[edited]
Thank you for the supportive introduction to your post.
In regard to the above points waiters and waitresses may have a lower 'base' pay than the minimum wage, but as I said that is their choice. However even if they received no pay from Disney, which is not the case, they would only need tips of US$7.25 per hour to receive the minimum wage. Thus if they were to receive tips of 18% they would only need to serve an average of US$40 in meals per hour, often one meal per person or one and a half to two buffets, to get the minimum wage. Further any tables of six or more must pay the tip so this is about six hours of minimum pay in one table at a restaurant. Clearly they are generally well ahead of the minimum wage even adding in their actual pay from Disney and taking out any sharing of tips with the manager etc. Given this I do not understand your point aboout the minimum wage, many other Disney workers are stuck on the minimum wage and have no such upside and yet they provide service to the guest.
By the way I do not consider myself rude at all, if anything taking part in this discussion has solidified my approach to tipping.
Well, let me first clarify that I
do not consider your behavior on the boards rude at all. Taking part in discussions is fun and we learn about others through it. If you took what I said about rudeness to mean that you were being rude on the boards, I apologize. Not what I meant at all.
Also let me again say that I don't entirely disagree with you on the concept of tipping. If we could get rid of it entirely, I'd be very happy!
I don't work at Disney, so I'm not entirely sure about this, but I know that many Disney cast members have no choice about where they work. They get what they're assigned. With the poor economy, people often don't have any other choice. I have a friend who wanted to work at Disney. She ended up picking up trash at EPCOT.... she could have put her college degree in the bin with it. But she had to work, so there she stayed. Disney didn't care what she wanted to do.
I'd be interested to hear the opinions of wait staff from Disney... how much the average tip is, etc... I can tell you though that just under 30% of our income goes to taxes. For wait staff, that includes tips. There are ways to get away with not claiming the money, but I'll be Disney keeps a close eye on this sort of thing.
What I do know is that tipping is an accepted part of American culture. Wrong or right, it's here. When I traveled to Japan, I didn't tip because I was told it was considered rude. I was also told that it was considered rude to talk on your cell phone on the train and while walking. I'm not someone who spends a whole train trip talking on the phone, but it would seem to be an appropriate time to make a quiet, polite call. But I didn't. A friend in Japan told me that if I did, I'd likely be confronted and told to stop because it's rude. So...... I did what the Japanese did and kept the phone stowed away.
So ultimately, what I'm saying is that if you travel to Disney, and don't tip, you'll be considered rude by the wait staff. I also wouldn't recommend that you return to the same restaurant any time during your trip. I would HOPE that no one is going to spit in your food, or anything equally disgusting... but you can bet your life that the service you receive is going to be far worse than the first visit.