Are $60 buffets Disney's incentive to purchase the DDP

[JadeDarkstar]

is it only the chr dining that is going up? I only have 2- maybe 3 of the meals that will be Chr dining anyways. Then I have some the show meals.

 

[MommaBerd]

Why does everyone think "maybe they want to decrease demand for the character dining?". Companies do it to get the most money they can, especially public traded companies. The shareholders demand it and the directors are obligated to do so. Same applies to ticket prices. As long as you keep buying they will keep increasing prices. The only way to stop it, is to stop buying.

EVERYTHING comes down to money in any business. And what I'm about to say is pure speculation and postulation. But, I have to believe there is a lot of frustration from guests who aren't able to get ADRs - particularly character meals; we see it here and this is a population that is in the know. Disney does want guests to have positive park experiences. If they didn't, they wouldn't put as much into the design elements of ride queues or offer fast passes (old or new) or many of other things they do.

When you raise prices, typically demand decreases. However with Disney, it seems that the demand level, right now, is at the individual/family level. So, how much can we price things such that one family can only afford a certain number of experiences? Because we've got 10 other families who are willing to pay for some of those same experiences. It's kind of like rationing.
I say to myself, I can't justify multiple buffets/character meals in one trip, but I can do one. And I may be a little frustrated about that, but at least we have our treat to look forward to. Ultimately, I'm satisfied. And now, another family will get to score an ADR maybe they wouldn't have been able to if I had made 4 character meals. And they will be satisfied.

When there's NO family willing to pay for the character meal, then they've reached the tipping point. But, I suspect there will be families who are willing to "splurge" for that special experience.

 

[Swaggerwagon]

I think people are changing the way they vacation and eventually disney will get the message. I am a disney fanatic. We take all our vacations there, I was even married at the wilderness lodge 14 years ago. Last week we took a trip and we did something we never thought we'd do....we left property and had dinner at outback steakhouse. It was our third day in and we were tired of eating mediocre quick service and the $200 price tag for dinners was quickly getting old for our family of 5. For $80 we had beer, appetizer, salad and steak. We walked in with no wait and no stress. It felt kind of naughty and very fun to be cheating on Disney. The reasonable price was magical

 

[lennyd]

no one should be priced out of a disney meal or disney vacation, and disney just keeps pushing us out the door, univerdal here I come

 

[circus4u]

I think people are changing the way they vacation and eventually disney will get the message. I am a disney fanatic. We take all our vacations there, I was even married at the wilderness lodge 14 years ago. Last week we tDook a trip and we did something we never thought we'd do....we left property and had dinner at outback steakhouse. It was our third day in and we were tired of eating mediocre quick service and the $200 price tag for dinners was quickly getting old for our family of 5. For $80 we had beer, appetizer, salad and steak. We walked in with no wait and no stress. It felt kind of naughty and very fun to be cheating on Disney. The reasonable price was magical

We have a September trip planned this year. Out of the last five trips, we stayed on site during four of those trips; stayed on site, relied on Disney transportation (did not rent a car), and ate on site -- captive audience. The last trip was spur of the moment, rented a car, stayed off site, and ate some meals off site. It was just as enjoyable. Dining plan or not, for us, we won't accept the higher costs. Even though we will still go to The World, but after our September trip, we will be renting a car and staying off site. It makes more economic sense to us, hotel and meal costs will be much less and we will save money even renting a car. I wonder what effect these food increases will have on other travelers as far as on site hotel reservations?

 

[cmash95]

if disney got rid of the dining plan then the prices might stabilize or even go down. the reason the prices keep going up is that they subsidize the dining plan and frankly since the dining plan the quality of the food at the characters buffets has suffered. I used to love going to chef mickeys for breakfast but the last time i was there the food was just plain awful. the same with crysal palace. I was out at DL last summer and went to goofy's kitchen and for what they charge, the food was not only plentiful but delicious. It was like night and day and they don't have a dining plan at DL.

 

[JadeDarkstar]

I have been to DL meals many times and have liked much of it. I hope some of wdw will at least be close. My fav meal at DL is Plaza inn breakfast with Minnie.

 

[Minniesgal]

It incentivises me to eat offsite and cook in the room. I don't think any of Disney's restaurants are anywhere near worth what they charge.

 

[Nancyg56]

Well, actually no, not all of us would. Some people are greedier than others. This is a simple fact.

And that line of argument really changes nothing because being able or willing to do something doesn't make it a good thing nor does it mean that consumers should simply accept it.

Most businesses charge what their customers will pay, and some try to charge more. I know that when my DH and I done out, we look at the cost of the meal, and what we get for that money. I don't mid paying good money when I think that the establishment has fairly given us what we paid for and we then continue to return, and we share positive feedback with our friends and family. If we leave feeling taken advantage of we seldom give the restaurant another chance. We know some places charge for a different caliber of meal than others, but there is a difference between charging moe fo quality and being greedy.

We have seen recently that Disney guests have a cap on their DIsney spending. The $60 character meal is mine. I will pay for my dining experience but when I feel that we ae being taken advantage of I stop. This is whereI feel Disney has gotten greedy with my money.

 

[Paula Sedley-Burke]

We have always dined off world and done a few of our fav Disney restaurants like Prime Time etc in the mix. It's fun to go out and have a few Disney treats. Also the value of the DVC units is not actually cooking for us ( no thanks on vacation ) but the fridge and in the 1 bed unit a freezer is useful if you want to get ice cream, frozen pizza ( these are so cheap at Walmart! ) , some salad. Or we might get a take out from Olive Garden etc which is even cheaper than eating in.

The longhorn is a lovely steak house noway am I paying Disney prices for steaks or burgers when there is a Longhorn just outside the gates at better quality and a fraction of the cost! Plus it gives more people jobs. It pays to rent a car!

 

[beer dave]

*blinks* only $1,500...

And I will say again how I just spent 5 nights with DW in the world and without limiting ourselves in any way spent about 600.

That increase is our total.....

 

[beer dave]

1500/2 = 750 per person

750/2 weeks = 375.00 per week per person -

when you break it down - we spend more than that going out on a mini weekend trip

I took the 1500 to be the increase from the regular dinning plan... no one gets the DxDP for 50.00 a day....

 

[beer dave]

No, you're not. If you were literally flushing money away, you would be standing at the toilet with your money, not purchasing food at a restaurant. You are figuratively flushing money away.

Sorry, sometimes the grammar Nazi gets the better of me.

Since you are being literal, the error of which you speak is not a grammatical error....

 

[beer dave]

On the tipping topic-- my difficulty comes with determining how much of the cost is related to the food and the server, and how much is related the the entertainment provided... think "dinner and a show"........ The new character meals and show viewings coupled with a meal do not have a cost directly related or exclusively related to the cost of the meal...... No server at a buffet that costs 60.00 deserves a tip of 48.00 for 4 guests....5 tables a shift, turned an hour each, for 4 hours....that's 800 to 1000 per shift. .......

And don't get me wrong-- I am an advocate for the 20% tip in a regular restaurant.

 

[Hikergirl]

I think people are changing the way they vacation and eventually disney will get the message. I am a disney fanatic. We take all our vacations there, I was even married at the wilderness lodge 14 years ago. Last week we took a trip and we did something we never thought we'd do....we left property and had dinner at outback steakhouse. It was our third day in and we were tired of eating mediocre quick service and the $200 price tag for dinners was quickly getting old for our family of 5. For $80 we had beer, appetizer, salad and steak. We walked in with no wait and no stress. It felt kind of naughty and very fun to be cheating on Disney. The reasonable price was magical

I'm impressed that you could feed a family of 5 at Outback for $80 including apps and beer. I can't do that at my local Outback, $80 is what just dh and I spend.

 

[Nancyg56]

On the tipping topic-- my difficulty comes with determining how much of the cost is related to the food and the server, and how much is related the the entertainment provided... think "dinner and a show"........ The new character meals and show viewings coupled with a meal do not have a cost directly related or exclusively related to the cost of the meal...... No server at a buffet that costs 60.00 deserves a tip of 48.00 for 4 guests....5 tables a shift, turned an hour each, for 4 hours....that's 800 to 1000 per shift. .......

And don't get me wrong-- I am an advocate for the 20% tip in a regular restaurant.

You really cannot use Mickey Math on this. Your server has no contol ove tun ove, number of guests. The server also does not get that total tip. It is split among a host of people who support your table. ANd the serve oly makes a fraction of minus minimum wage. In MA the min wage for servers is $2.35 per hour. In my experience a buffet was way more work than a normal table service meal. Way more.

 

[Eoghann]

You really cannot use Mickey Math on this. Your server has no contol ove tun ove, number of guests. The server also does not get that total tip. It is split among a host of people who support your table. ANd the serve oly makes a fraction of minus minimum wage. In MA the min wage for servers is $2.35 per hour. In my experience a buffet was way more work than a normal table service meal. Way more.

I know we've touched on this subject before but tipping at buffets makes no logical sense at all.

I don't know who is doing what and I don't know how much anyone is getting from my tip anyway. The claimed purpose of tipping (to reward good service) breaks down entirely.

 

[Nancyg56]

I know we've touched on this subject before but tipping at buffets makes no logical sense at all.

I don't know who is doing what and I don't know how much anyone is getting from my tip anyway. The claimed purpose of tipping (to reward good service) breaks down entirely.

NOt being snarky, but why? You know if your sever is clearing plate, and refilling beverages in a timely manner. You know if you are getting alcohol. You see bus peopple clearing tables. You know what is happening.

In a conventional meal you see the same thing. Server, runner, bus persons and you get your alcohol if you wish. The same people are tipped out at a preset percentage of every check.

 

[Eoghann]

NOt being snarky, but why? You know if your sever is clearing plate, and refilling beverages in a timely manner. You know if you are getting alcohol. You see bus peopple clearing tables. You know what is happening.

In a conventional meal you see the same thing. Server, runner, bus persons and you get your alcohol if you wish. The same people are tipped out at a preset percentage of every check.

I guarantee you most people think they are tipping their server and no one else. That is how it is always presented and that is what most people gauge their tip on.

I have never once discussed with people how well the table was cleaned as a factor in how I should tip.

 

[TwoMisfits]

I'm impressed that you could feed a family of 5 at Outback for $80 including apps and beer. I can't do that at my local Outback, $80 is what just dh and I spend.

It's pretty easy if the kids are 12 and under...

2 adults, 3 kids with any type of discount (there's a military 15% off, there's a $5 off 2 dinners, etc) and it's not too hard
1 App - $8 (didn't mention multiple apps)
2 Beer - $6 x 2 = $12
3 Kid Meals for 12 and under (drinks included) - $6/each x 3 = $18
2 Normal adult steak meals with side (smaller size) = $15/each x 2 = $30
Total before discount, tax, tip = $68
Using lower discount ($5 off) = $63
Tax and tip 25% of total before discount (18% tip, 7% tax - tax may be off, so adjust tip) = $17
Total = $80 (on the nose)...