Tipping on the Disney Dining Plan
Being on the Disney Dining Plan is a great way to reduce travel stress by pre-paying for your meals. It's important to remember though that the service tip for your waiter or waitress is not included in your dining plan costs and will still need to be left at the time of your meal.
The Disney Dining Plan Is Easy But Don't Forget the Tip
Just like at the end of of any meal out, you will be brought a receipt once you are done. The receipt will show your meal and how much it would have cost if you were paying out of pocket. Located on the bottom of your receipt you will notice that Disney has calculated what you should add on for a tip at 18% and 20% of your bill before tax. It's a great tool that lets guests know how much of a tip it is customary to leave. Tips can be paid by using cash, credit card, or your Disney room charge.
Disney Offers Tip Suggestions on your Receipt
Thanks to BuffaloBill For Sharing his Reciept on the Forum
If you would prefer to have an idea of what you'll be spending on tips even before you leave for vacation, I suggest doing a little research and pre-making tip envelopes. Over several trips I've noticed that I've begun using some standard tip amounts when traveling with two adults. $10 can usually more than cover buffet breakfasts, $20 for table service lunches and $40 for signature dining experiences. Though these amounts are on the high side, we usually order cocktails with our meal and want to make sure that there's enough tip to go around.
How do I know what my meal will cost before I'm there? I figure out where I have ADRs and then look up the menus with current pricing on the Official WDW Website or at AllEars.net. Going through the menu of each establishment we'll be eating at I take a guess of what we'll order and add up the bill while I'm still at home. Once I know what that total is likely to be, I round up and stick about 20% of the bill in cash into a small envelope. It's easy and I enjoy diving into the Disney menus even before we get there. I then tuck tip money into envelopes and take only the envelopes that I will need along with me for a day of touring.
Disney Servers Try To Make Meals Magical
Servers at Walt Disney World are held to high standards and frequently go out of their way to make your time in their care wonderful. However, tipping is one of those a personal things, with every patron knowing what works best for them and what sort of service that they expect in order to leave their best tip. I won't say that there's a right or a wrong way to calculate a tip, but across America it's customary to leave between 15%-20% for good service. You should figure out what amount will work best for your party, and least intrusive in your travel planning, but always be prepared to leave a gratuity for your servers.
If you'd like more information on tipping and how different travelers handle the issue, head on over to our forums and join in the conversation!
Kristina wrote on Wed, 07/11/2012 - 02:46:
I gotta add two things..... there was more then one time that we came across my first point......double check the math. We found that there was a significant difference between the real percentages and the one printed on the receipt.
Also, parties of 6 or more are charged gratuity. I think it was 15% and it is automatically tacked onto the bill.
James wrote on Thu, 07/12/2012 - 21:07:
Just got back and had several meals with a party of 6. The automatic gratuity is now 18%.
Kristen K. wrote on Fri, 07/13/2012 - 13:19:
Thanks so much for letting us know James!
JoAnn C wrote on Sat, 07/14/2012 - 01:21:
I will definitely be preparing my tips ahead of time again this year. It was nice knowing I didn't have to worry if I had enough small bills to cover the tip.
While calculating the tips, I also noted if I planned on ordering an adult beverage and included that with the tip money. I separated the money by meal and placed in order by day and put it all in one envelope. Then each morning before leaving for the parks, I took out what was needed. I put the lunch money in one envelope and dinner in another.
When I was preparing my tip money for meals, I also put in a separate envelope tip money for mouse keeping and the airport parking shuttle drivers.
Karen Marsich wrote on Sat, 07/14/2012 - 11:42:
We will be at Disney World in less than a month. We have all of our meals planned. I was wondering if I could use gift cards as tips? I plan on buying a supply of $15 cards, can these be left as tips? We are on the dining plan.
Kristen K. wrote on Mon, 07/16/2012 - 13:15:
Tips should be left as cash or on your credit card.
Though I have heard of people leaving gift cards, it's generally frowned upon. The cast members are not able to trade them out for cash, and as many people supplement their incomes with tips, a gift card is much less than optimal.
Dinah S. wrote on Tue, 07/17/2012 - 05:28:
Just finished with my tip envelopes when I found this. My husband thought I was insane until I handed them to him and he said "Wow this will make it so much easier to just grab the envelopes we need for the day and go." I guess my compulsive Disney obsession has paid off. I have made a list of ADR's with estimated tip and a column for actual tip so I can keep up with what we spent where. We are good tippers for excellent service but made cash in different denominations so if need to adjust estimated tip it is possible. Also made a list of other people we will need to tip or pay cash..... spa attendant's, taxi ect. They all have an envelope! Now if the next 16 day would fly by I would be one happy woman!!!
Kristen K. wrote on Tue, 07/17/2012 - 12:49:
Whoo ho! I love hearing stories from other folks who are obsessive about their tip envelopes! I always make mine about 3 weeks before vacation, so it's one of those milestones I check off getting ready for vacation!
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