Fountain & Bottled Drink, Popcorn, Pretzel, and Other Snack Item Prices Exponentially

[Stevek]

So here's a quick question.

Has the food price increase or will they change how you vacation at the world?

No, the changes previously made (along with years of too much Disney) have already made that decision. We live in California, it's certainly less attractive for us to visit WDW than it was in 2006 or 2010...the last 2 visits in 2014 & 2017 confirmed that. That being said, that's not necessarily just a WDW thing...our home park here in Anaheim is pretty much a no go anymore as well. We had APs for many years and the value we received is no longer worth the money we pay for multiple reasons with the biggest culprits being increases in prices across the board (tickets, food, parking) and the sheer number of folks visiting on any given day. The slow days we could set a clock by a few years ago are long, long gone.

 

[Disneyhead'71]

We have a few "fancy" restaurants in the state where you might see prices like that. Not many, though. No need. We have Tudor's Biscuit World.

As you know, I grew up in Beckley and am a Marshall alumni so I know Tudor's awesome. And I'll have a Mountaineer please.

 

[Club Cooloholic]

The difference between Universal and Disney, as far as table service restaurants go, is Universal's most expensive TSRs have prices that align with Sci-Fi Dine In. But have considerably better food.

And here are Universal's current snack prices.

That refillable popcorn always comes in handy, get it every time.

 

[Tom P.]

But is there a single restaurant in the entire state of WV that has a $26 3-piece fried chicken dinner with one side and a biscuit (Homecomin') besides maybe The Greenbrier?

There are a few true fine dining restaurants in West Virginia where you can see very high prices. Laury's in Charleston, for example, can easily cost $200 or more for two people to dine. But those are definitely rare and, as I say, are fine dining. A fried chicken dinner is not going to be on the menu there anyway.

 

[geekza]

As you know, I grew up in Beckley and am a Marshall alumni so I know Tudor's awesome. And I'll have a Mountaineer please.

Aw, yeah.

 

[Disneyhead'71]

The big difference in prices between WDW and UOR prices though are resort rack rates and DS/CityWalk food prices. CityWalk food prices align with Orlando mid tier restaurants. DS food prices are much higher. And Universal's resorts are a much better value than WDW's.

 

[geekza]

And Universal's resorts are a much better value than WDW's.

Especially considering that the new resort they're building will be offering rooms around $79 a night.

 

[brettf22]

Since folks like to draw parallels with going to football games, let’s look at the Atlanta Falcons. They actually lowered concession prices. Low and behold, they made more money. AND had happier fans. Imagine that.

“Although food and beverage prices were 50 percent lower in its new Mercedes-Benz Stadium than the prices in the Georgia Dome the previous year, fans spent 16 percent more.

‘There's a huge value in delighting your fan base, to make them as happy as they could possibly be,’ Cannon said. ‘We started with one of the biggest pain points and it paid off.’”

http://es.pn/2DFdFJK

 

[disneygeek90]

Since folks like to draw parallels with going to football games, let’s look at the Atlanta Falcons. They actually lowered concession prices. Low and behind, they made more money. AND had happier fans. Imagine that.

“Although food and beverage prices were 50 percent lower in its new Mercedes-Benz Stadium than the prices in the Georgia Dome the previous year, fans spent 16 percent more.

‘There's a huge value in delighting your fan base, to make them as happy as they could possibly be,’ Cannon said. ‘We started with one of the biggest pain points and it paid off.’”

http://es.pn/2DFdFJK

Ahhh, this reminds me of that "lemonade stand" computer game in elementary school. At some point you learn if priced correctly a lower price = more money.

 

[Disneyhead'71]

There is also something to be said about the psychology of making the guests feel as though they got a good value as opposed to feeling like they are being nickeled and dimed every inch of the way.

 

[Club Cooloholic]

There is also something to be said about the psychology of making the guests feel as though they got a good value as opposed to feeling like they are being nickeled and dimed every inch of the way.

That's why they sell you the dining plan. If people get it then arrive at the parks and see how much just a coke is, they can nudge their spouse and say "see with that dining plan we are saving so much on lunch!

 

[flyerjab]

One thing that I have left out of my posts regarding the price increases is that they haven't impacted us...yet. And honestly, when they continue to go up, they will most likely get to a point that is no longer affordable. At that point, we will most likely sell our points and not really go anymore. Can't go in debt just to go to Disney. Even a pixie duster like myself has a line.

 

[jbolen2]

How much does this close the gap on the dining plan to paying out of pocket until they increase it next year also.

 

[DisneyCane]

Thank you for the full explanation. I understand all that - I'm not an idiot.

Maybe you're right to think I'm stupid, though. Maybe my reading comprehension isn't that good because I missed how all of this was implied by "Disney probably gets a good deal on syrup but, in general, it isn't as cheap as people think... ".

It generally is about "as cheap as people think" and nothing you wrote here in response refutes that.

Of course they are maximizing profit. I think everyone on both sides of this discussion is aware of that and as I said before, cost has almost nothing to do with the price of anything at Disney, just like it has almost nothing to do with price anywhere else in a modern capitalist society.

My reply was not meant to imply that you are an idiot or stupid. It was to get the explanation out there for people that don't understand it.

As far as it being "as cheap as people think," generic syrup from sams club/Costco is almost $60 for a 5 gallon bag. The way people talk about it, you'd think it was only a few pennies per drink. Let's assume Disney pays half that to Coke. In that case, a 32oz cup will use around 25 cents in syrup.

Yes, after adding in the cost for water, ice, electricity, filter changes, bulk CO2 and the cups, it will still cost Disney (or McDonalds) less than 50 cents to produce a 32 oz drink. But, that is a lot higher than the amount that most people "think" it costs.

 

[Nottamus]

We started going in 2014...bottled water was $ 2.50.
Changed in 2015? to $2.75.
2017 to $3.00....now $3.50...

We drive down and bring a case of water every trip, with Hydroflasks and resort ice that lasts all day. We rarely have to purchase a water, but sometimes do...and i continue to pay.

I know what a bottle of water runs in real world, so it seems just at $2.50 they were making tons of $ on it.

I don't ever expect stuff to go down in price, but some of these jumps are pretty high.

 

[Smiley/OCD]

Also, a cup disposal/recycling fee if you don't take it home with you.

and double if you ask for GULP! a straw...

 

[John park hopper]

My reply was not meant to imply that you are an idiot or stupid. It was to get the explanation out there for people that don't understand it.

As far as it being "as cheap as people think," generic syrup from sams club/Costco is almost $60 for a 5 gallon bag. The way people talk about it, you'd think it was only a few pennies per drink. Let's assume Disney pays half that to Coke. In that case, a 32oz cup will use around 25 cents in syrup.

Yes, after adding in the cost for water, ice, electricity, filter changes, bulk CO2 and the cups, it will still cost Disney (or McDonalds) less than 50 cents to produce a 32 oz drink. But, that is a lot higher than the amount that most people "think" it costs.

At 50 cents a drink they are making one heck of a profit and people know it. Disney is in the business of guest satisfaction seems counterproductive to maximize profits when people know they are getting screwed. It's not just soda --water, Mickey bars etc.

 

[HauntedPirate]

We're DVC. We started renting a car 5-6 years ago (memory of exactly when is fuzzy, but it's at least that long) to buy groceries, because it's a helluva lot cheaper to eat breakfast in the room, or to come back early and have dinner in the room and let the kids swim for a couple of hours. A case of water to bring into the parks and a couple of gallon jugs to keep in the fridge is a guarantee. You won't catch us buying a bottle of putrified (spelled that way deliberately) water in the parks, we'll bring a Tervis and refill it and probably bring some Kool Aid packets to make the water drinkable (I like the water out of the drinking fountains, as it is one of those things that reminds me I'm at WDW, but my wife hates it and Electric Umbrella is the only place that seems to have water without a massive chlorinated taste to it).

I don't need to bring up prices from 15 years ago to express my disgust with Disney, I can do it with one example:

Mickey ice cream bar in 2016 - $3.75
Mickey ice cream bar in 2018 - $5.75

Y'all can do the math on the percentages. (Hint: It isn't a small number)

And as an ardent fan of Mickey ice cream bars, I'm ed over the price increases.

So, yes, these price increases have and are going to affect how we do the parks. The increase in the price of theme park tickets, combined with higher and higher food prices, has meant we're going to WDW less (especially before they started jacking up AP prices and I had employee flight benefits, we'd go 3-4 times a year, for 3-5 days at a time). We're buying less when we're there. We're spending more money off-site (groceries, Universal, etc.) when we do go. Eventually, I can see us renting out our points and not going at all, because instead of spending $5-6k on a vacation (family of 6, so you can see how I'm sensitive on price increases) we can gain $2-3k in revenue from renting and just spend our vacation dollars elsewhere.

 

[DisneyJoe]

It's being reported now that Food and Wine Festival items just increased too. Please excuse me if it has already been reported.

 

[eliza61nyc]

At 50 cents a drink they are making one heck of a profit and people know it. Disney is in the business of guest satisfaction seems counterproductive to maximize profits when people know they are getting screwed. It's not just soda --water, Mickey bars etc.

I guess it hasn't reached critical mass point yet.

That begs the question of Why are folks still going to Disney?
There has to be something we are missing, if people know they are getting screwed and still signing up to go, what are we missing.
That's a serious question for any vacation venue.