado Springs' Pepper Market are probably the Top Two when it comes to resort counter service options. Everything Pop has a great selection, including flatbreads (pizzas), grill items, Italian and Asian options. Pepper Market is actually a "partial-service" location. The wait staff will seat you and bring you drinks. You go to various stations and pick the food you want from a broad selection. Options include steaks and other high-end items. Normally there is a 10% gratuity assessed at this restaurant, due to the partial service, but that's included when you using Dining Plan credits.
• Among the Deluxe resorts, the best and most innovative counter service food is at Mara in Animal Kingdom Lodge and Captain Cook's Snack Company at the Polynesian. Roaring Fork Snacks at Wilderness Lodge has some nice sandwich and salad options. Other than that, the counter service options at the Deluxe resorts are mediocre at best, with a heavy emphasis on standard fare like burgers and chicken strips.
• As noted in the "Helpful Tips" section, kids' selections can be very limited. At some pizza locations, the kids' menu doesn't include pizza and at some burger locations, kids can't get a burger! At some locations, the only side orders listed for kids are carrot sticks, grapes and applesauce and all the drinks are "healthy" (milk, juice, water), but I'm told you can usually substitute french fries and soda if you wish. Some kids' meals include sugar-free jello as the only possible dessert, while other kids' meals do not include a dessert at all. (Meanwhile, adults can often get ice cream, cake or pie included in their meal at the same location.) There are some ways around these problems:
  • A few counter service locations don't have a kids' menu. That means you can order any combo or entree on the menu with a child credit. These locations are: Casey's Corner and Pete's Doggone Good Dogs at Magic Kingdom;Toy Story Pizza Planet, Catalina Eddie's and Toluca Legs Turkey Company at Disney-MGM Studios; Cool Wash Pizza at Epcot (Future World), Sommerfest at Epcot (Germany) and Yorkshire County Fish Shop at Epcot (UK)
  • You can buy your two adult meals at a location offering meals the adults like, then go to another location that has better kids' options and buy their meals there.

• You may want to consider sharing counter service meals. For instance, a family of four might try ordering two adult counter service meals and sharing the food, possibly supplementing the meal by paying out of pocket for a few a la carte items (like extra side orders or drinks). If this works for you, you may be able to stretch your counter service meals to cover two meals a day. Some of the best locations for this strategy:
  ​
  • Cosmic Ray's at Magic Kingdom - Half Chicken & Barbecue Ribs Combo meal can easily be shared by two people with moderate appetites
  • Tangierine Cafe at Epcot (Morocco) - Shawarma Platter is very shareable
  • Sunshine Seasons at Epcot (Future World) - there's an Asian combo that allows you to pick two entrees and two sides, plus they have a much more extensive selection of desserts than most counter service locations
  • If you like chicken, the following restaurants offer a half chicken meal, which can serve two people who aren't big eaters: Flame Tree Barbecue and Tusker House at Animal Kingdom; Cosmic Ray's at Magic Kingdom; Mara at Animal Kingdom Lodge

What Can You Get With Snack Credits?

As of May 2006, Disney has expanded the items available with Dining Plan snack credits. Disney is now generally defining a "snack" on the Disney Dining Plan as an item under $4 (pre-tax), edible, non-alcoholic, non-merchandise and non-souvenir. Some items such as pizza slices are excluded.
Snacks can be redeemed at quick service or snack cart locations only. Quick-service and snack cart locations display a "dining plan" logo on their menus indicating items for which you can use your snack credits.
Among the items now available with Dining Plan snack credits:

• ice cream novelty
• frozen fruit bar
• box of popcorn
• 12 oz soft drink
• 20 oz Powerade
• 24 oz bottle of water
• piece of fruit
• bottled fruit juice
• flavored milk
• snack-sized bag of chips
• ice cream sundaes
• ice cream floats
• smoothies
• nachos
• bakery items
• Mickey rice krispy treats

 

[jooleejul]

Thanks everyone, you all were a great help!

 

[Tiggerfanatic]

We also left an additional tip (usually $5.00 for the 2 of us) - every server we had was wonderful, and we saved so much money on the Plan, I still felt we were getting a heck of a bargain.

 

[SallyShine]

Be sure to make your ADR's before your leave.

 

[aeillill]

It's not necessary to leave a tip since it is included already in the dining plan. However there were a few evening where the waiters/waitresses really did an excellent job and in our opinion they went above and beyond what was necessary. On those evenings we left an extra tip for them. It wasn't necessary, but we thought it was fair.

 

[scorp111]

Tips are included, but you can add extra as others have said.


My only tip, is make sure you come to WDW hungry!

I have always been a big eater, and it was extremely tough to eat all of the food provided by the Dining Plan!

 

[saltmom1]

Can you order, say lobster, on the DDP or are there restrictions on what you order ?

 

[MPitzen]

Other than planet hollywood & special menus for the fantasmic dinner package there are no limitations on the menus.

 

[Dwarful]

We had a lot of the snack credits left over. So on our last day we hit Goofys candy shop at DTD and let the kids go wild! All that next week they had WDW treats in their lunch boxes at school. Of course mom and dad did take a bite or two of a peanut butter cup...and maybe an ear off of a Mickey rice krispie treat.

my tip would be to check out the menus of the counter service places (all on this site) and see what is offered at different places in the parks. We found the Liberty Inn in Epcot a great deal, but I loved the fish n chips in England in Epcot.

 

[Rob562]

My tip would be to *not* worry about getting the absolute best value for your dining credits. Sure, do the research and see what the better-value places are (as quoted above), make your ADRs, but remember that you're on *vacation*.

When you actually go to the restaurant, don't even look at the prices. Just look at the menu and order whatever you want. If you try to "get the most for the money" at every place, you'll drive yourself crazy. Look at it from the viewpoint of having pre-paid for your food while on your trip, not as individual dining plan credits. If you go a little cheaper on one meal, chances are there will be another one to make up for it in your trip. You'll probably average out to be more than what you paid for it over the course of all your meals.

I have a CM friend who works in the resorts. During last year's Free Dining promo she had a Guest who obviously was of the midset of "squeeze every last penny out of it". He was complaining because a Snack option could be used for a bag of potato chips (normal price is like $1.25)... He couldn't fathom why they'd charge a "Snack credit worth $4" for a small bag of chips. She couldn't get through to him that it was just an *option*, you could pay for the chips out of pocket and use the snack credit somewhere else, and that some people might just want a bag of chips and not a big ice cream bar, brownie, etc. (My guess is that he wanted to buy $4 worth of potato chips with only one snack credit)

So just pay the money for the plan, and then FORGET about prices. You'll have a much more restful time. (I also tell my friends to adopt this mindset with their park tickets... The money paid for the ticket should be looked at as being "a week's worth of fun" on their vacation. Don't worry about "getting your money's worth" out of the ticket and "wasting" a day if you're only there for a couple hours. Just relax and have fun!)

-Rob

 

[Yellow Shoes]

OK--too lazy to look up the older post, but I believe that your server is NOT tipped 18% of your bill.

Rather, they are tipped a set amount, which is much less than your bill will be.

It is only right to tip on top of that.

A friend who use to wait tables said, "It's not my fault as the server that you have a discounted meal. It's the same amount of work for me if you're paying $100 or $40."

There's an undeniable logic to that.

I always tip again.