Prices just hit my threshold :-(

[saskdw]

try this: http://www.wdwinfo.com/walt-disney-world/dining/the-business-of-magic-2015-food-prices/

I suppose there is some opinion in the matter, but it was also pretty public that the recession =restaurants cutting costs to survive.

For a start, clearly, portions on kids QS meals were cut over the last ten years.

We've only been going to WDW since 2008. I haven't noticed anything different since then that concerned me.

 

[saskdw]

LOl this made me laugh saskdw, not because you maybe right but because it brought up a childhood memories. I grew up in a family's restaurant (my grandfather and uncle) and my uncle had a saying.

If one or two people say your restaurant sucks (not their language) treat it as an opinion.
If four, five and more say your restaurant sucks, treat it like a fact.

you really think that hundreds of people trash Tony's town square because it's "cool"??

You know what's interesting. first people say those who make a negative report do so because we are disney haters, now we do it because we want to be cool?

Glad I made you laugh!

People like to join in on the popular opinion so they can be one of the cool kids.

At one time Le Cellier was a top rated choice and then one day it was the cool thing to do to say the food sucks. We eat there every trip, the food doesn't suck IMO.

 

[BuckeyeBama]

Glad I made you laugh!

People like to join in on the popular opinion so they can be one of the cool kids.

At one time Le Cellier was a top rated choice and then one day it was the cool thing to do to say the food sucks. We eat there every trip, the food doesn't suck IMO.

I also love Lee Cellier, but my wife hates it. Says the food is too salty for her. Different strokes.

 

[SonicGuy]

Am I the only person not really bothered by this?

I mean, it's not as if it's unprecedented, or that WDW is anything but a completely luxury and whimsical want, not a need, not a right, certainly not owed to anyone. Frankly, I'm perfectly ok if a bunch of people don't go due to prices, I am willing to pay the prices and if it means I get less crowds for the higher price, all the better. Would I prefer it were cheaper? Sure, probably, unless it meant the crowds got even worse, than it starts to not be so clear cut.

The nice thing about luxury things is that you get them because you work for them, I like the idea of WDW being a higher end vacation place, I work hard for my money, and I earn the option to spend it on a trip like this. If I'm being totally honest I'm ok with it being a bit more exclusive, and the same goes for tiered ticketing/FPs. If I can work harder and get a better experience for my family and myself, I'm all for it. I frankly don't love the idea that my vacation is somewhat limited by a perceived need to cater to people that don't have the same disposable income. I'm not saying those people shouldn't have access, but I think it's perfectly reasonable to have value levels of the vacation for them, just as they have value resorts. Life isn't fair, and while some of my available funds are good fortune, it's mostly effort, and even the good fortune required the right skills and effort to leverage.

I'm sure this isn't going to be a popular opinion, but that's how I feel about it!

Adam

Excellent point of view that I completely agree with. It may sound snobbish but oh well. Its kind of like when the prices of airline tickets really started to fall. I remember a TV show referring to the "flying bus people". Im perfectly OK paying more for what I perceive as a great value. If others aren't, let them stay away.

 

[P'colaBeachBum]

An incorrect assumption. This is a 1960 flyer, so not quite the 1961 the previous poster mentioned but I hope it's close enough, they didn't change the makeup that much.

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_3jV5FcVqp...AJu8/epmg7UnctDQ/s1600-h/1960+dl+flyer_2a.jpg

The $3.75 10-adventure ticket book included 3 E's (and 3D's) The flyer also shows which rides were which ticket. There were 7 E's (if you don't multi-count the Train). If you had an extra $1, you could get the 15-adventure which provided an additional ticket per letter.

Interesting, that in the 60's Disney wanted you to visit a minimum 10 or 15 attractions ... that number is less than 10 now.

Not an "assumption" as much as the memory of an 8 yo at the time. I just knew 1 day was all we could afford at the time.

 

[PAcpl]

LOl this made me laugh saskdw, not because you maybe right but because it brought up a childhood memories. I grew up in a family's restaurant (my grandfather and uncle) and my uncle had a saying.

If one or two people say your restaurant sucks (not their language) treat it as an opinion.
If four, five and more say your restaurant sucks, treat it like a fact.

you really think that hundreds of people trash Tony's town square because it's "cool"??

You know what's interesting. first people say those who make a negative report do so because we are disney haters, now we do it because we want to be cool?

There is also a saying where you can't please everyone. I have read plenty of posts where people have enjoyed Tony's, myself included. If you want incredible Italian go to Il Mulino NY Trattoria over at the Swan. If you want convenience stay in the park and settle for theme park Italian food.

And I love your uncle's saying, he must have be very successful. With that being said your uncle's main concern was food quality and service. He didn't have to worry about how many chicken parmesan dinners he had to sell to cover a $40k+ firework show.

 

[jalapeno_pretzel]

Was there some sort of DIS board of directors decision that I missed where it was decided that the food quality going down at WDW was a fact and not an opinion?

I've personally never had a problem with the food at WDW. I know its the cool thing to do on DIS to say the food quality is down, but it is still just someones opinion.

We've had some wonderful, amazing meals at WDW. We've also had some mediocre and even lousy ones, with more of those coming in later trips. So yes, it is my opinion based on my sum of WDW dining experiences that the food quality has gone down over the years. So sorry if you are upset that my opinion and experience don't match your own opinion and experience. Maybe it was just the set of restaurants I picked. Maybe it was just a bad night at the given places. But it was my experience.

 

[Nigel Channing]

I agree, except that I also agree with the other poster who noted a change did occur shortly after DDP was introduced. Before DDP, food quality at WDW went up every year. Then it went down considerably. Eisner also publicly talked about cutting food costs.

according to an article on the WDWinfo site, "Each department head, whether a hotel manager, retail manager, or restaurant manager is charged to make more money than the previous year. If they do, they will receive a bonus. If not, well there’s no magic in that. So in the Food & Beverage (F & B) world, that means you either raise menu prices, serve more guests, cut costs or any combination of the three." Really, the situation went far beyond WDW during the recession. But Disney did experiment with cutting food costs during the free dining promo. Naturally, they decided to extend those cuts beyond those few weeks when the economy nose-dived.

The other big thing about WDW food is that guests, are sorta kinda stuck there. At a ballpark, we can survive a few hours without eating the food they sell. It gets a little more complicated if WDW is an all-in-one, week long, full-family destination.

People with allergies and disabilities have families. So the WDW that won't accommodate little Jon's allergy is excluding not just Jon, but his whole family. And THAT makes for a rather large chunk of the general population.

Most of my trips were as a kid but I've visited three times as an adult, 2008 then two years ago and just a few weeks back. While there has been a cutback in the menu options at many of the table service restaurants, which is disappointing, my biggest complaint is the actual quality of the food. The steaks are less than Wal-Mart quality. The shrimp are the tiniest I've ever seen. The vegetables are pale. We noticed a huge drop in quality from the 2008 trip to 2013 and a smaller drop in this year's visit.

 

[Nigel Channing]

There is also a saying where you can't please everyone. I have read plenty of posts where people have enjoyed Tony's, myself included. If you want incredible Italian go to Il Mulino NY Trattoria over at the Swan. If you want convenience stay in the park and settle for theme park Italian food.

And I love your uncle's saying, he must have be very successful. With that being said your uncle's main concern was food quality and service. He didn't have to worry about how many chicken parmesan dinners he had to sell to cover a $40k+ firework show.

The quality of the food should have nothing to do with the cost of a fireworks show. The 30-70k plus people in the park should be covering cost of the fireworks in their admission.

 

[eliza61]

And I love your uncle's saying, he must have be very successful. With that being said your uncle's main concern was food quality and service. He didn't have to worry about how many chicken parmesan dinners he had to sell to cover a $40k+ firework show.

LOL, thanks PA. unfortunately he used me and my cousins as child labor (or at least that's how we now tell the stories). we all grew up working in the restaurant after school.

Very true, but I do think there is some validity to the reports. One thing to consider is that many of the folks here have been going to the world for a very long time so it's not like they try places once and then give a negative report to join the "gang". heck, many of us have had points assigned to us for getting into arguments. So I don't really buy into theory that all the negative reports are a resort of everyone following a lead.

Now I too, can totally tell the difference in the food quality so much so that this August when we actually had an excellent meal I mentioned it to the server, who said the chef revamped the menu and made changes.

Also for me, like I said prior my dissatisfaction isn't done to join a crowd. It actually makes me very sad and a bit depressed when I think about my decision to sell my dvc. like I said, I brought it with the whole expectation of having it for life, for taking my grandkids to the world and when I retire next year, of spending a lot of time at the world. so believe me it's not some knee jerk reaction.

 

[PAcpl]

The quality of the food should have nothing to do with the cost of a fireworks show. The 30-70k plus people in the park should be covering cost of the fireworks in their admission.

My point was everything needs to be balanced.

 

[Planogirl]

Thank you. You have no idea how comforting this was. Another poster said pretty much this and it has put me at ease. This put a smile on my face!

I'm happy that you've found new places to frequent and to haunt a little bit more aside from Disney. I do hope that Disney does something to keep all of you going back to it, and remembering the special memories that you make there, but also not trying to eat into your jean pockets as it gnaws through your wallets. I've got a long way to go, so, it's back to some happy planning. Thank you, friend.

I'm a pretty vocal critic of WDW but I'm planning a visit right now as we speak. You can still have a great time there just plan wisely. Plus you can't compare it to previous trips so some of this won't be so obvious to you.

 

[bababear_50]

I can't speak for others that have posted, but I have had private conversations with a couple of them and I think that they would agree with me. It is not a lack of empathy. I understand the situation they are in, I was once their myself. The problem many of us have is with the entitlement culture that has been created the last several decades in this country that leads people to believe that No matter what the price is, everyone does have a shot at it, and people only make you feel like a lesser being if you let them.

I have read every page in this thread and I do not think that anyone is saying "Disney should not be allowed to raise prices because then they can't afford it." Far too often the "entitlement culture" quote is used as a defense against those who have a legitimate complaint.
I have clearly heard people say
The product/service offered is becoming inferior and they are shocked that Disney is raising prices while this is going on.


P.S.
I remember complaining loud and clear and somehow the "ceramic mugs ""Magic" reappeared at OKW resort.

Mel

 

[Planogirl]

LOl this made me laugh saskdw, not because you maybe right but because it brought up a childhood memories. I grew up in a family's restaurant (my grandfather and uncle) and my uncle had a saying.

If one or two people say your restaurant sucks (not their language) treat it as an opinion.
If four, five and more say your restaurant sucks, treat it like a fact.

you really think that hundreds of people trash Tony's town square because it's "cool"??

You know what's interesting. first people say those who make a negative report do so because we are disney haters, now we do it because we want to be cool?

We're obviously cool Disney haters.

 

[hopemax]

We've only been going to WDW since 2008. I haven't noticed anything different since then that concerned me.

That would be because you started visiting after the "change." The dining plan was introduced in 2005, and many of the changes happened in the first couple years as "expensive" ingredients were switched out with cheaper alternatives (a result of too many people ordering the most expensive appetizer, entree and dessert choices to get "their money's worth"). Also, things like bread changed. You could eat at several different restaurants and not have the same type of bread twice, made onsite, then they "standardized" things and then most restaurants had the same simple bread roll obviously ordered from a supplier (with something like the bread at 'Ohana being an exception instead of the norm). One of the easiest examples is Coral Reef, theoretically a seafood restaurant. Here's a link to an archived menu from Deb Wills website from 2003:

https://web.archive.org/web/20030213125953/http://www.wdwig.com/menu/menu_cr.htm

If you look, you can see they offered a wide variety of seafood: salmon, catfish, mahi mahi, shrimp, platter with 2 types of crab, mussels, squid salad, octopus. More exotic choices like barramundi, piranha and a fish of the day. Non-seafood options were limited to one vegetarian, one chicken, one steak.

Today, there are 3 seafood choices: salmon, mahi mahi and trout, and 2 "sort of" the manicotti has lobster and the Caesar can come with shrimp. All of the choices are "tame" if you are a seafood aficionado. And there are more non-seafood choices.

Actually, here's a menu from 2007 too https://web.archive.org/web/20080828223450/http://www.wdwig.com/menu/menu_cr.htm Down to Salmon, catfish, mahi mahi, king crab legs and shrimp pasta.

You can go though the other restaurants and see similar changes, but I bet the Dining Board hashed it all out years ago.

Now, as Disney re-positions itself as playground of the 10%, there have been small signs of improvement, but then you get the price "improvements" too.

 

[Planogirl]

I have read every page in this thread and I do not think that anyone is saying "Disney should not be allowed to raise prices because then they can't afford it." Far too often the "entitlement culture" quote is used as a defense against those who have a legitimate complaint.
I have clearly heard people say
The product/service offered is becoming inferior and they are shocked that Disney is raising prices while this is going on.


Mel

Exactly! This is particularly true at DHS. They should lower the admission while that one is such a state.

 

[Nigel Channing]

My point was everything needs to be balanced.

I completely disagree. A $40k fireworks show is a drop in the bucket when you have 25k people in the park on a slow day and 100k people on a busy day.

Nobody was paying to enter the previous poster's uncle's restaurant. At Disney you are paying park admission and for your food.

 

[jsmla]

I have read every page in this thread and I do not think that anyone is saying "Disney should not be allowed to raise prices because then they can't afford it." Far too often the "entitlement culture" quote is used as a defense against those who have a legitimate complaint.
I have clearly heard people say
The product/service offered is becoming inferior and they are shocked that Disney is raising prices while this is going on.


Mel

This, this, this, this, this!

 

[saskdw]

Am I the only person not really bothered by this?

I mean, it's not as if it's unprecedented, or that WDW is anything but a completely luxury and whimsical want, not a need, not a right, certainly not owed to anyone. Frankly, I'm perfectly ok if a bunch of people don't go due to prices, I am willing to pay the prices and if it means I get less crowds for the higher price, all the better. Would I prefer it were cheaper? Sure, probably, unless it meant the crowds got even worse, than it starts to not be so clear cut.

The nice thing about luxury things is that you get them because you work for them, I like the idea of WDW being a higher end vacation place, I work hard for my money, and I earn the option to spend it on a trip like this. If I'm being totally honest I'm ok with it being a bit more exclusive, and the same goes for tiered ticketing/FPs. If I can work harder and get a better experience for my family and myself, I'm all for it. I frankly don't love the idea that my vacation is somewhat limited by a perceived need to cater to people that don't have the same disposable income. I'm not saying those people shouldn't have access, but I think it's perfectly reasonable to have value levels of the vacation for them, just as they have value resorts. Life isn't fair, and while some of my available funds are good fortune, it's mostly effort, and even the good fortune required the right skills and effort to leverage.

I'm sure this isn't going to be a popular opinion, but that's how I feel about it!

Adam

Amen.

 

[saskdw]

We've had some wonderful, amazing meals at WDW. We've also had some mediocre and even lousy ones, with more of those coming in later trips. So yes, it is my opinion based on my sum of WDW dining experiences that the food quality has gone down over the years. So sorry if you are upset that my opinion and experience don't match your own opinion and experience. Maybe it was just the set of restaurants I picked. Maybe it was just a bad night at the given places. But it was my experience.

I'm not upset at all. You are more than entitled to your opinion. I was referring to those who treat their opinion as fact.