Price increase too much?

[Ds4angels]

I was just reading the price increasing for the buffets and decided we just didn't need those TS meals. $40 for breakfast at CP, $55 for GG. I'm sure Disney doesn't care, someone else w/ the dining plan will scoop up the reservations b/c it's "such a good deal". Once you add in tip it's over $50 for CP and $65 for GG. That's the breaking point for DH.
Has anyone else found their breaking point yet? We have the basic DP for SDP but thought we'd splurge on a couple TS, but we'll just stick to CS now.

 

[Nancyg56]

Not yet. I have some that I will not go to, however we like Disney dining, and need to eat. I decided a long time ago to book my packages in such a manner that if I want to patronize specific restaurants I would need to do so in the least painful manner for me. We tend to book dining plans so that we have the meals covered. Once The cost of the plans exceed what my personal comfort zone in terms of dining costs I will revisit the entire shebang. Truthfully, I take a step back from individual costs of each component once I have calculated that portion of the cost, and how I want to treat it, and look at the total cost of the trip because for us, it is our vacation, resort, parks and food.

I generally keep our costs at or just over 200 per person per day when my DH joins us, and this is almost in every destination. If Disney skyrockets over that price I am probably out. I have one more trip I want to take during the latter part of 2019, and after that my incentive to go is drastically reduced, so the price will need to be right.

 

[wcw57]

DW and I were just discussing this----

The family (not the Grandkids) will be joining us in Feb, and they are disgusted with all the planning which is "needed" to get on rides and into restaurants. The costs have them saying this is the final trip to WDW..

Wife and I don't do meal plan...just doesn't work for us BUT the rapidly rising costs for, what appears to be, declining returns has us questioning our return....

It make me sad

 

[Ds4angels]

@wcw57 It makes me sad too. I LOVE Disney, but they just seem to be wanting to squeeze every drop out of us.
After this trip we'll be done for at least 3 years (right before my DS wants to enlist we'll go, but that's it)

 

[Brocktoon]

We used to always do a TS meal almost every day. For my upcoming 10 day trip I think we only have 2 TS meals booked, and that's mostly due to the ridiculous prices. We'll be doing more meals at Disney Springs instead

 

[sharonabe]

@wcw57 It makes me sad too. I LOVE Disney, but they just seem to be wanting to squeeze every drop out of us.
After this trip we'll be done for at least 3 years (right before my DS wants to enlist we'll go, but that's it)

If you can wait until right after he finished basic training and before he has to report for duty, he'll be eligible for any military discounts that might still be out there. That does help to make the costs a little more palatable.

 

[Pumbaa_]

The food prices are now obnoxious. I have a trip the end of the month for a dear friends wedding. I doubt we will be back any time in the near future. I hate the planning, I hate the prices of everything. Oh well, there is always someone else willing to go

 

[mi*vida*loca]

I suspect the DDP will be going up too.

Last trip we did OOP and since it was my SO's first trip, and DD was still a Disney kid, we did a lot of big meals. Ohana, Chef Mickey, etc. I wanted him to have the full experience. We had a great time and ate great food but Ohana is NOT worth $200 for a family of 4. Not even a little bit. Among many others.

Next trip it's just DD12 and myself. I'm going with quality over quantity when it comes to meals this trip. I can't spend $200 on mediocre food. So we booked two signatures (FF and YM) which I suspect we will get apps to share and split the entrée. No buffets. The prices are completely ridiculous for buffets. We are going to do HDDR since DD really wants to try it and BOG was her only must do request. Other than that we are going for same day ADRS at ala carte places, try out some lounges and go to QS places that get really good reviews here.

 

[Pmlocke]

I don't mind the price increase as much as I have noticed the value and quality of the food has dimished greatly over the last ten years. I am refering to the buffets and I can remember being in awe at the differant types of food and the quality that was available. Not any longer. It really is not worth the price but like most people, I want the character interaction so I will continue to fork over the money. I still offer my complaint at the end of the meal to our server. I'm sure they hear it often but I doubt if it really does any good.

 

[a1tinkfans]

It all comes down to ....Pricing versus quality/quantity and value

What bothers me the most is that the quality has diminished significantly .. thus the value is gone.
However I do not believe it’s just a Disney issue.

I have family visiting... I took them to a restaurant we frequent .. the food was tasty, prices were comparable to other (mid tier type) establishments.
This visit... they did away with the lunch menu, they only offer a dinner menu that had major price increases ( at least $7-10 more) than previous dinner menu. They also
UPcharged for a salad that was always included with your meal.
Lunch for 5, no alcohol, 1 soda was $180 plus tip! This was in addition to our alcohol order ( while awaiting the table) ... I guess at least another $50 bucks.
2 people did not even finish their meals... one fish was awful, one ribeye was all fatty and almost Inedible. Service declined..
the tip we left was Not the usual 20 percent , I did a write up and we won’t return.

It’s not just Disney...but if the value isn’t there for someone .. don’t return and write it up.. voice ur opinion, there are Outlets..( TripAdvisor, open table, yelp and others )

 

[BEASLYBOO]

It all comes down to ....Pricing versus quality/quantity and value

What bothers me the most is that the quality has diminished significantly .. thus the value is gone. However I do not believe it’s just a Disney issue.

For us quantity doesn't fit into the equation, because the AYCTE makes no difference in the amount we eat. We don't realize this as a value, we don't eat more than usual. I love the German food and the African food from their respective buffets, but we travel as a party of 5 or 6, we're not paying those prices, but plenty do, so prices will not stop increasing. And you're right it's not just a Disney issue, no matter where you are, Disney, Universal, etc. you're a captive audience, they've got you. And they all follow trends... $$$$ We prefer to do a few ADR's with quality being the motivator, but with that said, cocktails at $12-14, bottles of wines you can purchase at $18-20 selling for $45, we continue to pay the piper!

 

[vinotinto]

I was just about to book Cape May breakfast for our trip because we are staying at YC and we have such good memories of eating breakfast here when the kids were little. There is strong nostalgia factor. But, we decided against it. At over $40 + tip per person, it really is obscene for eggs and a few cool characters, especially considering my DD11 is a vegetarian and eats the type of small portions you would expect an 11-year old girl to eat. Really, it should not cost a family of 4 almost $200 to have breakfast at their hotel. But, the restaurants are full, the parks are overflowing, the special events are completely sold, so clearly the market has been able to bear this.

Oh and we sometimes we buy the dining plan and sometimes we don't, depending on what we think is most advantageous. At $75 per person, if I spend $40 on Cape May, and $10 on snacks, I would need a $25 QS lunch to break even. I don't think I would break even, since we prefer to hydrate with water and my DD will not be having any of the expensive meat platters that you sometimes see as the "best value" on DDP. So, even with my open-minded flexibility towards DDP, I cannot make it work.

 

[MaryLovesPoohBear]

If you can wait until right after he finished basic training and before he has to report for duty, he'll be eligible for any military discounts that might still be out there. That does help to make the costs a little more palatable.

It might depend on which branch he is in, but for at least some branches, they graduate and travel to their duty station all in a day or so. I know it is this way for the Army and Navy.

So there won't be time for a Disney trip.

 

[Maine Disney First Timer]

I was just reading the price increasing for the buffets and decided we just didn't need those TS meals. $40 for breakfast at CP, $55 for GG. I'm sure Disney doesn't care, someone else w/ the dining plan will scoop up the reservations b/c it's "such a good deal". Once you add in tip it's over $50 for CP and $65 for GG. That's the breaking point for DH.
Has anyone else found their breaking point yet? We have the basic DP for SDP but thought we'd splurge on a couple TS, but we'll just stick to CS now.

Where do you see that there will be price increase?

 

[mkla2015]

We just got back from an 8 day trip and I definitely noticed the food prices. We only had 4 table service meals this trip- 2 were great, 2 weren't worth the money paid. The rest of the time we ate quick service and all of the meals were OK but nothing great and every meal for 2 adults and 2 kids was $45-$50. I think next time, we'll just make sandwiches in our room and be better off.

 

[Nancyg56]

I suspect the DDP will be going up too.

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I think it will as well. I can tell you I am glad I have it this trip! One thing I will add that I believe the increase in prices is to push more people towards the DDP, so I do not think it will increase exponentially. If you follow the majority of Dining plan threads that discuss DDP value, it seems that a majority of people have gravitated away from the plan due to cost vs return. Disney has been responding I subtle ways: removing the language regarding sharing the plan with others, adding alcohol to the beverage list, not enforcing that children order off of the children's menu when using the DxDDP. There was a time when servers would be terminated for violating the rules, and now Disney has pulled an about face.

I think that Disney is looking forward to the expected increased crowds in the coming year with Stars Wars etc, so they want to not only keep guests onsite, but they also want to snap up those dining dollars, and keep as much discretionary spending within WDW alone. If they raise costs of the specialty meals, add some to the snacks, CS options, and keep the plan costs "reasonable" they can trap those folks who are on the fence and loading their dining money onto gift cards and their debit cards. I think this is just one more way Disney is discouraging people to go offsite for any reason. Charge for resort parking so folks take DME rather than rent a vehicle, and then for those diehards who refuse the plans, make it so the cost of meals vs using the plans sends those on the fence to committing to a plan.

Frankly, I think it is a good strategy for the company. They want to lure people to stay onsite, leave their vehicles behind, and keep their TS restaurants filled with people.

 

[Lisa F]

I live in a resort area and have seen food prices go up a lot this year everywhere. I think it is a trend. A sandwich that used to be $13 was "not so bad" is now $17, and ridiculous. that bump is a huge percentage. I'm not sure if there is some greater trend in the country (like with construction materials going up due to tariffs going up) or what but I would not be surprised as a lot of produce and I bet even meat is farmed in central/south america. It seems like american farmers have been very affected by all this stuff going on and now we are having to subsidize them, this is going to trickle down to the cost of food.

A quick google shows that food prices escalating is a thing being talked about in the news, especially the rising price of eggs... which could explain the disproportionate breakfast rise.

As for me, my son is 10. I'm not going to let what is basically $50 on the length of my trip that is costing me a huge fortune to begin with change my plans. It's stupid to spend so much and then compromise on what we want to do, especially as my son is in the sweet spot for this stuff and will never be 10 again. Disney knows it and is counting on it. Anyone who cancels will see their ADRs snapped up. If restaurants have a lot of open ADRs then they will have to offer discounts, generally to AP holders as in the past to fill underperforming restaurants.

Am I disappointed? yes. will it change how I tour? no. My disney trips are too infrequent and too precious to draw a line in the sand and cut off my nose to spite my face. It IS only myself and my son though, if I had a larger family it would be a larger impact (but chances of me having a second adult income to offset it would be higher too).

 

[Nancyg56]

I live in a resort area and have seen food prices go up a lot this year everywhere. I think it is a trend. A sandwich that used to be $13 was "not so bad" is now $17, and ridiculous. that bump is a huge percentage. I'm not sure if there is some greater trend in the country (like with construction materials going up due to tariffs going up) or what but I would not be surprised as a lot of produce and I bet even meat is farmed in central/south america. It seems like american farmers have been very affected by all this stuff going on and now we are having to subsidize them, this is going to trickle down to the cost of food.

A quick google shows that food prices escalating is a thing being talked about in the news, especially the rising price of eggs... which could explain the disproportionate breakfast rise.

As for me, my son is 10. I'm not going to let what is basically $50 on the length of my trip that is costing me a huge fortune to begin with change my plans. It's stupid to spend so much and then compromise on what we want to do, especially as my son is in the sweet spot for this stuff and will never be 10 again. Disney knows it and is counting on it. Anyone who cancels will see their ADRs snapped up. If restaurants have a lot of open ADRs then they will have to offer discounts, generally to AP holders as in the past to fill underperforming restaurants.

Am I disappointed? yes. will it change how I tour? no. My disney trips are too infrequent and too precious to draw a line in the sand and cut off my nose to spite my face. It IS only myself and my son though, if I had a larger family it would be a larger impact (but chances of me having a second adult income to offset it would be higher too).

A good deal of the increase in food costs is the weather this year. Our area farmers have lost crops due to rain, unseasonable cold, hail, etc. It has occurred all over the Country.

 

[Lisa F]

A good deal of the increase in food costs is the weather this year. Our area farmers have lost crops due to rain, unseasonable cold, hail, etc. It has occurred all over the Country.

I believe it. The increase has been noticeable for me at restaurants (not just $1-2 but 25%) for sure. There is no way on this green earth Disney would absorb a cost in supplies, regardless of how overpriced their stuff is to start with.

 

[Nancyg56]

I believe it. The increase has been noticeable for me at restaurants (not just $1-2 but 25%) for sure. There is no way on this green earth Disney would absorb a cost in supplies, regardless of how overpriced their stuff is to start with.

No. My friend had to give up her pick ur own apple season after having finally gotten the trees to a good place after years of neglect by the previous owner. Her stone fruit was hit by hail and almost 3/4 of her orchard is gone. The apples that survived the frost after the trees budded were "spoiled" by the rain. The fruit itself is okay, however it is spotty and blemished. She cannot sell it for much, so she tossed in the towel, closed the pick ur own, and is selling the fruit for sauce, etc.