Most Expensive Item on the Menu? Worth It?

[RCMommy]

I don't care how pricy a dish is,.....if I cannot pronounce it or identify it on a plate....I AIN'T EATIN' IT !!!

 

[ElizabethB]

With the advent of the DDP, Disney has been doing crazy things to their menu pricing -- mostly to make it look to DDP users like they got a good deal when they bought DDP. Given that, there is no reason to order the most expensive thing on the menu. And, the fact that Disney has made something outrageously expensive, doesn't mean it's worth the price or that the price bears any relationship to reality. (If you don't believe me, read on.)

First of all, DDP gives Disney a huge advantage -- you have to be on Disney property to use it. This makes people far less likely to stray over to Universal, Sea World or Cocoa Beach. A captive audience is a valuable commodity.

For example, the lobster at Narcoossee's is now $59. The lobsters used to be great there. But, now, with the advent of DDP -- and free DDP, the lobsters in our experience are of a much poorer quality than they used to be. They tend to be under two pounds, tough and very chewy with little flavor. Yet, DDP users can say, "Gee, look how much money I saved by using DDP, rather than paying out of pocket for this lobster." Never mind that the lobster was never worth anywhere near $59 in the first place. This is especially true these days since there is a glut of lobsters on the market and nice ones can be had at my neighborhood grocery store for about $5.99 a pound.

The entire Disney system of dining and restaurants is now geared to one goal -- get people to buy DDP to keep them on property, and distort prices however you must in order to make sure DDP users feel like they got a good deal.

Unfortunately, for those of us not on DDP, it leaves us with the unhappy prospect of paying $59 for a lobster that's not worth $30 or eating mostly at restaurants that don't accept DDP and therefore have higher quality food at normal prices (or at least normal prices for a tourist destination).

For example, the salmon at AP is $41 now. A gorgeous piece of salmon at Shula's is $27.95 So, we simply go to Shula's. (These prices are straight from the DIS menus. You can check them yourselves.) We've eaten at both restaurants many times. There is no difference to speak of between the two servings of salmon (one comes from the Pacific Northwest and the other from Norway) that would justify a $13 price difference per entree. That's a nearly 50% premium over Shula's price to eat salmon at Narcoossee's rather than Shula's. But, when a DDP users sits down at AP and sees how much the salmon costs, all they see is they got a good deal. Never mind that the OOP price is totally inflated to make them think exactly that. And, if Disney's prices were more realistic and in line with their competitors, the DDP savings would be significantly less (if there is any savings at all!).

Disney has skewed its whole system toward pushing everybody into DDP, never leaving Disney property -- and making them feel oh so smart about it. "Look how much we saved by being on DDP!"

Score another one for Disney marketing's ability to take people for a ride and make them feel good while taking 'em!!

 

[LandChildWorldAdult]

I think anyone who goes to Disney thinking that they will "get their money's worth" in some objective fashion probably shouldn't go to Disney. If you don't believe in pixie dust ... well ... it just isn't the same

If you want to be sure to get your money's worth, just pay out of pocket for exactly what you eat and not one thing more. It might or might not save money over the dining plan, but it will save you a ton of stress.

If you want to go eat the most expensive thing all over WDW, more power to you as my mother would say Just don't ask me to; I'll eat what sounds good, thanks so much.

I'd like everyone's opinion, please.

A lot of folks on the Dining Plan order the most expensive item on the menu, just so they can make sure they're getting their money's worth.

Your thoughts?

 

[bleeps]

I've appreciated all the thoughtful replies on this thread!

We've used deluxe dining plan twice (including a trip less than 2 months ago), and we've used regular dining plan twice. Two prior trips were without any dining plan.

We get the deluxe plan because we love the signature restaurants, and we like being able to go to as many as we'd like (and having a big breakfast and just snacks for lunch).

We order what we are interested in eating and sometimes we EVEN go without the appetizer or dessert that's included! We order what appeals to us, and we order as much food as we believe we will be able to eat.

I am one of those people who always struggles at restaurants because I feel that I should get something 'less expensive' and when it comes down to making a choice I will order the less expensive item. I LOVE being freed from this insanity. I also really love having the whole trip, including food, paid for ahead of time -- it is very freeing not to have to get overwhelmed by how fast money is flying out of our pockets on vacation.

I do feel that the whole dining plan scene has fundamentally changed the dining experiences at WDW, however. I also feel that the bean counters don't seem to comprehend that for a family staying 9 or 10 days (our usual trip length), encountering the SAME menu items over and over again, it gets boring and it makes us think, "next time maybe we should stay off-site and try more different kinds of restaurants!" Sure, you'll save a buck or two for management if 80% of the menu is basically the same throughout the property (with few exceptions), but you're turning off a segment of your customer base. Our family's joke in August was about filet mignon and salmon -- EVERY signature restaurant's menu had them and DS (11) actually commented that they were as hard to get away from as chicken nuggets!

 

[2Tiggies]

Looks like this thread has attracted those of us with similar thinking! I have really been enjoying this one - I keep coming back to it every day to have a peek at what everyone else has added. Great thread.

 

[Faldred]

No, it's not.

Of course, it's subjective -- for some folks, the satisfaction of "maximizing" their value may be what makes the plan worth it for them. There's the flip side, which is that consistently ordering from the "low end" of them menu may offset any potential plan savings.

For most people, however, ordering what you want, regardless of the cost, is probably the best way to make use of the plan. In short, if the $21 entree looks better to you than the $27 one, then by all means order the cheaper one!

Remember too that general expectations for tips are based on the menu price, so higher-priced items generally lead to higher tips, which are out-of-pocket on dining plans.