News WDW Food and Beverage Price Increases 10/1/2019

TrainsOfDisney

Well-Known Member
See there you go.... Eisner personally cared about the experience. He brought his son in to look at imagineering projects.... he didn’t just see $$$... he knew they had to get it right. Sadly that backfired on him at Disneyland Paris where they overspent at the beginning....
 

orion54

Active Member
Yeah everyone makes mistakes.
And I agree with you regarding Iger’s approach.

I remember I was at MGM with my family a few weeks after it opened. We went to 50s Prime Time and were talking to some CMs there. They used to have a dessert that was ice cream in a chocolate, car shaped cup.
They told us that Eisner was just in there a few weeks back and tried the chocolate. He said, “I don’t like the texture of the chocolate. Send it all back.”
That’s how picky he was about food quality.


You can tell how much the food quality has fall across all the WDW parks over the years as the prices have risen dramatically too. It would be one thing to pay that much and the quality and quantity are kept at a high level. Most people wouldn't have a sour taste about that.
 

_caleb

Well-Known Member
You can tell how much the food quality has fall across all the WDW parks over the years as the prices have risen dramatically too. It would be one thing to pay that much and the quality and quantity are kept at a high level. Most people wouldn't have a sour taste about that.
What do you mean by “food quality?”
 

_caleb

Well-Known Member
I meant quality of food, not that Disney food was much to begin with,
Right. In what ways has the quality decreased? Do you think Disney was serving fresh chicken and beef before, and now they’re serving frozen? Do you think they used to bake bread on site, but now it’s pre-packaged? I’m curious where you’ve seen a drop in food quality.
 

_caleb

Well-Known Member
Well I can't speak for the person you're quoting. But for me it is exactly what it sounds like. For example, the quality of food at mama melrose, or tonys, is barely olive garden quality. When for the price you pay, it should be closer to a fine dining restaurant.
So you think Tony’s ”House-Made Gnocchi Primavera with Grilled Chicken Breast,” for example, used to be made fresh to order with all-natural ingredients (fresh, rather than frozen chicken, gnocchi hand-rolled from scratch), but now it’s pre-made, frozen, and microwaved to order?
 

The_Jobu

Well-Known Member
So you think Tony’s ”House-Made Gnocchi Primavera with Grilled Chicken Breast,” for example, used to be made fresh to order with all-natural ingredients (fresh, rather than frozen chicken, gnocchi hand-rolled from scratch), but now it’s pre-made, frozen, and microwaved to order?

To be fair, I dont think WDW even really did Italian that well, though I'm also an Italian food snob.

So... how about that Pizzarizzo? Hope that opens up again soon.
 

erasure fan1

Well-Known Member
So you think Tony’s ”House-Made Gnocchi Primavera with Grilled Chicken Breast,” for example, used to be made fresh to order with all-natural ingredients (fresh, rather than frozen chicken, gnocchi hand-rolled from scratch), but now it’s pre-made, frozen, and microwaved to order?
No, I think it's barely olive garden in quality.
 

orion54

Active Member
Right. In what ways has the quality decreased? Do you think Disney was serving fresh chicken and beef before, and now they’re serving frozen? Do you think they used to bake bread on site, but now it’s pre-packaged? I’m curious where you’ve seen a drop in food quality.


No never thought any of that. But I think they went from a lousy McDonald's to even lousier McDoogal's (or whatever that off brand was in Coming to America). All the while increasing their prices from Lexus to Ferrari.
 

_caleb

Well-Known Member
No, I think it's barely olive garden in quality.
You mentioned that. For the sake of discussion, I was asking you to elaborate a bit so that I could understand what you meant when you said that the food at WDW “is barely olive garden in quality.”

The thread is about a price increase to food on property. I agree that food prices are unreasonably high. The meals I’ve had at WDW have not been worth the cost to me. While the price increases are something we can quantify, the food quality is a bit more subjective. Some here have said that they think the food is of lower quality. I’m interested to know the difference in perceived quality.

You mention “Olive Garden.” For some people, that might be a good thing. Personally, I’m not a fan because I know that very little of the food is actually made on-site, and much of it is frozen or comes in bags and buckets. But I also happen to know that much of the food at WDW also comes in bags and buckets, and that they’ve done it that way for many years.
 

orion54

Active Member
You mentioned that. For the sake of discussion, I was asking you to elaborate a bit so that I could understand what you meant when you said that the food at WDW “is barely olive garden in quality.”

The thread is about a price increase to food on property. I agree that food prices are unreasonably high. The meals I’ve had at WDW have not been worth the cost to me. While the price increases are something we can quantify, the food quality is a bit more subjective. Some here have said that they think the food is of lower quality. I’m interested to know the difference in perceived quality.

You mention “Olive Garden.” For some people, that might be a good thing. Personally, I’m not a fan because I know that very little of the food is actually made on-site, and much of it is frozen or comes in bags and buckets. But I also happen to know that much of the food at WDW also comes in bags and buckets, and that they’ve done it that way for many years.


Ok, I'll try, the CS food over the years, for example hamburgers and hot dogs have become less palatable. Salt levels are higher, texture and taste at least from our tastes make us never want to eat at a MK CS ever again. the same low quality burger is used parks wide. Many other sites dedicated to Disney Food mention the lower quality and higher cost too. Yes, taste is subjective but the difference in USDA Prime and Choice may be insignificant but they are charging Kobe beef prices for USDA (whatever level is barely human grade food).
 

The_Jobu

Well-Known Member
Ok, I'll try, the CS food over the years, for example hamburgers and hot dogs have become less palatable. Salt levels are higher, texture and taste at least from our tastes make us never want to eat at a MK CS ever again. the same low quality burger is used parks wide. Many other sites dedicated to Disney Food mention the lower quality and higher cost too. Yes, taste is subjective but the difference in USDA Prime and Choice may be insignificant but they are charging Kobe beef prices for USDA (whatever level is barely human grade food).

Mmmmmmm .... Utility grade meat yum!
 

Chi84

Premium Member
There are so many food choices at WDW quick service restaurants. Just this last trip, my husband and I had a shrimp and arugula flatbread and tomato basil soup (Pizzafari), a lamb and chicken shawarma plate with a side olive salad (Tangierine Cafe and it was enough for us to split), and a hummus and veggie sandwich and shrimp salad with raspberry vinaigrette dressing (CHH). That’s just a sample. I can’t speak to the quality of burgers and hot dogs, but the food I ate was good and there was a lot of variety.
 

xdan0920

Think for yourselfer
We just returned from a 7-day trip. We didn’t notice any decrease in quality at the quick service restaurants we visited, but prices were a bit higher and portions seemed a bit smaller. That’s true of many restaurants these days, though, not just Disney. The exception was Tangierine Cafe. The management must have seen the thread here about smaller portions because we got heaping portions of everything including a side of olive salad that was spilling out all over the plate 😂.
Ya don't say.
 

monothingie

Proxy War 2024: Never Forget
Premium Member
Original Poster
You can tell how much the food quality has fall across all the WDW parks over the years as the prices have risen dramatically too. It would be one thing to pay that much and the quality and quantity are kept at a high level. Most people wouldn't have a sour taste about that.

The beauty of a captive audience.

There are a few hidden gems amongst the sea of mass produced mystery meat dispensaries, however if the guests continue to patronize quality establishments such as the Electric Umbrella and Pizzafari (now serving ketchup with bread and grated cheese) then what motivation do they have to step up their game.
 

VaderTron

Well-Known Member
You mentioned that. For the sake of discussion, I was asking you to elaborate a bit so that I could understand what you meant when you said that the food at WDW “is barely olive garden in quality.”

The thread is about a price increase to food on property. I agree that food prices are unreasonably high. The meals I’ve had at WDW have not been worth the cost to me. While the price increases are something we can quantify, the food quality is a bit more subjective. Some here have said that they think the food is of lower quality. I’m interested to know the difference in perceived quality.

You mention “Olive Garden.” For some people, that might be a good thing. Personally, I’m not a fan because I know that very little of the food is actually made on-site, and much of it is frozen or comes in bags and buckets. But I also happen to know that much of the food at WDW also comes in bags and buckets, and that they’ve done it that way for many years.

No, I don't see people at Disney's Italian restaurants making gnocchi from scratch with organic yukon gold potatoes, semolina flour and farm fresh eggs each morning. IF they do make it from scratch it would be with the cheapest of all-purpose flour, commercial russet potatoes, and the cheapest of eggs from sick/dying chickens stuffed in cages for their whole lives. More than likely, it's Sysco (or whatever food supplier WDW uses) "fresh" gnocchi in a package that is boiled to order and added to the finishing pan with the other ingredients.

Many people also don't understand that food quality grades are varied and complex. For example, you could say that you have steak on your menu. What grade do you think it is? Most people can think of a couple of grades. Actually their are 8 grades of beef all the with prefix U.S. : Canner, Cutter, Utility, Commercial, Standard, Select, Choice, and Prime. Some even fine-tune the grade with "AAA Prime" or other such variances. On top of the grade you have the cut, which we all know some are better than others. Then you have different breeds of cattle and how/where the animal was raised. You have free-range, organic, grass-fed, pasture raised, local (allowing for true fresh meat, never frozen), Kosher, Natural, Humanely-raised, no antibiotics/hormones, Angus, Wagyu, and Kobe.

From just one category of meat it is very easy to see the path a company can take to a slow (or fast) decline in food quality when you start choosing lower quality ingredients. Lower quality = lower cost. Unfortunately for current management that is the only equation that matters.

This type of hierarchy within a food category is not unique to beef. Other meat, such as chicken, have the same. For personal experience I highly suggest you cook a Tyson "fresh" chicken breast and a Joyce Farms Poulet Rouge Whole Heritage chicken breast and taste them at the same time. The difference will blow your mind. You will be convinced Tyson has you eating a rubber chicken. It's also not unique to meat. Try a Walmart bakery Italian loaf of bread and tell me it's the same as a fresh loaf from a real bakery. Read the ingredients. What's a dough conditioner or the other stuff you can't pronounce? I'll keep it brief...it's not what good bakers put in their fresh bread, but it does have to do with why you can keep it for about a week or more without it getting moldy. (That's not as positive as it sounds.) Also, take Kraft grated Parmesan and compare it to a Parmesan wedge you fresh grate yourself. Get a "cheaper" wedge from the local grocery in the cheese section, and then go get a "real" Parmesan chunk from Whole Foods. You will notice a vast chasm between Kraft grated (with anti-caking agents making up a significant amount of the "parmesan") and the "real" Parmesan from Whole Foods. The wedge from the local grocery will also taste a little different. Better than Kraft but not quite as good as Whole Foods.

The point is in just one dish a substitution or downgrade of several ingredients, even if not downgraded by much, will still be noticed in overall taste, flavor, tenderness, texture, and so forth. So, there are not two tiers of cooking: frozen microwaved and "fresh made". There are many nuances that will alter the quality and enjoyment of the food we eat.

Have I seen Disney's food quality slide? Yes. Majorly. The reasons would only be known if you were involved in the food order process for a Disney restaurant. A few "small" changes in quality of ingredients when all put together in the same dish will be noticed.
 
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Disstevefan1

Well-Known Member
Disney does a good deed but also big public relations.
Disney does a good deed but also big public relations and can make more money too, like their push to eliminate free plastic shopping bags to save the planet then push you to buy reusable shopping bags (FYI, folks throw them away when they get home too)
 

n2hifi

Active Member
The beauty of a captive audience.

There are a few hidden gems amongst the sea of mass produced mystery meat dispensaries, however if the guests continue to patronize quality establishments such as the Electric Umbrella and Pizzafari (now serving ketchup with bread and grated cheese) then what motivation do they have to step up their game.
This! When I used to travel for work, it annoyed me to no end when we went to great foodie cities and the people in my group wanted to go to Applebee's for dinner. I like quite a few WDW restaurants, but too many people keep ordering the same horrible 'burgers, fries and pizza' that they are comfortable with.

In a similar vein there was a bar near me that charged twice as much for Bud Light than any other beer. The owners were tired of people ordering 'the worst beer they had' so they overpriced it and people still ordered it.
 

Chi84

Premium Member
This! When I used to travel for work, it annoyed me to no end when we went to great foodie cities and the people in my group wanted to go to Applebee's for dinner. I like quite a few WDW restaurants, but too many people keep ordering the same horrible 'burgers, fries and pizza' that they are comfortable with.

In a similar vein there was a bar near me that charged twice as much for Bud Light than any other beer. The owners were tired of people ordering 'the worst beer they had' so they overpriced it and people still ordered it.
Even Pizzafari has a few things on the menu that are good - we've never tried their regular pizza. It's all about the choices.
 

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