I have a 8:30 pm reservation for La Hacienda de San Angel. Just my husband and I plus our 2 oldest kids. My intention is to have dinner and watch Illuminations. My fear is that we won’t be very hungry. We have Chef Mickeys at 2:30 plus we will be snacking in the world Showcase. Is it rude to order only appetizers and drinks? Maybe a margarita or 2? Or maybe split 2 meals between the 4 of us?I don’t plan on using our dining credits. I just know we won’t be hungry enough for our own meals. I am afraid of seeming rude. Thanks!
Not at all. Use your dining reservation to enjoy whatever food and drink suits you. You e made a great choice!!!
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Thank you! I just hope we can get a table by the window. 
I don’t think that this is rude. In the UK people choose and order the starters and main courses altogether at the outset, just leaving puddings to decide on later, but I noticed in the U.S. that lots of people order one course at a time. It makes a lot of sense. I often prefer the appetizers to the entrees. Just don’t get the munchies after the margaritas 
Suddenly the most expensive item on the menu may seem like a good plan. 
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LOL! How many times this has happened to me!
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Me too!
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I hear ya! I looked at the menu and the appetizers look best to me. I just didn’t know how the TS restaurants felt about that. I always heard that it was frustrating for them when people would just order wine and dessert at BOG so I worried.
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Unlikely you’ll get a table by a window. 7:30, 7:45 or 8:00 ADRs will have filled those tables. Consider finding a nice spot along the rail early, and send someone to grab some margies and snacks.
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Tell them on check-in that you’d be willing to wait. Consider checking in a bit early to accommodate a wait
Get the Flautas. To. Die. For.
Although if the ADR is at 8:30, like @stuckinbmode said, the likelihood is that the window seats will be taken by people with ADRs between 7:30 and 8. And even if not, I would suspect that once the people sitting there realize how close they are to Illuminations time, they may stretch out those desserts or drinks.
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It’s okay if we can’t get right next to the window. I’ve never seen Illuminations, so I will be happy to see even a little of it.
I eat appetizers because I don’t eat much.
When I go to a restaurant and take up a table, but order very little, I just make sure I tip well (unless for some reason it unwarranted). That way the server isn’t missing out on their pay (remember a lot of what they make is tips, not an hourly wage). Obviously not necessary, but as someone who appreciates tips at my work, I know it makes a big difference.
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How do your customers know this?
It’s old news that lots of people hate the US tipping system, so I’m not going to dig up that old chestnut. And during my last trip I tipped like a millionaire. But with the exception of tips physically handed over, when you tip someone you never see them again. So there’s no way to know if they appreciate your tip.
If the bellhops are anything to go by, I’d say they don’t appreciate them at all. They feel entitled to them and are no more grateful for you handing over money — which technically you’re under no obligation to do — than they are when they get their Disney pay checks.
Tipping is a ridiculous system which serves only one purpose — to cut employment costs for employers. It’s ridiculous.
Whoops. I did dig up the old chestnut.
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Unfortunately, the US does not currently pay wait staff a living wage. That bell hop is also probably not making a lot.
I can’t tell what anyone else feels, but I always thank my customers who I see tipping (we have a tip jar, I work at a coffee shop). While I make slightly more than minimum wage, it’s not a living wage, so tips impact my extras (I.e. because they aren’t regular, I don’t budget for them, it’s a bit of bonus money). My co-worker had been saving hers for a couple of years and was able to put a down payment on a car.
Wether you like the US tipping system or not is not going to change how people are payed. And my personal experience is very different from yours. I’ve always found people say thank you. And just because they don’t have an opportunity, doesn’t mean they aren’t appreciative. I’m also not looking for their appreciation when I tip. I can understand that it would be a difficult system to get behind if you’re from some place else. (Not to say I love, just that it’s there, so I have to live with it.)
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It’s the dishonesty of the whole thing that gets me. I’m sure bellhops and wait staff get low base salaries, but maybe they’re earning vast amounts thanks to tipping. There’s no way for a customer to know. Maybe they’re all earning a lot more than I do.
And because tipping takes place at the end of the meal, it can’t actually make any difference to the quality of the service. If you’re a one-time customer who’s never going to go back, there’s no logical reason to tip at all — the service you’ll get is going to be the same either way. And it’s offensive for a server to suggest that if they knew I wasn’t going to tip they’d deliberately give me poor service — that would hardly be professional.
The whole thing is just ridiculously undignified: servers are essential relying on the kindness of strangers to give them money. Pay proper wages. Other countries have managed to figure this out.
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Yeah, I’m not saying it’s not messed up, but it’s there, so I’m living with it. I think the assumption is, the amount you tip is based on the level of service you get. Bad service, I tip a certain %, ok service another, outstanding service, another.
There are a lot of problems in the US (and whole world) right now, I can’t say fixing this one is high up on my “must fix now” list. Deciding not to tip anyone anymore is definitely not going to fix it, just punish the people working those types of jobs.
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That’s what the internet is for: ranting about things!
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I agree that they expect it, and it makes the contrary side of me want to not give them anything (thinking more of Bell services than servers who I can at least see working hard to make my meal better) but of course I do tip. I have mentioned before the server at TH who asked as soon as she came over if we were on the dining plan and when we said yes, told us that tip wasn’t included so make sure we leave one!! That was the closest I came to leaving a crappy tip, but I just couldn’t.
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