Where is the outrage over food price increases??

[peyjax]

Now I realize that this board is filled mostly with people on the dining plan, however I am curious why no one is on a rampage about the price increases in the food? Have we become so fixated on the dining plan we pay no mind to the actual price of the meal? You all do realize that this dining plan is not going to last forever and one day there will be many more who are cash customers. So come on dissers do what you do best and complain about how we are getting gouged!

I was all excited about our budget trip in planning the food, but seeing the price increases at the buffets have me bummed. Now I have done my fair share of table services. I think we have experienced the bulk of them and to be honest it has become overrated. The food is nothing like it once was so now we are up for cs, a few classics and themed stuff we have not done. I wanted to hit the value stuff like the breakfast and lunch buffets. Now I am going to have rethink my plan.

So what is your best value for the $$ (cash, not dining plan)???

 

[TDC Nala]

If I were outraged by the prices, I'd stop going. But I am still going (this year anyway)

There really isn't anything one can do about it except pay the prices, eat offsite, buy the dining plan, or find somewhere else to vacation.

 

[vicki_c]

We always pay cash and have never done the dining plan. I don't feel outraged at all.

My family just had burgers at Red Robin the other night - our bill was $44 with tip. That's almost exactly what we pay for a counter service lunch at WDW.

Table services in the world are too expensive for what they are - but it's what it is. You want to be there, you want to eat there - you pay the price. We just budget it in for our trips and don't worry about it once we're there.

If you're outraged, take your dollars outside the World, and you'll be happier.

 

[ElizabethB]

I, too, have noticed the price increases have gotten quite outrageous. But, it seems most people are on the DDP these days. We have done the DDP but find it doesn't really work for us since we like only table service restaurants for lunch and dinner and generally eat only at 2TS restaurants for dinner.

The prices are getting out of reason for OOP dining, however. We have TIW discount card and that takes 20% off the meal price, including drinks and wine, which we like. Of course, Disney adds an automatic 18% when you use the TIW card, but we think of the discount as paying the tip so we're happy with it.

As for how we manage, we dine more and more in non-Disney places like Shula's steakhouse. Salmon there is around $25 and it's more like $37 at Artist Point just for a comparison.

The lobster at Narcoossee's is $59 now -- and so not worth it. Under two pounds and tough has been our experience the last few times we've gone.

Dh and I cut costs by ordering two appetizers, but only one entree and one dessert and sharing everything. Of course, we usually order a bottle of wine, which puts the price right back up!

We confine our dining to the really good places at Disney -- which are CG, Jiko and V&A so we feel like we've at least gotten good food for the high price. Artist Point is overpriced these days for what you get, IMO. Narcoossee's is okay but nothing to get excited about these days.

If we wanted to do character meals and eat at buffets, I'd be really upset these days. The buffets are very expensive and, IMO, the quality simply isn't there.

But, character meals and buffets aren't our thing. That helps.

I guess I don't really have any other suggestions. If I wanted to do character meals and buffets, I'd probably break down and buy DDP or try to nab a value (if it includes the regular DDP) or a moderate during a free dining promotion.

Disney really pushes the dining plan because it forces people to stay on site in order to eat! Sometimes I think the menus have mostly become a way to convince the DDP users that they got a really good price and saved lots of money.

If prices climb any higher, we'll abandon every restaurant but V&A. We like Fulton Fish Market, Portobello Tratoria, as well as Emeril's and Bice over at Universal. We're also looking forward to trying out the places at the new Waldorf at Bonnet Creek.

There will come a point where we decide even the best Disney restaurants are simply not worth what they are charging. Fortunately, there are other options -- and the choices are getting more numerous!

 

[chitown_disneylovers]

i don't know. i don't go to a restaurant in disney for a good meal. i go for the "dining experience". almost all the restaurants are themed or have characters which makes them more than just restaurants. that is what you are paying for.

if i want excellent food for disney prices i eat at a restaurant in chicago

 

[Debonna]

Prices have increased everywhere these days, so I'm not in the least bit surprised or outraged. Fortunately for my family, we can afford to go to Disney every year, and we budget our meals accordingly. (We do not do the DDP - - with me, DH, and a 2 year old, it's just not worth it.) However, we do have meals and snacks in our room (cold cereal, peanut butter, cheese and crackers, juice, yogurt, etc.), we share meals whenever possible, and we sometimes have substantial snacks instead of meals. With such a young child, our focus right now is experiencing the attractions, not so much the dining. (Except maybe for one or two character meals.) Maybe when he's older, we'll be more inclined to eat at the nice TS restaurants.

 

[familydisney]

Even people on the DDP should be outraged since, as prices go up, so do tips. We were just there and had bugeted $150 for tips...it was more like $250 since our bill was $120-$160 PER MEAL. This time the DDP was free, but if it weren't , we wouldn't do it again...

 

[Justsyd2]

We love eating at WDW. Their prices are less than the prices here in Fort Worth! There's no outrage here! Heck, the food prices at Six Flags are three times more than at Disney!

 

[francie57]

We have used the DDP for years now and wouldn't go without it. As some have said, yes the amount of the tip goes up as theh price increases but we just figure that in the budget. As far as the prices being outrageous, I don't think they have increased at a greater percentage than any of the restaurants around here. The prices have gone up everywhere so why should Disney be any different. My DH keeps a total each year of what each meal costs at Disney and when compared to last year the difference isn't really that great.

 

[si-am]

I think the "holiday surcharges" are outrageous, greedy, and a total gouge.

They aren't offering anything extra on the buffets, but add a $5 charge just because they can?

As much as I love Disney, I *will* stop going if it keeps up. Quality DEcreasing, prices INcreasing. Totally unnecessary.

 

[Pumbaa_]

I have sticker shock when I am in the grocery store at home these days. Why would I be surprised that Disney has raised their prices also?

We do make different choices these days when we are in the world. Much more CS places than in the past and we will be eating offsite this year for the first time

 

[wifey]

We've always paid for our meals with cash in the past BUT this year as part of our budgeting we decided to give a dining plan a try. Even though we are English we've noticed than in other peoples food photos the portions are getting smaller and we may end up using all our "snack credits" to keep our son happy.
We don't have any other option really it's either (1) pay in cash or (2) leave the parks and our resort to go offsite to eat OR try to make sandwiches (DS will not eat them) and take them in ..but we would still need a way to keep them cold .. and we don't drive so popping elsewhere is pretty limited.

Your food costs have dropped slightly ours here just go up and up to heck with the fact it costs more to ship ingredients (thanks to the price of oil per barrel) we also have to contend with higher costs due to crop failures too.

We pay more for lots of things here that you guys also can buy in your stores electrical items particularly are a good example the price you pay in US dollars is what we pay in british pounds sterling so say a DVD player costs $220 we pay £220 the equivalent of $363 which means you guys are paying less than us for exactly the same item.. so I wouldn't complain too much about the cost of things if I lived on your side of the water. Even your "gas prices" or petrol/diesel/ LPG are less per litre than ours.

Disney as a business have not made the profit they were expecting this year they have had to recover those losses somewhere after all the promotional offers they enticed up all into the parks and resorts with the only places left are food merchandise and DVC... after all they were worried about laying people off not so long ago and possibly closing down parts of the resorts thank goodness they didn't.

 

[Missytara]

You have to remember that Disney is a very big place and they have a wide area of distribution.

We have seen rising costs in delivering of construction materials, because of the fuel costs rising.

So if you figure, they have to pay the vendors more to deliver it, then they have to pay more for utilities to keep the food cool/warm in the warehouse, they have to pay more for fuel to distribute the food to all the different resorts, they are paying more for utilities to cook the food, keep it cold all day, etc.

So they are going to eventually have to pass the costs along to you.

 

[Hopefully]

I agree with Pumba. My grocery bill has increased a lot. I expect that food prices will increase at Disney - and everywhere else I eat out. I just save and budget and then don't worry about it.

 

[TheRustyScupper]

1) The lack of outrage is due to either
. . . the general public are a bunch of Lemmings following along
. . . most people drank the Kool-Aid regarding dining value
2) But, since the public does not want to stop, expect even higher prices.
3) Per the comic strip, POGO, "We have met the enemy, and he is us."

 

[xoprincessmomxo]

My guess is they are hoping it will entice people to buy into the dining plan. We went with the dining plan in '08, and are hoping they offer free dining in '10. It would be hard for us not to go without the DDP as I love eating in the TS's at Epcot. Best way to budget without the DDP, IMO, eat breakfast in your room with your own food (if you can stomach cold poptarts, that is),bring your own snacks in your backpack to munch on for lunch, then take a late afternoon break for your dinner outside of the park! There's usually tons of coupons for some of the restaurants around WDW. Of course, I'd still have to pay OOP for at least one TS and CS. No way I could walk around Epcot with all those wonderful smells without indulging. When in the world, they like you to be a captive audience. With the DDP, you're prepaying them to spen more time and therefore more money in the parks. And many times, not all of the credits are used. Even more money to their advantage.
That said, I loved the DDP and couldn't imagine going without it. The convenience factor was worth the money.

 

[holcomb-mania]

The kitchen in our villas saves us from the DDP and rising prices. And I don't have to get up early 3-6 months out to make ADRs. Breakfasts and lunches are covered, and we cook a few dinners in as well.

The QSP is a great alternative to the DDP, and you can find some really good (non-burger+fries or chicken nugget) places at the parks. You also get a mug and snack credits for .

For our short Nov trip we're staying in a studio and doing the QSP plus Boma and Sci-Fi. I can't go w/o hitting Boma and the kids love Sci-Fi.

 

[bomzar]

Food prices have gone up worldwide in general, but it's also just simple Supply and Demand. If the porch at CP is always full of guests, you can keep bumping up the price. Bottom line is it's a business and they're in it to make a profit. Do I think a lot of the prices are too expensive, heck ya, but if it was my restaurant, I'd do the same thing.

 

[Kay1]

Just say no. I'm equally disappointed in the shrinking menus and the food quality. After years of staying on site and eating exclusively at Disney restaurants, we now stay and eat off site. Pretty ironic since we're much more able to afford on site now.

 

[whitney37354]

Yes, the prices are crazy, but if people keep paying, they'll keep bumping the price up.

If I wasn't on the DP, I'd do what my parents did when we took our ONLY trip to WDW---we stayed in Ft. Wilderness cabin and at all meals in the cabin for four days except one. We ate at Pecos Bills in MK and my father probably had a heart attack paying for five people to eat expensive burgers & fries!!

My first (and probably only) trip with my family will be June 2010 and we got DxDDP, staying at a Deluxe resort. If we ever are blessed to go again, I would suggest to DH a value resort, cereal for breakfast, sandwiches for lunch, & counter service for dinner.