Why does disney raise prices during their busiest times???

[freediverdude]

Enough people feel that they're not too high. They go to Disney because they want to. This is capitalism, LOL. Disney World is not a public service.

Well I'm glad that you feel some of those prices are not too high then. Please feel free to go and pay more. And when they finally price even you out, then come back and talk to me. That wasn't the original idea for the theme parks, and its often not the best model for making the most money either.

 

[mattsdragon]

I can't tell if this thread was serious, a joke, or meant to incite.

The answer, as anyone who has taken Econ 101 would tell you, was delivered in Mesa's response. But I'm still not certain of the sincerity of the question.

 

[Good Morning Dewdrop]

The restaurant is required by federal labor laws to ensure the server is receiving at least federal minimum wage after including their tips. It is not inconceivable that during especially busy times, a server could have a long enough run of staffers to impact their pay period & bring it up short. Also, consider that many servers who may be part time might be offered incentives to work additional shifts due to high volume. Those incentives are an additional expense over & above the employees wage.

I would be shocked if this was a problem with Disney servers. Honestly we (family of 3) used to eat at Character meals - our bills would be $100 (or more) for the most part - which is at least a $15 tip (assuming we just tipped the standard 15% and not the Disney recommended 18%). Each server at a buffet only has to bring drinks, plates and checks (ie no food order taking/ delivery) so they have a good number of tables. Honestly I sort of suspect the servers make out like bandits - if they have 5 tables each with an average tip of $20 / table (most families are bigger than ours) that's $100 / hour - nice!

 

[kandb]

MATTSDRAGON-Yes, this is a sincere question. As I stated, I understand raising resort prices at peak times and airlines raise their prices at peak times but I never heard of raising prices of food because the restaurant is "busy". Does disney change their restaurant menu's (prices) during "peak" season? I don't believe so. I don't know of any restaurants that change their prices on Friday and Saturday because it is their peak times. I just find it strange to start charging more for food during busy times. Personally, I find it over the top.

 

[maxiesmom]

MATTSDRAGON-Yes, this is a sincere question. As I stated, I understand raising resort prices at peak times and airlines raise their prices at peak times but I never heard of raising prices of food because the restaurant is "busy". Does disney change their restaurant menu's (prices) during "peak" season? I don't believe so. I don't know of any restaurants that change their prices on Friday and Saturday because it is their peak times. I just find it strange to start charging more for food during busy times. Personally, I find it over the top.

They aren't just charging more for the food. They are charging for access to the characters, without having to wait in extra long lines along with the rest of the park's guests.

I don't believe all restaurants charge more during peak times. Just some. If you find the cost is out of line, then don't eat at those restaurants. Thankfully they don't raise prices at the quick service restaurants.

 

[Shelton123]

It's a mix of the fact that they're a huge company so that if they charge more they get more money, the fact that more people will come "on season" regardless of how much higher the prices are, the fact that they probably have more people working there, and much harder, on season than off, and they want more people to come off season so they give an incentive to come off season - a lower price.

Is it ridiculous? Maybe, it's not like they'd go bankrupt by charging the same amount all year round, but if you can make more money, why not?

 

[ObsessedWithDW]

Enough people feel that they're not too high. They go to Disney because they want to. This is capitalism, LOL. Disney World is not a public service.

Amen!

 

[ThreeBeans]

Well I'm glad that you feel some of those prices are not too high then. Please feel free to go and pay more. And when they finally price even you out, then come back and talk to me. That wasn't the original idea for the theme parks, and its often not the best model for making the most money either.

When it's too much money for me personally? I won't go. As long as it isn't, I will. I don't want to go to Universal Studios. I want to go to Disney World. And WDW will continue to raise prices as long as it is profitable to do so. I fail to see what is wrong with that scenario.

WDW is not going to raise prices if it cuts their profits. They've sort of got this whole money thing down a science. Maybe not websites but definitely profits

 

[Brave teacher]

Supply and demand.

I am a high school Economics teacher. I was going to post this exact answer.

 

[mesaboy2]

I am a high school Economics teacher. I was going to post this exact answer.

I remember this, and I remember TANSTAAFL.

 

[DebbieB]

I would be shocked if this was a problem with Disney servers. Honestly we (family of 3) used to eat at Character meals - our bills would be $100 (or more) for the most part - which is at least a $15 tip (assuming we just tipped the standard 15% and not the Disney recommended 18%). Each server at a buffet only has to bring drinks, plates and checks (ie no food order taking/ delivery) so they have a good number of tables. Honestly I sort of suspect the servers make out like bandits - if they have 5 tables each with an average tip of $20 / table (most families are bigger than ours) that's $100 / hour - nice!

I agree, I don't know how it would be possible for a Disney server not to make minimum wage incl tips, especially with character buffets which are ridiculously expensive. The minimum wage in Florida is $7.79 an hour for 2013. They probably do have to share tips with bus people and also bartenders in restaurants that serve alcohol but they are still doing very well.

 

[ZoZo]

I guess you could also reason that they have to pay more employees at busy times?

I'm not sure how many business do do that! I work retail, and I know I don't get paid more on Black Friday than I do the rest of the year! And we really should!!

I think what the original poster meant was that WDW would need to "staff up" and have a larger number of employees working at their busiest times (not that they would pay their existing employees a higher wage). I volunteer at my local zoo, and we have nearly three times the number of employees working in the summer as we do in the winter (because in the cold, rainy weather, we have a much lower number of visitors). I assume WDW staffs according to their attendance, as well.

 

[Tropical Wilds]

lol your reply was post #7, and you couldn't read the "whole thread"?

Ok, this made me LoL! I read that whole thing out loud and we're all dying here over that one... LoL!

Anyway, as I understand it, the surcharge goes not to the servers, but the characters. Many (most?) are unionized and during the peak seasons, the characters are often delayed past their scheduled working shifts. Because there's no set time where they're "cut off" as with the direct meet-and-greets, they rely on a handler letting them know between tables. However, if a previous character ran over in their tableside interactions (or the others ran fast), causing large delays in people's character interactions, a character would often stay out and work the section and put them in overtime.

The surcharge goes to offset the cost of a union mandate regarding their overtime that was formalized in 2011. This is why the surcharge largely exists at character dining, not all dining.

As for the thought that servers make $100 an hour... Big, fat LOL on that one.

First off, tipped servers make about $4.50 an hour, before taxes. Secondly, the tip for a buffet service is typically less then 15%. Thirdly, they split tips with runners, bussers, and the hostess, as well as bartenders or specialty drink counters. Fourth, Disney servers are almost universally highly experienced (not your typical Olive Garden server), have been with the company awhile... It's NOT an entry level position, as a result, their tips reflect their experience... Though few of them are full time. Finally, due to the DDP, servers are stiffed in some spots as much as 50% of the time by DDP guests, especially during free dining.

Do they make more then TGI servers? Yes. Are they pulling in $100 an hour? Not even close. Not even the CRT servers on New Years Day.

 

[daisyh5]

Unfortunately peak season is the only time all of my family can go due to college breaks and sports. This year the prices have become too much for us. We have a party of 12 and needed 3 rooms. So to combat that issue, we have decided for the 1st time to stay off site. On our 7 night/day stay, we are saving over $3000. We have made all our normal ADRs and purchased 7 day MYW+WP&M tickets. (We normally get DDP) Those have been calculated into our price as well as snacks ($10 ea). The price increases are causing WDW to lose out on some of our money.

Only 2 of the restaurants we are eating at have price increases, Chef Mickeys and Ohana.

To be honest we are excited to be staying in Windsor Hills in a 6 bedroom house with 4 bathrooms. (Vs 3 rooms and 3 baths) It's a new adventure!

 

[Iloveeliot]

This kind of doesn't make sense to me. The restaurants don't have to charge higher rates to afford to pay their extra staff. They need extra staff because there are more guests. More guests mean they are making more money than during a less busy time. The money the extra guests bring in can pay the extra staff needed to accommodate them. I agree they charge extra because people will pay it. I know I'm idealistic but just because they can charge more and people will pay it doesn't make it right. I LOVE Disney but it does seen a bit like taking advantage of people's love for them. Totally just an opinion.

 

[freediverdude]

Yes, I would say that when VP's at the mid-size company I work for, people making easily 6 figures, are telling me that Disney has become too expensive and they are skipping this year, something is wrong with the strategy. And these are people who have visited places like Atlantis in the past without batting an eye.

And as far as the raising prices is more profit, I have a scenario. What if, like Disney, you had hotels that were consistently full, even though the prices were fairly high. Now which would be the better scenario for potential future profits and expansion, A) continue to raise prices until you finally see occupancy fall, or B) build new resorts like mad, creating many jobs and potential for much more profit with many more rooms? I will argue B), and we haven't seen a new deluxe resort that wasn't a timeshare building in ages.

 

[Marthasor]

Perhaps many people don't know - Disney charges more for the dining plan at certain times of the year as well. They have Season 1 and Season 2 pricing and, if you choose the dining plan, you are charged Season 1 or Season 2 prices based on the date you check-in. Disney can charge whatever they want and guests can decide whether they want to go or not. I don't see a right or wrong here and I doubt they are charging more because they have more wait staff. They are a publicly traded company and their job is to make their shareholders MONEY!

 

[Allison]

Perhaps many people don't know - Disney charges more for the dining plan at certain times of the year as well. They have Season 1 and Season 2 pricing and, if you choose the dining plan, you are charged Season 1 or Season 2 prices based on the date you check-in. Disney can charge whatever they want and guests can decide whether they want to go or not. I don't see a right or wrong here and I doubt they are charging more because they have more wait staff. They are a publicly traded company and their job is to make their shareholders MONEY!

Exactly.

 

[daisyh5]

The price increase of the DDP was another reason we decided to stay off site without dining. Only 2 of the places we have ADRs will have price increases due to seasonal rates. We have always been huge DDP fans, but Not now!

 

[disnut8]

This thread makes me chuckle because we rarely will eat offsite but yet we find that we do not starve while at Disney World. If you don't like the price structure of a restaurant, there are tons of others to fill up your stomachs. And there are things called quick service places that do serve decent food. You don't HAVE to eat at the places with the surcharge. My gosh, with all the time we all spend on boards like this, I think everyone could do a bit of research and find the places where (1) no surcharge and (2) has food you can eat and not die from.