Food portion cuts to increase profits?

[Sith196]

Regarding food costs at the parks in general though, I did not find them to be that unreasonable, especially compared to the local amusement/theme park, Hersheypark.

Those dome cakes found around the Disney property that generally retail for $6 or so are $10 at Hershey. The $10 for a hot dog with fries or tots is easily $15+ at Hershey as well.

 

[el_super]

Also, I do think that often overlooked in analysis of Disney's past is the importance of the Walt/Roy pairing in the early success of the company. Walt was the creative genius; Roy was the business genius. I'm not sure if Chapek is either. But you need both. And Disney doesn't currently have that.

Roy thought Walt was earning too much money and taking advantage of the studio. People saying that Chapek is doing the same thing just makes it sound like we have a lot of Roy's around here.

And FWIW, whether you want to believe it or not, that duality is exactly what Iger was pitching when he said he would stay on in a creative role thru Dec. Chapek is the numbers guy and Iger is the creative.

 

[UNCgolf]

Roy thought Walt was earning too much money and taking advantage of the studio. People saying that Chapek is doing the same thing just makes it sound like we have a lot of Roy's around here.

And FWIW, whether you want to believe it or not, that duality is exactly what Iger was pitching when he said he would stay on in a creative role thru Dec. Chapek is the numbers guy and Iger is the creative.

The problem is that Iger isn't actually a creative.

And I don't even mean that subjectively -- he doesn't really have much of a background in it. He was head of ABC Entertainment for a few years, but he got there off his work with sports, not scripted television.

 

[celluloid]

The problem is that Iger isn't actually a creative.

And I don't even mean that subjectively -- he doesn't really have much of a background in it. He was head of ABC Entertainment for a few years, but he got there off his work with sports, not scripted television.

Exactly. And Eisner and Welles were a great combo for both sides of that coin. Both even dabbled in the eccentrics and enthusiasm of each other.

 

[pdude81]

View attachment 600042

One per person

 

[Clamman73]

Can't make coffee in the room with the coffee maker?

Have been if I go to some of these 730 rope drops.…It’s just when you pay for the refillable you’d hope there was access to beverages at a time you could before.

 

[NickWilde]

More penny-pinching from Greedy Bob... It's become his specialty these days to offer less for more. A portion decrease would be acceptable if they cut prices down, or if they raised the quality of the food, but we all know they're going to do neither of these. Just more penny pinching to scrounge up every little cent possible for Bob's fat pockets.

 

[WondersOfLife]

Oprah did a program segment years ago when she was given a private tour of this cast area. It looked good.

It smells awful. There’s a Subway down there, by the way. A little overpriced, but it’s a nice option to eat for CMs.

Now y’all know of the underground Magic Kingdom Subway.

 

[Tom P.]

Exactly. And Eisner and Welles were a great combo for both sides of that coin. Both even dabbled in the eccentrics and enthusiasm of the year.

Agreed. Eisner and Wells were the last time Disney really had that dual dynamic. And we see that Eisner really started to go off the rails once Wells was gone. They need that dynamic again. And, I'm sorry, but Iger and Chapek ain't it.

 

[Piebald]

Just watching Succession right now and it's like art imitating life imitating art.

 

[WondersOfLife]

It’s funny that so many people here are upset about this, but food companies have been doing this for years.
They are just not under the microscope like Disney.
Remember when a container of ice cream at the grocery store was 64 ounces?
That was reduced down to 56oz, then 48oz. For the same price.
I just recently noticed my 12 oz packages of chocolate chips are now 11oz and some 8oz packages of shredded cheese are now 7oz.

I can stull buy a gallon of ice cream at my local food lion for like 5 bucks.

 

[cranbiz]

It smells awful. There’s a Subway down there, by the way. A little overpriced, but it’s a nice option to eat for CMs.

Now y’all know of the underground Magic Kingdom Subway.

The utilidors, a place where everyone wants to see and once you experience them as a CM, you wonder what the fuss is about. The genuine garbage smell was magical. Is the Subway new? (well since 2011) All I remember is the wonderful Sodexo menu. I usually just brought lunch when I was driving the managers or cast shuttle. I usually just ate at the break area outside the main entrance when actually driving guests at MK. Too long of a walk from there for the time allocated.

 

[WondersOfLife]

The utilidors, a place where everyone wants to see and once you experience them as a CM, you wonder what the fuss is about. The genuine garbage smell was magical. Is the Subway new? (well since 2011) All I remember is the wonderful Sodexo menu. I usually just brought lunch when I was driving the managers or cast shuttle. I usually just ate at the break area outside the main entrance when actually driving guests at MK. Too long of a walk from there for the time allocated.

It was there when I did DCP 2-ish years ago.. Along with the pizza section and the mexican section. It was overpriced tho. I worked at Pirates so I usually just didn't eat until afterwards since it was such a long walk. Too far away, and I hated going to that little break room for Pirates. It was so hot in there when the AC unit was broken.

 

[networkpro]

I believe it's more of a misstatement of causality. The raw ingredient food stocks have gone up since last year: Beef rose 57.7%, fat and oils rose nearly 50%, eggs are up almost 40%, and processed poultry increased 30%. To offset that, menu (not amusement park, just normal dining) prices, on average, are up 4.7%. Be thankful you're in the US, globally the conditions are much worse.

 

[Disstevefan1]

I believe it's more of a misstatement of causality. The raw ingredient food stocks have gone up since last year: Beef rose 57.7%, fat and oils rose nearly 50%, eggs are up almost 40%, and processed poultry increased 30%. To offset that, menu (not amusement park, just normal dining) prices, on average, are up 4.7%. Be thankful you're in the US, globally the conditions are much worse.

Usually companies simply pass the price increase on to the customer.

Disneyparks does it better, they pass the price increase on to the customer AND give them less of what they charging them more for...... it's a beautiful thing.

 

[Lilofan]

Usually companies simply pass the price increase on to the customer.

Disneyparks does it better, they pass the price increase on to the customer AND give them less of what they charging them more for...... it's a beautiful thing.

Hotels that are non Disney do similar. Less options to enjoy hotel offerings ( limited food, recreation, hours) , charge a " resort fee ", less housekeeping , charge for daily parking etc, pay more to get less, that's nothing new.

 

[WDWTrojan]

You very likely saw only a small portion, as those tours really only go down the center spine and around the Main Street loop. I would be very surprised if you took a left or right turn and/or went very far in either direction at either end of the center spine.

Keys to the Kingdom only goes down in the Main St area. Frontierland/Adventureland was always the worst smelling part. Just wreaks of garbage that whole walk.

 

[matt9112]

It’s funny that so many people here are upset about this, but food companies have been doing this for years.
They are just not under the microscope like Disney.
Remember when a container of ice cream at the grocery store was 64 ounces?
That was reduced down to 56oz, then 48oz. For the same price.
I just recently noticed my 12 oz packages of chocolate chips are now 11oz and some 8oz packages of shredded cheese are now 7oz.

All of your examples are done usually to keep the price the same and or the quality of the product. Also none of your examples are in a bubble. (Think sports games...theme parks...movie theaters.) Places the vendor has zero compitition and thus you are already paying rediculous prices.

The reason people are upset is because of this damn trend. Its take take take. Across the whole board.

 

[Brian]

We took a Backstage Pass tour in 2019, which included some time walking around in the Utilidors. I don't recall noticing anything bad about them. Are there Utilidors in the MK that are different than the map below? That's where we went.

View attachment 599954

You very likely saw only a small portion, as those tours really only go down the center spine and around the Main Street loop. I would be very surprised if you took a left or right turn and/or went very far in either direction at either end of the center spine.

Getting to this way late, but what @maxairmike said. The areas where the tours go are kept somewhat "show ready". The areas around the park, especially in the Tomorrowland and Frontierland area can get quite grimy and smelly.

 

[mhaftman7]

Just my two cents, but I’m actually offended by her comment. I usually don’t get offended by things, but despite how she said it or her intentions, she still made a poor choice of words. As someone who struggles with weight and has all but relegated myself to being heavier than I’d like, I don’t find it funny when people make those types of comments. I think the part that grinds my gears the most is she doesn’t care that she said it.