OMG! Here are 2011 peak season character meal prices

[Monorail Bob's dd]

Crud. We will be on the dining plan but I wanted to book one character breakfast meal and pay out of pocket for it. Rethinking that decision right now.

 

[TisBit]

Its like some money crazed mad scientist is at the helm of Disney Dining. Just how much can you charge before they quit coming????

Actually, that is quite accurate. They will keep increasing prices until they stop booking restaurants and need to to decrease prices to increase bookings. As for the DDP, yep the list prices of meals make people think its a deal...especially since so many people have left over credits or buy junk (snack credits) that they wouldn't have used if they paid OOP for. Its a win/win and a brilliant marketing scheme that has worked for years. Don't look for it to go away, but it will be revised as people tire of it (as in the past).

 

[clanmcculloch]

I just called Disney to inquire about character meal prices for 2011 peak seasons:

February 17-26, 2011
March 11 - April 30, 2011
June 3 - August 13, 2011
December 21-31, 2011

Thank you!! I had tried to find this a few times over the past few months but it was like some closely guarded secret which I was assuming was so that they would have the flexibility to change it at will. At least I'll finally be able to firm up my budget.

Boy am I glad to see that my breakfast choice is the cheapest on the list. Yay for 1900 PF brunch! I'm afraid to ask what 'Ohana's dinner price will be. I know it's not character but they also know it sells out so fast so I'm assuming it'll be similar to Akershus. I'm just going with last year's price with the surcharge added since we'll be arriving just as that wonderful peak season begins.

 

[Tiger926]

Thank you!! I had tried to find this a few times over the past few months but it was like some closely guarded secret which I was assuming was so that they would have the flexibility to change it at will. At least I'll finally be able to firm up my budget.

Boy am I glad to see that my breakfast choice is the cheapest on the list. Yay for 1900 PF brunch! I'm afraid to ask what 'Ohana's dinner price will be. I know it's not character but they also know it sells out so fast so I'm assuming it'll be similar to Akershus. I'm just going with last year's price with the surcharge added since we'll be arriving just as that wonderful peak season begins.

Please add a few bucks - Disney seems to be raising meal prices about 2x a year now. We went 2x in 2010, and this is what we discovered.

Just since July, only 6 months ago, they have raised all buffets at least $2.00/adult, and approx. $1.00/child. This is just a normal price increase, so you still have the buffet surcharge for peak season as well.

I would add at least $2-3.00/person, and you should be covered, but as always, call beforehand.

We can't stand 'Ohana, and think it's the worst buffet on property, so I didn't get that price - sorry! I'm sure it will be close to or over $40.00 for an adult dinner, based on the other prices I got.

Have a nice trip! Tiger

 

[bjakmom]

Actually only an increase of $2.24, as the price was $26.99, so with tax, it was $28.74. This is from my July 5, 2010 receipt.

The prices above, do include tax.

Thanks - that doesn't seem quite as much. I was using the allears menu prices when I wrote it down - must have already gone up since then.
Last month DGrD and I stayed at the Poly and did O'Hana's for dinner and b'fast - I was underwhelmed by both - and O'Hana's dinner has been one of our favs over many years. At the character b'fast - which we were both so excited about - stitch barely even stopped for a pic and a whole section of tables were passed by when Mickey took a break. Even when we pointed it out, it took them another 1/2 hour to get him back to our section. It was crazy - about 6 - 8 tables sitting finished - checks paid and they kept letting him continue on without doubling him back. The last two trips I have not enjoyed the character meals as much - interaction seems more rushed (other than Akerschus) and food not as appealing. I think if I can get the kids to give up this CP ADR I will take them to Plaza for lunch - for $30 they can get lunch, milkshakes and sundaes - I love it there.

 

[Disney Dad Canada]

Its like some money crazed mad scientist is at the helm of Disney Dining. Just how much can you charge before they quit coming????

Its insane! Especially when the quality is consistently declining.

That's just the point though, people ARE still coming. Until they stop, or at least slow down to a certain point, Disney won't change, why should they? They have a resposibility to their shareholders to make as much money as possible.

You can complain all you want on here, but if you keep paying, then they won't change.

 

[MSLRAC]

That's just the point though, people ARE still coming. Until they stop, or at least slow down to a certain point, Disney won't change, why should they? They have a resposibility to their shareholders to make as much money as possible.

You can complain all you want on here, but if you keep paying, then they won't change.

The prices truly aren't that bad in my opinion. We just paid $25.99 a piece for at a new Chinese Buffet that opened in town. We expect to pay more for food on vacation and budget accordingly.

Granted, we're not going back to WDW until 2012, but we have loads of character meals/buffets that we want to do and the price increases will not stop us. We opt for the DxDP and even with the increase in price for it, we will be saving a bundle and we think the food is quite good so it's worth it in our book.

 

[Tricia1972]

Out of the sake of curiousity, I ran a quick spreadsheet comparing current menu prices, adding in tax, and then comparing apples to apples on how much the surcharges are this year.

In case anyone is interested in the difference between current (allears.net and wdwinfo.com) menu prices shown and the information that Tigger926 got from Disney the other day, it breaks down like this....

February 17-26, 2011
March 11 - April 30, 2011
June 3 - August 13, 2011
December 21-31, 2011

Breakfast - Amount Increased $Adult/$Child

1900 Park Fare - $2.80/1.29

Cape May Cafe - $0/$2.13

Tusker House - $6.39/$3.20

Crystal Palace - $4.26/$2.13

Chef Mickey's - $6.78/$4.26

Akershus - $0/$0

Lunch - Amount Increased $Adult/$Child

Tusker House $5.33/$2.13 (lunch is less because no characters)

Crystal Palace $4.37/$2.13

Akershus $0/$0

Dinner - Amount Increased $Adult/$Child

Crystal Palace $2.14/$1.07

Chef Mickeys $8.52/$4.26

1900 PF $4.26/$2.13

Akershus $0/$0


My personal guess is that in the cases that you see $6 and $8 price differentials, the menus online are incorrect, or Disney is about to increase the base prices at those locations.

 

[Tiger926]

Out of the sake of curiousity, I ran a quick spreadsheet comparing current menu prices, adding in tax, and then comparing apples to apples on how much the surcharges are this year.

In case anyone is interested in the difference between current (allears.net and wdwinfo.com) menu prices shown and the information that Tiger926 got from Disney the other day, it breaks down like this....

February 17-26, 2011
March 11 - April 30, 2011
June 3 - August 13, 2011
December 21-31, 2011

Breakfast - Amount Increased $Adult/$Child

1900 Park Fare - $2.80/1.29

Cape May Cafe - $0/$2.13

Tusker House - $6.39/$3.20

Crystal Palace - $4.26/$2.13

Chef Mickey's - $6.78/$4.26

Akershus - $0/$0

Lunch - Amount Increased $Adult/$Child

Tusker House $5.33/$2.13 (lunch is less because no characters)

Crystal Palace $4.37/$2.13

Akershus $0/$0

Dinner - Amount Increased $Adult/$Child

Crystal Palace $2.14/$1.07

Chef Mickeys $8.52/$4.26

1900 PF $4.26/$2.13

Akershus $0/$0


My personal guess is that in the cases that you see $6 and $8 price differentials, the menus online are incorrect, or Disney is about to increase the base prices at those locations.

Great analysis! But, All Ears is incorrect, and they frequently are, as is WDW Info. I use Disney's website as much as I can, as they scan in actual menus, and update frequently. I also use my old receipts too.

I have actual receipts from when we dined in July, just 6 months ago, and most restaurants went up a few bucks. The ones you have listed as $0, actually went up as well (well Cape May for sure, as we skipped Akershus in July, as we had been 3x in the past year!).

The problem is that no one can get a straight answer from Disney on prices, as they are constantly changing. So, I always call, and then compare to my receipts from the last trip I took, which is usually within 6 months of that time period.

Just noticed in scanning menus, that children's TS meals went up again to $8.59. They were $7.59 last March, and $8.09 in July. Again, I have my receipts to compare to. Disney seems to be raising prices at least 1-2x per year now, so when you add in buffet surcharge for peak season, it's pushing meal prices to very high levels.

Great work! Thanks for that, Tiger

 

[MelissathePooh]

Childrens' Meals we saw were $8.99 when we were there last weekend.
Editing to say that the counter service meals we saw were pretty consistently $4.99 for kids.

 

[Tricia1972]

Great analysis! But, All Ears is incorrect, and they frequently are, as is WDW Info. I use Disney's website as much as I can, as they scan in actual menus, and update frequently. I also use my old receipts too.

I have actual receipts from when we dined in July, just 6 months ago, and most restaurants went up a few bucks. The ones you have listed as $0, actually went up as well (well Cape May for sure, as we skipped Akershus in July, as we had been 3x in the past year!).

The problem is that no one can get a straight answer from Disney on prices, as they are constantly changing. So, I always call, and then compare to my receipts from the last trip I took, which is usually within 6 months of that time period.

That's very un-Disney like, but not impossible. That would mean that the peak season will be cheaper than the regular season at Cape May (and we all know how "Disney like" it is for them to charge less during peak times.

(The net difference is $0 now between peak and non-peak times. You are saying that the regular prices went up "for sure" at Cape May, that means that the regular season is more expensive than the peak season, assuming the CM gave you the correct information yesterday.)

I definitely agree that there is room for tweaking in the analysis. That's why I made the note I did at the end.

I figured a general price difference with the disclaimer that I was using online was close enough to get apples to apples. I just wanted to see (and share) about how much the increases are this year regular season vs peak season.

(Unfortunately I didn't have the time to call Disney or sift through old receipts today.)

 

[Tricia1972]

Childrens' Meals we saw were $8.99 when we were there last weekend.

Thanks for the confirmation on that! I've got new numbers to plug into my planning spreadsheet. LOVE it! (I'm a bit of a junkie when it comes to spreadsheets)

 

[Tiger926]

Childrens' Meals we saw were $8.99 when we were there last weekend.
Editing to say that the counter service meals we saw were pretty consistently $4.99 for kids.

Thanks for clarifying. I just realized I was looking at a March '10 receipt. We did pay $8.59 in July, and now they've gone up to $8.99, so that's another .40. I believe in less than 1 year, that's a $1.00 increase for kids' meals. Some places are more of course, like at Tokyo Dining for instance, so I wonder if those places have raised prices too?

That's very un-Disney like, but not impossible. That would mean that the peak season will be cheaper than the regular season at Cape May (and we all know how "Disney like" it is for them to charge less during peak times.

(The net difference is $0 now between peak and non-peak times. You are saying that the regular prices went up "for sure" at Cape May, that means that the regular season is more expensive than the peak season, assuming the CM gave you the correct information yesterday.)

I definitely agree that there is room for tweaking in the analysis. That's why I made the note I did at the end.

I figured a general price difference with the disclaimer that I was using online was close enough to get apples to apples. I just wanted to see (and share) about how much the increases are this year regular season vs peak season.

(Unfortunately I didn't have the time to call Disney or sift through old receipts today.)

I think you did a great job! I love the work you did - thanks so much!

RE: Cape May Cafe - On July 10/10 (peak season), we paid $24.99, so with tax $26.61 ($20.99 in non-peak season). So, an increase of approx. $2.13 between 2010 and 2011, which means that breakfast is now $26.99 peak season and should be $22.99 in non-peak. I have no reason to not believe the prices that the CM gave me yesterday. All prices have gone up a by a couple of bucks since July, so that makes total sense.

The prices that are quoted above are tax included, so peak season is more than regular season, and not the other way around, but I'm on hold with Member Services right now to get the 2011 non-peak price for your spreadsheet.

Thanks again, Tiger

 

[Tiger926]

Just got off the phone, so here's the scoop:

Cape May Cafe

Peak $26.99 tax $28.75
Non Peak $22.99 tax 24.49

** $4.00 surcharge for adults, and $2.00 for child **

Also got Garden Grill for Tricia's spreadsheet:

Peak Season
A $38.99 tax $41.53
C $18.99 tax $20.23

Yikes! Hope this helps, Tiger

 

[AUdisfan]

Well, the ridiculous peak season pricing just convinced me I need to cancel our Chef Mickey's reservation for March. I think it is just ridiculous! It would be $108.60 for our family of four. That's just crazy to me. I'm lucky if I get my 4 yr old to eat a decent breakfast at home, much less in a noisy restaurant full of characters. I know you are paying for the experience as much as the food, but that's not all that great either. It's basically the same hug, photo, autograph you get when you meet the characters in the park. It's not like they actually get to spend time hanging out with you or actually flip your flapjack for you for Pete's sake. This just really annoys me. I just want to take my kids to a fun meal. It really shouldn't cost $100 for breakfast. I guess that is one more day we will eat breakfast in the villa.

 

[Tiger926]

Well, the ridiculous peak season pricing just convinced me I need to cancel our Chef Mickey's reservation for March. I think it is just ridiculous! It would be $108.60 for our family of four. That's just crazy to me. I'm lucky if I get my 4 yr old to eat a decent breakfast at home, much less in a noisy restaurant full of characters. I know you are paying for the experience as much as the food, but that's not all that great either. It's basically the same hug, photo, autograph you get when you meet the characters in the park. It's not like they actually get to spend time hanging out with you or actually flip your flapjack for you for Pete's sake. This just really annoys me. I just want to take my kids to a fun meal. It really shouldn't cost $100 for breakfast. I guess that is one more day we will eat breakfast in the villa.

Yup, we used to eat at every character meal each and every trip, especially in the heat of the summer, as the food was decent, it was air conditioned, and character interaction was very good. Now, it's a very quick character greeting, and the park interactions have become better. I won't even get into the food aspect of it either.

We are eating every meal in our villa during our March trip, except for 1 dinner at Rainforest/T-Rex (we have coupons and Safari Card), and still working out July, as kids want a few character meals, and we are there for 2 weeks.

Although we can't stand the DP, and have gotten TIW the last few years, it looks like we might do DxDp for a few scattered nights, thanks to the ability for us DVCers to be able to book separate DP nights. TIW is just way more expensive now, due to the price increases and surcharge.

Hubby and I have lots to discuss tonight after the kids are in bed! I need Tricia's spreadsheet to help me with this one (I think Robin has one too?)

Tiger

 

[MelissathePooh]

Although we can't stand the DP, and have gotten TIW the last few years, it looks like we might do DxDp for a few scattered nights, thanks to the ability for us DVCers to be able to book separate DP nights. TIW is just way more expensive now, due to the price increases and surcharge.

Tiger[/QUOTE]

Can you expand on this - I wasn't aware we could chose how many nights we added the plan. Illuminate me please!

 

[MelissathePooh]

Well, the ridiculous peak season pricing just convinced me I need to cancel our Chef Mickey's reservation for March. I think it is just ridiculous! It would be $108.60 for our family of four. That's just crazy to me. I'm lucky if I get my 4 yr old to eat a decent breakfast at home, much less in a noisy restaurant full of characters. I know you are paying for the experience as much as the food, but that's not all that great either. It's basically the same hug, photo, autograph you get when you meet the characters in the park. It's not like they actually get to spend time hanging out with you or actually flip your flapjack for you for Pete's sake. This just really annoys me. I just want to take my kids to a fun meal. It really shouldn't cost $100 for breakfast. I guess that is one more day we will eat breakfast in the villa.

Yep and WAR EAGLE!!

 

[Tara922c]

That's one of the reasons we like ddp, no sticker shock from the food prices while we are on vacation!

 

[MelissathePooh]

That's one of the reasons we like ddp, no sticker shock from the food prices while we are on vacation!

What about sticker shock from the cost of the DDP increasing all the time with peak surcharges?