Restaurant prices just went up!

[Condorman]

I don't buy the high fuel costs reasoning. That may have worked in July when everyone was fretting over $150 a barrel oil, but now gas is cheap -- only no one can afford it!

This is Disney's way of siphoning more money out of the fewer guests they'll be receiving over the next 18 months and beyond. What options do you have when it comes to dining other than to stay onsite and eat their food? We'll be on the DxDP on our upcoming trip so this won't affect us. And considering they've already released their 2009 prices, it won't affect us next year either.

I asked this question on another thread and I'll ask it again here. What if they deliver that filet to you at $44 and you complain about the size, the quantity, and say "I'm not paying $44 for that -- go get your manager." What would they do? Take 50% off? Offer to make something else for you at a lesser cost? I'm half-tempted to give it a try. At some point, this kind of price-gauging can no longer be tolerated.

 

[SunnieRN]

Grocery prices are going up, as are restaurant prices. I am honestly not surprised disney is doing the same. That being said, I still think the dining plan seems like a good deal if you are staying/eating onsite.
Could it be better? Of course, but at least it is an option in Florida. I wish they had that option at disneyland with Napa Rose being a signature dining restaurant. That would be amazing!

 

[DanaAustinChelsea]

Restaurant prices are going up all over the country, not just at Disney World. The price of fuel is the main reason. The only way to get anything to any final destination is by truck. And trucks need fuel.

You can't really pin the increases on the Dining Plan. This was going to happen Dining Plan or no Dining Plan.

This is true. I work for a major brand & was discussing how food prices are going up & product sizes going down with another vendor. The government has been charging fuel surcharges to companies such as Coca Cola causing prices to rise an average of 8-10%. Several companies have been charging the stores/restaurants a fee for delivery whether it is ten cases or 100 cases. Besides, most of the trucks run on higher priced diesel not unleaded.

 

[Angibaby]

I am not a huge economist or anything but to me the overall inflation of prices EVERYWHERE and though Disney was already "over"priced ,in the eye of the beholder IMO, sure they are higher than the same place may be if it wasnt Disney but it IS Disney and Disney has always capitalized on that fact by charging more. Same with any place where you go and are a "captive" market. I have yet to meet a amusement park with reasonable prices for their concessions. They still need to keep up the same profit margin. If a pound of meat cost them 4.00 a pound before and now it is 5.00 they can only eat that extra buck for so long before they have to pass that cost to the customer. It really doesnt matter if they made "more" than they should. Their shareholders still want to see the same profits coming out of eat restaurant. Along with prices rising for everything they will have a demand for increased wages so their employees will be able to make ends meet in todays economy, and once you give a raise it doesnt work so hot to take that raise away! LOL!

Sure over the last month gas is down lower than it has been in a VERY long time and maybe grocery prices will come back down again too but I doubt it. The thing about groceries (at least I think) is that we cant "see" the costs of it changing except at the cash register. With gas we can hear on TV or the net that a barrell of gas is getting $150 today and it was more or less than yesterday and we expect the price at the pump to rise and fall along with that. How often do you hear it is costing the grocery store 2.50 a pound to buy apples and then expect the price of apples to rise and fall based on that. I personally never have. So what incentive would the apple farmer or the grocery have to reduce the everyday price of the apples? You are already paying what you are paying for them so they can charge you the same and make a bigger profit. I doubt just because gas prices fell (thank goodness they did too!) we will see a reduction in prices at the grocery store and therefore it is reasonable to say that Disney's suppliers are also charging them more and they will continue to do so.

They are just like ANY business and they look at the bottom line always. It would be silly to think that ANYTHING Disney did wasn't profit motivated. Even giving away "free" things is profit motivated. If you win "Dream fast passes" for instance, you feel GOOD and HAPPY about your time there in Disney. Why wouldnt you? So maybe you "celebrate" by having an extra beer or next time you decide to vacation if you had a GOOD and HAPPY experience by winning fastpasses you would be more likely to at least consider a return to Disney again as opposed to if you had a crummy time. Even if overrall it was a good trip my guess is winning something or getting something for free is going to increase the likelihood even more. KWIM? They will keep their profit margins at least where they are at by raising prices or giving less for the same just as long as people keep buying. Only when people stop buying will you see less increases. They also need to keep this same profit margin while people are already tightening their belts and buying less. If they are selling less they have to increase prices to make the same money.

I dont post too much but I lurk often and when Disney does something like this it is always a little funny how some people's posts "sound like" Disney is some evil entity for looking at how to increase their profits or at least keep them the same. That Disney isnt "worried" how this is going to effect "them". That is buisness, in my mind. Their first concern is profit, you cant stay in buisness without profit. It is never personal to them. Obviously as long as they have been around they MUST have the idea on how far they can go and still make a profit. Think of how successful they are like this. Do you know ONE person who couldnt name at least one Disney Movie or character? There are infants who recognize Mickey Mouse when they see him. There are 90 year olds who do also. It is a household name. I am deciding between taking my kids to an ALL INCLUSIVE resort in Mexico OR Disney. Mexico hotel, air, activities and ALL FOOD AND DRINKS (not just 1TS, 1CS and a snack daily) would cost less than Disney hotel, air and tickets into the parks withOUT the dining plan. People will pay it though because it is beloved. But it isnt personal when they raise the prices and get what they CAN get. It is business. Disney isnt your friend charging you gas to take you to the grocery store they are in business to make money however they can. building a new ride will COST them, but they hope to entice you to come back and pay admission again cause they KNOW there are people who just HAVE TO.

Ok so I go off on a tanget when I am sleepy. You have to forgive me.

And the famous "last" words of Forrest Gump "thats all I have to say about that."

 

[centurythree]

Angibaby that was a really great analysis! You need to post here more often!

 

[Mackey Mouse]

I am going in December and the more I read, I am thinking no fancy for us. OK, maybe I might have to do one night at Citrico's but other than that....no. Enough is enough, it is like price gouging to me..

 

[MickeyMomOfThree]

My DH works for a franchisee of 2 major food chains, and everyone likes to tell me their complaints (as if I raised prices) whenever prices go up. But there are 2 major things to remember. First, just as our food prices are going up, so are the restaurants. Gas prices is for sure part of it. Also, minimum wage went up which is a good thing for those who are making minimum wage but also has a big impact on the restaurant industry. We are getting free dining this trip, so it won't effect us too much (except a bit in higher tips), but if we wern't on the dining plan we'd do what we do in everyday life. We eat out rarely, drink water, no dessert, often share meals, and it's fine. Yes, we enjoy eating out, but in these times we have to cut back on things.

Anyway, just my thoughts. It's hard to swallow, but it is true. The restaurants are not turning the profits they once were.

 

[kimbo0569]

Restaurant prices are going up all over the country, not just at Disney World. The price of fuel is the main reason. The only way to get anything to any final destination is by truck. And trucks need fuel.

You can't really pin the increases on the Dining Plan. This was going to happen Dining Plan or no Dining Plan.

I was thinking the same exact thing. I live in NY and it's happening here too. It's just the way things are right now.

 

[mikoiv]

Increase in prices for all consumables are going to increase, demand will have to take a deep turn for any decreasing to occur near term. Disney is not "recession proof" but is close. Attendance is still fairly high and with all the offers coming up I would expect that to continue. Families plan so far in advance for a trip, especially Disney, that it is almost like playing futures market. Once you lock in it is tough to get out, certainly for discounted airline tickets.
Food wether bought in store or at restaurant is one of the hardest hit items due to the rapid time needed from farm to consumer. Transportation hits hardest when premium shipping is required. Disney's increase of $1 to $3 dollars at some its premium restaurants isnt too bad when you consider the cost of a box of cereal has nearly doubled in the last 10 months.
We dont use the DP, we have AP's and use DDE (forget new name) but I think the DP is a fairly good value. Hotel prices at Disney have not had a significant increase so overall it is still a decent value for the quality of the product.

 

[cdtommie]

I have not seen any beef price increases locally - in fact the local market we shop at (Stew Leonard's) had filets for 5.99 a lb last week, has porterhouse for 4.99 a lb this week and had NY strip steaks for 3.99 a lb two weeks ago (and very high quality). This is just Disney being Disney.

We are still going to five of the signature restaurants in the next two weeks but will be very selective what we order - will avoid any of those $35 and up entree choices, split one appetizer, one dessert etc. We also stopped ordering wine by the bottle last year (a glass in the hotel room prior to dinner works fine and then only one glass at the restaurant).

 

[tarheelmjfan]

Restaurant prices are going up all over the country, not just at Disney World. The price of fuel is the main reason. The only way to get anything to any final destination is by truck. And trucks need fuel.

You can't really pin the increases on the Dining Plan. This was going to happen Dining Plan or no Dining Plan.

I've seen many advertisements for chains offering "all you can eat", "3 courses at a significantly reduced price", "extended happy hours", etc. prices. Even Morton is offering deals, & they're not the only nicer chain to do so. Some restaurants may have raised prices, but they would definitely be in the minority. You should check around for deals. You may get a pleasant surprise.

ETA: I do agree that grocery stores are getting ridiculous. This combined with the specials at many restaurants means we eat out or get take-out more often than we ever did.

Disney is making huge money with the DDP and continue to increase the profit margins by increasing costs and cutting back on the more expensive and popular dishes.

Actually, the people they're making a killing on are those paying OOP, who have to pay the inflated prices that make the DDP look like such a good deal.

 

[Kurby]

Check off another reason we're only buying 2 meals a day - the price of food for our 17 day trip is going to be between 2500 and 3k

FOR FOOD.

ya we could go cheaper by buying groseries and eating in our hotel room, the may be ok for breakfast but not practical for lunch and dinner unless we're leaving the park for the day. so it's either waste time taking the bus back and forth to eat in our hotel or spend the money.

to save money we already decided to cut out lunch and combine it with dinner having a lunch/diner between 3-5pm

Ate at California Grill Saturday night and then again last night. Overnight the entire menu prices changed anywhere from $1 each to $3 each. Deserts went up a buck each and some entree's went up $3 each. Beef Tenderloin is now $44 ($41 two days ago). Server says this is a system wide adjustment and not just holiday pricing and will be in effect at all restaurants.

 

[dizneydiva2005]

Well, that should certainly help the economy, eh!

Geez, Disney! Thanks for helping people afford a vacation. And I wondered why the parks were empty in early Sept?? It's a push for the dining plan.

 

[madalex]

Sure over the last month gas is down lower than it has been in a VERY long time and maybe grocery prices will come back down again too but I doubt it. The thing about groceries (at least I think) is that we cant "see" the costs of it changing except at the cash register. With gas we can hear on TV or the net that a barrell of gas is getting $150 today and it was more or less than yesterday and we expect the price at the pump to rise and fall along with that. How often do you hear it is costing the grocery store 2.50 a pound to buy apples and then expect the price of apples to rise and fall based on that. I personally never have. So what incentive would the apple farmer or the grocery have to reduce the everyday price of the apples? You are already paying what you are paying for them so they can charge you the same and make a bigger profit. I doubt just because gas prices fell (thank goodness they did too!) we will see a reduction in prices at the grocery store and therefore it is reasonable to say that Disney's suppliers are also charging them more and they will continue to do so.

If there was one apple farmer in the whole world your analogy would work. However, there are millions of apple farmers in the world. If the cost of growing apples for all of them goes up, they will all raise their prices and then the price of apples will go up. However, if the cost of growing apples only goes up for some of the farmers, those apple farmers can't raise their prices because they will be undercut by the farmers whose costs and prices did not go up.

Similarly, if everybody's costs went up due to higher fuel costs (which they did) and then the fuel costs were lowered, all it takes is some farmers to decide to lower their prices (because if they are selling cheaper apples than everyone else, they can sell even more apples) for the prices of apples to come back down.

That is what will happen. Fuel is a big component of the price of just about everything, so prices of just about everything (including restaurant meals) have been going up everywhere due to higher fuel costs. Now that fuel costs are coming back down, you can expect these price increases to slow and for some prices to even start going back down. But, don't expect too much of that because even though oil is back down to $80/barrel from $147/barrel over the summer, $80/barrel is still an historically high price. The price went from $80 to $150 so quickly over the summer, and now it has come back down so quickly over the last couple months, that such movements did not get fully priced into goods and services. Thus, while the price of gas will obviously (and has already) come back down, the prices of other goods will do so as well, just not as obviously and quickly as it is with gas.

 

[disnut8]

Let me clarify the fuel thing I brought up.

The cow is raised. The cow has to taken somewhere to be killed and processed. Fuel to take them to the stockyard. Cow killed and processed. Cow now has to be taken to distribution center. Fuel to do that. Distribution Center divides products to go to wholesalers. Fuel to do that. Wholesalers make the deals to the retailers and restaurants. Cow moved to the final place (hopefully). Fuel to do that. That's four trips the cow has taken.

And that's only if that cow has traveled by truck. If the cow has to be transported via train, you still have to take the cow to the train station (fuel) and then the train needs to get the cow to the other destination where it has to be unloaded and then taken to the next point (fuel).

The cow doesn't get killed on the farm and immediately go right into Kroger or the Disney kitchen.

Showing my age but I've lived through nationwide Teamsters strikes. Nothing moved in the country. Trucks are the only way to move anything.

 

[PlutoLuvr]

I'm two hours north of Orlando, and our restaurants are STRUGGLING to stay afloat. I don't frequent chain-type places, but our mom-and-pop shops and locally-owned cafes are doing all sorts of creative things to get customers back into their establishments.

Our "best" authentic Mexican place is now offering a frequent visitor type card. After you get nine meals, the tenth is free. We're going there tonight! And they HAVE NOT raised their prices, even on the margaritas

Like Tarheel above me mentioned, happy hours are being extended all over my town. And I'm also noticing free "cafe bites" at the trendy watering holes, too, as an enticement to get working folks back into their establishments on Friday afternoons.

Our local Italian family-owned restaurant (I'm from Philly and am Italian ... this is the real deal at this place) has now changed the menu to include half-size orders at more than half the price in an effort to get their place busy again. And it's working. I just can't justify $18.95 for takeout for two pieces of chicken (say, that comes with the florentine or positano), but you can bet I can justify one chicken breast (prepared) for $8.95. It's just easier on the wallet.

Sure, Disney is a business and doing very well right now. Tourism is the only industry right now seeing a profit thanks to the dollar being so weak currently. Disney is charging what the market will bear.

 

[marivaid]

Park tickets went up, resort prices went up, food prices went up... but guests's salaries have not. They're going to have to cut back somehow, somewhere, and IMO it's going to be food.

I noticed when I made ADRs lately that I have very little difficulty getting what I want, when I want. I called a couple weeks ago to get an ADR on New Year's Eve for Whispering Canyon and could have picked several times. In 2006 when I tried in August to get an ADR for NYE all I could get was Yacht Club Galley (now Captain Grille's) at 9.30pm!!

So maybe Disney raised the prices once more to make up for the fact that they're not filling restaurants like they did last year.

 

[tortoni]

I agree that it is easier to get ADRs. I recently booked a last minute Christmas trip that came with free dining (a shock in itself). I was concerned that I would not get any reservations. Well, I got everything we wanted except Le Cellier!

It is surprising that Disney would raise prices in this economy. That said, I doubt that most people would go or not go based on restaurant prices. We Disboard folks, maybe, but who else checks menus 180 days before they eat a meal?

 

[Karlzmom]

Park tickets went up, resort prices went up, food prices went up... but guests's salaries have not. They're going to have to cut back somehow, somewhere, and IMO it's going to be food.

I noticed when I made ADRs lately that I have very little difficulty getting what I want, when I want. I called a couple weeks ago to get an ADR on New Year's Eve for Whispering Canyon and could have picked several times. In 2006 when I tried in August to get an ADR for NYE all I could get was Yacht Club Galley (now Captain Grille's) at 9.30pm!!

So maybe Disney raised the prices once more to make up for the fact that they're not filling restaurants like they did last year.

It would be interesting to see what has happened in the salaries and benefits for Disney employees. Labor costs for Disney must be unreal! Add in the never-ending upward wage pressures that employers deal with (can anyone thin of an indutry where the employees think they make "enough"?) Add in the employer contributions on payroll taxes, and workers' comp - all before you even get to possible health benefits or retirement plans... I know that my employer has been forced to up employee contributions on health care just to stay "even" on coverage...the retail sales provide the full operating budget for lots of departments in the House of Mouse. Everytime a cost goes up somewhere, the $ has to be offset somehow....

 

[psimon]

It would be interesting to see what has happened in the salaries and benefits for Disney employees. Labor costs for Disney must be unreal! Add in the never-ending upward wage pressures that employers deal with (can anyone thin of an indutry where the employees think they make "enough"?) Add in the employer contributions on payroll taxes, and workers' comp - all before you even get to possible health benefits or retirement plans... I know that my employer has been forced to up employee contributions on health care just to stay "even" on coverage...the retail sales provide the full operating budget for lots of departments in the House of Mouse. Everytime a cost goes up somewhere, the $ has to be offset somehow....

I agree that the cost of everything is going up and people are cutting back, including eating out and going on vacations, but....

I checked for the first week in November and many of the resorts are SOLD OUT!!!! Admittedly, it is the Value and Mid priced resorts, but full is full. Somebody is spending that $$ there! (Besides us, we'll be there then )

---Paul in Southern NJ