Change in pricing for people over 9 ordering from kids menus

[SL6827]

I just wonder if this will trickle over to CS places? I frequently get a kids meal at those spots, just like I do at Mcdonalds. That is ALL I ever order at Mickey Ds. No need in me ordering an adult meal that I will not eat half of, plus paying more for it. Stupid.

What few TS places we eat at in Disney I usually will split a meal with hubby, usually adding on another side or such. (just like I do when we are at home) If they start forbidding the sharing of food, we will completely cut out all TS meals.

 

[Lilsia]

Wow! So 10 year olds should be forced to eat adult portions and selections? I have some pretty picky kids. I’d be paying more for them to pick at or not eat their food. I pay those prices at the buffets, and prix fixe meals. But I also don’t choose to do many of those. My son has autism btw. So when I say he’s not going to eat adult entrees at a place like Skippers Canteen I’m not just making him order from the kids menu to be cheap.
I wanted to bring this up because it is often brought up as a way to save on food or for people who have had bariatric surgery ect. And eat smaller portions. With a drink, this would have been a $20 meal. And I wasnt told the new pricing structure up front. It was after we had already given our order, as an oh by the way, nor was I told what the actual breakdown would be until I got the bill. To the person who commented about the dessert, that is one of the side options with the kids meal.
I also follow the Disney food blog, Dis and several Disney FB groups. So I consider myself fairly Disney Knowledgeable, but I haven’t seen this mentioned anywhere.

I would love to see smaller portions of the adult food. My kids didn't eat the garbage that is on the kid's menus so we always had to buy another adult meal for them. Let's face it, there will always be some people that are not happy with the offerings. We paid more for their meals their whole childhood. Do you think that it should work the other way, that just because a child is eating the food, they should charge less?

 

[Eastern]

I often don't want a full meal but it never occurs to me to order the child's meal. I'll get an appetizer or soup or share a dinner with someone.

I think they should let anyone order the child's size meal. What's the big deal? Pay $11 for a kids' meal or get a $10 bowl of soup. I think Disney is making it overly complicated and the poor servers...Oh yeah I forgot that Disney wants to make as much money as possible as quickly as possible while providing as little as possible. My bad.

 

[Doberge]

I just wonder if this will trickle over to CS places? I frequently get a kids meal at those spots, just like I do at Mcdonalds. That is ALL I ever order at Mickey Ds. No need in me ordering an adult meal that I will not eat half of, plus paying more for it. Stupid.

What few TS places we eat at in Disney I usually will split a meal with hubby, usually adding on another side or such. (just like I do when we are at home) If they start forbidding the sharing of food, we will completely cut out all TS meals.

It's impossible to enforce at CS. If ordering a kids meal and walking away with it there's no one to say it's not for a kid.

Does Disney charge for a split plate? I've never tried so I have no idea.

 

[HashberryOTG]

I just wonder if this will trickle over to CS places? I frequently get a kids meal at those spots, just like I do at Mcdonalds. That is ALL I ever order at Mickey Ds. No need in me ordering an adult meal that I will not eat half of, plus paying more for it. Stupid.

What few TS places we eat at in Disney I usually will split a meal with hubby, usually adding on another side or such. (just like I do when we are at home) If they start forbidding the sharing of food, we will completely cut out all TS meals.

Personally, I don't expect it to ever happen at CS. Just like fast food, they have no idea who the order is for. Mobile order, fetch tray from person at the counter... never an opportunity for them to even see the group. Disney adjusting prices for non-children ordering from a children's menu copies what many other TS restaurants around the country do.

 

[floridavet]

You have your experience and I have mine, and really no need to make assumptions. I'm not making any assumptions about how you present yourself to get a kid's meal.


Excuses are ... folks giving reasons why they shouldn't have to pay for an adult meal.

We parked for free at hotels for decades, no more.
We got FP free for decades, no more.
Stuff changes.
Chapek is monetizing everything.


LOTS HAS CHANGED! This is Chapek's Disney and he doesn't plan on leaving money on the table or letting guests wiggle out of paying for stuff. We have no idea what their breaking point is, but I can certainly see this being one. We are talking here because guests are experiencing changes.

Dining at TS restaurants is optional. Don't eat in them. Hotels are not optional. I don't want to pay the same as a family of four in a hotel room for DS and I. We use less water, less towels, less seats on the bus ... I can't get a discount.

It's not something I want to continue to banter. This is all your opinion, my opinion and neither matter only what Disney is trying to do. Plenty of places to get some food, we all find those that work for us.


But if guests continue to take up tables and try to reduce their bill by eating children's meals or sharing meals then Chapek Disney at some point may make changes. I was just suggesting some ways they might do it on top of what OP experienced.

Look at BOG. Guests abused the system so it got changed to prix fixe. Still a busy restaurant and that is all they need to see. It didn't hurt them.


Remember when every blog told you to order just a bun for 50 cents at quick serve with double burgers? Yup, Disney caught on and stopped it. Was great for 50 cents you got another burger and with the fixins' bars a sweet meal. Folks even made FREE salads from the fixins' bars. I doubt they will be back.

I agree with everything you are saying. My struggle is, Disney used to make a tidy profit while not nickeling and diming. When my friends would ask why I liked Disney over Universal throughout college, it was because they were expensive but you didn’t feel like you had to pay for every small thing like at Universal. Boy the script has flipped, but at the end of the day you are correct. As long as Disney has people agreeing to pay they will keep doing it and that is their right as a business. I’m as guilty as anyone. I went to Be Our Guest and paid the ridiculous price. Our 3 year old wasn’t hungry and I feel like the Disney of old would have just said ok and took the money from the other 3 in my family. Today’s Disney said sorry we have to charge everyone whether they eat or not and so I paid the 37 bucks for my kid to eat a handful of strawberries. I won’t be back there, but they don’t need repeat customers when they have an endless stream of new ones.

 

[GPC0321]

They should just refuse children’s meals to anyone over 9 and eliminate this problem

But I don't understand why, if I want the exact same portions of food that a 9-year-old eats, I have to pay MORE for that exact same food. What exactly am I being charged for? It's the SAME FOOD. It doesn't cost Disney any more for me to eat it than for a 9-year-old to eat it.

My 80-year-old mother has a very small appetite and prefers the smaller portions of the kids' meals. Why should she be charged more for the same amount of food?

It makes zero sense.

 

[Doberge]

Restaurants have target $/seat. Cheaper kids meals are more courtesy than profit center. It allows adults with kids to dine with kids essentially eating at discounted prices in places they otherwise wouldn't if kids were charged more in line with adult prices. They lure more people in this way. Extending what's discounted food to adults ordering the same undercuts a restaurant's ability to hit its targets.

I'm not saying Inagree with the policy at Disney because they are doing plenty well. Also, the process is incredibly wasteful. Anyway, my parents have started eating fewer entrees and either get two appetizers each or an app and split an entree. But even then, some local places charge a split plat fee.

 

[raidermatt]

Do you think that it should work the other way, that just because a child is eating the food, they should charge less?

Its the opposite actually, which was the poster's point. Shouldn't matter who is eating the food.

 

[raidermatt]

As long as Disney has people agreeing to pay they will keep doing it and that is their right as a business. I’m as guilty as anyone. I went to Be Our Guest and paid the ridiculous price. Our 3 year old wasn’t hungry and I feel like the Disney of old would have just said ok and took the money from the other 3 in my family. Today’s Disney said sorry we have to charge everyone whether they eat or not and so I paid the 37 bucks for my kid to eat a handful of strawberries. I won’t be back there, but they don’t need repeat customers when they have an endless stream of new ones.

What everyone seems to be missing is the strategy you mention, "take 'em for everything they've got", is rarely a successful business model long term. And certainly it wasn't Disney's model for the majority of their existence. So I reject the idea we cannot question the wisdom of their strategy just because it is their right as a business.

 

[raidermatt]

Restaurants have target $/seat. Cheaper kids meals are more courtesy than profit center. It allows adults with kids to dine with kids essentially eating at discounted prices in places they otherwise wouldn't if kids were charged more in line with adult prices. They lure more people in this way. Extending what's discounted food to adults ordering the same undercuts a restaurant's ability to hit its targets.

I'm not saying Inagree with the policy at Disney because they are doing plenty well. Also, the process is incredibly wasteful. Anyway, my parents have started eating fewer entrees and either get two appetizers each or an app and split an entree. But even then, some local places charge a split plat fee.

For smaller or independent restaurants where a single outlier table can throw off their targets for the day, sure, that makes sense. But even many of those restaurants simply factor the occasional extra kid's meal into their pricing.

With Disney, they are so large they do not have to worry about an extra kids meal or two at a table, because they literally have thousands of tables around property and it all balances out. Even at an individual restaurant level, their volume is so high they are not going to miss any targets over this on any given date, never mind a week or month. So if they are making this change it is simply a way to grab more cash, not a desperate effort to maintain razor thin margins.

And while I certainly understand the business case behind charging less for kid's meals than they would for a similarly sized adult meal, they need to understand that's a hard sell to the guest who is being forced to pay more or order an adult meal they cannot eat.

 

[Lilsia]

Its the opposite actually, which was the poster's point. Shouldn't matter who is eating the food.

Restaurants charge kids less, barely making a profit if at all, to entice parents to come in and eat there. Many people won't go out to eat as much if they have to pay full prices for food their kids may or may not eat. So the OP had the situation where their older child, who should have ordered off of the adult menu, got charged more in line with what is atypical cost for the food. Most kid's meals are a deal as an incentive. The issue was paying more for the food for an older person, then shouldn't the opposite be true too also? That kids should get charged less for the food? I know what you are saying about the cost is the cost regardless of who is eating it, but that is not really how restaurants see it. If they all of a sudden got adults coming in and ordering kid's meals, at those prices, they would go out of business.

 

[bsmcneil]

But I don't understand why, if I want the exact same portions of food that a 9-year-old eats, I have to pay MORE for that exact same food. What exactly am I being charged for? It's the SAME FOOD. It doesn't cost Disney any more for me to eat it than for a 9-year-old to eat it.

My 80-year-old mother has a very small appetite and prefers the smaller portions of the kids' meals. Why should she be charged more for the same amount of food?

It makes zero sense.

Not that I necessarily agree with it - and I can recognize some of the problems already (not everyone can or does work) - I wonder if there's something to the fact that kids don't earn funds and therefore it might make sense for kids to be cheaper (as completely dependent on others) vs. adults (of whatever age/stage of life) who theoretically can earn funds? Like, part of it seems that the price point should be the adult amount but has historically been cheaper to account for the smaller earning potential for kids (but - I may just be completely making this up)

 

[chicagodisneyguy]

But I don't understand why, if I want the exact same portions of food that a 9-year-old eats, I have to pay MORE for that exact same food. What exactly am I being charged for? It's the SAME FOOD. It doesn't cost Disney any more for me to eat it than for a 9-year-old to eat it.

My 80-year-old mother has a very small appetite and prefers the smaller portions of the kids' meals. Why should she be charged more for the same amount of food?

It makes zero sense.

Because as others have stated, the kids meals are more of a loss leader for Disney ( and pretty much ever other restaurant). There's a neighborhood place by me in Chicago that offers kids eat free w/paying adult. Price points are similar to Ale and Compass. They build in the cost of the free kids food into the adult prices. Most adults will also get a beer or glass of wine w/ dinner. While not free, Disney does the same thing with it's kids meals. When you consider overhead, how much do people really think Disney making on kids meals?

If Disney did allow adults to order kids meals at kids prices as a stated policy I think we all know a percentage of people would bring their family of 6 in and all order kids meals and waters. I guarantee you it wouldn't be a small, non meaningful percentage... especially at some of the more themed restaurants.

Disney offers a kids menu, not a "kids & small appetites & seniors & recent medical procedures & add your issue here" menu. I think it's great that they are so accommodating a lot of the time. But there seems to be a lot of entitlement in this thread that Disney should change their policy to fit people's individual situations....instead of people choosing their dining based on those situations.

 

[Eastern]

Does Disney charge for a split plate? I've never tried so I have no idea.

No, but at buffets and entertainment type venues each person has to pay. At a la cartes you can split (for now )

 

[lowlight]

Because as others have stated, the kids meals are more of a loss leader for Disney ( and pretty much ever other restaurant). There's a neighborhood place by me in Chicago that offers kids eat free w/paying adult. Price points are similar to Ale and Compass. They build in the cost of the free kids food into the adult prices. Most adults will also get a beer or glass of wine w/ dinner. While not free, Disney does the same thing with it's kids meals. When you consider overhead, how much do people really think Disney making on kids meals?

If Disney did allow adults to order kids meals at kids prices as a stated policy I think we all know a percentage of people would bring their family of 6 in and all order kids meals and waters. I guarantee you it wouldn't be a small, non meaningful percentage... especially at some of the more themed restaurants.

Disney offers a kids menu, not a kids & small appetites & senior & recent medical procedure & add your issue here menu. I think it's great that they are so accommodating a lot of the time. But there seems to be a lot of entitlement in this thread that Disney should change their policy to fit people's individual situations....instead of people choosing their dining based on those situations.

The comparison to restaurants outside of Disney makes zero sense. You are a captive audience in the parks. You can’t go down the road and get a meal, usually. On top of that, Disney doesn’t make or break their company with food profit. They aren’t a restaurant empire with a few rides, they are a ride empire with a few restaurants. The food prices at Disney for the quality you get are very high. Of all the Disney restaurants I’ve been to, I would eat at maybe two if they were in my town and they wouldn’t be too 5 choices. They charge a lot for frozen and mass prepared junk, which is what all the kids meals are. Why anyone is defending this as though they are some struggling company is beyond me. It’s ok for Disney to not make huge profits on every item they sell. I can understand why Chapek thinks that, it’s his job. What’s your excuse?

 

[chicagodisneyguy]

The comparison to restaurants outside of Disney makes zero sense. You are a captive audience in the parks. You can’t go down the road and get a meal, usually. On top of that, Disney doesn’t make or break their company with food profit. They aren’t a restaurant empire with a few rides, they are a ride empire with a few restaurants. The food prices at Disney for the quality you get are very high. Of all the Disney restaurants I’ve been to, I would eat at maybe two if they were in my town and they wouldn’t be too 5 choices. They charge a lot for frozen and mass prepared junk, which is what all the kids meals are. Why anyone is defending this as though they are some struggling company is beyond me. It’s ok for Disney to not make huge profits on every item they sell. I can understand why Chapek thinks that, it’s his job. What’s your excuse?

It makes sense if you have any comprehension of the economics of a restaurant. Most in this thread don't seem to. I used that example to show that kids menu prices (and any kids meal promos) usually don't actually reflect the cost of the food...or the profit an eatery makes off said kids menu. It's usually more a tool to get adults in the restaurant.

No one is defending Disney because we feel bad for them....that they aren't making enough money...at least I'm not. I'm just pointing out the real world economics of the situation. While I have no idea what percentage of park profits are attributed to dining, I'm guessing it isn't a minuscule amount. They aren't going to discount the food because they feel bad for guests...like "aw man, they pay so much for everything else...let's give them food at cost". Disney isn't a charity and many people seem to think it should be run as such.

I feel like people on this board, who actually live in the real world and understand the current supply/demand dynamics and management's desire to capitalize on that, are made to be bad guys. I'm not saying I want to pay more when we go. We were just there for a week at end of august and the 2 of us averaged $135 for our table service meals. If we thought that was too much or needed to spend less we'd plan accordingly.

While I acknowledge a WDW vacation cost quite a bit more than it did 3, 5, or 10 years ago there are still ways for families on a budget to make it work. The fact Disney still allows you to bring in outside food shows that they are willing to make $0 on certain areas from guests. But to expect Disney to be okay with breaking even on high demand TS restaurants is unreasonable...in my opinion at least.

 

[pianomanzano]

This is what happens when outlets like DFB and other planners recommend ordering from the kid’s menu when you’re not a kid. Even if this rec meant for QS, people have taken it and applied to just about everything. Disney sees these recs and they have the data to know who’s of age and I’m sure that played a factor in this business decision.

 

[SL6827]

I bet the CS meals are on Disney's radar too, perhaps they just can't figure out a remedy for that one just yet. I bet there are more people who split those meals vs buying kids meals since most CS kids meals suck.

 

[sophiev411]

I was surprised when I learned they were doing this! I went with my sister and her family recently, and my sister is a picky eater with a very small appetite so she’ll always order a kids meal. I almost didn’t believe it at first because it seems like such a silly thing. Thankfully it was OK because the upcharge wasn’t too much, but it definitely another way that Disney as a whole is getting more and more expensive.