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

[sixbagelboy]

I wonder how much the Disney bean counters pay for drinks when they tour the parks. I'm guessing nothing!!!

 

[eliza61nyc]

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.

And that is absolutely the best thing to do. I really think it's pretty much what the average vacationer does. I have a budget and every year I decide whether any increase affects me, if it's an increase I can live with and what other things are out there.

Now will the price increases sooner or later effect the company negatively? maybe, maybe not. My gut feeling is in 5 years there will be the same argument. Unless the economy as a whole tanks, I think prices will continue to rise and vacationers will continue to absorb them.

 

[HauntedPirate]

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

If anyone can take and post price information, we can compare with the original prices here --> https://www.wdwmagic.com/events/int...rketplace-kiosks,-menus-and-pricing/33387.htm

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

So here's a quick question.

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

Its affected where and how i vacation....and contrary to what the keyboard implies...I don’t sweat costs and prices...

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

I don't think that's a fair comparison. You could actually drive in Hazard County. Morgantown? About a 50/50 chance.

It’s only six miles inside the border...that’s close enough for PENNDot to “rub off”...unfortunately

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

Question for our UK guest.
I've been toying with a trip to London but heard that hotel and food prices are also expensive. this maybe hard because you live there but comparably speaking is it way cheaper than the mouseworld?

There have been a lot of posts on threads over the last couple of years making the case that Western Europe trips and other more “luxury” places like aspen can be done for a week in the same or less price range as WDW.

The steep climb in prices this millenium is not a “myth”...plenty of fire behind the smoke.

 

[Chomama]

If anyone can take and post price information, we can compare with the original prices here --> https://www.wdwmagic.com/events/int...rketplace-kiosks,-menus-and-pricing/33387.htm

I was just getting on to see if anyone here can confirm this. Raising prices mid-festival seems over the top, even for WDW. What is going on down there with the sudden decline in offerings and uptick in prices. I get all the arguments one way or the other but it seems drastic and sudden with it happening on both ends. Anyone know what’s really going on?

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

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?

What’s sad is that homecoming is way closer to the “great value” of the Disney spectrum than most of the other on property food.

 

[Chomama]

There have been a lot of posts on threads over the last couple of years making the case that Western Europe trips and other more “luxury” places like aspen can be done for a week in the same or less price range as WDW.

The steep climb in prices this millenium is not a “myth”...plenty of fire behind the smoke.

True story:
We have 4 kids, APs on both coasts and visit WDW from ot of state every 8-12 weeks. We are currently pricing out renting a house in France for 3 weeks and a week in Paris this summer. Is less than our last WDW 9 day trip. I’m not being dramatic and obviously this is anecdotal but European travel can be done for less than Disney - especially with HomeAway, VRBO and the like.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

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

Is the dining plan still a thing?

I was hoping everyone wised up and dumped the thing...now that you have to commit to retail price on too much food than can be eaten?

 

[MagicRat]

This is why I have advocated for beer in all parks. For $1.50 more than a large soda, you can get some protein.

 

[Disneyhead'71]

I live in Orlando and over the last 5 years I have been to Key Largo more often than I have been in a park at WDW. And costs is a major part of the reason.

 

[HauntedPirate]

True story:
We have 4 kids, APs on both coasts and visit WDW from ot of state every 8-12 weeks. We are currently pricing out renting a house in France for 3 weeks and a week in Paris this summer. Is less than our last WDW 9 day trip. I’m not being dramatic and obviously this is anecdotal but European travel can be done for less than Disney - especially with HomeAway, VRBO and the like.

I can say from recent personal experience that many things are more expensive in France, but if you can rent a house you're going to save a ton of money and I could absolutely see that being cheaper than a similar-in-length WDW trip.

 

[Animaniac93-98]

Prices have gone up at POP food court too. Meatloaf is $3 more than yesterday.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

Prices have gone up at POP food court too. Meatloaf is $3 more than yesterday.

Good info...

...and I’m not gonna even ask why you are stalking the pop food court

 

[Princess Leia]

Mental reminder to bring a reusable water bottle for my trip in 10 days.

Seriously though, of course this happens right before my trip.

 

[Lensman]

Not being well versed in business models can someone explain what companies base their price increases
on? The current inflation rate is 2.7% so these greater than 15% increases can't be based on that

I'm guessing that this price increase isn't just cost related but is profit-seeking, but labor costs are 25%-40% of total costs in food service. If Disney were maintaining constant profit margins on their food service, they might be anticipating their total cost going up by 15%. I don't know how they could be coming up with that figure, though.

Out of curiosity, what do DVC members think of this?

As I said earlier in the thread, we get 1-bedroom or 2-bedroom units with a full kitchen, but we only cook breakfast and pack maybe 1-2 lunches per trip. We do pack fruit, other snacks, and bottles of water.

These price increases are disappointing, but probably won't change our behavior, except to emotionally reward us for our original frugality in being able to execute the plan of saving money on water, snacks, and 1.5 meals a day.

Some point in the past, I could see tickets possibly being true to this, at least with the longer multi-day ones but it is hard to imagine their hotel prices ever being a loss for them given that they have always charged a premium over most local comparable non-property hotels and resorts who could not have been selling rooms at a loss consistently and remained in business without the alternative revenue streams wdw has with parks, dining, merchandise and additional activity options.

I think you *might* be able to consider day 6-14 on multi-day passes and some aspects of the annual pass as being sold at a loss, but I don't consider either of those as being classic loss-leaders.

Yes, but the environment is changing. Is it enjoyable to cut out soda and lug water around? I am not trying to derail the thread, or offend DVC members, but I have some legitimate questions on how these rising cost affect DVC members who committed to Disney for decades.

I'm probably an outlier, but I was lugging soda and water to the parks from back when it was $1 a bottle. So arguably, my enjoyment is actually increasing because I'm feeling less crazy now. The family complains less. (Actually, they never complained, we're very compatible in this aspect)

We are DVC and bought in the GFV when they opened so we also get the DVC member 'perks' as they say - some of them are worth it, others are not.

We all have our opinions on this. Right now these price increases do not impact us. My wife is a genius at finding cheap flights to and from PA. We use Magic Express so we don't pay for a rental car. We use Amazon Prime to have food delivered and we always eat breakfast in the room. We usually pay for one QS and one TS each day, with a few signature dining restaurants mixed in. Sometimes we just snack at lunch so we cut out the full price of a QS or TS lunch. Also, I am allergic to alcohol so that always cuts down on the cost.

We don't buy 'merch' outside of an occasional T-Shirt. Disney has never suckered us into buying stuff. Over time we collected the Starbuck's mugs but that is pretty much it.

We are also Season Pass holders and with as many times as we are in the parks during a year, WDW almost loses money on us.

My wife and I have found out how to make Disney affordable for us and that it is still an excellent experience when we are there. It is funny to me too because as much time as I spend on the boards, I read all of the negative responses but still go and have an incredible time. People who want to complain are free to and have every right to do so, especially if the economics of the reality are impacting there enjoyment or number of trips they can afford. I won't call people ignorant or stupid for complaining about something that is an inevitability. I only hope that people don't attack me for not getting upset about it.

You're my hero!

Tell me more about using Amazon Prime to have food delivered. Is this Prime Now or Prime Pantry? Or PrimeFresh? Thanks!

Not sure why folks think bringing water to the parks is "lugging". it's pretty easy, freeze 4 water bottles, wrap them in paper towels so the condensate doesn't wet up every thing else, stick them in my bag.

Do you have any solution for making a half-frozen water bottle? It's been a request from my family.

Kinda like you shouldn’t apply all pricing to Cities that bookend New Jersey?

I wonder if regional cost-of-living differences is actually a factor in people's emotions on this subject? Is part of the reason I feel less ire about these price increases because the comparable prices here are also high? Would I feel more anger if I were from a low cost-of-living area? If so, maybe we should accept these regional differences as supporting of people's feelings, but not accept them for generalized "I don't understand why person X feels this way" arguments. Though we shouldn't be having the latter at all, IMHO.

If anyone can take and post price information, we can compare with the original prices here --> https://www.wdwmagic.com/events/int...rketplace-kiosks,-menus-and-pricing/33387.htm

Do we need to archive the original prices?

Mental reminder to bring a reusable water bottle for my trip in 10 days.

Seriously though, of course this happens right before my trip.

If you get the one with the built-in filter let me know how well it worked out in the parks!

Oh no!

 

[disneyflush]

Prices have gone up at POP food court too. Meatloaf is $3 more than yesterday.

Uhh.. @marni1971 , are these food price silent increases any part of what you might have been hinting at yesterday in the next wave of increases?

 

[Tom P.]

All the more reason to never, ever order meatloaf at a food court...

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

Uhh.. @marni1971 , are these food price silent increases any part of what you might have been hinting at yesterday in the next wave of increases?

If I had to guess...what he’s “non-referring to” is a huge salvo at the annual passes...

It’s been a couple of years and that would really get the torches and pitchforks out around here...


Just a hunch