Another hefty price increase

[halfpintpeggy]

Just wondering. What kind of sandwiches can you bring into Disney in the heat without a cooler? I cannot eat warm cold cut sandwiches. How do they stay with the impressive Florida heat?

Haven't you ever seen the small, soft sided, lunch bag size "coolers?" (easy to carry in your backpack or bag) Just throw a small, lightweight cold pack in or better yet, a small frozen bottled water or frozen juice box & you're all set!

 

[Planogirl]

Reading this thread there's a lot of people who have no clue about economics and/or business.

The danger with a comment like this is that no one knows who you're criticizing. Of course you probably wanted that.

Personally I'm looking at all of this from my family's economic status. I'm not particularly interested in Disney's business side of it since I'm not a stockholder.

 

[hopeful4fl]

It does not take a genius to figure out raising prices would raise revenues.
It takes an idiot to think that making prices unreasonable will not cause a revenue drop by a reduction in customers paying those prices.

I think Disney has been overtaken by the latter, who have studied math (and think they are geniuses), but not human behavior. The proof will be in the pudding, but I think people will start walking away with the recent relatively large uptick in prices. We will need to compare the top line revenue (not bottom line, which has accounting innovation tied to it ), but see if they pulled in the same revenue as last year.

 

[trainingupmy4princes]

WOF is open.. we went Saturday and Sunday.

Oh wow, well we are way too busy to go the next few weeks so I won't tell the boys until May.

 

[kittyab]

My DH is convinced that Disney is trying to force guests to go with the Dining Plan. To him that explains the jacked up prices for food & drink and the TIW card.

 

[Dan Murphy]

Do keep in mind that the majority of visitors are not frequent visitors, and most are not very knowledgeable about WDW in general. Most visitors see the current prices for everything they might be exposed to the first time on their trip. They do not compare, know what prices were in the past (or probably don't even care) or know of how the experience was in the past, without the yearly (and now seemingly monthly/weekly cuts and/or upcharges).

I think Disney is attempting to monetize those people to the maximum and don't really care if some frequent visitors drop off the bottom (probably not many) or have some disgruntled guests who will continue to come in spite of.

 

[Planogirl]

Do keep in mind that the majority of visitors are not frequent visitors, and most are not very knowledgeable about WDW in general. Most visitors see the current prices for everything they might be exposed to the first time on their trip. They do not compare, know what prices were in the past (or probably don't even care) or know of how the experience was in the past, without the yearly (and now seemingly monthly/weekly cuts and/or upcharges).

I think Disney is attempting to monetize those people to the maximum and don't really care if some frequent visitors drop off the bottom (probably not many) or have some disgruntled guests who will continue to come in spite of.

People that I know who have made their once in a lifetime trip seem to usually say that they had fun but that it was expensive. Won't they just say that it was very expensive going forward? That could scare some people off but likely not enough.

 

[Dan Murphy]

My DH is convinced that Disney is trying to force guests to go with the Dining Plan. To him that explains the jacked up prices for food & drink and the TIW card.

That has been the procedure for years now. Raise the OOP costs so high that many feel they need to get a dining plan or hope for 'free' dining. Once more people are locked in to spending all their dining dollars at Disney, Disney is in a position to further degrade the experience (decreasing their costs) and further raise the prices for a bastardized dining experience.

The dining plans and 'free' dining created the death knell for the Disney dining experiences of years ago. It really is a joke today.

 

[WDmommyof4]

My DH is convinced that Disney is trying to force guests to go with the Dining Plan. To him that explains the jacked up prices for food & drink and the TIW card.

I am fairly certain he is correct. It would certainly account for the three increases in the counter service meal options within the last 6 weeks. My thinking is that they will continue to raise the prices of such meals and in this case beverages, until savings from not going with the dining plan will become nonexistent at best.

We took two trips last year. The first, we purchased the Quick Service Dining Plan, which for my family of five now Disney adults, is $221. The result, three out of four of my boys ended up purchasing children's meals anyway, or purchasing adult meals and simply throwing most of them away. That lead to my decision to pay out of pocket on our trip in November of last year. I budgeted $200 a day for all five of us, and while some days we hit that mark with two quick service meals a snack during the day and a nightly dessert, other days we did not. In all, we saved at least $200 over purchasing the quick service dining plan. With the increases in prices, I am not sure we would see significant savings on our next trip, which I imagine is exactly what Disney wants. Unfortunately for them, they are not taking into the account that the average 10 year old might not want adult menu options or might not be able to eat an adult meal. In which case, paying out of pocket will remain cheaper for those families with children older than 10 ordering the kids menu items unless prices were to be raised to a level than I imagine anyone would balk at.

 

[Xennia]

I always bring my own drinks. But water is free everywhere there.

 

[Bullseye]

Is Disney offering free refills at QS locations like McDonalds does?

Restaurantosaurus does!

 

[djc9699]

We visited Disneyland last summer instead of our usual trip to Disneyworld. We were shocked by the price difference in the parks. A bottle of water or soda was $4.00. It was hard to find fountain drinks outside of long line dining locations and they were $3.79 a pop. Free water was non-existent. We spent way more on food there than we ever did at WDW. A mickey pretzel or ice cream was $4.50. Prices everywhere have gone up. I have two children at home and if we eat a single fast food meal it will cost me around $30 for the three of us and we get less food than at WDW. We went to six flags last summer and spent $150 to get in and $70 on one meal that tasted like rubber. Our last trip we tried Universal and spent almost $700 for two days of park to park tickets (we only went one day because my teens didn't like it) and lunch was almost $60 for burgers and nuggets and was horrible. Food in any tourist place is going to be expensive, but I think Disney is still the most reasonably priced with the best variety for a quick meal. Just my opinion.

 

[bbak30]

We are going without a dining plan for the first time next trip. We always carry in water, it's so much easier and cheaper. I don't really care for the bottled drinks, they seem to be warmer than I would like. I also carry some juice boxes for the kids. I see us drinking mostly water for counter service meals.
I understand price increases, but are they usually all at once. I feel like that's all I'm hearing about lately.

 

[Hikergirl]

Do keep in mind that the majority of visitors are not frequent visitors, and most are not very knowledgeable about WDW in general. Most visitors see the current prices for everything they might be exposed to the first time on their trip. They do not compare, know what prices were in the past (or probably don't even care) or know of how the experience was in the past, without the yearly (and now seemingly monthly/weekly cuts and/or upcharges).

I think Disney is attempting to monetize those people to the maximum and don't really care if some frequent visitors drop off the bottom (probably not many) or have some disgruntled guests who will continue to come in spite of.

I agree. There will always be someone coming in the gates, if more frequent visitors leave that is okay with Disney because there will be first timers to take their place. Disney has always been an expensive vacation and I think for most people a once in a lifetime one, or maybe 2 trips in a lifetime place. Also, since these (food) prices are comparable to most all other theme parks, or sporting events, or for some even local restaurants and local venues, not everyone will see this is "Oh my God DIsney is only after our money" they will just see it as the cost of vacation.
We recently spent a week on the west coast, I spent more in food and drink there for the week than I do at WDW. Feeding a family is one the biggest expenses of a week long vacation when you are eating out at every meal.

 

[ravenclawtrekkie]

Looks like I'll be continuing to not purchase beverages in the parks. I don't even remember the last time I did. I think it was sometime last summer when my blood sugar plummeted randomly and I bought a Coke to jack it back up.

 

[Nancyg56]

We recently spent a week on the west coast, I spent more in food and drink there for the week than I do at WDW. Feeding a family is one the biggest expenses of a week long vacation when you are eating out at every meal.

It's funny you said that. I have been reluctant to jump in on the DLR vs WDW costs because I thought I was the only one who seemed to bleed money in DLR. We fly to WDW and the cost was comparable. The hotel wa across the street and was indeed less money than any WDW resort, but the savings ended there. We had to rent a car, and the food and beverage! Yikes! I never leave WDW counting what is left in my wallet, but the day before my sister and I came home, there we were, both checking our funds.

Granted we were visiting her DD< who was in the college program, so our wine bill was probably higher thatn normal, (my sister would have been curled up in a ball after teh fist day! LOL) as was dessert ( always is an answer when stress takes over, LOL) but given we were not trapped on property I was surprised at what we ended up spending.

 

[kydisneyfans]

We visited DLR in January and thought the food was much cheaper than WDW. It may have been due to the DVC discount out west. Also, at DLR there are many options outside of the park within walking distance to eat. That option isn't available at WDW.

I also was shell shocked at the food cost increases at WDW this past weekend. A burger and fries is now $13.99 at POP. I don't like being forced to get 2 sides instead of 1. There is no discount if you just get 1 side. I ended up eating kids meals most of the weekend.

I also think these price increases are to lead more to the dining plan.

 

[Angel Ariel]

We visited DLR in January and thought the food was much cheaper than WDW. It may have been due to the DVC discount out west. Also, at DLR there are many options outside of the park within walking distance to eat. That option isn't available at WDW..

I also tend to agree with this. Plus the CS options at DLR are, IMO, a lot more varied and better in quality. At wdw we eat more TS meals, whereas at DLR we eat a lot more CS which saves money. We also go to a grocery store and get breakfast food/snacks/soda there which saves money too. (We don't have any discounts either ). As for the free water, I don't recall having an issue getting that on our last trip...but I don't remember if we asked. We did carry our own water bottles around the park. On all of our previous dlr trips, though, we absolutely did get the free water, so if they aren't doing that any more then it is a relatively new (and disappointing) development. But there's still water fountains around the park to fill up water bottles at

 

[Dan Murphy]

Have the dining plans prices been raised 3 times in past weeks also, or just OOP choices?

 

[mom2rtk]

Having the dining plans prices been raised 3 times in past weeks also, or just OOP choices?

I think that was "just" the food in the parks.

I'm thinking the dining plan went up recently too though, just not 3 times.