Florida Tax and Gratuities

[Jodidisneymom]

Leaving for WDW in about 2 weeks and I am trying to budget for several sit down meals (that we have booked over and beyond the meal plans allowance for sit down meals) I know most breakfast character buffets are $18.99 per person...but how much is Florida tax and how much do you tip for buffet? 15% or 20%...are drinks included? thanks in advance for any help!

[wdw4us2]

In Orange County, the sales tax is 6.5% while in Osceola it is 7%. Animal Kingdom, AKL and the All Star Resorts are all in Osceola County. Everything else is in Orange County.

Non-alcoholic drinks are included in the buffet price with free refills. As for the tipping, for buffets we generally tip 15% unless we receive exceptional service. For sit-down, we tip 20% unless the service is less than stellar.

[otisney]

Slight correction: Disney's Animal Kingdom and Disney's Animal Kingdom Lodge are both in Orange County.

Osceola County has the three All-Star Resorts (Sports, Music and Movies), Disney's Wide World of Sports Complex (waiting for the new ESPN moniker) and the Town of Celebration.

Incidentally, the McDonald's near the All-Star Resorts is BARELY in Orange County, as is the 90's wing of Disney's Pop Century Resort.

[Jodidisneymom]

Thank you so much! this helps so much!

[wdw4us2]

Slight correction: Disney's Animal Kingdom and Disney's Animal Kingdom Lodge are both in Orange County.

Osceola County has the three All-Star Resorts (Sports, Music and Movies), Disney's Wide World of Sports Complex (waiting for the new ESPN moniker) and the Town of Celebration.

Incidentally, the McDonald's near the All-Star Resorts is BARELY in Orange County, as is the 90's wing of Disney's Pop Century Resort.

Various articles in the Orlando Sentinel as well as receipts from purchases at both AK and AKL indicate they are in Osceola County.

[otisney]

Check out Google Earth. It shows the County Line running through the property.

[mritty]

Not that it's remotely "official", but this map agrees that AK and AKL are NOT in Osceola: Osceola County Florida Map

Very annoyingly, the county's own homepage offers no such conclusive evidence (ie, a map).

[harra]

I have to admit that I'm a bit detailed in my handling of my personal finances, but I've never gone as far as accounting for sales tax....LOL.

But when I need to make sure I have enough money in my wallet for something I typically go with an 8% sales tax becasue that is the highest I encounter where I live. If I can cover 8%, I usually can cover anything. Plus, I like to budget conservatively.

With gratuity, I think if you have a party over a certain amount (I think 6) , use the Disney Dining Experience Card, or dine in the Disney Dining Plan they'll automatically tack on an 18% gratuity.

I always tip 20% or more unless I get lousy service which, knock on wood, I haven't gotten at Disney. Now, if they add gratuity to my ticket (as outlined above) I don't tip more.

This is a practice I learned when waiting tables through college at a Victoria & Albert's style restaurant. A fixed gratuity was never added onto. So much so, that we would make sure it wasnt' a mistake if someone added more tip to the credit card slip to make sure they didn't see we added it and they were double tipping. We had a few cases where customers got irate when they suddenly realized they added an add'l 15% to a tip that was already 18% of the bill.