Why Does Disney Charge a "HOLIDAY" fee....

[livie1205]

I use the ddp so I do not see the extra cost but if I paid OOP I would not even go to any place that did this....its funny I have used the ddp for the past 4 years and I cant even remember ever paying oop for a table service meal....if they did away with the ddp I would end up just eating at mickey ds lol I could not pay oop again!

 

[LadyOmega]

Well no, not exactly. Memorial Day was May 26th. Now if I went to the buffet that day or a day after okay, that should be holiday pricing. Even the weekend of Memorial Day, but it was 2 weeks later. So, no it should not be considered Holiday pricing. Most Maryland schools start summer vacations the 3rd week in June I believe.

Brunette

Just an FYI....many, many, many school districts in the South have totally different schedules than what you are used to. Usually, schools are out by May 24-29. And as soon as the kids are out of school, families head to WDW. So I suppose WDW wants to cash in on that. That's not to say that I necessarily agree with the "holiday pricing" thing, but I can sorta understand why, if they are going to charge these "seasonal" prices, they start that pricing when they do, rather than in June.

 

[HappyDznyCamper]

Just an FYI....many, many, many school districts in the South have totally different schedules than what you are used to. Usually, schools are out by May 24-29. And as soon as the kids are out of school, families head to WDW. So I suppose WDW wants to cash in on that. That's not to say that I necessarily agree with the "holiday pricing" thing, but I can sorta understand why, if they are going to charge these "seasonal" prices, they start that pricing when they do, rather than in June.

Thank you for pointing that out. Unfortunatly though it also means we are back to school very soon(Aug 11 )
But basically as others have said, it is simple economics, supply vs demand, when the demand goes up the price can go up. There is of course a "breakeven point" whe you price yourself out of the market. Disney has obviously not gotten there yet, but they seem to be getting close since a few have chosen to eat elsewhere.

 

[LadyOmega]

@ HappyDznyCamper: The kids here in Coffee County would consider themselves very lucky to be where you are.....they go back Aug. 1 here!

 

[CharmedLife]

My kids in Wisconsin were out by the end of May, go back the last week of August (DD8 is already complaining that life isn't fair!).

Higher prices aren't fun. But Disney is a business, they are not beholden to their customers to be "nice guys". They're beholden to their shareholders to make money. We may not like it, but then the answer is to not spend your money there. If enough people do that, their profits drop, beds go empty, restaurant tables aren't full... they'll adjust their business practices to address this.

Unfortunately, a boycott by the highly-eduated DISer is probably not going to impact their bottom line because the vast majority of people are:
1) Unaware that there is any change in price, they may be on their first trip to Disney and/or don't know ahead of time what the price is going to be so they just pay the bill, OR
2) Know but don't care and will pay.

 

[TDC Nala]

Thank you for pointing that out. Unfortunatly though it also means we are back to school very soon(Aug 11 )
But basically as others have said, it is simple economics, supply vs demand, when the demand goes up the price can go up. There is of course a "breakeven point" whe you price yourself out of the market. Disney has obviously not gotten there yet, but they seem to be getting close since a few have chosen to eat elsewhere.

They will not get there as long as guests keep coming and keep paying.

Many go on the dining plan. Others are given the option of "don't travel during those times" or "travel during those times and avoid buffets." The response to those options is usually "We have to travel during those times because that's when school is out/we can get time off work, and the kids want character meals." That response answers the question right there. As long as it's just a few who choose to eat elsewhere, no big thing for Disney. Also, those who choose to eat elsewhere are often picking other WDW restaurants.

There's no reason to do this other than supply and demand. Disney no doubt thinks they can balance the supply for the peak periods this way rather than demanding a price increase across the board, which some posters would probably prefer because of the perceived "unfairness" of higher prices at certain times.

June is actually bordered by two holidays, Memorial Day and the 4th of July, which makes it very popular for travel. When the Memorial Day crowds go home, you have a week or two before the 4th of July crowds show up, which may explain the pricing in June.

 

[musicmom3]

Am I understanding Supply & Demand correctly in thinking that if there is Free Dining (as there is this September), and the restaurants are booked solid, those of us who are not on the dining plan could get hit with the (badly named) Holiday surcharge for buffet dining? I never even thought to ask this when making my ADRs...we have only one buffet scheduled (Boma).

 

[TDC Nala]

September is neither a holiday nor a peak attendance time (they offer free dining because it is a low attendence time and they want to sell rooms). If they do raise the prices it will be without announcement. If the vast majority of guests are on the dining plan it won't make them much money to raise the prices on the few who are not.

At peak times it's more like half and half dining plan/no dining plan, possibly higher on the no dining plan side because of offsite guests.

 

[musicmom3]

Makes sense...and glad to hear it. Thanks!

 

[kaytieeldr]

bamboo, hemp,,, jersey?

Thanks for your response TDC Nala. Based on your thread above I believe if that was the case then all the food at Disney would incurr this so called Holiday Fee, but it is just the buffets. Also, I could see if it was Memorial Day Week but it wasn't, it was June 9th. This date is also before kids are out of school.

Okay, well - it's simple to increase the set price of a buffet - just reprogram the registers. It'd be a LOT harder to increase the price of each individual a la carte item at the standard TS restaurant - and how do you determine by how much to raise each price?
As for it being before the kids are out of school - you must live up here in the less-temperate northern half of the country? Many, many schools - especially in the Southeast - get out of school some time in May (and go back in early-mid August).

June 9 is close to Memorial Day.

Well no, not exactly. Memorial Day was May 26th

Ah, but June 9 IS between Memorial Day and Independence Day - the period most recently designated as Holiday Pricing.

I use the ddp so I do not see the extra cost but if I paid OOP I would not even go to any place that did this....

Ah, but the "place that did this" is Walt Disney World. I don't think there's any buffet location that's not affected (i.e. it's not as if each location had a choice in the matter) and, well, you can't really mean you would not ever go to Walt Disney World?

 

[disney1990]

Yes, another vote for "because they can". We were at Disney in June. Because of this policy, we one went to one buffet and we got a DDE discount on that.

 

[BriarRosie]

I think of "Holiday" being used in generic "High Season" terms. And that there will be a bigger surge of people trying to get the same ADRs, many who are not on the dining plan (unlike the fall dining promotion). So that means Disney has to price out some of the people to eat elsewhere to decrease some of the demand on the most popular buffets. And perhaps encourage people to eat at the less in-demand eateries.

And I agree with TDC Nala that other restaurants could substitute lesser priced ingredients or change portion sizes to reduce their overhead costs, rather than raising menu prices. Most people wouldn't know the difference. I probably wouldn't.

 

[dioxide45]

Think of the prices charged during the non "holiday" periods as discounted prices and the Holiday pricing as regular prices. If you think of it this way, Disney is discounting the prices during slower times to bring people in to the restaurants. I think if Disney spun it this way, there would be a lot fewer people here with this gripe?

 

[TwiddleDeeTwiddleDum]

I don't think they should surcharge anyone who made an ADR 60-180 days out. They should be able to tell how old an ADR is from the conf# so if they have to surcharge, perhaps only to recent ADR or walk-ins because that's the price it is today.