In park prices food and drink jumped yesterday

[kymom99]

When we first went, in 2004, I felt like the food and drink prices were reasonable. Less than $2 for a fountain drink wasn't too bad. I remember buying my son a Gatorade here and there and didn't cringe at the cost. The kids meals were $3.99. We had a backpack for things like ponchos and a change of clothes for the boy, and a few little snacks like gummies, etc. During that time I didn't hear much about the meal plans. A friend of mine took her family and she commented that she thought the food prices weren't bad. It was as little as $3 to add on a day to your park tickets. Then they started really pushing the meal plans. It was something like $30 a person per day for the TS plan and that included all taxes and tips. We didn't buy it but that was when you couldn't get near a TS restaurant without a reservation made ahead of time. Over the next 10 years prices just seemed to skyrocket. Now people feel like they need to lug in bags of food and drinks to be able to go. Takes a lot of the spontaneity and enjoyment out of the trip and makes it more like a job or a quest.

 

[LovesTimone]

As far a price hikes...

They hike up the price in the grocery store constantly.

We went to see Game of Thrones Live, a bottle of water and a beer was 18.00 bucks.

Braves games 6 bucks for a coke, 10 to 12 for a flat, hot beer...

Really anywhere you go Ball Games, Concert, Theme Parks, that's the price you will pay... more likely more than that....

Travel outside of the US and you will see the same thing... A coke a Disneyland Paris was 4 to 6 euros - so 5 to almost 8 US. We paid more in Paris.

What about in the airport... crazy what you pay for bottled water and coke.

While no one is thrilled about the price hike... people are going to pay it... so just grab a Mickey Bar and watch the parade....

 

[ClapYourHands]

As far a price hikes...

They hike up the price in the grocery store constantly.

We went to see Game of Thrones Live, a bottle of water and a beer was 18.00 bucks.

Braves games 6 bucks for a coke, 10 to 12 for a flat, hot beer...

Really anywhere you go Ball Games, Concert, Theme Parks, that's the price you will pay... more likely more than that....

Travel outside of the US and you will see the same thing... A coke a Disneyland Paris was 4 to 6 euros - so 5 to almost 8 US. We paid more in Paris.

What about in the airport... crazy what you pay for bottled water and coke.

While no one is thrilled about the price hike... people are going to pay it... so just grab a Mickey Bar and watch the parade....

As someone mentioned up thread, when I go to a concert or sporting event, it’s for a few hours. I can usually eat my meals before or after, but if it does fall during meal time, it’s one meal. Unless you have a car, on a Disney vacation, it’s 3 meals a day by Disney.

I actually don’t really care about soda and ice cream prices increasing because to me those are extras; they’re treats I can choose to splurge on or not. I do care about meal prices increasing because, well, we need to eat.

 

[SL6827]

While no one is thrilled about the price hike... people are going to pay it... so just grab a Mickey Bar and watch the parade....

Ugh, no. I have a tipping point. And they have most certainly reached it with the Mickey Bars.

 

[Hikergirl]

As someone mentioned up thread, when I go to a concert or sporting event, it’s for a few hours. I can usually eat my meals before or after, but if it does fall during meal time, it’s one meal. Unless you have a car, on a Disney vacation, it’s 3 meals a day by Disney.

I actually don’t really care about soda and ice cream prices increasing because to me those are extras; they’re treats I can choose to splurge on or not. I do care about meal prices increasing because, well, we need to eat.

You can choose to eat meals there too. Pack your own food and bring it in to the parks, WDW allows that.

 

[missnic]

Honestly, I've never found their prices to be too outrageous. Their QS portion size has always been large enough that DH and I usually share an entree. If we eat out at home, we're each buying an entree (and then we're overstuffing ourselves, or throwing away a lot of food). We actually spend less money for a weekend at Disney than we do for a typical weekend at home. We don't typically buy soda or water in the parks, so that's kind of a non issue for us. I'm more concerned with the $9pp increase for Biergarten lunch.

 

[Shanti]

While no one is thrilled about the price hike... people are going to pay it... so just grab a Mickey Bar and watch the parade....

What parade? They're cutting most of their parades to save money.

 

[pearlieq]

Definitely felt some sticker shock this week! $5 for a soda that was mostly ice did get really old over the course of the week. We were refused refills as well. I'm not sure if that is policy or just a bad CM, but it left me even more irked at the gouging.

I also can't buy in to the "everywhere is like that, people will pay it" line of reasoning. For me there is a tipping point, and this is it. I have no current plans to go back and a lot of that is due to cuts & price increases.

 

[BridgetBordeaux]

For the past several years, Disney has gotten aggressive with their price hikes. Tickets, resorts, parking fees, food, etc have all jumped in price dramatically............especially considering the economy is only recently getting strong.

I have reached the tipping point. I am letting my AP expire and will try to go once a year in the future.

 

[kymom99]

Definitely felt some sticker shock this week! $5 for a soda that was mostly ice did get really old over the course of the week. We were refused refills as well. I'm not sure if that is policy or just a bad CM, but it left me even more irked at the gouging.

I also can't buy in to the "everywhere is like that, people will pay it" line of reasoning. For me there is a tipping point, and this is it. I have no current plans to go back and a lot of that is due to cuts & price increases.

$5???? Holy smokes!

 

[disneylove69]

Aren't they trying to get people to break their soda habit? All those high fructose corn syrup based drinks are terrible for you. They should be getting people to shift to La Croix sparkling water.

Actually a lawsuit happening with La Croix. There is chemicals used in cockroach spray and a few other chemicals.

 

[disneylove69]

For the past several years, Disney has gotten aggressive with their price hikes. Tickets, resorts, parking fees, food, etc have all jumped in price dramatically............especially considering the economy is only recently getting strong.

I have reached the tipping point. I am letting my AP expire and will try to go once a year in the future.

They are still making a lot of money and filling rooms.

 

[MillauFr]

Actually a lawsuit happening with La Croix. There is chemicals used in cockroach spray and a few other chemicals.

That lawsuit is a conspiracy funded by coke and pepsi designed to discredit La Croix. They realize the soda pop business is just getting decimated by the flavored waters. Instead of trying to compete they are using the court system. Absolutely disgusting.

 

[MillauFr]

$5???? Holy smokes!

Yes $5 is nothing. It is the $700 a night for a standard room at the Grand Californian that makes me upset. Even more crazy is there is plenty of people not even thinking twice about paying $700 a night for a hotel room that they are just sleeping in. Too many people on the west coast just have money burning a hole in their pocket. People are absolutely flushing their money down the toilet.

 

[ClapYourHands]

Yes $5 is nothing. It is the $700 a night for a standard room at the Grand Californian that makes me upset. Even more crazy is there is plenty of people not even thinking twice about paying $700 a night for a hotel room that they are just sleeping in. Too many people on the west coast just have money burning a hole in their pocket. People are absolutely flushing their money down the toilet.

It's really not a west coat issue. Plenty of people go to WDW and spend insane (to me) amounts of money on their vacations. Rack rate for standard view at the Poly in value season starts at over $500, and if you want a one-bedroom club level for New Year's, it's going to cost you $2K. While I think it would be fun to stay at a monorail resort, I'm not paying those prices.

And for those who choose to spend their money that way, good for you! Seriously, it's your vacation and your money, so do what makes you happy.

While I have no problem staying at Pop, I realize that there are people who would be miserable in a value room, people for whom a vacation is not a vacation without room to spread out, interior corridors, attentive bell services, pools with waterslides, the ability to roll out of bed and be in the park in 15 minutes. To them, it's not "flushing their money down the toilet," it's paying for a level of amenities and convenience that they find worth they money.

 

[ClapYourHands]

Yes $5 is nothing.

And about the $5 sodas. Up to this point, there's been a sort of understanding that you can do WDW on many budget levels. You can fly first class and stay at a deluxe or you can drive and pitch a tent at the Fort. But once you were in the park, everyone was more or less on an even playing field. Sure, not everyone was doing signature dining, but FP+ were available to all, lines were the same for everyone, counter service was varied, adequate, and affordable, and even tight budgets could splurge on small luxuries like Mickey Ears and Mickey Bars. Now CL can pay for additional fast passes booked at 90 days, good fireworks viewing areas that were formerly free to early birds are roped off for those who pay hundreds of dollars for parties, special expensive tours get more fast passes and preferred seating, etc.

People see that, maybe don't really like it, but adapt. For some people, though, these $5 sodas are the tipping point. Because while $5 isn't that much, if you're a family of 5, that's $25 on ice, carbonated water, and syrup that probably costs Disney 25 cents. In short, it's taking something that used to be an ordinary part of the trip and turning it into a luxury item.

Some people reached the tipping point when Disney hotels started charing parking. Some people will reach the tipping point when the new ticket pricing structure comes out. Some people will reach the tipping point when Disney no longer allows outside food/drink or starts charging for the Magical Express (which seems likely with the way things are trending). Other people will continue going and paying whatever it costs.

I don't really drink soda, so this isn't my tipping point. But I can totally understand why it is for some people.

 

[firefly_ris]

I don't really drink soda, so this isn't my tipping point. But I can totally understand why it is for some people.

Yeah we don't drink soda either, and I've brought my own water in a bajillion times before (although I usually do end up buying a few specialty drinks over the course of a week -- whether that's a fancy coffee drink or an alcoholic drink or whatever, but I try to budget ahead of time for those things and they are splurges, not something at every meal), so the soda price thing doesn't have a huge personal effect on ME personally, but other things have -- I originally had 5 TS meals booked for a week stay and I already cancelled 2 of them, down to 3, and one more of those might get the axe with these increases. I could technically still afford them if I wanted to, but looking at the items compared to their new prices, they have now surpassed their value, so are just no longer worth it to me. Food doesn't make or break my trip as I'm not above bringing in PB&Js for my kids, but having at least a little park food experience here and there IS still a part of the vacation experience for me... so there is a lot of diminished value overall there. I get what they are doing -- please shareholders, reduce guest crowding but maintain/increase profits at the same time. They'll keep pushing that sore tooth until another recession hits.

 

[kymom99]

And about the $5 sodas. Up to this point, there's been a sort of understanding that you can do WDW on many budget levels. You can fly first class and stay at a deluxe or you can drive and pitch a tent at the Fort. But once you were in the park, everyone was more or less on an even playing field. Sure, not everyone was doing signature dining, but FP+ were available to all, lines were the same for everyone, counter service was varied, adequate, and affordable, and even tight budgets could splurge on small luxuries like Mickey Ears and Mickey Bars. Now CL can pay for additional fast passes booked at 90 days, good fireworks viewing areas that were formerly free to early birds are roped off for those who pay hundreds of dollars for parties, special expensive tours get more fast passes and preferred seating, etc.

People see that, maybe don't really like it, but adapt. For some people, though, these $5 sodas are the tipping point. Because while $5 isn't that much, if you're a family of 5, that's $25 on ice, carbonated water, and syrup that probably costs Disney 25 cents. In short, it's taking something that used to be an ordinary part of the trip and turning it into a luxury item.

Some people reached the tipping point when Disney hotels started charing parking. Some people will reach the tipping point when the new ticket pricing structure comes out. Some people will reach the tipping point when Disney no longer allows outside food/drink or starts charging for the Magical Express (which seems likely with the way things are trending). Other people will continue going and paying whatever it costs.

I don't really drink soda, so this isn't my tipping point. But I can totally understand why it is for some people.

My biggest issue with the $5 price is, as you said, the cost of the product. Soda costs literally pennies. The profit margin is huge there. I am seeing sodas and coffee/tea costing $2.50 in a restaurant where I am served at my table and get unlimited refills. At McDonalds they are $1. So I stand by my opinion that $5 is flat out outrageous. And I agree with what you are saying. A family of 4 could easily spend $50 a day just on drinks.

 

[Hikergirl]

I'm sure this recent price hike has nothing to do with their environmentally conscious decision to get rid of straws and plastic lids.
I doubt they even considered that people would start choosing to forgo a cup of soda and instead opt for bottles that would be easily carried around without spilling.
Now you will have to excuse me, I've got to go adjust my foil hat

 

[SteveH]

I think Disney looked at the soda prices at NFL and MLB games and figured, why not. MLB games ranged from $6.50-$4.00, sizes from 24-16oz. But in a cup with ice most 24oz drinks are still less then 16oz in a bottle. Look how much people will pay for soda and popcorn at a movie theater. Taking that all into account the Disney prices don't seem so bad after all.