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

[jt04]

your right it would be tough probably impossible to pay employees 15 dollars an hour and sell soda for any less. (eye roll)

I doubt they will go back to business practices that almost caused WDW to be sold off in chunks anytime soon.

 

[Disney Lover Addie]

 

[Notes from Neverland]

It's an amazing strategy. Attendance is down, so cut things from several parks and jack up prices to even out the bottom line, hoping it doesn't cause any long-term damage. Realistically, it won't. Guests will flock come Star Wars time and it's not like the prices have a chance of dropping.

It's sad, but until guests complain with their wallets, it will continue.

 

[MrPromey]

I'm hardly one to defend WDW money grabs, (my head is still exploding over motel 6 value parking fees.) But this thread is actually depressing me - because I must live in a pretty HCOL region.

Look at the upside: you guys get slammed for a week on vacation - and I understand the anger. We pay sky high prices like this year round- without NY or Silicon Valley salaries.

Bottles of water are $4-5 each anywhere here outside of a supermarket. I often fork over $12-15+ for a glass of wine or cocktail when dining out, (and thats not high end places or liquors, either.)

Luckily the taste of Orlando tap water doesn't bother me at all: don't think I've ever purchased a bottle of water all the years we've visited. Adult beverages - another story.

Where are you at if you don't mind me asking?

 

[Smiley/OCD]

im from the north east i left to escape but when we did vacations we drove. free parking and a small car made this a much better deal than flying.

AND the hotel, and...

 

[DisneyCane]

That assumes they are even paying for the syrup....its pretty common for coke and pepsi to pay venues to stock their products and or give them the syrup for close to zero. They recoup the costs on the cups and bottled products I think. Not sure what the story is on their cups, I know coke has their logo on it, but unsure if they supply it. I do remember when I worked at YB they pulled all the white cups next to coffee and water stations and replaced them with leftover holiday variants of the soda ones. The only non-branded cup available was from the (Sc)ar(e)amark's that run the cafeterias.

Disney probably gets a good deal on syrup but, in general, it isn't as cheap as people think. As for the stuff about making money on cups that is wrong. Coke and Pepsi aren't in the paper products business.

As far as the hydration issue goes, as others have stated you can get water cups, there are water fountains and if you are at Epcot you can visit club cool. Some of the flavors are drinkable enough if you are really thirsty.

 

[yaksplat]

Nothing at all, we love Publix. BUT, we always do DME though. Then I don't have to rent a car or LYFT which woud cost that going back and forth.

Ah... gotcha. Take a look into instacart. You might be able to get a bunch of food that's prohibitive to ship for the same price. A week of breakfasts and a case of water for ~$20.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

Thats not to bad. If you want to see real profit, figure out how much the $4.59 soda costs to make..

I’d guess $0.35 plus labor...maybe a buck soup to nuts

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

Yes and you're absolutely right...and my seats/game and my parking/game and my gas to-from/game and my PSL...so by your logic, the answer is, if you don't want to pay the prices, don't go...'NUFF SAID.

Season tickets do not compare to a week stay by millions of individual travel parties needed to properly fund a Disney park operation...

There aren’t that many psls on earth.

And there is a correlation at WDW...it’s called DVC and that has an upfront Buy in and “yearly ticket” costs associated with...

I don’t care they jumped the price...but can we please stop talking about football and broadway? The aggregate cost and the target audience...ie not all WDW travelers should be expected to comply with 42nd street pricing.

 

[disney4life2008]

Put this in perspective. They have already began pricing out those of us who could afford to stay at the values. They are focusing on people who have lots of money to spend so to them, 5 for a drink is nothing.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

Put this in perspective. They have already began pricing out those of us who could afford to stay at the values. They are focusing on people who have lots of money to spend so to them, 5 for a drink is nothing.

They are actively eliminating “values”...as well as “moderates”

Look at the prices of the moderates...it’s not gonna Stop there...

“Location based pricing”

 

[tonymu]

Ticket Price Increase : Check
Food and Beverage Increase : Check
Upcharge Event Increases: Check
Hotel Rate Increase : Coming Soon
AP Increase: Coming Soon

I'm sure I'm missing something big....

Resort Parking: Check

 

[boufa]

A few business realities (no this is not the "It's a business deal with it" post) that no one has brought up yet...

Disney reports "Average Guest Spend". For Disney, the perfect formula is fewer guests spending the same amount of money. So yes, raise the prices of drinks, even if it cuts down attendance (since attendance = operating expenses).

So if fewer people come into the parks, then they can cut back staffing, etc. but maintain their income by raising in-park prices to keep the Average Guest Spend growing. If you have been following the quarterly stock announcements, this is exactly what is happening. Of course there is a tipping point, and that point is open to debate, however they are not there yet.

On a side note, we disregard the details, but honestly, those of you who are not AP holders, locals, etc... haven't considered NOT going and waiting until Star Wars Land opens, or the 50th. It only takes a few people to hold out for the new stuff to pull down park attendance. It doesn't mean anything about the product. These pre-new stuff dips always happen.. the bigger the new thing, the bigger the dip.

Finally... don't forget about the lockers. I bring in lots of drinks and store most of them in a locker. Stop back as needed to reload.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

A few business realities (no this is not the "It's a business deal with it" post) that no one has brought up yet...

Disney reports "Average Guest Spend". For Disney, the perfect formula is fewer guests spending the same amount of money. So yes, raise the prices of drinks, even if it cuts down attendance (since attendance = operating expenses).

So if fewer people come into the parks, then they can cut back staffing, etc. but maintain their income by raising in-park prices to keep the Average Guest Spend growing. If you have been following the quarterly stock announcements, this is exactly what is happening. Of course there is a tipping point, and that point is open to debate, however they are not there yet.

On a side note, we disregard the details, but honestly, those of you who are not AP holders, locals, etc... haven't considered NOT going and waiting until Star Wars Land opens, or the 50th. It only takes a few people to hold out for the new stuff to pull down park attendance. It doesn't mean anything about the product. These pre-new stuff dips always happen.. the bigger the new thing, the bigger the dip.

Finally... don't forget about the lockers. I bring in lots of drinks and store most of them in a locker. Stop back as needed to reload.

While higher revenues with less overhead is a solid business goal...

That is NOT what Disney’s goal is. It sounds good to the self important public that tends to gravitate toward things like DVC...

But that is not the goal. They are not building a couple of billion dollars of no direct profit capex to “reduce attendance”. To the investors...which are all that matter to management...that capex is to grow attendance and make even more at that higher per guest spending.

I’ve seen this fish before.

 

[boufa]

While higher revenues with less overhead is a solid business goal...

That is NOT what Disney’s goal is. It sounds good to the self important public that tends to gravitate toward things like DVC...

But that is not the goal. They are not building a couple of billion dollars of no direct profit capex to “reduce attendance”. To the investors...which are all that matter to management...that capex is to grow attendance and make even more at that higher per guest spending.

I’ve seen this fish before.

Well, since Disney thinks quarterly, mostly in the short term, I believe that this is a band-aid to the attendance. Star Wars land won't have any significant positive financial impact for at least 6 quarters. 2Q2020. And in fact SW Land is pulling DOWN attendance now. If you are going to lose the attendance you gotta keep the spending up. The attendance will come back naturally in 2020.

 

[Hayley In Wonderland]

Finally... don't forget about the lockers. I bring in lots of drinks and store most of them in a locker. Stop back as needed to reload.

Where can I find lockers? This would be super handy as we are planning on bringing our own water into the parks this year (I cannot drink Dasani, it tastes like crap).

 

[Jon81uk]

Theme park prices are also not all the restaurant prices. Disney spring restaurants do not charge those. so most guest (unless they are brand new to the world) do not eat every meal inside the parks.

(as of when I was last there in August)

Also at most table service joints you can get tap water without any problem so that maybe the cheapest alternative.

All Disney resorts match the theme park prices. So bottled soft drinks, fountain soda from the food court (if not a reusable mug etc). So if you are staying on property without a car, you are paying these prices for almost every meal, unless you go out of your way to get to Disney Springs. But if I left the park at 7pm I am more likely to eat at my resort than go over to DS.

 

[Jon81uk]

We went to the traveling Marvel stunt show a couple of weeks ago. At the Sprint Center it was $4 for a water and they took the cap, wouldn't let me close the water ever again.

That's normal in a lot of arenas/venues, as at some gigs some fans would through bottles at the act. A sealed bottle hits a lot harder than an empty one.

 

[FutureCEO]

A few business realities (no this is not the "It's a business deal with it" post) that no one has brought up yet...

Disney reports "Average Guest Spend". For Disney, the perfect formula is fewer guests spending the same amount of money. So yes, raise the prices of drinks, even if it cuts down attendance (since attendance = operating expenses).

So if fewer people come into the parks, then they can cut back staffing, etc. but maintain their income by raising in-park prices to keep the Average Guest Spend growing. If you have been following the quarterly stock announcements, this is exactly what is happening. Of course there is a tipping point, and that point is open to debate, however they are not there yet.

On a side note, we disregard the details, but honestly, those of you who are not AP holders, locals, etc... haven't considered NOT going and waiting until Star Wars Land opens, or the 50th. It only takes a few people to hold out for the new stuff to pull down park attendance. It doesn't mean anything about the product. These pre-new stuff dips always happen.. the bigger the new thing, the bigger the dip.

Finally... don't forget about the lockers. I bring in lots of drinks and store most of them in a locker. Stop back as needed to reload.

It's funny. Disney wants less attendance but Wall Street freaks out if that happens.

 

[MinnieM123]

Where can I find lockers? This would be super handy as we are planning on bringing our own water into the parks this year (I cannot drink Dasani, it tastes like crap).

https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/guest-services/locker-rentals/

They range in price, depending upon the size. Each of the 4 parks rents lockers, and they are located at the front of each park.