Sirwalterraleigh
Premium Member
Yeah...phillipsburg was my first thought
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Is Disney's food cost out of line??
- Thread starter eliza61nyc
- Start date
Yeah...phillipsburg was my first thought
Depends on where in Miami - I live in Brickell, so the prices here are on the high end.
For DATW I went ahead and compared card statements from my last comparable weekend of drinking in Miami with my last drinking around the world (December 2017) - Miami was quite a bit more expensive.
Much better looking women in Miami
Sirwalterraleigh
Premium Member
It’s a moving target...which is why “is it too expensive?” is hard to quantify sometimes.
It can’t be compared to most hometowns...but also can’t be compared to a lot of urban environments either...
So while I won’t say it’s “overpriced” based on Miami comparisons...I also won’t call it “underpriced” compared to manhattan pricing. There’s also the question of menu and food quality...what are you getting? It’s more than just that determines the appropriateness of charges. For instance: le cellier might be the biggest ripoff of low grade steak in history...that’s based on quality AND price
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erasure fan1
Well-Known Member
Exactly. It's like anything parks related, if the quality is there, the price I can justify. Just like if there had been a steady stream of great new rides and attractions over the years, I wouldn't have been so upset about the ticket increases.
Sirwalterraleigh
Premium Member
BINGO...
As a public service for you dusters out there: there has NOT been a steady stream of new attractions to justify price increases...that’s an important factual distinction.
HouCuseChickie
Well-Known Member
This thread was on my mind of late. We just got back from a non-Disney vacation and it was nice to not feel fleeced when it came to food. We live Houston area, so our local food costs tend to be cheaper than what I experienced growing up outside of NYC or when I go to visit my parents in south FL. Case in point, we went out to dinner the other night (mushroom cheese appetizer, ribeye, sirloin, adult-size burger, chicken dish) and the bill was about $86 before tip. Still, I'm usually wiling to pay more if the quality is decent and expect to pay more in a vacation destination. It's no secret that I felt the quality to cost ratio with food for our last WDW trip was a big problem, so I was wondering how things would be on this non-Disney trip.
That being said, we did a national parks/monuments/memorials tour in MT, WY and SD earlier this month. Outside of Yellowstone, we were paying in the $14-25 range for entrees at some of our nicer dinners (and obviously less for more casual meals). The most expensive thing I saw on any of the menus topped out at $33 and that was for a porterhouse steak. Yellowstone dining, on the other hand, has a bit of a Disney feeling, which makes it a more interesting comparison for me.
For WDW, people often choose to dine onsite because of the convenience factor...i.e. don't want to waste time trying to get to something off property. Some people have even said Disney gets away with some of their pricing because of this captive audience concept when it comes to food. Yellowstone has some similar issues for travelers. While you won't have as many dining options as you'd find at WDW, if you're staying in the park and not camping, you're likely dining at restaurants in the park too (dinners in dining room even usually require advance dining reservations and have a host of booking rules for onsite vs offsite guests). YNP is massive, most people don't consider it safe to drive after dark, and with the exception of Mammoth, the in-park lodging options aren't particularly close to any of the entrances...so, you're likely to eat in the dining rooms at the various hotels. The most expensive dinner entrees we saw (usually some kind of bison filet) were in the $30-37 range. With the exception of the Lake Hotel Dining Room (where most of the entrees were in the $20s), the rest of the dining rooms had the majority of their dinner entrees in the teens to twenties. Every single dinner menu also had a really nice burger option that was around $15, most of the vegetarian options we saw were also around the price point of the burger, and some of the appetizers (which were cheaper) could be a meal on their own. I don't think we hit the $100 mark for dinner for any of our meals while in YNP! I realize it's not an apples to apples comparison and it's hard to work from attendance numbers since YNP can't really be accessed year round due to weather (it's crazy crowded in the summer months), but it's just interesting to see how much less we spent on food in YNP's captive audience dining situation compared to WDW.
That being said, we did a national parks/monuments/memorials tour in MT, WY and SD earlier this month. Outside of Yellowstone, we were paying in the $14-25 range for entrees at some of our nicer dinners (and obviously less for more casual meals). The most expensive thing I saw on any of the menus topped out at $33 and that was for a porterhouse steak. Yellowstone dining, on the other hand, has a bit of a Disney feeling, which makes it a more interesting comparison for me.
For WDW, people often choose to dine onsite because of the convenience factor...i.e. don't want to waste time trying to get to something off property. Some people have even said Disney gets away with some of their pricing because of this captive audience concept when it comes to food. Yellowstone has some similar issues for travelers. While you won't have as many dining options as you'd find at WDW, if you're staying in the park and not camping, you're likely dining at restaurants in the park too (dinners in dining room even usually require advance dining reservations and have a host of booking rules for onsite vs offsite guests). YNP is massive, most people don't consider it safe to drive after dark, and with the exception of Mammoth, the in-park lodging options aren't particularly close to any of the entrances...so, you're likely to eat in the dining rooms at the various hotels. The most expensive dinner entrees we saw (usually some kind of bison filet) were in the $30-37 range. With the exception of the Lake Hotel Dining Room (where most of the entrees were in the $20s), the rest of the dining rooms had the majority of their dinner entrees in the teens to twenties. Every single dinner menu also had a really nice burger option that was around $15, most of the vegetarian options we saw were also around the price point of the burger, and some of the appetizers (which were cheaper) could be a meal on their own. I don't think we hit the $100 mark for dinner for any of our meals while in YNP! I realize it's not an apples to apples comparison and it's hard to work from attendance numbers since YNP can't really be accessed year round due to weather (it's crazy crowded in the summer months), but it's just interesting to see how much less we spent on food in YNP's captive audience dining situation compared to WDW.
DVC4bestvacations
Well-Known Member
A couple years ago my wife and I had 8:00 resies at Citrico's at GF. Normally I wouldn't feel the meal was overpriced. But we expected and didn't get was a nice quiet meal. The room was louder than a middle school lunch room. Thanks to the DDP people are trying to get their monies worth. They bring their young ones for a late "hi-end" dinner that they wouldn't at home.
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My biggest complaint with Disney food at Signature restaurants is the up and down nature.... I ate at the Yachtsman last week and it was down right terrible... The waitress was one of the oddest people ever. The bread came out cold... Steak over done... Not high quality.... I had other family down there that went to Cal Grill two times.... First time was good... The second meal was terrible.... For the prices, you just don't know what the hell you are going to get...
We had a very nice meal at Tiffans, Bluezoo, Skipper and lunch at Frontera...
Morimoto was a complete miss... Nothing like his Vegas or Napa spots...
I do have to say out best meal by far was Capa at the Four Seasons...
We had a very nice meal at Tiffans, Bluezoo, Skipper and lunch at Frontera...
Morimoto was a complete miss... Nothing like his Vegas or Napa spots...
I do have to say out best meal by far was Capa at the Four Seasons...
erasure fan1
Well-Known Member
This has always been my complaint too. I understand you pay more for food at a theme park. But it's the quality to price that has always bugged me the most. Ultra premium price at olive garden/chilis quality. Sometimes its really good but like you said, Inconsistent.
I think the perception of the prices being too high is because people look at the place at Disney Springs as the equivalent of places at a mall. You are comparing prices at a stadium which is a different type of venue. A stadium has very limited number of hours that it can operate and and a limited number of days it is open in a given year. Rents for the space to sell food from therefore has to be spread over a very small number of sales.... However Disney Springs like a mall has pretty much 360 days a year and full hours each day so they are able to spread costs over a much larger number of sales.... When you look at it like that, yes Disney is pricing much higher than they should at Disney Springs.
Mickey shaped world
Active Member
I think the quality of most of the QS locations at Disney are pretty good quality (expect Disney eggs, yuk). I know where I live (northern Ireland) it is an insane struggle to find somewhere half decent to eat, a lot of the QS meals I had last trip were better than the restaurant meals where I live.
winstongator
Well-Known Member
National parks are a completely different beast because their intention is to be widely accessible, price-wise. One of our meals in Yellowstone was surprisingly good - I forget where. I would have paid close to 2x what I did for our modest room in Grant Village because of its location. I don't think they maximize pricing for the Old Faithful Inn the way a commercial hotel would. The government entity vs. profit maximizing business is the big difference there.
Another tick mark in the column of the DDP has ruined dining in WDW... I’m 100% in your corner on this one. Ever since the dining plan came into existence the “higher end” restaurants have not been as good as they used to be.
SpiteriFam
Active Member
On our recent trip we ate at lot of table service restaurants, with quite a few being buffets.
We were on the DDP so had two alcoholic drinks and two soft drinks for the kids.
The meals were continually $150-200 a time. The food was generally good and plentiful for the adults, but what gets me is how the value plummets when you factor in kids.
Our kids would pick a bit as an 8 and 4 year old would do. Because of the cost it made the small amount they ate horrendous. In a couple of years time when our daughter is charged as an “adult” the damage will be even worse.
We were on the DDP so had two alcoholic drinks and two soft drinks for the kids.
The meals were continually $150-200 a time. The food was generally good and plentiful for the adults, but what gets me is how the value plummets when you factor in kids.
Our kids would pick a bit as an 8 and 4 year old would do. Because of the cost it made the small amount they ate horrendous. In a couple of years time when our daughter is charged as an “adult” the damage will be even worse.
Weather_Lady
Well-Known Member
My family's "Disney dining habits" have changed dramatically in the past couple of years, and for the same reason!
We now pay out of pocket (no DDP), and generally avoid buffets, all-you-care-to-enjoy meals, character meals and any other dining experience where we're going to have to pay a set, age-based price for our kids (now both just over 10), as neither one eats nearly enough to make it worth the cost. (Our one splurge is a last-night-of-vacation family dinner at 'Ohana, a tradition nobody wants to stop). After a disaster of a brunch at California Grill, we've also decided that the cost of signature dining is too high a gamble to take, especially when we live in an area of the country that is chock-full of amazing restaurants -- meaning we can do all the fine dining we want at home, for a fraction of the Disney signature dining price.
Instead, we confine ourselves to CS places and a la carte TS restaurants (and even lounges), at which the children can order the amount and type of food they're actually prepared to eat. (*I am aware that all children's menus are technically for ages 9 and under, and we don't engage in any subterfuge: when the kids have desired to order off of the children's menu at various places, we have always asked their servers if it was okay, and in every single case, they said it was no problem at all -- obviously, others' mileage may vary, and of course, this is only an option at a la carte restaurants.) Doing this has forced us to branch out and try a few places we otherwise might not have, and it's actually been a really positive experience, through which we've discovered a few "new favorite" restaurants. We're still enjoying great food, but getting a better value for our vacation dollars, as well as greater flexibility in our dining (since we're not cabined by a dining plan).
KikoKea
Well-Known Member
Overall, the prices are higher than most places we visit here in SC, but then a big part of the enjoyment is the environment at WDW. Paying a bit more for an OK burger while enjoying Sonny Eclipse is worth it for us (and is a tradition). Taking our sons and 2 daughters-in-law to Akerhus was worth every penny when our sweet daughter in law (age 23, and did not know it was a princess dining meal) yelled in excitement when Snow White came to the table and then cried when Cinderella came over. 
I don't think Disney is the only place that is a bit greedy.