Onsite dining prices are getting ridiculous...

[Booknut]

I'll apologise in advance as this is going to probably just be a major rant...

It's been a few years since we've been to WDW, last time going in Fall of 2006. We are planning a trip next spring with our daughter who will be almost 3 1/2 and I have to say i've been just shocked at how much things have jumped up in price. I knew eating onsite meant you had to pay a premium but some of the prices have left me almost apoplectic!!!

I wanted to book the character breakfast in the Hollywood Studios at the Hollywood & Vine because my daughter loves June from the Little Einsteins. It's Leo and June and then 2 characters from JoJo's circus which is a show of such little importance in the UK that they only show it at like 10-11pm at night on the Disney Playhouse channel...anyway, the character breakfast for the 3 of us would come to $73 with tax, $87 with gratuity. Are you kidding me??!!!!

I love WDW so much and we so much want to take Matilda there but i'm finding it hard to swallow these prices. I know we don't have to eat onsite but I do want her to have a couple of character experiences. Sadly I don't think the Hollywood & Vine breakfast will be one of them.

Am I just being cheap or do any of you feel like these prices are now out of control? Are they pricing like this to encourage people to stay onsite and get the dining plan so its a 'good deal'??? $84 for breakfast just seems outrageous to me.

Anyway, rant over...thanks for listening

 

[wayneg]

Has there been increases recently? menu prices are not something I follow, all the trips we have done we have only paid for about 6 meals onsite. We have too many place offsite we like to eat at.
Annoys me they charge $4-5 surcharge for buffets at holiday times won't do that again.
Our cast member friends won't even pay onsite prices and they get a discount(30%?)
Onsite with free DDP is great though

 

[wilma-bride]

I feel your pain Eloise, honestly I do. We too love the character meals onsite but, I have to say, we kept them to a minimum on our last couple of trips for the very reason you outline above.

We had breakfast at Crystal Palace on our first morning at Disney last year and, for the 9 of us, it came to well over $200 - that was easily £160 on breakfast

 

[disney_princess_85]

I personally find the prices quite reasonable. I use UK restaurant prices as a guideline: we pay so much over here for often sub-standard food. In WDW (and the US in general), you get better quality food and more of it.

With regards to the H&V breakfast, at the current exchange rate you're looking at just under £50 (before tip). It's a buffet so you can eat as much as you want. I really don't think it's that bad a price. Maybe you should look into purchasing the DDP if you're staying onsite.

ETA: I don't have children so I'm just paying for myself. I understand how these costs can mount up if you're paying for your family.

 

[wideeyes]

I do prefer the Dinners to breakfasts as even though more expensive I find them better value. I thought SBP and 1900 park fair where while expensive not outrageous and particualy 1900 park fair it is also good entertainment.

 

[Booknut]

Maybe you should look into purchasing the DDP if you're staying onsite.

ETA: I don't have children so I'm just paying for myself. I understand how these costs can mount up if you're paying for your family.

I don't think we'll be staying onsite and if we do it won't be for more than 4 days tops. 2 weeks in a hotel room with a 3 1/2 year old is not my idea of a fun holiday And i'm not sure if we can get the DDP if we stay onsite with a CM's discount, i'll have to ask.

 

[JohnnySharp2]

This is why many prefer the 'all you can eat buffets' especially at off-site restaurants.
Must admit we have rarely eaten on-site as we do self catering in a villa, but the whole bigger picture regarding cost is making many think twice on all the aspects of the holiday.

We left 3 nights at the start of our August holiday for staying on-site, as a contrast to the villa, but just cannot justify the extra cost - admittedly there are only a few resorts we are interested in staying at.

 

[Booknut]

the whole bigger picture regarding cost is making many think twice on all the aspects of the holiday.

I do know what you mean, we would not be doing this trip if it wasn't for the kindness of our friends in Orlando. We just cannot justify the kind of cost especially when you consider what you could buy/get with the money.

For us this will definitely be a special trip as we probably won't go again for many years to come. By the time we go back breakfast will probably cost $100 per person at the Hollywood & Vine

 

[JohnnySharp2]

I do know what you mean, we would not be doing this trip if it wasn't for the kindness of our friends in Orlando. We just cannot justify the kind of cost especially when you consider what you could buy/get with the money.

For us this will definitely be a special trip as we probably won't go again for many years to come. By the time we go back breakfast will probably cost $100 per person at the Hollywood & Vine

To be honest we have had holidays that were much cheaper, especially when going outside school holidays. So in that respect we have done okay.

At the moment though we are restricted , like many others, to Easter or summer when prices are sky high.
I can't see us going next year for sure. Just happy we have been fortunate to go as often as we have.

 

[Dollyrar]

All this talk about food is really making me want to do justice to a Golden Corral buffet breakfast right now!
Only 6 and a bit more months to go...
We deliberately made the choice to go off-site again this October because we genuinely enjoyed our meals at The Outback, Bubba Gumps, Ponderosa etc off-site more than the places we tried on-site at Disney, and could not see the point of getting the Dining Plan when we wanted to go back to these places so much.
The fact that it works out lots cheaper is just a bonus to us

 

[JohnnySharp2]

Nothing wrong with Golden Corral or the Outback, the latter we often visit, the take-out option is very useful if you staying in one of the nearby villa communities.

 

[Lisa x]

For us this will definitely be a special trip as we probably won't go again for many years to come. By the time we go back breakfast will probably cost $100 per person at the Hollywood & Vine

For this reason alone, I would bite the bullet and pay for the Character breakfast at H&V! Especially if your daughter loves the characters there, the chances are when you return she will not be interested in them so you wont need to go back there and pay whatever it will cost at that time!

Breakfast = $84. The look on your daughters face when she sees June from Little Einsteins = PRICELESS! I think its worth it personally but your call, just my honest opinion!

 

[stephensmum]

Yes, it's pretty pricey, perhaps you could maybe just do that one and maybe share at some table service ones.

We enjoy a Crystal Palace breakfast on our first morning, but have been on DDP, (once paid, twice free) I would not pay OOPS to go. I know you can eat as much as you want but we don't like to overload. DS12 eats very little, 1 choc milk, 1 cake & an apple to take out. For this we would have to pay an adult price, even on the free DDP, the tip would proberly just cover it. When we tire of the DDP we will look at hiring a car & going off site to eat. Doubt that we'l tire of staying on site, though.

 

[torsie24]

I personally didn't find any meals badly priced - other than Boma Breakfast, but then that's my fault for not eating much - I can never eat a lot at breakfast.

If Matilda will love it though, then you aren't jsut paying for food, so I say go for it if it's your only character meal.

As for non-character meals we thought prices were fine compared to the UK.

 

[seobaina]

I don't think we'll be staying onsite and if we do it won't be for more than 4 days tops. 2 weeks in a hotel room with a 3 1/2 year old is not my idea of a fun holiday And i'm not sure if we can get the DDP if we stay onsite with a CM's discount, i'll have to ask.

Nope you can't. You can get CM discount on some meals though. Not all but some.

Personally I don't find the meal prices too bad. We don't do a big one every day, maybe every other day or every three. I know CRT is crazy but the rest seem ok to me. It's a theme park, prices are always gonna be higher and when I think what it costs to eat out here, doesn't bother me. We tend to do buffet character ones though...seems better value that way.

 

[wideeyes]

I would probably do the meal as well as they grow up so quickly and you don't get many chances to do meals like this when they are at the perfect age before they move on to HM or HSM or whatever the craze is.

 

[2Tiggies]

I personally find the prices quite reasonable. I use UK restaurant prices as a guideline: we pay so much over here for often sub-standard food. In WDW (and the US in general), you get better quality food and more of it.

I have never thought they were too bad either for similar reasons. I never eat out in the UK because my usual non-holiday budget won't accommodate the costs of any relatively decent restaurants (by my taste and preference here anyway) and I think service in the US is outstanding by comparison, as is the food. Also, to have characters present during your meal is something I think is worth paying for while your kids (or you ) are still interested in them. You pay for the experience, not just the meal.

I don't have children so I'm just paying for myself. I understand how these costs can mount up if you're paying for your family

I do however acknowledge this too, as similarly, there are only two of us - one adult and one child - I would possibly feel quite differently with a family of 5 . However, what would your money get a family of 5 here?

Have you considered some nearby offsite character meals? I have never done them so I can't give you any feedback or current prices but there are some as near as the DTD area. If your heart was set on a character meal for your little one, I think it would be great if there is a way to do it - it will be just as special for you as for her.

 

[Booknut]

We will definitely be doing character meals, namely Tusker House for breakfast and Crystal Palace for lunch plus Coral Reef and T-Rex for dinner. I think Matilda will love all of these. I may also do the Norway Akershus princess breakfast if Matilda is really into the princesses by then.

My main problem with the Hollywood & Vine pricing is that it is charged at a much higher rate than say Tusker House and the breakfast does not even include anything that interesting in the buffet like you would get at say 1900 Park Fare. It seems overly expensive for no particular reason.

I do understand what you guys are saying about doing it for Matilda but I guess i'm just thinking that there needs to be some balance and I just cannot justify spending that amount of money.

What I really need to do is get her into Lilo and Stitch so she forgets June and we can have breakfast at Ohana's for $18.99 each

Thanks for all your comments.

 

[disney_princess_85]

My main problem with the Hollywood & Vine pricing is that it is charged at a much higher rate than say Tusker House and the breakfast does not even include anything that interesting in the buffet like you would get at say 1900 Park Fare. It seems overly expensive for no particular reason.

I wonder if the higher price is due to the characters at H&V not being available anywhere else?

 

[wideeyes]

I wonder if the higher price is due to the characters at H&V not being available anywhere else?

probably, you can meet the Winnie the pooh characters at Epcot, MK & AK. Mickey etc at all the parks.