Heads up for plan fudgers in 2007

They are forcing some adults to order larger portions and meal sizes at the CS places than they normally would.
Well, the object, though, is to force some adults to order more expensive meals. It is nothing more than a freakish twist of human nature that requires that more expensive meals to be larger portions. As much as some people react negatively to the way things are, just imagine if what adults were "forced" to order were smaller portions at effectively the same price?

I think people have a choice: They can (1) consider meals pretty-much a flat fee, Dining Plan or not, providing up to a certain amount of food; or (2) just accept things as they are without thinking too hard about them; or (3) let it adversely affect their enjoyment of their holiday (but evidently not enough to make a different vacation decision).

Its not that they lose money on kids meals they just don't make as much.
Indications are that, for example, guests would be unsatisified about a $5.50 child burger a la carte that is half the size of a $6 a la carte adult burger, priced that way just to make up for the fact that many adult guests feel that they're entitled to order child meals for themselves, due to their desire to eat less or pay less, as Sammie alluded to. That flies in the face of the concerns about how families with young children are substantially price sensitive, and Disney's consequent need to offer full children meals (not just a burger) at the $5.50 price-point.

I may be wrong but I think the smallest burger an adult can order from any Disney owned CS place is a quarter pound.
However, it is less expensive to offer a burger that is of a size that will satisfy or more than satisfy the vast majority of guests, and then have the ones that want to eat less simply leave some leftover. Marginal differences in price between different sized burgers would upset more guests than it would passify. There is no up-side to Disney from making that offering.
 
Actually, the reason that most kids meals are cheaper is because restaurants are banking on the fact that there will be an adult there ordering an adult meal, at an adult price that will compensate for the low price on the kids food.
I disagree that we're not saying the same thing. Consider that adults without young children pay the same for their meal as adults with young children, so adults with young children (what I called "families with young children") are still paying less for something. You can say that their adult meal is "compensating" but that's the same as saying that less of what they're paying for their meal goes for their meal. I prefer to figure adult price/adult meal versus adult price/adult meal is a wash, and the price advantage given to families with young children due to their price sensitivity comes from the low price of the child meal. But whether their price advantage comes from what they paid for their adult meal or from what they paid for their child's meal doesn't really matter, does it? They're still enjoying a price advantage. And again, that's because they're more price sensitive.

You don't get alot of kids coming in to dine by themselves, you usually will have at least 1 to 2 adults with them.
Yet, if the child meals were as attractive as Pedler wants, adults wanting to pay less for their own meal would insist on them as Sammie alluded to, and your whole "compensating" argument would fall apart. What really underlies all this minutia is that Disney guests (really the general public, but for our purposes Disney guests) cannot be trusted to be satisfied (i.e., happily comply) with a written rule that says they're not allowed to order child meals. That's what Sammie's been saying (perhaps too politely to be understood). Many guests would feel entitled to order whatever they want, and would even go so far as to make up stories to save themselves money ("My DH is buying our adult meals somewhere else -- I'm just here picking up something for the kids [when in reality DH is over there in that other queue telling the cashier there the same story]). So evidently Disney has resorted to limiting choices for child meals to things that adults would be relatively unsatisfied eating, balancing that with what many guests would still find at least marginally acceptable for their young children.
 


However, it is less expensive to offer a burger that is of a size that will satisfy or more than satisfy the vast majority of guests, and then have the ones that want to eat less simply leave some leftover. Marginal differences in price between different sized burgers would upset more guests than it would pacify. There is no up-side to Disney from making that offering.

I do not think it would cost Disney significantly more to stock an additional patty size, in this case a 10 to 1, and a bun to the inventory of the burger places. That is all that is required to add several choices to the menu. Other fast food places have that option and make several menu choices out of it.

There is no up-side to Disney doing this. As they have no competition for food, like most amusement parks, they have determined the profit maximizing level is to offer only larger / more expensive choices to adults as the CS places. That is their prerogative but I don't agree with the idea that they can't do it and be profitable. They are acting as any monopolist would and reducing choices along with a higher price to maximize their profit. I am not saying that they shouldn't do it but their menu choices have less to do with what a competitive market place would provide the consumer and more to do with how profit can the generate without providing too much incentive to leave the property to eat. When people ask why the menus are the way they are at the CS places they should remember that it has less to do with maximizing customer satisfaction that has value in a competitive marketplace and more to do with maximizing profit without pushing it so far as to drive people off site.
 
Yet, if the child meals were as attractive as Pedler wants, adults wanting to pay less for their own meal would insist on them as Sammie alluded to, and your whole "compensating" argument would fall apart.

Yet can you explain why in a competitive marketplace fast food venues such as McDonalds, Wendy's and Burger king all offer smaller burger choices in addition to the large ones, most have a 1 $ value menu that is open to adults to order from and they do let adults order from kids menus.

Comparing the costs between the two my guess is that the food items are the same, Disney may pay a bit more for labor, Disney doesn't have the franchise fees that McDonalds operator would pay. Its hard to compare real estate costs obviously but most fast food places are in prime retail locations so are paying top dollar. Yet these places are able to be profitable offering a wider variety of menu items and letting adults order kids items.

Its not that Disney can't make money this way its that they can't maximize their profit that way. It has nothing to do with it being possible or not possible and everything to do with limiting choices to force people to buy things that they will throw away to increase profit. I am all for companies maximizing their profit but lets call it what it is. Disney is acting as a monopolist in this case and looking to soak their customers for as much as they can.
 
I don't agree with the idea that they can't do it and be profitable.
This is a logical misdirection a lot of folks make. The object of business is not to make only a marginal contribution to long-term shareholder value. The object of business is to maximize long-term shareholder value. So to support your position, you'd have to show that they cannot possibly be better off financially unless they do it the way you suggest. It isn't sufficient to show that they simply wouldn't lose money doing what you want them to do.

I am not saying that they shouldn't do it but their menu choices have less to do with what a competitive market place would provide the consumer and more to do with how profit can the generate without providing too much incentive to leave the property to eat. When people ask why the menus are the way they are at the CS places they should remember that it has less to do with maximizing customer satisfaction that has value in a competitive marketplace and more to do with maximizing profit without pushing it so far as to drive people off site.
Absolutely. We agree about that completely.
 


There is no issue with sharing food from your plate with someone else at your table.

you are not allowed to share the entire meal with the other person,,,so as long as they have ordered and are eating too you will be ok....
 
I may be wrong but I think the smallest burger an adult can order from any Disney owned CS place is a quarter pound. For some people that is just more than they may want or need.
The problem from a pricing standpoint is that the amount of meat isn't really a factor in the cost equation. If Disney were to offer a "small" burger - with only, say, an 1/8 of a pound of meat, what would they charge for it? 0.49 cents less? McDonalds doesn't offer $1 burgers because they are cheap to make. They offer that as a promotion to get folks in the door. Disney doesn't need $1 burgers - they have Mickey and Roller-Coasters to get folks in the door.

As for the drinks, almost all corporate-owned bars have measured drinks. You are going to get the same amount of booze whether you get lots of ice, little ice, glowing ice, whatever.
 
you are not allowed to share the entire meal with the other person,,,so as long as they have ordered and are eating too you will be ok....
Actually, as I mentioned earlier, as long as it isn't a prix fixe meal (like a buffet), it is allowed to share an entire meal with another person at your table.
 
McDonalds doesn't offer $1 burgers because they are cheap to make. They offer that as a promotion to get folks in the door. Disney doesn't need $1 burgers - they have Mickey and Roller-Coasters to get folks in the door.
Excellent point. I never thought of it in those terms, but you're absolutely right. :teacher:
 
you are not allowed to share the entire meal with the other person,,,so as long as they have ordered and are eating too you will be ok....

Hmm...did you have experience with this by chance? In Sept 05 and Aug 06 we shared meals all the time and that helped us save credits for breakfast...I do not see the problem with sharing a meal.
 
I think the glow cubes, while cool looking, displace too much of the area in the glass that would otherwise be taken up by alcohol...
This is an important, and probably often overlooked, point.

In the future, I'll be ordering the glow cube on the side.

Thanks!
 
No, if it were a communist plot, it would be mandatory. And, our comrades would have to report the number of glowcubes obtained each trip. It's a capitalist plot: you choose to spend more money on less booze!
 
No, if it were a communist plot, it would be mandatory. And, our comrades would have to report the number of glowcubes obtained each trip. It's a capitalist plot: you choose to spend more money on less booze!
I can live with that.
 
Ok somewhere in this thread I think I read that Disney will limit you to only ordering so many meals at a given meal time. Is this true? We will be 2A/1C, but what if I want to order 2 kids meals at once? DD can eat one now and one to take back to the room for later. Will this be allowed? I say this because I found only 2 places that have kids chicken strips and thought I can reheat them in the room later for DD.
 
Just a question, We drive . We eat lunch, counter service, onour last day, and any remaining counter credits we use to get sandwiches and drinks and snacks for the long drive home. They are NOT used for others, but I may have 9 left from our family of 6. Will this be a problem? I am using them for the specific people that I purchased the plan for but may use all of my remaining credits within 2 hours.

wondering about this myself
 
Ok somewhere in this thread I think I read that Disney will limit you to only ordering so many meals at a given meal time. Is this true? We will be 2A/1C, but what if I want to order 2 kids meals at once? DD can eat one now and one to take back to the room for later. Will this be allowed?
There appears to be no computer system changes related to that. Instead, the CMs are under strict orders to keep the number of meals of each type (adult/child) ordered at one time to that listed on the room key (2A/1C), and are going to be audited quite closely to ensure they comply.
 
There appears to be no computer system changes related to that. Instead, the CMs are under strict orders to keep the number of meals of each type (adult/child) ordered at one time to that listed on the room key (2A/1C), and are going to be audited quite closely to ensure they comply.

Thanks Bicker. Do you think I could then go up to order 2 separate times? Or I order one and DH orders one from different CM's?
 

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