$43.66 for a 10 year old to eat at Chrystal Palace!!!

You know all this talk of expensive buffets got me thinking about 10 years ago, we used to go to an ice cream social at the garden grill that was 7.00 a person. It had charcacters( chip and dale and mickey) and a fancy made icecream treat that was super. I remember mine was a melting snowman, it was so cool and affordable. Too bad they are going away from affordability!
 
The prices are exactly the reason why I cancelled our ADR's for our last 2 trips. I even had a hard to get LeCellier lunch ADR in the mix! We are 4 adults and when you add the tax and tip, some of those meals can come to $50.00 per person or more! OUCH! So, unless it is free dining time, we don't do any sit down restaurants anymore at WDW. We get a snack, split counter service and/or take in our own sandwiches to the parks.

In Jan 08 my daughter did the Alice Tea party at the Grand Floridian. It was $28. I remember thinking that was the best bargain in all of Disney. When we went back in Dec 08 it was $42, a 50% jump in price. Sometimes I swear they read my mind..........
 
We are planning a 3rd of July visit to Magic Kingdom. I know the crowds are going to be monstrous, but we (like everyone else there) want to see the 4th of July fireworks. Knowing from past experience that it would be nice to have a dinner break and an hour of air conditioning, I thought we'd try Crystal Palace. After making the reservation I checked the prices and was shocked to see the sticker price for 10 year old children is $43.66 including tax, NOT gratuity or the seasonal price increase.

My 10 year old will eat two chicken legs and dessert. No way I'll pay upwards of $60 for that!

I'm think character dinning is over for us.

I cancelled the reservation and we're eating at the Plaza Restaurant. Still air conditioned, I think LOL.

My oldest turned ten this past year so I feel your pain. We won't be doing character meals, buffets or the DDP anymore due to a ten year old that still eats like a child being considered an adult for dining purposes. It is what it is and we'll just adjust our dining as needed.

And having a 10 year old on the DDP, even if you do a full service meal each day or a buffet/character meal, still won't necessarily save you any money because most of the TS restaurants have no problem with letting a 10-12 year order and eat off of the kids' menu. For a buffet/character meal the price is automatically going to be an adult price but if my 10 year old orders a meal off of the kids' menu for $8 that is a lot cheaper than getting an adult meal that will go more than half uneaten. And if you are paying an adult DDP price and ordering for your 10-12 year old off of the kids' menu anyway you aren't saving any money. In the 10-13 age range it really depends on how your child eats, what they like and how much they eat as to if the DDP will be a deal or even a break-even deal. I know that for my family of four (Me, DH, DS10, & DS6) we can eat for a lot less than $176.64 a night!
 
You post, and one shortly before it, prove my point on that no matter what age Disney chooses as a cut-off point for dining and tickets, no one will agree on what age is fair. One poster said a 14 yr old should be a junior price, and then someone says 15. Heck, I think having a 15yr old pay less than me for a meal would be not fair at all! Most 15yr olds I know can eat waaaay more than me! And most of them probably enjoy more of the rides than I do too. But I think most of us know we are not paying $40 for the food. It is for the chance to eat with characters, and as long as so many of us are willing to pay for the experience, they will continue to charge a premium for it. Just like the ticket price is not just for the rides, but for the atmosphere and other things.

I agree the cost for character meals is a Yikes! And why, if we want to do a few of them during a trip, we choose to do the Dining Plan. They are definately a splurge item otherwise.

I agree that there is probably no "fair" age for the pricing. Lol it's just funny! I am willing to pay whatever to have a great experience, I just think it is funny that my 16 year old daughter eats the same at my 6 year old son. Lol and neither eats too much. :) pricing for kids is definitely funny, the adults, I am seriously ok with. Hahaha
 


I have to think paying rack rates at the resorts :scared1: has to be pretty painful in order to get the "free" dining.
 
You know all this talk of expensive buffets got me thinking about 10 years ago, we used to go to an ice cream social at the garden grill that was 7.00 a person. It had charcacters( chip and dale and mickey) and a fancy made icecream treat that was super. I remember mine was a melting snowman, it was so cool and affordable. Too bad they are going away from affordability!

We went to that in spring 2004. What fun!

Sadly, by the time we returned in spring 2005, it had been discontinued.
 
I'm glad to know I'm not the only Disney fan who thinks TS and especially character meals are not worth the price. As a family of five, we stay off-site, where we get three bedrooms, three bathrooms, a family room, and kitchen for $100/night, so no "free" dining plan. We split counter service meals between our picky eaters (paid for in part by VISA rewards), pack snacks, and consider Mickey bars and Dole whips to be great vacation splurges. My daughters had a wonderful interaction with Pooh at HS, complete with hugs and kisses, after a five minute wait. We also met Mickey and Minnie, princesses, and fairies, with brief waits and no extra cost. I have no problem with anyone who enjoys the meals AND can afford them, but I don't want anyone to think they're a necessary part of enjoying Disney for everyone.
 


Disney is going to continue to push the bubble until they hind the point where people just won't pay for the character buffets and TS dining anymore. I actually think they are getting fairly close to that point due to how often they bite the bullet with their free dining promotions (essentailly taking a hit in the dining dollar and off-setting it partially with an increase in room rates for booking free dining.)

I do know that outside of free dining, I'm pretty muched priced out of the character buffets now. We did it last year wuth free dining because the upgrade to the regular DDP was a very good deal over the QSDP. We will do it again next year because it's a special anniversary trip and the last one before our sone moves into the adult age bracket. I'll be looking for a free dining promotion for that but price isn't too big of a factor in that trip (so I guess even when I've sworn it off, I'll STILL be contributing to lining the profits off of dining :confused3 :laughing:)

Like other PP's have said, there are enough people out there who aren't even looking at the pricing to keep the bubble driven way up. I'm sure it will stay there as long as all of us keep buying it. :headache:
 
I have to think paying rack rates at the resorts :scared1: has to be pretty painful in order to get the "free" dining.

That really depends on your family. During the lower seasons 30% off a moderate is about $50/night. (And most of the PINs I've received are for less than 30% so I think that's a generous estimate of room only discount savings.)

Most families can eat more than $50 in food per day, especially if you do any TS meals. If you're a family with 2 adults and 2 kids over age 9, the Dining Plan costs you over $200/night.
 
I am very knowledgeable about Disney buffets, and just ate lunch at Crystal Palace yesterday, so I can clear up some confusion:

- price OP quotes is definitely including holiday surcharge

- Disney Dining always gives the total cost including tax

- it is best to aways call Disney Dining directly as websites are not updated enough due to Disney's various seasons and price fluctuations

- paid 24.99 for lunch yesterday and it is not peak season, so add 4.00 plus tax to adult price for holiday surcharge and you have a reasonable rate as dinner price is way too high for essentially the same food, except for a few additional items

Hope this info helps, Tiger

I think it's only going to help once people notice it. So I'm bumping your knowledge up and hoping people read it!!!!




It never ceases to amaze me how popular Crystal Palace is - the characters are all available in other places(Pooh and Tigger in all 4 parks), they dont wear special outfits, and the characters have been stagnant for about 20 years now.

You don't have to chase them down, and to a kid going there the first time, there's NOTHING "stagnant" about it! DS loved seeing them, having them come one by one to the table, and I (a person who could see all characters disappear and wouldn't mind) was glad that we didn't have to wait in multiple lines for them.



My 7 year old out-eats me and hubby (and neither of us are skinny, but DS is!) over the course of most days. One meal we ate at Universal, we had to order DS TWO ravioli entrees because he was still hungry after the first, adult, portion. Meanwhile, hubby and I were both stuffed without even finishing our meals! The kid can EAT.

Of course, over $20 is always silly for a buffet for many...I've only recently become OK with the price at Zoopa/Sweet Tomatoes...but at Disney, we've taken a year or so to budget for it, it's all covered...so let's go to places that give us enjoyment and/or tasty food!
 
We're priced out too. We used to do a good 3 or more per trip. Not anymore. We always pay OOP too. My DS11 eats next to nothing (so do I after gastric by-pass) and my DS4 has a feeding disorder so we bring his food in because he won't eat what they have. SO, $160-ish for us 4 for a meal only my DH really ate isn't in the cards anymore. We'll do ONE next visit to make sure my DS4 gets one of one time w/ Mickey but that's it.


It never ceases to amaze me how popular Crystal Palace is - the characters are all available in other places(Pooh and Tigger in all 4 parks), they dont wear special outfits, and the characters have been stagnant for about 20 years now.

Food is mediocre.
I agree about the food quality though we do like CP's breakfast anyway. As far as waiting for characters as opposed to dining w/ them, that's your personal choice. We hate finding out who will be where when and waiting in lines for them. I don't like rushing my family around like a drill sergeant to get here and there for whatever. Very rarely have we ever waiting in a line for a character meet and greet because we did so many of the meals and until the last few years, that was fine w/ us.
 
My family of 6 did a character meal at CP in 2010. It was a fun experience, but not worth the $250+ price tag.

This year, we'll do Chef Mickey for my daughter's 4th birthday. I expect to pay even more. :scared1: I'm considering this her "birthday party" and a part of her birthday gift. Otherwise, character meals are out for my family. Not so much for the food, but because my other children don't really care much about meeting the characters.
 
at the restaurant where I work, we have buffets for most holidays.. half price for children UNDER 12.
charging full price for a 10 year old is crazy.

(in fact, if I see the 12 year old eats hardly anything, I change his price to half anyway)
 
we went to the crystal palace when we went in december... i honestly have to say it was the WORST meal we've eaten while we were there... the food was flavorless and almost everything was empty at the buffett, and when it was full - it was because no one had touched it. I'd save your money and go some place else... or still spend the money but on a better meal !
 
I have to think paying rack rates at the resorts :scared1: has to be pretty painful in order to get the "free" dining.
It's not really that bad IMO. I can only speak for myself, but I calculate "free dining" as just another discount. Given that the DDP is up to about $52.50 per day :scared1:, the discount can be pretty big. A Moderate resort costs $164 per night in late August (when I usually go) and if our family of 3 would pay $184 (rack rate with taxes) per night. With "free dining" we would get $157 worth of free food per day ... that's a HUGE 86% discount. And let's face it, everyone needs to eat!

Let's compare the "free dining" discount to a regular room-only discount. A "usual" 35% discount on the same room which would come to $120 per night with taxes. Subtract the cost per day of the 35% discounted room with no dining from rack rate with free dining ($184-$120) and you get a difference of $64. Could my family of 3 eat 2 meals at WDW for a total $64 per day? A single Counter Service meal costs us over $30 these days! Twist my arm and make me pay $34 for a TS meal :woohoo:. We just came back from WDW and we spent a lot more than that even with AP/DVC discounts and the TIW card. PLUS (to bring this post back to the original topic), we would get to enjoy buffets which are currently off-limits to us due to the prohibited cost for feeding my picky vegetarian 12-year old.
 
Crystal Palace breakfast had been a tradition for us for a few years. This last trip, we were completely 100% finished, including lingering awhile, and had ONE character come to our table. We were close to having a second come to our table but gave up when 4 or 5 kids came to the middle of the aisle and started holding out their autograph books and posing for pictures with Tigger. The handler didn't ask them to wait their turn and we settled up and left.

The price tag for breakfast when you think between the four of us we probably ate 10.00 worth of food if that, and interacting with ONE character in the 45 minutes or more that we were there, really isn't worth it.

We weren't angry, didn't make a big stink, and enjoy our memories from earlier trips, but we're done with CP for the foreseeable future.:)
 
I have to think paying rack rates at the resorts :scared1: has to be pretty painful in order to get the "free" dining.

I have to think you must never have considered the actual math.

We had free dining for our trip in late 2010.

We stayed at Pop, so our room for the seven nights (before taxes) cost $685. With the 25% offered discount, we would have saved $171.25.

The quick service free dining for two adults and two children was worth a total for seven days/nights of $587.72. (For the math challenged, that saved us more than $400 more than a room rate discount would have. Even if you assume you would never spend quite as much on food without the plan, it saved us significantly more than a room discount would have.)

On the dining plan, we were able to eat every single meal, have every single drink and snack, and still have credits left over for a bunch of extra "free" fudge and other treats to bring home. Unlike a room discount, it also added an element of fun to our vacation, because my kids knew they could each pick two special treats a day. They enjoyed figuring out which fun stuff they wanted to try.

I think those who poo poo the Disney dining plan must stay at deluxe resorts. Those are the only resorts where a room discount might be a better deal than the dining plan. Even then, it doesn't add anything to the vacation.
 
I have to think you must never have considered the actual math.

We had free dining for our trip in late 2010.

We stayed at Pop, so our room for the seven nights (before taxes) cost $685. With the 25% offered discount, we would have saved $171.25.

The quick service free dining for two adults and two children was worth a total for seven days/nights of $587.72. (For the math challenged, that saved us more than $400 more than a room rate discount would have. Even if you assume you would never spend quite as much on food without the plan, it saved us significantly more than a room discount would have.)

On the dining plan, we were able to eat every single meal, have every single drink and snack, and still have credits left over for a bunch of extra "free" fudge and other treats to bring home. Unlike a room discount, it also added an element of fun to our vacation, because my kids knew they could each pick two special treats a day. They enjoyed figuring out which fun stuff they wanted to try.

I think those who poo poo the Disney dining plan must stay at deluxe resorts. Those are the only resorts where a room discount might be a better deal than the dining plan. Even then, it doesn't add anything to the vacation.

I agree. We ran the numbers for our stay this March at CSR. And we got a better deal with Free Dining then we would have with the room discount. I can't remember exactly how much the room discount would have saved us, but we would not have been able to feed 6 people for the amount saved, that is for sure!
 

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