UPDATED October 6, 2025

Tipping is customary at Table Service restaurants in the United States. Table Service restaurants are those in which you are seated at a table by a host/hostess and a server brings food and/or drinks to you.

Tipping is neither required nor expected at Quick Service restaurants in the United States. Quick Service restaurants are those in which you walk up to a counter or window, place your order, and then find a place to sit on your own. Quick Service is also known as Counter Service or fast food.

Buffet restaurants at Walt Disney World fall under the Table Service category. While you walk up to the buffet line to select your own food, there is wait staff that will bring you drinks, clear your plates, and offer other assistance. These servers should be tipped as you would in any other Table Service situation.

Tipping practices vary slightly, but general US custom is that tips should be 15-25% of your pretax bill. The suggested tip level at Walt Disney World is 18%. For example, if your pretax restaurant bill were $100, you would leave an $18 tip, or $118 total. Most WDW bills will indicate a recommend tip on the bottom of your receipt.

What about bars and lounges? It’s customary to tip a bartender $1-2 per beer or glass of wine. For mixed drinks and cocktails, the guideline comes closer to what you might tip at a restaurant, with a recommended percentage of 15% to 20%. 

In most situations, the guest is free to leave whatever tip they think is appropriate; however, Walt Disney World will automatically add an 18% gratuity to your bill in the following situations:

• Parties of six or more seated at one table. (Babies and toddlers count in this total, even if they are not eating food served by the restaurant.)
• Guests dining at certain venues where they have pre-paid for the experience, including:
  • Hoop-Dee-Doo Musical Revue at Fort Wilderness
  • Cinderella’s Royal Table in the Magic Kingdom

When you are presented your bill, there will be still be a line available for adding a gratuity, even though the cost of the tip has already been included in your total amount due. Check carefully to make sure you are not tipping twice. Of course, guests receiving exceptionally good service are always welcome to tip more than 18%.

The cost of gratuities is not included in the Disney Dining Plan. Although you are not paying cash for your meal, you should tip your server as if you were. When you are presented with your bill, there will be an indication of what the cost would have been had you been paying out of pocket. This is the amount upon which you should base your tip. For example, if your meal would have cost $20, an 18% tip would be $3.60.

All guests, including Disney Dining Plan users, should factor the cost of tips into their overall dining budget.